​CategoriesCategoriesEnglishJUSTICE, SOCIETYAalter and mayor face discrimination investigation over registration policy28 April 2025 Equal opportunities centre Unia has filed a complaint with the East Flanders public prosecutor arguing that Aalter’s registration policy for new inhabitants may violate anti-racism laws Federal migration centre Myria is also criticising the policy of the municipality and its mayor Their reactions came after reports from Flemish parliament member Mieke Schauvliege of Groen a report by VRT programme Pano and an investigation by De Morgen found that people with non-Belgian-sounding names had to wait up to nine times longer to be registered in Aalter’s population register was found to be systematically checking the quality of housing for people of foreign origin before allowing them to register the public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into possible breaches of anti-racism laws Audit Flanders has also started an investigation into how Aalter handles it population registrations Documents show that Unia has filed an official complaint citing possible violations of anti-racism legislation the delays and extra housing inspections for people with non-Flemish-sounding names suggest discrimination Myria also confirms that legal registration procedures were not properly followed in several cases "I am satisfied that Unia and Myria have thoroughly examined this report," she said "They confirm the suspicion of discrimination the violations of the anti-racism law and incorrect application of the legislation She added: "Unia and Myria confirm the gross and discriminatory practices of De Crem in Aalter #FlandersNewsService | Aalter mayor Pieter De Crem © BELGA PHOTO BRUNO FAHY Copy linkGet updates in your mailboxYour email addressSubscribeBy clicking "Subscribe" I confirm I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy rapid and high-quality information 24 hours a day from Belgium and abroad to all Belgian media not to mention entertainment and lifestyle our journalists and press photographers produce hundreds of photos and news stories Since the end of March 2022 English has been added as a language businesses and various organisations that need reliable information Belga News Agency also offers a comprehensive range of corporate services to meet all their communication needs www.belganewsagency.eu The far-right Vlaams Belang party put forward a 90-year-old Holocaust denier as one of its candidates at Belgium’s upcoming municipal elections Roeland Raes was convicted of Holocaust denial in 2008 after questioning the scale of the Holocaust and the authenticity of Anne Frank’s diary. He was handed a suspended sentence of four months in prison Raes co-founded the Vlaams Blok party, a predecessor to Vlaams Belang. He is 27th on the party’s list for the municipality of Aalter out of 29 candidates in which six million Jews as well as other minorities including Roma gay people and people with disabilities were systematically killed Paul Beheyt, the lead candidate in Aalter for Vlaams Belang, told Belgian media that Raes requested a spot on the list and “was given a symbolic place because he remains one of the founders of Vlaams Blok.” “By putting convicted Holocaust denier Roeland #Raes on a list, @vlbelang once again showed its true face,” Belgian N-VA MP Michael Freilich, who is the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, said on X Vlaams Belang received the second-largest share of votes at the national election in June, bucking expectations of a far-right landslide. Belgians head to the polls for provincial, municipal and district elections on October 13. Vlaams Belang did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The nationalist chief vociferously supports Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni — and he leads the presidential race ahead of May 18’s critical second round. “I urge both sides to show restraint,” the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says after discussions with senior New Delhi and Islamabad officials. Northern and Western Europe are the best places in the world to be a journalist, according to a new report. The presidential election day is almost upon us. This is what you need to know. Authorities in the East Flemish town of Aalter have changed the procedure for registering newcomers in the municipality. First alderman Michael Ally (Flemish nationalist N-VA) announced the news to the municipal council last night. Investigations by VRT’s Pano programme and daily De Morgen showed that non-Belgians in Aalter had had to wait much longer for domicile registration in the municipality than allowed by law. From now on, anyone who wants to let a house in Aalter will have to possess a certificate proving that the house meets the minimum housing quality standards. An investigation by Pano and De Morgen showed that previously the municipality requested an inspection of houses expats wanted to rent in order to decide whether a house was suitable to be let. Such inspections mainly befell non-Belgians. As a result they on average had to wait nine times longer than Belgians to be able to move to Aalter. The East Flanders public prosecutor's office is investigating whether the administration of mayor Pieter De Crem (Flemish Christian democrat CD&V) committed any violations of anti-racism legislation and Audit Flanders has also launched an audit. Equal opportunities centre Unia filed a complaint against the municipal administration for violating the anti-racism law. In comparison, in 2024, the municipality requested 77 checks. Only four of these checks involved renters with Belgian nationality, and three of these four people had foreign-sounding names. Of the files still open from the previous council term, 50 people have now been registered. In files where problems surfaced, those involved were provisionally registered, as required by