​CategoriesCategoriesEnglishECONOMYMass layoffs at Agfa threaten 530 jobs amid declining film production14 November 2024 Film manufacturer Agfa has announced a major restructuring at its plant in Flanders putting 530 jobs at risk as demand for traditional film products continues to decline The latest round of cuts will affect both production and administrative staff Agfa has struggled with decreasing orders for its film products are needed to “adapt spending to the market reality” Agfa wants to save 50 million euros over the next three years The union is advocating for measures to make Belgium’s industry more competitive globally including a fairer tax climate and increased public investment Agfa has said it will work to minimise forced layoffs It is considering options such as voluntary exits and redeployment within the company It is set to play a role in Agfa’s newer ventures which the company hopes will create growth opportunities in the future #FlandersNewsService | Workers at the Agfa-Gevaert headquarters in Mortsel © BELGA PHOTO KRISTOF VAN ACCOM 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 management and trade unions at Agfa-Gevaert in Mortsel (Antwerp Province) have reached an agreement on a restructuring plan that will see staff numbers reduced by 470 in the short term and 530 by 2027 Around 1,800 people currently work at Agfa’s Mortsel site The reorganisation at Agfa-Gevaert had long been expected Job cuts were already announced last summer The image processing company's sales and turnover figures have been poor for some time now when Agfa announced its restructuring plan in November the impact on employment at the Mortsel factory was far greater than the unions had expected Now management and the unions at the factory have reached an agreement that will “bring the cost base into line with the market reality” The company will thoroughly reorganise all aspects of its film-related activities “with the aim of realising savings of 50 million euro by the end of 2027.” including blue- and white-collar workers and executives Forced redundancies are to be largely avoided as Agfa is counting on natural wastage (for example though retirement) and staff opting for voluntary redundancy Levels of severance pay that will be given to those that take voluntary redundancy have not been disclosed Poot Architectuur is a studio in Antwerp founded by Sarah Poot in 2014 active in public housing as well as in the design of private homes it has recently completed a newly built terraced house inserted into the compact and uniform fabric of a residential district dating from the 1950s In an attempt to give the building personality by breaking with the regular alignment of the surrounding the architects have adopted the poetics of the curved line creating a visual effect that evokes the designs of Alvar Aalto for whom sinuosity was not an irrational gesture but an expression of the rigorous logic of nature Looking at it from the viewpoint of its plan the house takes on the appearance of a sort of soft and malleable organic form that finds its freedom by bulging out towards the street and the garden In fact the only straight walls in the house are the ones set against the adjoining buildings All the rest is governed by the law of the curve starting with the two fronts of red brick with their attractive bow windows projecting outwards “We always construct ‘in and with’ the context In this case the surrounding houses were somewhat lacking in sources of inspiration apart from a few bow-windows here and there an architectural element we have reinterpreted And then the red brick: it’s another feature typical of Belgium and the neighbourhood that we chose to propose again,” comments Poot in a layout that turns around the cylindrical sculpture of the spiral staircase: on the ground floor it screens the kitchen with its long worktop which has a double-height space illuminated by the ample opening onto the street while the living area with sofas is located in the innermost part of the open-plan space in the concave section generated by the front the architects have created a lowered area with a cosy atmosphere and organic lines characterized by a green fitted carpet that echoes the colour of the staircase It is remarkable how they have succeeded with very scanty means and materials – sculptural forms and shades of colour inserted at strategic points – in alleviating the essentiality of the concrete The upper levels have been designed to favour privacy and silence On the first floor the master bedroom has its own bathroom and a large terrace while the top floor is occupied by the study and two supplementary bedrooms What is striking is the skill shown in exploiting the space with efficiency and at the same time poetry through brilliant but never expensive solutions “Luxury is not to be sought in costly materials or techniques but in spaciousness,” explains the architect ”Creating generous spaces within a limited perimeter is one of the typical themes of our design.” and website in this browser for the next time I comment Abitare.it e Style.corriere.it rifiutando tutti i cookie di profilazione ad eccezione di quelli tecnici necessari Naviga il sito di Abitare.it con pubblicità profilata e senza abbonarti By subscribing you will reject all but technical cookies on Iodonna.it By clicking "accept" you will allow to process your personal data by us and third parties and be able to browse Abitare.it website without a subscription The advantage of outsourcing IT services to an independent company tend to increase as hospitals with multiple healthcare facilities and regions of hospitals consolidate their services Dr Geisinger described the complex investigation and strategic operational planning issues and concerns that a hospital must make in selecting and negotiating with a vendor service provider.  “The process is not easy or fast A management framework must be defined,” he said the Vienna General Hospital introduced DeepUnity which is used in clinics around the world today taking the next step in image data management SmartXR is designed to make users' work easier and to support them in image acquisition positioning the patient or setting optimal acquisition parameters.… healthcare budgets put more pressure on efficiency while quality of care has to meet ever increasing standards Agfa has chosen to direct its development of… This website uses cookies to give our readers the best website experience. Please refer to our privacy policy to find out how we use cookies and how you can edit your preferences Palazzo Grassi presented Italy’s first solo exhibition of Luc Tuymans (Mortsel considered one of the most influential artists on the international scene The exhibition is entitled ‘La Pelle’ (‘The Skin’) - taken from Curzio Malaparte’s 1949 book The exhibition is entitled ‘La Pelle’ (‘The Skin’) - taken from Curzio Malaparte’s 1949 book - used here less in the literal sense The exhibition was curated by Caroline Bourgeois in collaboration with Luc Tuymans whose goal was to bring to life a pictorial experience that “presents much more powerful content than one could possibly imagine” Luc Tuymans dedicated himself to painting as of the mid-1980s and he has contributed to a renaissance of the pictorial medium in contemporary art His work addresses issues from the past and recent history but also everyday subjects through a repertoire of images taken from the personal and public spheres - such as the press television and the Internet - represented through a rarefied light proffering them to the public in a form designed to arouse a certain degree of discomfort so as to achieve - as the artist himself describes it - an “authentic falsification” of reality “The idea for the exhibition came about during the two years I spent working together with Caroline Bourgeois nor is it characterised by any sort of temporal linearity but there is a site-specific idea underpinning it establishing a dialogue between the work and the spaces.” taking visitors on a journey that is focused on a selection of paintings from 1986 to the present day It starts with iconic pieces from Luc Tuymans’ oeuvre some of which have been created with an unusual technique capable of producing unexpected visual effects “Once I have decided that I want to paint an image I have used a substance that causes the canvas to crack before it is supposed to so that the painting looked as if it had already aged as soon as it was completed is not exactly a portrait in the traditional sense but rather a face projected onto a doll’s face It is the representation of a gaze that embodies all the incomprehension and shock felt in response to certain political social and cultural events that took place in 2017 “It depicts a woman who seems to be in distress or very upset or frightened The artist likes to play with juxtapositions of colour Nowhere is this more evident than in the room where Venedig Issei Sagawa and Candle are displayed: four works from private collections and various museums but telling very different stories in this exhibition The artist’s personal memories have intermingled with the history of Venice itself to create new and unusual landscape views in multiple dimensions but there are also echoes of crime scene photographs the renewed idea of masks covering the faces of his portraits and an investigation into the tonalities of the concept of light an element without which “no painting or image could possibly exist” but rather directly on a piece of canvas nailed to the wall which is only mounted on a frame once it is complete none of my paintings are ever the same size.” designed in conjunction with the artist himself is a response to the eighth carte blanche invitation that characterises the major solo projects of the Pinault Collection and also includes a site-specific piece created by Luc Tuymans especially for the spaces of Palazzo Grassi the artist featured in an ‘Art Conversation’ at the Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi in which he dialogued with curator Caroline Bourgeois as well as critics Marc Donnadieu and Jarrett Earnest authors of the exhibition catalogue for ‘La Pelle’ Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana are open every day Practical information A day after their parents and grandparents voted in the municipal and provincial elections pupils at a primary school in Mortsel (Antwerp Province) have been voting for their representatives in their school’s “Pupil Parliament” Less than 24 hours after the polls closed in the local elections pupils at the De Bolster primary school in Mortsel around 10km south of Antwerp are voting for their representatives in what the school calls its “Pupil Parliament” There is no lack of enthusiasm for the election and around 6 pupils from each class are standing for election Teacher Sien Geysen told VRT News that “The timing of the election is a coincidence We have timed it so that we can pick up on the municipal elections” "The children see that their parents are going to vote and above all our older pupils talk about this in class” "From the 3rd year they are able to stand for election to the Pupil Parliament but all pupils at the primary school can vote." "It has really caught their interest as you can see