Flanders today Free weekly!
OCTOBER 22 2008
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N°52
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I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S W ee k l y
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Screenworlds, p.9
www . f l a nderstod a y . E U Erkenningsnummer P708816 Belga
Taking the plunge
Hardy swimmers plunge into the canal at Damme during the annual Damme-Brugge swimming event
Flanders must act on water quality before it is too late, experts say Emma Davis alking along a river in Flanders is hardly the most savoury of activ-
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ities considering that only 70% of households in the region are connected to an urban waste water treatment facility. For the
rest, a few have septic tanks while the others dump their waste water directly into the rivers. As if that was not bad enough,
industrial plants are chucking out pollutants into the water supply, most notably the metals industry, and agriculture is adding its
bit to the mix as chemicals used to spray crops and the feed given to farm animals find their way into Continued on page 3
Kaupthing accounts could be reopened soon Talks in Reykjavik bring “hopeful” signs Alan Hope he Luxembourg subsidiary of the troubled Icelandic bank Kaupthing is expected to be operational again soon, according to Belgian prime minister Yves Leterme, speaking at the weekend after discussions in Reykjavik with Iceland’s prime minister Gier Haarde. Government intervention in the affairs of the bank looks unlikely at the moment, but a buyer is now being sought with the help of consultants PriceWaterhouseCoopers for the 20,000 Belgian accounts held at Kaupthing. However, the assets are
T Business
Arts
Active
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Antwerp has just been voted one of the world’s 10 best cities by the editors of the Lonely Planet guides. Well, that’s what we’ve been saying all along. Now it’s official.
Feature 1, 3
Erik De Vree paints in a very traditional style that goes back to the Flemish Masters and Rembrandt. He’s the first living artist to be exhibited in the beautiful Mayer van den Bergh Museum in Antwerp and that’s just where he belongs.
News 5-6
Beauvoorde Castle near Veurne looks like a perfect example of a 17th-century Flemish castle. Only it isn’t. It was built by a Flemish aristocrat with an eye for the romance of the past. We stroll around the interior.
Business 7-8
Arts 9-10
Active 11
Living 13
likely to remain frozen for the next couple of weeks. Belgian savers make up the majority of the 23,000 account-holders with Kaupthing Luxembourg, which is suffering the repercussions of the world financial crisis. The bank’s location in Luxembourg has reduced the likelihood of a rescue plan coming from Belgium, while the Luxembourg government’s willingness to intervene was tempered by the fact that a tiny number of those affected are from Luxembourg. Continued on page 8 Agenda 14-15
Interview 16