law. ​CategoriesCategoriesEnglishJUSTICE, SOCIETYProsecutors investigate allegations of registration discrimination in Aalter20 March 2025 According to Pano and De Morgen, non-Belgians face significantly longer registration delays, averaging 136 days compared to just 15 days for Belgian nationals, with some cases exceeding 450 days despite legal limits. A whistleblower claims that officials often delay foreigners' applications by imposing additional housing inspections, which can take months. A review of 204 cases supports these claims. Aalter mayor Pieter De Crem © BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS These findings also echo complaints against local authorities under mayor Pieter De Crem of CD&V a former minister and deputy prime minister accusing them of systematically blocking foreign applicants with bureaucratic hurdles The Federal Immigration Office found that Aalter had misapplied immigration laws in 51 cases Flemish minister for Home Affairs Hilde Crevits has asked Audit Vlaanderen to investigate Aalter's procedures while opposition leader Mieke Schauvliege of Groen is calling for a disciplinary investigation into De Crem's policies The East Flanders public prosecutor's office is conducting a preliminary investigation The case raises wider concerns about the enforcement of migration policies and possible discrimination at the local level #FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS The Belgian police still do not know what is behind the disappearance of a Dutch man who was last seen in Ghent at the end of January It concerns the 44-year-old Maarten Dickhoff from Alphen aan den Rijn the police placed a new search message and showed new images of the man Wie heeft informatie over de #verdwijning van Maarten DICKHOFF op 24-01-2024? https://t.co/ttbFzYCaL2 pic.twitter.com/EjQi2zYiTA According to the police, it is completely unclear what is going on. The Belgian police say in the Flemish program Faroek that they are taking into account "all possible hypotheses" and call his disappearance "alarming". "As far as we know, he also has no ties to the criminal world," says a police detective in Aalter in the program. According to her, Dickhoff is "not a troublemaker, but rather someone who would help others if necessary." Dickhoff is of average build, has short brown hair and a goatee. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing blue jeans, a dark down jacket, and sneakers, the police reports. The 44-year-old Dutchman was seen on 23 and 24 January. He visited a casino in Ostend on 23 January, then drove to a McDonald's in Gouda and paid there at 7:19 p.m. He then drove back to Ostend, a distance of more than 200 kilometers. The Belgian police do not know why the man went back to Ostend. A few hours later he was also seen in a parking garage, and in the early morning, he drove towards Ghent. According to the police, this is remarkable, because he had booked a hotel room in Ostend. Dickhoff was last filmed at a gas station in the town of Drongen. His car was seen again in Ghent, near the steel company ArcelorMittal. Since then, there has been no trace of the Alphen resident. His dark Volkswagen Transporter van was found a month later in a parking lot in Aalter, about 50 kilometers from where his car was last seen. His phones, keys, wallet, and passport were no longer in the car, but his suitcase was. How the car ended up in Aalter is also still unclear. The Belgian police say they have no idea who left the car there. "That's a mystery to us," says a police officer in Aalter in the program Faroek. "As far as we know, there is no one who knew Maarten around here." © 2012-2025, NL Times, All rights reserved. A sample of 204 registrations confirms what witnesses told Pano and De Morgen. People with Belgian nationality get registered 9 times faster than non-Belgians. For Belgians, registration takes 15 days on average. For non-Belgians it is 136 days, with peaks exceeding 450 days. That's more than 1 year and 3 months. Aalter's refusal to register people in the population register pending a housing check is against the law. Pano and De Morgen spoke to a total of five different experts. They all say the same thing: this is not allowed. ‘This is pertinently illegal,’ responds Joy Verstichele, coordinator of the Vlaams Huurdersplatform, a renters’ organisation. ‘The law is very clear: people’s domicile must be registered, temporarily if need be.’ According to Geert Matthys, migration expert at Artevelde university, the law is clear. ‘If a person is encountered at the location, he or she must be registered. Even if the house is not suitable for permanent residence, the person still has to be registered. The only nuance in that case is that the municipality has the option of going for a provisional registration.’ Aalter is also refusing to provide such provisional registrations. ‘Actually, you could say that the municipality is indirectly contributing towards domicile fraud,’ says Matthys. ‘Because the person is staying in a place, but he is not registered there. It is the municipality that is not doing what it should be doing here.’ At the Home Affairs Ministry - the General Directorate of Identity and Civil Affairs - they are aware of the stories from Aalter. The government department says it has received 110 complaints about domicile registration in Aalter since the end of 2023, i.e. in just over a year. 90 per cent of these complaints come from the Immigration Department (DVZ) and are from people with European nationality. The immigration department, another part of the Home Affairs Ministry - concluded that in 51 cases Aalter did not apply the Aliens Act correctly when registering EU citizens in the municipality. Aalter received several e-mails explaining the correct procedure. However, since the beginning of this year, according to the immigration department, registrations and residence applications have been running more smoothly once again. In the course of Thursday it emerged that East Flemish prosecutors were now investigating whether the municipality of Aalter had violated anti-racism laws. News & Analysis on the Dairy Industry & Markets 15-Dec-2020 Last updated on 15-Dec-2020 at 11:10 GMT The towers have a production capacity of approximately 45,000 tons of milk powder. The business unit has about 40 employees, who will switch to Royal A-ware as soon as both parties have concluded a final agreement. FrieslandCampina said it will continue its production of consumer dairy in Aalter and will carry on with planned investments. The intended sale is in line with the strategy of FrieslandCampina to further improve its network while maintaining maximum milk processing, increased value creation and cost optimization. The acquisition fits in with Royal A-ware’s strategy to serve customers with a broad product portfolio. The Dutch family-owned company intends to invest in the plant in order to be able to respond to customer demand. The intended acquisition is subject to the usual conditions. Expectations are that the transaction will be completed before the end of the first quarter of the year 2021. FrieslandCampina to close Belgian cheese facility14-Dec-2020By Jim CornallDutch dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina said it is restructuring its cheese packaging activities and intends to close its location in Genk, Belgium, with the loss of 211 jobs. FrieslandCampina to end powder production in two Dutch plants07-Dec-2020By Jim CornallFrieslandCampina is to cease powder production at its Dutch plants in Dronrijp and Gerkesklooster. Jobs to be lost as FrieslandCampina Germany speeds up transformation strategy30-Nov-2020By Jim CornallFrieslandCampina Germany said it is accelerating the transformation it launched two years ago, focusing on its brands and scaling back the production of unprofitable products. Ice cream for multi-sensorial experiences – new consumer trends Paid for and content provided by Cargill How the EU cheese category is driving innovation with quality schemes Paid for and content provided by European Union The quest for the perfect cheddar – solving challenges for efficiencies, texture and flavorPaid for and in partnership with IFF Logout Gateway to the world of smart farming This Premium article is exclusively available for subscribers Obtain insights from exclusive interviews Make the right purchasing decisions with our buyers guides Dive into articles covering innovative developments Already subscribed? Click here to login Francis De Vleeschouwer fetches a tarnished trophy from 1931 and brings it to the dinner table where the effusive vase of roses and Old World art remind me that we are in a home in the Belgian city of Aalter The trophy -- his father's prize from a Belgian bowling tournament at Mishawaka's BK Club -- speaks to a life that could have been De Vleeschouwer's until it all got switched on him at age 2 That's when his parents took him and his sister and pulled out of Mishawaka Never mind that his dad had helped to build the sidewalk along the brand-new BK Club which would become an influential hub of Mishawaka's Belgian heritage Or that he'd raced pigeons with fellow Belgian immigrants in town De Vlee-schouwer tells me how his parents went on to open the Cafe Mishawaka here in Aalter from 1936 until they retired in 1954 Could he imagine how his life would be different gazing at photos and old letters from Mishawaka relatives on Seventh One distinction stands out for the Mishawaka-born man who retired from railroad ticketing and now lives in a comfortable brick house bridging the gap between my mix of English and limited Dutch and their Flemish Several Belgian roots reach from Mishawaka and South Bend back to Aalter a quiet stop on the railroad with about 20,000 people a clean strip of shops and cafés in downtown and a yellow-painted brick pub where locals swap the day's stories over drinks and Flemish eats that Rijckaert drives me to the even smaller town of about 2,000 residents that played perhaps the biggest role in birthing Mishawaka's Belgian descendants: Hansbeke We can stroll across Hansbeke in 20 minutes unless you catch the one that stops in Hansbeke the passenger train between Ghent and Bruges flies by in less than one minute blurring your view of comfortable but modest brick homes and set in a brick monument at one street corner the bronze plaque of Hansbeke native Julius A who emigrated with his parents at age 2 and became a priest and scientist at the University of Notre Dame who invented synthetic rubber Hansbeke people made the earliest Belgian migrations to the St A Catholic priest who was born in the town of Sleydinge near Ghent but had served in Hansbeke's church serving as a missionary to the American Indians in the region and starting a settlement where Notre Dame would appear De Seille persuaded a couple of his former altar boys from Hansbeke to come at about the same time Hundreds of immigrants from Hansbeke would come over the years to settle The ones who left couldn't find a way to sell their trades or skills back home in their weak economy To afford a ship ticket on the Red Star Line that departed the city of Antwerp for New York "They sold everything they had," says Marc Van Ooteghem He and another Hansbeke man wrote a self-published book that documents the flow into Mishawaka and South Bend -- including the stories of the De Vleeschouwers and several other families -- "Emigration from Hansbeke to America: 1830-1930." I am in Hansbeke through the living relationships that linger between Mishawaka and Belgium I was coming to Europe for a reunion of cousins in the Netherlands hoping to meet some of them for the first time I thought: Why not traipse across the Netherlands' southern border into Belgium after a Mishawaka city council meeting that I covered this spring I asked