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Belgium-rose - blog*spot

According to Belgian police, the body of a woman was found at an address used by the gunman Nordine Amrani.

Nordine Amrani, 32, was armed with grenades and an assault rifle when he attacked holiday shoppers at Place Saint-Lambert in Liege.

Attacker’s victims included two teenage boys aged 15 and 17, a 75-year-old woman and an 18-month-old baby, who died in hospital last night. A total of 122 were also wounded.

Prosecutor Cedric Visart de Bocarme told Belgian La Premiere radio station that the woman – a 45-year-old cleaner – had been found in a warehouse used by Nordine Amrani.

Cedric Visart de Bocarme said: “A search last night revealed in a warehouse used by the attacker, notably to grow cannabis, the body of a woman killed by the attacker.”

The death toll from yesterday's grenade attack at a Christmas market in Liege, Belgium, rose to six, including the killer himself

Nordine Amrani, who was previously jailed for possession of arms and drugs offences, hurled grenades and sprayed bullets into crowds of Christmas shoppers and children in Place Saint-Lambert.

The attack paralyzed the centre of Belgium’s fifth largest city, with workers trapped in offices as police sealed off the area. It is still unclear what drove Nordine Amrani to carry out the attack.

The shoppers, many of them children, ran screaming for safety in the panic as the gunman opened fire.

Men, women and children fled down the streets of the city centre – some still carrying shopping bags – as ambulances and police descended on the area.

Reports said Nordine Amrani used an FN FAL automatic rifle, a Belgian-made rifle capable of firing 700 rounds a minute, a pistol and threw three grenades in the attack.

In the initial chaos, reports said up to three men had taken part in the attack, but the Interior Ministry later confirmed only one was involved, adding the incident was not terrorism-related.

Nordine Amrani was on his way for police questioning when he attacked a crowd near a bus stop at Place Saint Lambert, a central shopping square which is the site of the city’s Christmas market and its main courthouse. It was not clear whether he committed suicide or died accidentally.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo expressed horror at the attack and travelled to the city. The nation’s King and Queen also arrived on the city this evening to visit survivors.

Interior Ministry official Peter Mertens said emergency medical teams were called in from as far away as the Netherlands.

The broadcaster Radio Television Belge Francophone said during the attack that all buses had been asked to leave the city centre and all shops in the area were closed, some with many customers stranded inside.

Police helicopters were flying over the city and a medical post has been set up in the courtyard of the palace of the Prince Bishops (the court house) located on the site.

Police were on the scene quickly and sealed off the square. TV images showed blood splattered across the cobblestones.

Place Saint-Lambert is a busy crossroads. Every day 1,800 buses serve the square, which leads to downtown shopping streets.

The Place Saint-Lambert and the nearby Place du Marche host Liege’s annual Christmas market which consists of 200 retail cabins and attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.

Show Rose From Roses Express | netcoolit blog

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Among the variety of on the internet rose suppliers inside Belgium, Plants Show and its Filipino rose delivery service is man or woman that LBC controls and owns. Floral gigle Show is owned and operated by eLBC Lead, Incorporated., an LBC firm which is focused on providing Filipinos admission to services besides the regular products and solutions supplied by LBC.

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Belgium-rose: Belgium-rose - blog*spot

Statistics Belgium reports that price gains in Belgium are slowing as the country attempts to recover from the effects of the global financial crisis while negotiating the rise of a new coalition government. The country saw price surges as high as 200% in hot spots like Brussels from 1998 to 2008, but high exposure to toxic markets drove these prices down in all three market regions. Like the U.S., Belgium is now dominated by only a few mortgage lenders, the bailout of which eventually led to the collapse of the government in 2008. Now, the resulting turmoil is compromising the country’s housing market recovery. For more on this continue reading the following article from Global Property Guide.

Prices of ‘regular’ houses in Belgium rose by 2.79%, to €184,147, during the year to end-Q2 2011.

• In Brussels, prices of regular houses increased by 1.2% to €338,645.
• In the Flemish region, regular house prices rose 3.71% to €197,415. Flemish Brabant had the most expensive houses, with an average price of €232,192. The cheapest, on the other hand, were in the province of Limburg with an average house price of €174,621.

The trend seems now to be down.  In the second quarter of 2011, prices of regular houses in Belgium dropped by 0.8% q-o-q, according to Statistics Belgium (StatBel).

