It was last Saturday that local police performed checks at newsagents and other stores.  The operation was staged in cooperation with the national social security office and Belgian customs. The illegal snus was found in a shop in Puurs-Sint-Amands. The small bags of tobacco leaves allow you to ingest nicotine without smoking.  It’s a practice that can be particularly addictive. Snus tobacco is popular in Scandinavia, but its sale is banned in all EU states bar Denmark, where it can be accessed for personal use, and Sweden. A total of five shops in Bornem and Puurs-Sint-Amands were checked. During the inspections officials encountered several people doing undeclared work. One undocumented person was also found.  He is now under the jurisdiction of the immigration department in Brussels. ​CategoriesCategoriesEnglishGENERAL, WORLDBarack Obama welcomed by Belgian royalty ahead of speech at Flemish tech event17 March 2024 King Philippe and his daughter received former US president Barack Obama at the Castle of Laeken on Sunday Obama will travel to Puurs Sint-Amands in Antwerp province to give a speech at a technology conference King Philippe previously welcomed Obama to the palace in 2014 as part of a state visit that was followed by his participation in the G7 summit Obama is expected late on Sunday afternoon at the Studio 100 pop-up theatre in Puurs-Saint-Amand for a talk entitled An Evening with President Barack Obama as a prelude to the Supernova technology festival organised by Flanders Technology and Innovation (FTI) The FTI Festival is an umbrella term for festivals in six cities Obama will "take part in a moderated discussion about the challenges we face and his vision for the future" The Antwerp festival will also feature speakers from technology and innovation companies such as IDEO Strict security measures are in place In Puurs-Sint-Amands Drones will be banned in the vicinity of the theatre from 12.00 to 22.00 on Sunday Mayor Koen Van den Heuvel said the temporary drone ban was at the request of security forces to ensure the safety of the airspace during the event Obama will arrive at the venue with a police escort and the venue will undergo a security sweep before his arrival and now all we can do is wait in suspense," the mayor said #FlandersNewsService | © PHOTO BELGIAN ROYAL PALACE ON X 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 project of the K-Tower is an integral part of this vision. It is about offering quality apartments instead of beautiful villas arranged in the periphery, the latter being too excessive, both in land consumption and in the development of urban networks. The site. The site of the Sint-Amandscollege is located inside Kortrijk's periphery, on the bank of the river Leie. The current school buildings strongly vary in appearance as they were constructed at different ages. Courtesy of Philippe Samyn and PartnersThe implantation of the tower. A tower does not set itself anywhere. The new tower is thus situated on the east side of the remaining base, next to Albert Park. This position reinforces the image of the base and closes the ensemble in a logical way. Placed on the bank of the river Leie, the tower is the visual link between the dense city and its vast green periphery. It offers views of an exceptionally wide extent. Courtesy of Philippe Samyn and PartnersPhilippe Samyn has likewise always been concerned about the respect of the five human senses and particularly the respect of natural light. A special attention is paid here as well to the visual, acoustic, olfactory and tactile qualities.  The most striking feature is the significant use of mirrors and glass with a high color rendering index on the façade, which increases the brightness in the building as well as on the terraces. Courtesy of Philippe Samyn and PartnersThe large facades of the tower are thus divided into subsets nested in increasingly small dimensions each of which is materialized by a different treatment based on internal comfort and the intake of natural light: white mirrored or satin finish reflective surfaces associated with the terraces wrapped in perforated sheet metal makes it possible to gradually switch from the large urban scale and vast landscape to the size of the door handle It also ensues that the kinetic image of the tower is always different depending on the time of day and the day of the year You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email hree selected Indonesian lecturers who participated in capacity-building program HigherHeight – Pfizer Biotech Fellowship 2022 visited a Pfizer manufacturing facility in Puurs-Sint-Amands to enhance participants’ medical biotechnology knowledge as well as give them insight into Pfizer’s manufacturing practices and global supply chain The three researchers and lecturers joining the visit are Listya Utami Karmawan chairwoman of the Indonesian Biotechnology Study Program Association and head of Atma Jaya Catholic University’s Biotechnology Program lecturer at Malang State University’s biotechnology program senior researcher at the National and Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and lecturer at Atma Jaya Catholic University’s biotechnology program the lecturers were welcomed by the plant’s Aseptic Manufacturing director Yannick Ancaer and the local team in Puurs The lecturers had a tour of the Puurs facility and engaged in several discussions including on intellectual property protection in the world of scientific research and development Listya said the program would have an impact on the development of biotechnology in Indonesia "As teaching staff and researchers are frontliners in creating the next generation of excellence we really appreciate the opportunity to visit Pfizer’s biotechnology factory in Puurs especially for curriculum development related to medical biotechnology in Indonesia." “We see the HigherHeight - Pfizer Biotech Fellowship as a platform for industry collaboration with universities that can encourage and inspire transformative research assessment and implementation and innovation as well as for further development of Biotechnology curriculum in our institution.” "Our visit to Pfizer's