Mayor Dave Wood about finding the city's roots His great-great-grandparents had immigrated from Belgium An old black-and-white photo of the Vervaets and their kids But the notion of tracking down distant relatives and visiting the old country is but a dream as Wood and his wife are busy raising their own kids a Belgian-born woman who works at Mishawaka's popular West End Bakery which the immigrants had built in honor of a Belgian saint Fobe loaned me Van Ooteghem's book and hooked me up with Rijckaert an old buddy who e-mails and Skypes with her regularly and who'd visited Mishawaka and its local Belgians in 1978 and 1993 The Hansbeke tour doesn't take more than an hour or two of wandering Van Ooteghem leads us to a small white-painted brick house with gray shutters and a tile roof that's still occupied The church tower fell to the Germans' dynamite in the last three weeks of World War I many homes had to be rebuilt because the Germans used artillery," he says We pause by a pre-1800 building that used to be a home for priests and is now used by the police It is no longer needed by the church since priests now serve three to four small-town parishes at a time We pass by the "Tree of Freedom," where a tree has been planted in the middle of a quiet street since 1831 Little activity is stirring on the streets on a Tuesday afternoon you generally won't find people here with active ties to Mishawaka he says he discovered "many of these people (in Hansbeke) didn't realize they had family in the U.S." I come back to Aalter and stop off at the yellow bar garage and train station to quiz random people about their last names the words South Bend and Mishawaka don't register in their minds crafted their book without ever stepping foot in Mishawaka interviews and archive digging in Belgium and the help of people in Mishawaka and elsewhere in the U.S who e-mailed them family details and photos They published it in 2009 as part of the annual exhibition of Hansbeke's small historical society "Not bad for a guy who's never been there," Van Ooteghem quips Van Ooteghem says his own grandfather had emigrated to the U.S. when he sailed back to pick up his fiancée and future wife two of his grandfather's brothers and a sister did stay in the U.S The brothers were masons who helped to build the BK Club One brother remained in Mishawaka as the other moved to Detroit -- and Van Ooteghem's parents would write to those relatives a few times each year That may sound like a lot of back-and-forth His dad moved to Mishawaka in 1912 and worked for the Ball Band shoe factory leaving behind a house that they'd bought on Mishawaka's Seventh Street but couldn't sell in the midst of the Depression his now-deceased father had traveled twice to Mishawaka a 68-year-old retiree of the phone company with a heart condition doesn't see himself ever making the cross-Atlantic flight to visit He stays in touch with his American relatives He flips open his laptop and travels by Internet Contact staff writer Joseph Dits at JDits@SBTinfo.com 574-235-6158 and www.facebook.com/tribune.josephdits Today: Visiting the town that birthed Belgian heritage with Flemish relatives across the Atlantic Tuesday: Hunt for Belgian heritage here in Michiana Find a copy of the book "Emigration from Hansbeke to America: 1830-1930" by Marc Van Ooteghem and Willy Quintyn at the main Mishawaka Public Library and the main St Look for it in their history/genealogy rooms.Also read it online at the Mishawaka library's website Under "Services," go to "Heritage Center/Genealogy" and then find it under "Immigration."The 2009 book is sold out "excuses for the grammatical errors in English." So don't be thrown off by a few Dutch prepositions in the text "En" means "and," and "het" and "de" mean "the." Belgian beats Laporte and De Lie to the line after peloton is hit by mass crash just over 1km from finish The Belgian led home a vastly reduced front group with the peloton having been decimated by a mass crash just outside the final kilometre of the 178.5km stage Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) rounded out the podium it was Philipsen who sped to a clear win with few real rivals at the line the third sprint finish of the race was always an inevitability and so it proved once the final breakaway survivor Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) was caught 8km from the finish Sprinter's teams including Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lotto-Dstny battled for control of the peloton over the closing kilometres of a stage which was run at an average of near 49kph The stage did eventually get its closing sprint finish though not exactly as many of the teams had planned it A coming together near the front of the peloton just outside the flamme rouge meant that the bulk of the lead group was ruled out of the sprint While several sprinters and their trains were heavily disrupted Alpecin-Deceuninck's lead-out remained largely intact and so the team were able to launch Philipsen to a clear victory ahead of Laporte and De Lie Double stage winner Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) the Italian settling for eighth place at the finish Stage 4 of the Renewi Tour would take the peloton on a 178.5km flat run from Oostburg to Aalter crossing the Netherlands-Belgium border east of Bruges and not too far away from the North Sea Despite there being no hills to speak of during the stage there would still be some challenges to encounter It would take around 20km of racing before a breakaway established itself off the front with a seven-man group going clear on the local lap around Oostburg Jack Rootkin-Gray (EF Education-EasyPost) and Ayco Bastiaens (Soudal-QuickStep) were joined out front by Simon Pellaud (Tudor) and Jordy Bouts (TDT-Unibet) as the group took two minutes on the peloton splitting it up several times before it came back as one as the race entered Belgium with 