Belgium’s house price boom from 2000 to H1 2008 was driven by low interest rates and increased competition between banks; and strong economic and wage growth

Total transactions for ‘regular’ houses fell by 2.4% to 15,955 units from a year earlier to Q2 2011, with apartment transactions down 9%.  The property market has been adversely affected by the country’s political troubles. Since the parliamentary election in 2010, Belgium has been in political deadlock.

Belgium’s real GDP grew by 2.5% in Q2 2011, after 3% growth in Q1, according to the National Accounts Institute. In 2010, the economy expanded by 2.1%, according to the IMF.

Brussels prices surge ahead

Belgium is divided into three regions:

• the Flemish Region that occupies the northern half with Dutch-speaking communities;
• the Walloon Region which occupies the southern-half and is made-up largely of French-speaking communities with a small German-speaking community in the south-east; and
• Brussels, the administrative capital region, an officially tri-lingual city inside the Flemish region.

Each region and community has a separate parliament and executive administration. Power has been increasingly devolved. There is also a persisting ethnic conflict, and the political union has come under rising threat.

Property prices in Belgium’s three regions move in the same price cycle, but the capital has registered much the highest price increases. Prices in Brussels surged almost 200% (140% in real terms) from 1998 to 2008, much more than in the two other regions (143% for the Flemish region and 116% in Walloon) over the same period, according to StatBel.

Prices also fell most in Brussels during 2009, though the falls were relatively insignificant. The average price of ordinary houses in Brussels decreased 1.9% in 2009; more than the 0.9% price fall for Walloon, and worse than the 1% nominal increase in the Flemish region. When adjusted for inflation, houses prices fell in all areas.

The drivers of Belgium’s house price boom were:

• rapid mortgage market expansion due to low interest rates and increased competition between banks; and
• relatively strong economic and wage growth.

When these conditions were reversed with the global credit crunch, house price rises stopped. But now the economic recovery, helped by low interest rates, is causing house prices to rise strongly again.

Record low mortgage rates

Mortgage rates moved down in March 2009 to 2.84% for floating rate mortgages and 4.16% for new mortgages with 10-year interest rate fixation (IRF), in line with the historically rock-bottom levels seen in 2005.

Interest rates recently peaked at 5.33% in October 2008 (for new mortgages with 10-year interest rate fixation (IRF), while those with floating rate and up to 1year IRF peaked at 6.02%.

Mortgage growth and stability

The Belgian mortgage market has been dominated by four major private financial institutions: Fortis, Dexia, KBC, and ING Belgium since a wave of privatization, mergers and acquisition in the 1990s. All four have interests spread across the financial industry including investment management, retail banking and insurance. Intense competition has led to low fees and charges, and more mortgage options.

Despite the credit crunch, the mortgage market grew 9% in 2008 and 7.5% in 2009. In Q1 2010, outstanding mortgage credit rose to €147.6 billion, 8.5% higher than a year earlier.

Fixed-rate mortgages dominate

Mortgages in Belgium typically have a 20 year duration, and a loan-to-value ratio of 80% to 85%. Since 2008, more than 80% of new loans have had interest rates fixed for the duration of the loan, or for ten years or more.

However, the sensitivity of households to interest rate changes has changed over the years. At the end of 2002, less than 20% of new mortgage contracts had an IRF of less than three years. Between 2003 and 2005, borrowers shifted to mortgages with shorter IRFs with interest rates typically one percentage point or more lower than fixed rate mortgages (FRM). The share of mortgages with IRF of less than 3 years rose to almost 60% at end-2004.

With the interest rate hikes from 2006 to 2008, households shifted to longer term FRMs. The share of mortgages with IRF of 3 years or less shrank to around 1% to 2% of total loans in 2007 and 2008.

Bank bailouts everywhere

Belgian financial institutions were among the worst hit by the 2008 financial meltdown. Losses from international operations, exposure to the US subprime mortgage markets, and commitments to previous expansion programs led to massive liquidity problems.

For instance, Fortis, the largest mortgage lender in Belgium, was cash-strapped after paying €24 billion for participation in the €70 billion purchase of ABN Amro in 2007. To prevent Fortis collapsing, it was partly nationalized by the governments of Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to the tune of €11.2 billion.

With assets bigger than the Belgian economy, Fortis is one of the biggest European banks bailed out in 2008. After the bailout, Fortis was carved up and sold, with only the insurance operations left. Its Belgian assets and operations were sold to BNP Paribas, after a lengthy and messy judicial process.

Dexia and KBC were likewise bailed out, after suffering major losses.