biotechnology factory has inspired us to redouble our efforts in refining and enhancing the quality of Indonesia's human capital in the biotechnology sector and to leverage technology to catalyze transformative innovations that can advance public health.” "We hope that the visit will be a platform to exchange knowledge between the educators and the experts that can inspire the lecturers to further advance medical biotechnology education in Indonesia." Pfizer Puurs manufacturing site is one of the largest production and packaging sites among Pfizer’s global supply network specializing in aseptic production and packaging The Pfizer Puurs facility covers more than 100,000 square meters and manufactures more than 400 million doses of injectable medicines and vaccines every year – excluding the COVID-19 volumes The product physiology ranges from sterile solutions sterile gels and freeze dry products are all packed on site in vials Pfizer Puurs has become the heart of Pfizer’s COVID-19 response efforts globally as it has supplied a few billion of doses of the PfizerBioNTech COVID- 19 vaccine to 175 markets around the world During the capacity-building program of 2022 researchers and lecturers received training and the opportunity to exchange ideas on various topics real-world data to vaccine supply chains with research institutes and the world-class health biotechnology industry The HigherHeight - Pfizer Biotech Fellowship was first held in 2021, attended by 125 students and teaching staff from 11 universities with biotechnology programs nationwide. In 2022, the program focused on the training of trainers for educators, and it was attended by 30 researchers and lecturers from 16 universities. Detailed information about the program can be found at higher-height.com The HigherHeight - Pfizer Biotech Fellowship is a program aimed to accelerate the transformation of national health talents through training and capacity building for medical biotechnology educators and students in Indonesia the theme of the program was Turbocharging Indonesia’s Medical Biotech Education focusing on strengthen the capacity of medical biotechnology lecturers and researchers from 16 participating universities This article is written in partnership with Tenggara Strategics Quickly share this news with your network—keep everyone informed with just a single click Customize your reading experience by adjusting the text size to small or large—find what’s most comfortable for you Production at the Duvel Moortgat Brewery in Puurs-Sint-Amands (Antwerp) has restarted Earlier a cyber-attack on Monday night halted production "Hopefully the brewery’s other sites in Antwerp Oudenaarde and Achouffe will follow soon," a Duvel Moortgat spokesperson says The cyber-attack is under investigation by the Antwerp public prosecutor's office Vedett and Maredsous are once again rolling off the production line at the Duvel Moortgat brewery in Puurs-Sint-Amands our IT specialists have been doing everything possible to get the other sites in Antwerp (De Koninck) Oudenaarde (Liefmans) and Achouffe (La Chouffe) up and running again quickly," says spokesperson Ellen Aarts "Visits to city brewery De Koninck in Antwerp will also continue as per usual." Production of Duvel and other beers had to be halted after a cyber-attack The brewery's built-in security system quickly raised the alarm shutting down the servers for safety reasons The brewer is remaining tight-lipped about the cyber-attack so as not to jeopardise the ongoing investigation by Antwerp prosecutors Duvel Moortgat continues to reassure lovers of its beverages "We have enough stock to supply everyone with beer There is no problem for any of our brands." a pro-Russian hackers' collective claimed responsibility for the attack The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer has annouced that it is to invest more than 1.2 billion euros in its production facility at Puurs-Sint-Amands (Antwerp Province) during the next 3 years In a statement released on Friday the company said that "Pfizer Puurs played a crucial role in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic with the production of a corona vaccine and is important as a "launch site" for innovative medicines" This is the largest investment ever at the site It is estimated that around 250 additional jobs will be created at the Puurs plant The 1.2-billion-euro investment package will be the largest ever in the history of Pfizer’s Puurs site The company says that it is part of its commitment to expanding its manufacturing capacity in Europe Pfizer Puurs played a crucial role in the production of one of the world's first COVID-19 vaccines The Site Manager of Pfizer Puurs Luc Van Steenwinkel told VRT News that "The plant at Puurs made the impossible happen Our COVID-19 vaccine has received an emergency use authorisation in more than 150 countries worldwide This investment will contribute to the fight against the pandemic and provide a large-scale platform for the development of new drugs and vaccines.” Pfizer’s Executive Vice President Mike McDermott said "I am very pleased that this investment will allow us to further support vaccine and drug production," McDermott also emphasizes the Puurs site's importance in "producing groundbreaking drugs that change the lives of patients." The investment is targetted towards three areas: expansion of production capacity expansion of cold storage options and expansion of packaging processes An estimated to 250 additional jobs will be created at Pfizer’s Puurs site Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic Pfizer Puurs' workforce has already grown from 2,800 to 4,500 The Federal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Flemish liberal) told journalists that “I am very proud that Pfizer has again chosen Belgium” “The combination of skilled biopharmaceutical and scientific experts in Belgium our central geographic location and our extensive logistical network are unparalleled” Mr De Croo added that “This investment will contribute to pandemic preparedness in Europe and is a recognition of the enormous contribution made by all the employees of Pfizer Belgium during the COVID-19 pandemic.”