Aalst is a city and municipality in the province of East Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located on the Dender River, about 31 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Brussels. The municipality comprises the city of Aalst itself and the villages of Baardegem, Erembodegem, Gijzegem, Herdersem, Hofstade, Meldert, Moorsel and Nieuwerkerken; it is the tenth largest city by population with 90.068 inhabitants. Aalst is crossed by the Molenbeek-Ter Erpenbeek in Aalst and Hofstade. The current mayor of Aalst is Christoph D'Haese, from the New-Flemish Alliance party. The town has a long-standing folkloric feud with Dendermonde, north along the same river, which dates from the Middle Ages.
The Belgian Negationism law, passed on 23 March 1995, bans public denial of nazi genocide war crimes like the Holocaust. Specifically, this law against negationism makes it illegal to publicly "deny, play down, justify or approve of the genocide committed by the German National Socialist regime during the Second World War". Prosecution is led by the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities. The offense is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year and fines of up to 2,500 EUR.
The Belgium men's national basketball team has represented Belgium in international basketball since 1928. The supervising body for the national team is Basketball Belgium.
Play4 is a Belgian-Flemish commercial television channel. It is part of Play Media and production company Woestijnvis.
Hans Van Themsche is a Belgian student who, on 11 May, 2006, shot three people, killing two and severely injuring another, before being shot by police and incapacitated. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2008.
Unsolved is a British regional crime documentary television programme produced by Grampian Television that aired in Scotland. The programme aired from 8 January 2004 to 30 November 2006.
Loft is a 2008 Belgian erotic mystery film directed by Erik Van Looy and written by Bart De Pauw, starring an ensemble cast of Flemish actors, led by Koen De Bouw, Filip Peeters, Bruno Vanden Broucke, Matthias Schoenaerts and Koen De Graeve.
Marie Vinck is a Belgian actress.
Familie is a Flemish television soap opera set in Mechelen. Created by Herman Verbaet, Familie was first broadcast on 30 December 1991. It has been broadcast consistently for 5-6 evenings per week, with only 2-3 month hiatuses during summer. It is currently being produced by Banijay Belgium and running on VTM.
The judiciary of Belgium is similar to the French judiciary. Belgium evolved from a unitary to a federal state, but its judicial system has not been adapted to a federal system.
Quiz Me Quick is a Flemish fiction series produced by Koeken Troef for the Belgian national broadcasting company Eén and the digital channel Prime Series. The series won prizes such as a Rockie Award at the World Media Festival in Banff. It first aired on Prime Series on April 29, 2012, before airing on the Flemish public channel Eén on October 21, 2012.
Eigen Kweek was a 2013-2019 Belgian crime comedy television series on the Belgian channel Eén. It was the most watched TV programme in Flanders in 2013.
14-18, the musical is a Flemish musical about the First World War with the music of Dirk Brossé. The original production by Gert Verhulst and Hans Bourlon opened in April 2014 at the Nekkerhal in Mechelen, directed by Frank Van Laecke and produced by Studio 100. The show closed on November 11, 2014, after being seen by more than 320,000 visitors. In 2024 the musical reopend on the 2nd of June with an updated version in the Studio 100 pop-up theatre in Puurs. This is a theatre that they specially build for their musical about the Second World War 40-45.
Lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history in Belgium has evolved through the centuries. According to LGBT scholars Bart Eeckhout and David Paternotte, Belgium, considered a conservative nation, developed into one of the world's most progressive and LGBT-friendly states. From the 16th century, Roman Catholic values influenced attitudes towards LGBT rights. Homosexuality and sodomy was criminalised and punished in Belgium, with gay men being put under conversion therapy by medical doctors and psychiatrists. Homosexuality was decriminalised in the 18th century, but sodomy still remained punishable until the 19th century. However, from the 21st century, Belgium developed into a more LGBT friendly state; Belgium's anti-discrimination law ensures that discrimination based on sexual orientation is illegal and introduces new transgender legal rights. Belgium is the second country, after the Netherlands, to open civil marriage to same-sex couples in 2003, and granted same-sex couples the right to adopt in 2006. And continues to provide asylum for individuals who may be persecuted for their sexual and gender identity. Belgium has also implemented new education policies to combat school discrimination against LGBT peoples and has allowed IVF and artificial insemination to be available for same-sex couples. Belgium has also supported LGBT politicians and expression of LGBT values through art.
Hugo Matthysen is a Belgian (Flemish) singer, guitarist, columnist, writer, Master in Philosophy and actor. He lives in the municipality of Hove in Antwerp.
Lize Feryn is a Belgian actress, model and author of Flemish descent.
Beau Séjour is a Flemish-language Belgian supernatural crime drama television series created by Bert Van Dael and Sanne Nuyens, and directed by Nathalie Basteyns and Kaat Beels. It began airing on the Belgian channel Eén on 1 January 2017 and on Arte in France, Germany, and French-speaking Belgium on 2 March. It debuted on Netflix in some countries on 16 March 2017.
In Belgian football, the Operation Zero investigation, known informally as Operation Clean Hands, was conducted by the examining magistrate of Limburg on behalf of the Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor's Office from 2017 to 2019. The investigation was concerned with organized crime, money laundering, and private corruption (bribery) in Belgian football, division 1A and Division 1B specifically.
Tabula Rasa is a nine-part 2017 Belgian Flemish-language TV series created by Veerle Baetens and Malin-Sarah Gozin and starring Veerle Baetens, Stijn Van Opstal and Jeroen Perceval. The plot revolves around Mie, a young woman with amnesia who is locked up in a secure psychiatric hospital.
The Moroccan mafia is a collection of criminal organisations that are primarily made up of people of Moroccan descent. These organisations are specialized in trafficking large quantities of cocaine and synthetic drugs through Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium, from where it is distributed to the rest of the European continent, thus being one of the most dominant participants in the European drug trade.
