Journal De Bruxelles - News from Brussels, Belgium, Europe and the world

Pop icon Elton John on Friday accused the publisher of two UK tabloids of "abhorrent" privacy invasions "outside even the most basic standards of human decency" as he testified at London's High Court.

Lindsey Vonn passed a key test of her damaged knee on Friday after she completed her first downhill training run for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The European Central Bank urged the European Union on Friday to swiftly press ahead with adopting a digital euro, warning that delays would leave the continent reliant on foreign "big tech" players.

England suffered a setback on the eve of their Six Nations opener against Wales after Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was ruled out with a leg muscle injury.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has urged fans to be patient with club-record signing Nick Woltemade now the rest of the Premier League is getting to know the German striker's strengths and weaknesses.

German exports to the United States plunged in 2025 amid President Donald Trump's tariff blitz, driving down the trade surplus of Europe's top economy with the crucial US market to a four-year low, data showed Friday.

Portugal ended campaigning on Friday for a presidential election this weekend amidst a battering by storms and fretting about the political whirlwind created by outspoken far-right leader Andre Ventura.

A suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Pakistan's capital Islamabad killed at least 30 people and wounded more than 130 on Friday, a police source said.

A top Russian military intelligence general was shot in a Moscow apartment building Friday and hospitalised, Moscow said, in what it said was an assassination attempt orchestrated by Ukraine.

Proudly showing off photographs on her tablet of her grandson's first hunt, Dorthe Olsen refuses to let the turmoil sparked by US president Donald Trump take over her life in a small hamlet nestled deep in a Greenland fjord.

Iran and the United States were holding talks in Oman on Friday that were seen as a critical chance to avert any new escalation between the foes, after President Donald Trump threatened military action.

European stock markets mostly recovered Friday after a mixed performance in Asia following a rout among technology heavyweights on Wall Street, triggered by growing unease about the billions being spent on artificial intelligence.

In the build-up to France's dominant 36-14 Six Nations win over Ireland on Thursday there was plenty of attention on Les Bleus' half-backs Antoine Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert.

Scotland spinner Mark Watt said Friday they were confident of proving they belong at the T20 World Cup, despite only being an 11th-hour replacement for Bangladesh.

The EU said Friday that it had told TikTok it needs to change its "addictive design" or risk heavy fines, after the Chinese-owned platform was found in breach of the bloc's digital content rules.

India captain Suryakumar Yadav admitted Friday "there will be nerves" when India open their T20 World Cup campaign in front of more than 30,000 fanatical home supporters in Mumbai, but vowed to give them "entertainment".

Jeep maker Stellantis warned Friday that it would take a 22 billion euro hit after a slower takeup of electric vehicles than it expected, the latest sign that legacy automakers are struggling to navigate the shift away from combustion engines.

French art historian Thomas Schlesser is still adapting to life as a best-selling global author having written one of the break-out hits of the last year in "Mona's Eyes".

Iran and the United States began talks on Friday in Oman, with Washington refusing to rule out military action against its foe if diplomacy fails while the Islamic republic vowed to defend itself against "any excessive demands".

Iran and the United States began talks on Friday in Oman, with Washington refusing to rule out military action against the Islamic republic over its deadly crackdown on mass protests.

Finland is barely out of the treaty banning them but the country's armed forces are already training soldiers to lay anti-personnel mines, citing a threat from neighbouring Russia.

Israel's President Isaac Herzog lands in Australia on Monday to honour victims of a mass shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach, the deadliest antisemitic attack since Hamas's assault of October 7, 2023.

For generations, Seynabou Tall's ancestors have fished, dived and rowed off the coast of Dakar, where the 14-year-old, who quit school nearly four years ago, is now learning to surf.

The Los Angeles Lakers shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic on Thursday, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 NBA victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Dishes clatter, steam bursts from large cooking pots and music is seeping through the bustling chatter of Russian pensioners, hunched over bowls of free meals in a Saint Petersburg soup kitchen.

Japan's Olympic committee said on Friday it was working with tech giant Meta to monitor social media around the clock to protect athletes from online abuse at the Milan-Cortina Games.

When Estonian mother Jelizaveta Ponomarjova's elder daughter started fourth grade in September, she did not understand what her teacher was saying.

Toyota has named a new CEO to "accelerate" decision-making, the Japanese auto giant said Friday as it hiked its profit and sales forecasts for the current fiscal year despite the impact of US tariffs.

Two medieval fortresses face each other across the Narva River separating Estonia from Russia on Europe's eastern edge.

The family of the kidnapped mother of a top US TV news anchor made a new plea for information from her captors on Thursday, after investigators said they believed the 84-year-old was still alive.

Captain Mitchell Marsh insists Australia can put their spin woes behind them at the T20 Cricket World Cup after a morale-sapping series defeat to Pakistan left their preparations in tatters.

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is one of the democratic world's most successful electoral machines, governing for all but four years since its founding seven decades ago.