from the number of posters that have been put up Pupils that wish to stand for election have to make a poster listing 5 points that they wish to see addressed 8-year-old Lucy Debaene told VRT News that "I would like there to be more things for us to play on in the yard” Millie De Meulder (also 8) said “I would like more green and less paving stones on the school yard” Luus De Raedt (7) said that "If everything stays the same it is a bit boring Millie De Mulder adds that "If the teachers were to decide everything that doesn’t mean it would be what we want” That’s why I think that the Pupil Parliament is really good" The 3 friends are all standing for election but what will happen if 1 of them is elected and the others aren’t "We will still remain friends” they all said Lucy Debaene added that "The person that is elected can still use the others’ ideas” mister-baseball.com Passionate about European baseball since 2007 The Mortsel Stars added American pitcher Vinny Lally to the 2013 roster. The left-handed pitcher played for Yale University, where he earned a 16-7 record and 4.62 ERA over his 181 innings at the Division I level. The lefty appeared in 57 games, which included 27 starts, five complete games and three shutouts. Lally racked up 175 strikeouts and allowed just 153 hits in a career that also included an All-Ivy Honorable Mention in 2010 when he went 7-2 with a 4.71 ERA. Besides Lally, the Stars already added 6 additional players to their roster, while not losing any of the regular 2012 players. Shane Van Elsacker (C), Juan Alcantera (3B), Wesley Janssens (2B), Dorian Reynaerts (1B), Maxim Van Hoorebeek (P) and Jonathan Duran Garcia (UT) are the new additions. Also pitching coach Alwin Van Maanen and assistant coach Yves van Strijdonck are broadening the coaching staff. 3 people have been arrested as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the smuggling of narcotics through the port of Antwerp. Among those arrested is a former Alderman from the town of Mortsel, just south of Antwerp. The Antwerp Federal Judicial Police also searched 5 properties and confiscated luxury goods, mobile phones and 9,000 euro in cash. The 5 properties, in Mortsel, Wilrijk and the centre of Antwerp, were searched on Tuesday morning. The Antwerp prosecutor’s office spokesman Kristof Aerts told VRT News that "This is a criminal organisation that was involved in the transit of cocaine through the port of Antwerp”.   The alleged trafficking took place in in 2020 and 2021. “This all came to light thanks to information we had obtained through the Sky ECC investigation”. There were also allegedly plans to transport the drugs in concealed spaces inside vehicles. During the property searches 3 men aged between 27 and 29 were arrested. One of them is a former Alderman that was a member of the town cabinet in Mortsel (Antwerp Province).   The suspects will be questioned and then it will be decided whether or not they will be charged. In 2021 the police announced that they had managed to crack the “uncrackable” encrypted messaging service Sky ECC. This allowed them to read into the plans of a host of criminals, many of whom involved in drug trafficking. They were able to follow their activities for some 2 years. This has resulted in hundreds of cases being opened and thousands of suspects being identified.  ​CategoriesCategoriesEnglishJUSTICE, EUBelgian Koen Lenaerts elected president of EU Court of Justice for fourth time 8 October 2024 Belgian Koen Lenaerts has been elected president of the Court of Justice of the European Union for the fourth time began his career at the Court of Justice as a legal secretary in 1984 he briefly made a sidestep as a lawyer at the Brussels Bar but since 1989 he has been a judge at the EU Court of Justice his fellow judges elected him president for the first time third mandate expired on 6 October and his fourth mandate began on Tuesday The EU Court of Justice is composed of one judge from each member state and 11 advocates-general They are appointed for a renewable six-year term by the member states they elect a president for a three-year renewable term Lenaerts was reappointed by the federal government as a judge in 2020 a mandate that also expires on 6 October 2027 The Court of Justice is one of the European Union's most important institutions the judges ensure that European law is interpreted and applied in the same way in all member states It has had considerable influence on the development of the EU in recent decades #FlandersNewsService | Koen Lenaerts speaks in Brno September 2023 © PHOTO CTK PHOTO / PATRIK UHLIR As part of the cycle of monographic shows dedicated to major contemporary artists launched in 2012 and alternating with thematic exhibitions of the Pinault Collection Palazzo Grassi presents Luc Tuymans’ first personal exhibition in Italy Download the digital exhibition guide Curated by Caroline Bourgeois in collaboration with the artist (Mortsel It includes over 80 works from the Pinault Collection international museums and private collections and focuses on the artist’s paintings from 1986 to today Considered as one of the most influential painters of the international art scene Luc Tuymans has been dedicating himself to figurative painting since the mid 1980s and has contributed throughout his career to the rebirth of this medium in contemporary art His works deal with questions connected to the past and to more recent history and address subjects of our daily lives through a set of images borrowed from the private and public spheres – the press The artist renders these images by dissolving them in an unusual and rarefied