• The bailout of KBC Bank, which has major operations in Eastern Europe, was one of the most expensive. A total of €7 billion was injected into KBC, and on May 2009 the government announced that it is providing a guarantee of €25 billion to KBC Bank.
• The governments of France, Belgium and Luxembourg provided €6.4 billion to keep Dexia afloat.

In July 2010, Dexia and KBC Bank passed the EU-wide stress tests.

While the bailouts prevented a financial market collapse, they came at a huge cost. The initial bailout of Fortis led to the fall of the government in December 2008. The government’s public debt also rose significantly, from 84% of GDP in 2007 to 96.7% in 2009.

Subdued rental market

Belgium’s rapid price increases have pushed gross rental yields sharply down, to around 4.5% to 6% for apartments in Brussels, according to Global Property Guide research (see Rental Yields) in May 2009. From 1998 to 2008, rents in the private sector rose by a mere 27% while apartment prices rose 127% over the same period.

In 2009, private sector rents rose 4.9% while apartment prices rose by a mere 1.9%, In Q1 2010, private rent increase outpaced apartment price growth: 6% y-o-y compared with4.9%. These are not enough, however, to push long term yields up.

The rental market has been subdued for a number of years because of rent controls (see Landlord and Tenant section) and the rising number of homeowners. The rental market is significant, at about 30% of the housing stock (23% in the private sector, 7% in social housing); but this is falling, and is down from 38% in 1980 and 33% in 1990. However, 60% of households in Brussels are renters, a fact partly encouraged by Belgium’s unusually high buy/sell costs.

Supply and demand

In Q1 2010, total housing transactions reached 27,281, 12.6% higher than in the same period last year. In 2009 113,000 dwellings were sold, lower than the more than 120,000 dwellings sold annually from 2005 to 2008.

Dwelling permits and dwellings starts dropped from 2007 to 2009, due to the weak housing market. For instance, only 41,508 dwellings were started in 2009, compared to an average of 55,400 units from 2005 to 2007. Dwelling permits also fell to around 45,000 units in 2009, lower than 58,000 permit annual average from 2005 to 2007.

Economic recovery

The housing market’s performance is strongly influenced by the economy. The Belgian economy expanded by an average of 2.64% between 2004 and 2007, after an average annual 1.05% GDP growth from 2001 to 2003. The unemployment rate went down to 7.1% in 2008 from 8.5% in 2005.

With the global financial meltdown, Belgium’s GDP contracted by 3% in 2009, and unemployment rose to 7.9% at the end of 2009 and is expected to rise further to 8.2% by the end of 2010.

Economic recovery remains fragile. Although GDP expanded in Q1 by 0.1% q-o-q, it was lower than the increases of 0.7% in Q3 and 0.3% in Q4 2009. The economy is expected to grow by around 1.3% in 2010 and 1.8% in 2011.

Regardless of who emerges as part of the new coalition government, austerity measures are expected to cut the deficit and the national debt. But unpopular cost cutting measures are difficult to implement, especially in politically-divided countries like Belgium.

This article was republished with permission from Global Property Guide.

Belgium-rose: Belgium-rose - blog*spot

According to Belgian police, the body of a woman was found at an address used by the gunman Nordine Amrani.

Nordine Amrani, 32, was armed with grenades and an assault rifle when he attacked holiday shoppers at Place Saint-Lambert in Liege.

Attacker’s victims included two teenage boys aged 15 and 17, a 75-year-old woman and an 18-month-old baby, who died in hospital last night. A total of 122 were also wounded.

Prosecutor Cedric Visart de Bocarme told Belgian La Premiere radio station that the woman – a 45-year-old cleaner – had been found in a warehouse used by Nordine Amrani.

Cedric Visart de Bocarme said: “A search last night revealed in a warehouse used by the attacker, notably to grow cannabis, the body of a woman killed by the attacker.”

The death toll from yesterday's grenade attack at a Christmas market in Liege, Belgium, rose to six, including the killer himself

Nordine Amrani, who was previously jailed for possession of arms and drugs offences, hurled grenades and sprayed bullets into crowds of Christmas shoppers and children in Place Saint-Lambert.

The attack paralyzed the centre of Belgium’s fifth largest city, with workers trapped in offices as police sealed off the area. It is still unclear what drove Nordine Amrani to carry out the attack.

The shoppers, many of them children, ran screaming for safety in the panic as the gunman opened fire.

Men, women and children fled down the streets of the city centre – some still carrying shopping bags – as ambulances and police descended on the area.

Reports said Nordine Amrani used an FN FAL automatic rifle, a Belgian-made rifle capable of firing 700 rounds a minute, a pistol and threw three grenades in the attack.