120km to go The high speeds that marked the start of the stage didn't slow then with the peloton chasing down the break as the race early on first of the two 47km finishing laps Stefan De Bod (EF Education-EasyPost) launched a counter move beginning a new breakaway as Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Luca Van Boven (Bingoal WB) went along for the ride and Alex Colman (Flanders-Baloise) made it six out front shortly afterwards while Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lidl-Trek controlled behind The break held an advantage of 40 seconds as they began the final lap though their time out front was numbered as the sprint squads closed in almost all of the riders in the move were brought back The Belgian persevered into the final 10km but he was forced to accept the inevitable 8km out leaving the sprinter's teams up to command the final Alpecin and Lidl were once again prominent at the front as the likes of Intermarché-Wanty and Visma-Lease A Bike joined them in the pacemaking it shot back up once again as the riders headed for the final kilometres with the big sprint teams continuing in control at the front All was set for a showdown between Alpecin and Lidl though a mass crash at the least opportune time put paid to that leaving a skeleton peloton to contest the win and Philipsen to speed through and take the 50th win of his career Results powered by FirstCycling Dani has reported from the world's top races She has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars and her favourite races are the Giro d'Italia Dutch dairy giant FrieslandCampina is selling a milk powder operation in Belgium to another Netherlands-based dairy business Dutch dairy giant FrieslandCampina is selling its milk powder operations at the cooperative’s facility in Aalter A spokesperson for FrieslandCampina confirmed the co-op has two operations at Aalter – the milk powder towers to be sold to Netherlands-headquartered Royal A-ware and a plant focused on consumer dairy products for the retail sector The latter will be retained and is earmarked for investment.  The towers have the capacity to produce about 45,000 tons of milk powder and the 40 employees will transfer over to Royal A-ware once a final agreement has been concluded between the two parties Selling the milk powder operations is part of a programme to optimise FrieslandCampina’s manufacturing structure in a plan announced in November mainly to reduce over capacity in some product areas.  document.write('');Alchemer is an advanced survey platform for professionals. scalable. secure. integrated. Please take my survey now FrieslandCampina said it expects the transaction to be completed before the end of the first quarter Royal A-ware plans to invest in the milk powder site Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis Earlier this month, the co-op announced it would close its Yoko cheese facility in the Belgium town of Genk by the end of next year And the company also plans to close its milk powder facility in Dronrijp and discontinue manufacturing of whey and milk powders at Gerkesklooster although that site will still produce other dairy products such as cheese In November, the co-op said 195 positions would go at a couple of plants in Germany in Heilbronn and Cologne as it scales back production of "unprofitable products" although the sites will remain operational Nominations are now open for the prestigious Just Food Excellence Awards - one of the industry's most recognised programmes celebrating innovation This is your chance to showcase your achievements Don't miss the opportunity to be honoured among the best - submit your nomination today Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network. Following the news the East Flanders public prosecutor's office opened an investigation at the end of March. It is investigating whether Mayor De Crem's administration has committed violations of the anti-racism law. Unia is now also registering as an aggrieved party in this case and is filing a complaint. After its own analysis of the practices the equal opportunities centre believes there may have been discrimination based on national or ethnic origin and violations of the anti-racism law. An investigation by Pano and De Morgen revealed how in Aalter non-Belgians have to wait an average of 9 times longer than Belgians before being registered in the municipality. This is because in the case of non-Belgians, the municipality more frequently requests an inspection of the quality of the housing and this sometimes takes months. During that waiting period, people are not officially granted their domicile in Aalter, not even provisionally, and that results in numerous practical problems. "There does appear to be a clear pattern," says Unia director Els Keytsman. "Some people who register in Aalter are welcome, others are suspect. And that is based on their surname." "So we suspect unequal treatment. If it is true that the city cabinet has asked the administration to delay those applications with a residence check, then this is no longer about an administrative issue, it is criminal discrimination." Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. it is astonishing to believe the driver managed to survive Footage taken by a truck's dashcam has revealed the moment a car cuts across two lanes collides with a stationary lorry and then is crashed into by the vehicle filming the whole shocking scene the driver of the Ford Focus survived the ordeal Belgium - had watched the footage "several times" now and was incredibly happy to be alive The crash occurred on the E40 motorway near to the town of Aalter in the Flanders region of Belgium The video shows Claeys cutting across the motorway to get into the far right lane yet her view is obscured by a DHL truck in the middle she fails to notice a parked lorry and the right side of her car ploughs into the vehicle and ripping off the roof immediately The car is forced sideways into the middle lane and into the path of another lorry which is filming the scene from a dashcam and the rest of the video just shows various objects - a pink container a shoe and various other car debris - flying across the motorway as the truck driver comes to a halt The video was posted to Facebook by Marian Wójcik, the Polish truck driver who filmed the event. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies A woman in Belgium is lucky to be alive after surviving a collision with two trucks on a freeway Jasmien Claeys was exiting at Aalter when her light blue Ford abruptly changed lanes A dashboard camera on one of the trucks that hit Claeys' car shows that she switched lanes from the far left to the far right without seeing that traffic on the rightmost lane had already stopped The 25-year-old woman from Belgium was said to have been "in a coma for a while" but is now recovering from her injuries which include two broken vertebrae and a crushed hand -- extremely lucky considering the way her car was totaled in the accident According to the website HNL.be, Claeys felt like she had a guardian angel, especially when she watched the video of the accident on Aug. 13 posted on Facebook by Marian Wójcik "I feel extremely happy," she said on the Dutch news site Claeys has a long road of rehabilitation and physical therapy ahead of her Highway accidents involving trucks often end with those in the car being killed The sheer force of a collision with an 18-wheeler is enough to lead to serious injuries; however statistics show that 72 percent of accidents with trucks are the fault of other vehicles As shown in the dashboard video involving Claeys the accident could have been avoided by simply following general safety rules when driving on high-speed roads especially around big rucks that hinder vision and create bigger blind spots than normal Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage The 2020 BinckBank Tour starts in Blankenberge Belgium with flat roads in West Flanders to Ardooie Rather than continue with a planned 11km individual time trial in Vlissingen in the Netherlands along the North Sea organisers were forced to have a rest day on Wednesday instead The start of Thursday's stage in Philippine and the stage finish in Sittard on Friday also impacted the race which made new plans to keep the entire event in Belgium as the Dutch government imposed new limits prohibiting public attendance at sporting events in its borders Stage 2 was revised for Thursday as a 157km stage with the start and finish in Aalter in East Flanders Aalter is located about 40km south of the original start in Philippine and was planned to host the finish of this route A new course will provide seven local circuits instead of the original three Stage 3 now provide an 8.1km individual time trial in Riemst which was originally set to host of the start of a 195.4km stage to Sittard on Friday The time trial will head from the Albert Canal near Kanne and immediately climb the Slingerberg a 600m climb with an average six per cent grade head north-west before crossing the canal and turning back south-east on the Muizenberg within sight of the Dutch border back to Kanne The final stage on Saturday from Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve to Geraardsbergen remains unchanged It will include four circuits in Geraardsbergen with the traditional finish on the Vesten Bosberg and the Wall of Geraardsbergen.  De Plus started the stage just 12 seconds down on Wellens and then gave his all in the final gaining enough time to win the WorldTour stage race Are you ready to elevate your pharmaceutical operations Download our exclusive whitepaper and discover how compliance with Good Distribution Practice (GDP) is essential for the safety and integrity of pharmaceuticals ProteiNext is an annual symposium that offers a platform for sharing insights on protein analysis Stelling Properties have won three awards at this year’s Offsite Awards including the top ‘Winner of Winners’ Award Modular construction specialists Stelling Properties has achieved the award for Best Use of Volumetric Technology and the highly coveted Winner of Winners Award for its landmark purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) project in Southampton at the tenth Offsite Awards Its R&D team also won the Product Innovation Award in collaboration with Aalter for the Stelling Properties Building Configurator The Offsite Awards ceremony shone a spotlight on the leading businesses and innovators at the forefront of offsite construction in the UK the awards received over 200 entries in 23 categories The winners were announced at a ceremony at Coventry Arena as part of Offsite Expo and Offsite Construction Week.  “We are absolutely thrilled to receive this industry recognition and particularly the Winner of Winners award These accolades are such a credit to our teams across the business who do such outstanding work and who continue to push the boundaries of modular technology in the residential sector.” Stelling’s winning development – 31 High Street – is a pioneering regeneration project in Southampton which has brought a fire damaged building back to life after it remained derelict for over a decade The development represents a £12m investment by Stelling to develop this prominent and highly constrained site using advanced modular technology.  