Police seized 7 kg of drugs from a Dutch couple at Brussels Airport last week. The couple, aged 19 and 22, were found in possession of cocaine after landing from a flight from the Dominican Republic to the Netherlands. Police said the drugs were concealed in swimsuits the pair were wearing.

Rival first ladies of Huy, former mayor Anne-Marie Lizin and new office-holder Micheline Toussaint have had a public spat over the mayor’s official parking spot. Mayor Toussaint arrived at work last week to find Lizin’s car parked in her reserved space. She parked her Peugeot 207 directly behind the BMW number plated HUY 001 and asked police to inform her when Lizin returned, which they did 45 minutes later.

Toussaint came back to find her car pushed back five metres away with a damaged bumper. Lizin, who resigned in February following accusations of corruption and suspension from her political party (PS), explained that she had simply followed police instructions to leave. Toussaint has made an official complaint.

Francophone ministerial offices outnumber their
Flemish counterparts by three to one, despite both governments’ commitment to
downsize their staff numbers, according to an investigation by the De Standaard
newspaper. The nine members of the Flemish government are making a cut of
almost 40% while each Francophone minister in the new PS, CdH and Ecolo
coalition is reducing costs by 15%. The francophone south consists of the
French Community, Walloon and Brussels Capital Region governments and the cuts
are targeted at ministers serving in both French Community and Walloon
governments. The 15% savings will not necessarily come from staff cutbacks.

The federal government has come under fire for going
over budget in building the new Courts of Justice in Antwerp. An external
auditor has blamed both the government’s buildings agency and the justice
ministry for the fiasco. The law courts, designed by British architect Richard
Rogers, had a budget of €75 million but the project was completed last year
with a price tag of €250 million.