Thalys was a brand name used for high-speed train services between Paris Gare du Nord via Brussels-South to either Amsterdam Centraal or to German cities in the Rhein-Ruhr, including Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen and Dortmund. Since 29 September 2023, the services continue to operate, but under the Eurostar name; sometimes referred to as Eurostar Red, based on the colour of the trains.
Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, is the heiress apparent to the Belgian throne. The eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, she was elevated to the dukedom after her grandfather King Albert II abdicated in favour of her father on 21 July 2013.
The Miss Belgium is a national beauty pageant in Belgium. The winner of Miss Belgium automatically represents her country at the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants if the dates do not overlap.
The Flemish Diamond is the Flemish reference to a network of four metropolitan areas in Belgium, three of which are in the central provinces of Flanders, together with the Brussels Capital Region. It consists of four agglomerations which form the four corners of an abstract diamond shape: Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp and Leuven. Over 5 million people live in this area, with a population density of about 820 per km2.
Raymond van het Groenewoud is a Belgian musician. He was born in Schaerbeek, of Dutch descent, and he sings primarily in Dutch. His biggest hits include "Vlaanderen Boven", "Meisjes", "Je Veux de l'Amour", "Zjoske Schone Meid" and "Liefde voor Muziek". He refers to himself as a musician but also a poet, philosopher and clown.
Julien Gorius is a former French professional footballer who used to be sporting director for RWDM47 in the Belgian First Division B.
The Kingdom of Belgium has three official languages: Dutch (Flemish), French, and German.
Onur Kaya is a Belgian professional footballer of Turkish descent who plays as an attacking midfielder for FC Kosova Schaerbeek.
Dimitri Verhulst is a Belgian writer and poet. He is best known for his novels Problemski Hotel and The Misfortunates.
Buddhism is a small religion in Belgium but despite lack of official recognition by the Belgian government has grown rapidly in recent years. As of the 1997 estimate, 29,497 Belgian people identified their religion as Buddhist
Liliane Saint-Pierre is a Belgian pop singer. Hailing from Flanders, she sings mostly in Dutch. She competed at Eurovision Song Contest 1987 with the song "Soldiers of Love".
Alizée Poulicek is a Belgian model, TV presenter and former beauty pageant titleholder.
The Peeters directive, officially Circular BA 97/22 of 16 December 1997 concerning the use of languages in municipal councils of the Dutch language area, is a circulaire of the Flemish government regulating the use of languages in municipal councils in the Flemish Region (Belgium), where the sole official language is Dutch. The directive is more in particular aimed at the municipalities with language facilities bordering the Brussels Capital-Region. It stipulates that each and every time French-speakers deal with the government, they must explicitly ask for their documents to be in French.
Anissa Blondin is a Belgian model and beauty pageant titleholder who placed 1st runner up in Miss Belgium 2014. She competed at Miss World 2014 and Miss Universe 2014.
Dion-Johan Chai Cools is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or a full-back for Thai League 1 club Buriram United and the Malaysia national team. At club level, he has played in Belgium and Denmark for OH Leuven, Club Brugge and FC Midtjylland.
Romanie Schotte is a Belgian model and beauty pageant titleholder from Bruges who was crowned Miss Belgium 2017 and represented Belgium at the Miss World 2017 pageant.
Angeline Flor Pua is a Belgian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Belgium 2018. As Miss Belgium, she represented Belgium at Miss World 2018 and Miss Universe 2019.
Kris Mampaey is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
On February 20, 2021, Longtail Aviation Flight 5504, an international cargo flight operated by Longtail Aviation from Maastricht, Netherlands, to New York, United States, suffered an engine failure shortly after departure that caused debris to fall to the ground near the Dutch town of Meerssen. Two people on the ground were slightly injured and there was property damage to buildings and cars. The Boeing 747-400(BCF) cargo plane diverted to Liege Airport with the failed engine shut down and landed there safely.
Tom Yvo Adrien Waes is a Belgian television presenter, television director, actor, model, and occasional singer. Internationally he is most known for his role in the Netflix series Undercover. In addition, Waes is an ambassador for the non-profit organization Sea Shepherd.