The original listed stone façade of the former Bank of England building has been restored and a five-storey modular extension has provided 121 self-contained studio apartments It will help meet the critical undersupply of student accommodation in the city “This was an excellent submission and a standout project demonstrating all the benefits that offsite brings It had high levels of innovation in its design and delivery “The challenges of working on a heritage site and a constrained city centre location were overcome by intelligent use of volumetric technology along with traditional elements “A sophisticated and elegant solution emerged Very well done to the Stelling Properties team.” The Building Configurator represents a significant leap forward in the application of modular construction for major multi-occupancy residential developments by automating design workflows to radically reduce project time and cost “31 High Street demonstrates the enormous potential of our offsite construction solutions and the technical capabilities of our teams – from architectural design to manufacturing offsite fitout and on-site refurbishment of a locally listed building This site is completely enclosed on three sides and would have been extremely difficult to develop using traditional construction methods “To deliver a scheme of this scale in just a few months and to such high quality energy efficiency and architectural standards It also showcases really well how offsite construction can be applied to regeneration and refurbishment schemes as well as to new build residential developments “We were also delighted to receive the award that has recognised our commitment to digital innovation Our new building configurator leverages digital technology to streamline and enhance every phase of our modular design and construction processes.”  Stelling Properties works as a trusted partner to contractors housing operators and investors in the design construction and maintenance of premium residential developments built offsite they've received offers from Belgian host cities to allow the final three stages to go ahead A surge in coronavirus cases in its biggest cities led the Dutch government to impose new limits prohibiting public attendance at sporting events It forced the cancellation of the BinckBank Tour's individual time trial in Vlissingen on Wednesday the start of Thursday's stage in Philippine and the stage finish in Sittard on Friday Riders were given a rest day on Wednesday rather than head into the Netherlands for the scheduled time trial as organisers engaged in last-minute negotiations to allow the race to go ahead.  They managed to devise a course for stage 3 on Thursday with the original finish town Aalter also hosting the start Riemst - originally host of the start of a 195.4km long stage 4 to Sittard on Friday - will now shift their stage to an 8.1km individual time trial the stages will carefully skirt the Netherlands while remaining within sight of it Dutch BinckBank Tour stages cancelled due to coronavirus surge Philipsen takes sprint on BinckBank Tour stage 1 Amstel Gold races cancelled due to Dutch coronavirus restrictions The time trial will head from the Albert Canal near Kanne and immediately climb the Slingerberg, a 600m climb with an average six per cent grade, head north-west before crossing the canal and turning back south-east on the Muizenberg within sight of the Dutch border back to Kanne. "With this time trial, which runs completely across our territory, we can present our municipality even more beautifully and better than was the case with the original start. Every cycling enthusiast will discover Kanne, one of the most beautiful villages in our country, just like ours." The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! Thursday's stage will now begin in Aalter, located about 40km south of the original start in Philippine, and finish there as originally scheduled.  "Just like in Aalter, where we can continue the BinckBank Tour on Thursday with a redesigned ride, we are also very grateful to the municipality of Riemst for making this solution possible," said Gert Van Goolen, spokesman for the BinckBank Tour. "It promises to be a great time trial in Limburg. With the help of both Aalter and Riemst, we managed to continue the BinckBank Tour in just half a day." The current classification, with stage 1 winner Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) at the top of the overall and points standings and Milan Menten (Sport Vlaanderen Baloise) leading the Sprints classification, will remain the same heading into Thursday's stage 2 in Aalter.  The final stage on Saturday from Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve to Geraardsbergen, a hilly one suited to the Classics specialists, now has even more importance for the overall classification. A remarkable find has been made in an old warehouse in central Brussels Some 20 rare Ferraris and Porsches were gathering dust until the Aalter-based company Oldtimerfarm was alerted to the collection that had been found there It's believed it was at least a decade ago that a cllector parked more than 20 exclusive sports cars in an old shed in central Brussels During a 'barn find' - a term used for exceptional discoveries in forgotten places - the cars resurfaced The exclusive fleet consists of 16 Ferraris and six Porsches and are in good condition," says Xavier Molenaar of Oldtimerfarm "They were neatly covered and were on the first floor The business manager prefers not to comment on the exact amount but they are probably worth several million euros "The large number of Ferrari Testarossas Other eye-catching vehicles include rare air-cooled turbocharged Porsche 911s and S-models "We suspect that only about a dozen of these were produced in this colour" That and its exceptional condition most likely make the sports car a one-of-a-kind in the whole world "This is a very exceptional collection," Xavier Molenaar intimates "Owners of similar cars usually sell their old models before buying new ones  Twenty-two being discovered in the same place is unprecedented in Belgium." The likelihood of any more such finds hiding in Brussels seems low According to daily Het Laatste Nieuws he is a wealthy industrialist who assembled the collection years ago and then moved abroad The owner still wishes to remain anonymous The exact location of the warehouse