light; the slight anxiety that emanates from them is able to trigger – according to the artist himself – an ‘authentic forgery’ of reality The exhibition project corresponds to the eighth ‘carte blanche’ given by the Pinault Collection to its artists as an invitation to conceive major monographic exhibitions presented in Venice Luc Tuymans also unveils a site-specific work created specifically for the spaces of Palazzo Grassi The thrift store Opnieuw & Co in Mortsel Belgium recently made a discovery that’s like opening a Hollywood time capsule While sorting through a box of donated clothing and other items workers there found an old photo album featuring the same woman posing next to A-list celebrities were taken a long time ago—Elijah Wood was just a kid and Bruce Willis was still rocking a full head of hair Typically, personal photographs are destroyed if they reach the thrift store, but employees figured that this album was too special and might’ve been given to them by mistake. Opnieuw & Co turned to the internet where it was eventually determined that the lady present in all of the photos was Maria Snoeys-Lagler a former member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) The HFPA is a non-profit organization of journalists and photographers who report on the entertainment industry; you might hear the name in association with Golden Globe Awards Snoeys-Lagler was a Hollywood reporter who died in 2016 at the age of 87 After figuring out the identity of the woman in the photographs one of Belgium’s national TV stations used their contacts to locate Snoeys-Lagler’s daughter in California to ensure that the album will make its way safely to her 25+ Photos of Celebrities Posing with Their Younger Selves Artist Reimagines Modern-Day Celebrities as 1990s Superstars Cinematic Portraits of a Young Kate Moss and Other Celebrities Want to advertise with us? Visit My Modern Met Media Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening has received a European subsidy to increase production of its alkaline electrolyser membranes it is stepping up its collaboration with the Vito research centre to develop a new more efficient and less expensive generation The plant is scheduled to open in October 2025 in Mortsel Over 100 customers worldwide are already using these membranes The future plant will be able to produce the equivalent of 20 gigawatts a year which has obtained a permit allowing for possible extensions depending on market demand the Belgian manufacturer will be working with its compatriot with which it already developed the first generation of membranes in 2007 They are working on new porous gas separation membranes to improve electrolyser performance and reduce the overall cost of hydrogen production Agfa and VITO are also seeking funding to expand their efforts Do you want to learn more about Belgium? Then our latest articles on the country should interest you. You can access all of our Belgium-related articles here.  Are you a LinkedIn user who would like to follow the latest hydrogen news on a more regular basis? Then our LinkedIn weekly newsletter may be what you’re looking for. You can subscribe to it here.  Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Mariem Ben Tili info@hydrogentoday.info Home Newsletters Calendar Hydrogen in the world Key players in hydrogen Our fact sheets about hydrogen © Copyright – Communicaweb 2025 Legal noticies – Management of personal data  Welcome to bdonline.co.uk. This site uses cookies. Read our policy By Hugh Strange2012-12-24T06:29:00 The architect has built a mirror image of an existing house on this project near Antwerp Only logged in subscribers have access to it Existing subscriber? LOGIN A subscription to Building Design will provide: Subscribe today Alternatively REGISTER for free access on selected stories and sign up for email alerts Site powered by Webvision Cloud turned 109 on Thursday and celebrated with a ride in a vintage car through the streets of her home town and drink a beer now and then.” Her birthday drive ended at a local bar So I deliberately gave him trousers that were too small saying: ‘Is that a pair of trousers for an eight-year-old?’ I pretended to know nothing about it Then we got talking and went to the café nearby.” She still lives independently in a flat in Mortsel with some help from her neighbour Monique Van den Broeck “We have known each other for a long time,” Van den Broeck says “When Denise fell and could no longer walk but it doesn’t last more than five minutes Mayor Erik Broeckx presented Denise with a bouquet of flowers to mark the occasion Police in the town of Mortsel (Antwerp Province) have towed away a cart hat had remained parked in the same place for the past six years Local residents on the Bremveldlaan contacted the police to report the vehicle all attempts by the police to contact the owner of the car failed and it has now been removed Kim Verdoodt of the Minos Local Police Service told VRT Radio 2 Antwerp that “The car is registered and insured which makes it difficult for us to do anything It also took a while before local residents contacted us to tell us that the car was there and had remained there” "We initiated proceeding to contact the owner after all this time we have received no response and so we decided to tow it away” The vehicle is no at a breakdown company in Lier (Antwerp Province) If he or she fails to do so a procedure can be started that will result in the car being sold The proceeds from any sale would be used to pay the for having the car towed away and to meet the costs incurred by having kept it parked at the breakdown company’s yard