Belgium's seven-party coalition government sworn in after nearly 500 days of negotiations

Belgium's new government led by Flemish liberal Alexander De Croo was officially sworn in on Thursday, ending nearly 500 days of intense post-election coalition talks.

Coronavirus: Divided Belgium turns into Europe's worst COVID-19 hot spot

Small, yet so divided, Belgium has been hit hard again by the pandemic, and now presents some of the most worrying statistics in a continent reeling under a coronavirus resurgence. If ever there was a common enemy for the rival Dutch- and French-speaking citizens and regions to fight, this would surely be it. But even now cooperation goes against the grain in Belgium, to the extent that the country's Roman Catholics bishops issued a call for all, in the name of the Lord, to show some unity.