has not been disclosed either the collection can be viewed at the Oldtimerfarm's showroom the burgomaster of the municipality of Aalter (East Flanders) does not want his local town hall to be dubbed "The Cremlin" any longer Local inhabitants in Aalter have been calling their town hall "The Cremlin" for a while now a pun connected to the name of their long-time mayor While Pieter De Crem had no problem with that in the past this has changed since the Russians invaded the Ukraine a war that is being steered from the Kremlin in Moscow "I never lost my sleep for this nickname But the international situation has changed now and I think it is better to stop calling it that" The defence ministry plans to build a new East Flemish army base in Ursel (Aalter) Plans to build the new base near Geraardsbergen are no longer under consideration Plans to close the Koksijde air base in West Flanders have also been scrapped The defence ministry will even increase housing for military personnel in Koksijde The previous government decided to build a new army barracks in Geraardsbergen (East Flanders) ‘A project in ‘Aalter/Ursel’ was always the defence ministry's preference but was rejected by the previous government in favour of Geraardsbergen,’ says an officer involved in the dossier There are claims former prime minister Alexander De Croo (Flemish liberal Open VLD) who hails from a neighbouring municipality promoted Geraardsbergen for electoral reasons the defence ministry already owns a lot of land and it even has a small airport there The current government is now following the defence ministry’s preferred option: Ursel Both the Belgian armed forces’ air component and the land component are showing great interest in the site ‘Both components are looking for additional space and it has not yet been decided who will get preference,’ said one person involved The land component claims it could use the space and green surroundings at Ursel especially now that many new armoured vehicles are being delivered The defence ministry wants to recruit almost 10,000 extra staff during this parliament and that will require extra space Plans to sell the Koksijde air force base have now been completely reversed the defence ministry will also build new housing Search and Rescue capacity including the NH90 helicopter will remain based at Koksijde the defence ministry will also invest in new rescue helicopters so that the NH90 helicopters can be fully deployed to the Navy frigates There are also plans for a new command centre at the Zeebrugge naval base Plans to build a tower are being changed to an underground command centre due to the current security situation the foundation stone will be laid for a new headquarters for the Belgian armed forces at the Queen Elisabeth Base The new headquarters will be on the site of the old NATO HQ high-security site including several buildings will accommodate nearly 4,000 staff The main building itself consists mainly of offices with 2,800 workstations that will house all services of the Defence Staff the Military Intelligence Service (ADIV) as well as ‘Cyber Command’ The new headquarters will cost 500 million euros There will also be at least two new ammunition storage sites the defence ministry still has one large ammunition depot near the Walloon town of Bertrix As the ministry wants to expand ammunition stocks once again space is also needed with more secure storage The ministry wants to open two new storage sites where ammunition manufacturer FN Herstal has a factory A Belgian judge has arrested three suspects in connection the murder of the lord of Wingene Castle his brother-in-law and a 61 year-old man from Aalter have been arrested and stand accused of murder but blood was found in the castle hall and along the drive Detectives have also recovered a spent cartridge fuelling speculation that Mr Saelens has been murdered by relatives unhappy with his plans to emigrate to Australia On Wednesday the police detained six people They include four suspects who have been detained at an earlier occasion There are the estate agent's father-in-law and brother-in-law as well as a number of Chechen nationals known to the police Prosecutors are now believed to be thinking that Stijn Saelens is the victim of a contract killing Four of the suspects were first detained on 4 February but later freed due to lack of evidence Public prosecutors were only prepared to say that the detentions now were the result of new elements in the investigation VRT crime reporter Philip Heymans suggests that it looks like investigators are thinking along the lines of a contract killing involving somebody who ordered the killing a mediator and the people who committed the murder: "It's not clear why these people have been detained The six people detained were questioned overnight and appeared before a judge in the course of Thursday 34-year-old Stijn Saelens (photo) disappeared on 31 January from Wingene Castle where he was living with wife and children The local prosecutor believes that he has been murdered Search operations have not yielded any results so far As a result of the freezing condition Belgium's Police Missing Persons' Unit had to delay its operations Now that the thaw has set in it is redoubling its efforts In the course of Thursday detectives targeted a chalet belonging to a 61-year-old man from Aalter Police are still searching for the remains of Stijn Saelens and are searching the chalet that is located in the hamlet of Maria-Aalter and its surrounding woodland counsel for the missing estate agent's father-in-law told reporters he still believes in his client’s innocence "He says that he's totally innocent" the renowned lawyer told VRT News "I believe him until the contrary is proved Experience tells me that killers are very nervous or that they try to repress things and that shows in their body language but of course I cannot look into his soul"