Brussels | featured news

Thousands of workers protested in Brussels on Thursday to demand that EU leaders gathering for a summit bring an end to austerity measures and instead focus on boosting growth and reducing unemployment.

Robbers dressed as police and armed with machine guns have stolen 120 parcels of diamonds worth millions of dollars from the runway of Brussels Airport in one of the biggest heists the industry has seen.

Thousands of Ethiopians descended on the centre of the capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday to mourn Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, their firm-handed ruler of more than two decades, whose body was flown home after his death in a Brussels hospital at 57.

With mounds of European debt due to be refinanced early next year, the crisis is far from over, and there are risks even in getting the Brussels deal ratified.

The agreement by alliance ambassadors, meeting on Sunday night in Brussels paves the way for the United States to relinquish its temporary leadership of the operation, ending days of diplomatic wrangling.

The pope criticized the “lamentable methods” of Belgian police who last week confiscated files, detained bishops and drilled into the tomb of at least one cardinal in the Brussels cathedral in a search for documents.

A painting by the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte was stolen from a small Brussels museum this morning by two armed men who rang the doorbell before putting a gun to the concierge's head.

Diplomats reached agreement on Friday on a declaration for next week's politically charged United Nations conference on racism, adding to the pressure on Washington and Brussels to decide whether to attend.