In the initial chaos, reports said up to three men had taken part in the attack, but the Interior Ministry later confirmed only one was involved, adding the incident was not terrorism-related.

Nordine Amrani was on his way for police questioning when he attacked a crowd near a bus stop at Place Saint Lambert, a central shopping square which is the site of the city’s Christmas market and its main courthouse. It was not clear whether he committed suicide or died accidentally.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo expressed horror at the attack and travelled to the city. The nation’s King and Queen also arrived on the city this evening to visit survivors.

Interior Ministry official Peter Mertens said emergency medical teams were called in from as far away as the Netherlands.

The broadcaster Radio Television Belge Francophone said during the attack that all buses had been asked to leave the city centre and all shops in the area were closed, some with many customers stranded inside.

Police helicopters were flying over the city and a medical post has been set up in the courtyard of the palace of the Prince Bishops (the court house) located on the site.

Police were on the scene quickly and sealed off the square. TV images showed blood splattered across the cobblestones.

Place Saint-Lambert is a busy crossroads. Every day 1,800 buses serve the square, which leads to downtown shopping streets.

The Place Saint-Lambert and the nearby Place du Marche host Liege’s annual Christmas market which consists of 200 retail cabins and attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.

"Cost of living rose 31%" < Belgian news | Expatica Belgium

Fresh research from the Institute for Sustainable Development paints a somber picture of Belgium's economic prospects in 2012. The Institute predicts that spending power will fall further and that unemployment will rise.

Read More >>

Belgium-rose - blog*spot

Statistics Belgium reports that price gains in Belgium are slowing as the country attempts to recover from the effects of the global financial crisis while negotiating the rise of a new coalition government. The country saw price surges as high as 200% in hot spots like Brussels from 1998 to 2008, but high exposure to toxic markets drove these prices down in all three market regions. Like the U.S., Belgium is now dominated by only a few mortgage lenders, the bailout of which eventually led to the collapse of the government in 2008. Now, the resulting turmoil is compromising the country’s housing market recovery. For more on this continue reading the following article from Global Property Guide.

Prices of ‘regular’ houses in Belgium rose by 2.79%, to €184,147, during the year to end-Q2 2011.

• In Brussels, prices of regular houses increased by 1.2% to €338,645.
• In the Flemish region, regular house prices rose 3.71% to €197,415. Flemish Brabant had the most expensive houses, with an average price of €232,192. The cheapest, on the other hand, were in the province of Limburg with an average house price of €174,621.

The trend seems now to be down.  In the second quarter of 2011, prices of regular houses in Belgium dropped by 0.8% q-o-q, according to Statistics Belgium (StatBel).

Belgium’s house price boom from 2000 to H1 2008 was driven by low interest rates and increased competition between banks; and strong economic and wage growth

Total transactions for ‘regular’ houses fell by 2.4% to 15,955 units from a year earlier to Q2 2011, with apartment transactions down 9%.  The property market has been adversely affected by the country’s political troubles. Since the parliamentary election in 2010, Belgium has been in political deadlock.

Belgium’s real GDP grew by 2.5% in Q2 2011, after 3% growth in Q1, according to the National Accounts Institute. In 2010, the economy expanded by 2.1%, according to the IMF.

Brussels prices surge ahead

Belgium is divided into three regions:

• the Flemish Region that occupies the northern half with Dutch-speaking communities;
• the Walloon Region which occupies the southern-half and is made-up largely of French-speaking communities with a small German-speaking community in the south-east; and
• Brussels, the administrative capital region, an officially tri-lingual city inside the Flemish region.

Each region and community has a separate parliament and executive administration. Power has been increasingly devolved. There is also a persisting ethnic conflict, and the political union has come under rising threat.

Property prices in Belgium’s three regions move in the same price cycle, but the capital has registered much the highest price increases. Prices in Brussels surged almost 200% (140% in real terms) from 1998 to 2008, much more than in the two other regions (143% for the Flemish region and 116% in Walloon) over the same period, according to StatBel.

Prices also fell most in Brussels during 2009, though the falls were relatively insignificant. The average price of ordinary houses in Brussels decreased 1.9% in 2009; more than the 0.9% price fall for Walloon, and worse than the 1% nominal increase in the Flemish region. When adjusted for inflation, houses prices fell in all areas.

The drivers of Belgium’s house price boom were:

• rapid mortgage market expansion due to low interest rates and increased competition between banks; and
• relatively strong economic and wage growth.

When these conditions were reversed with the global credit crunch, house price rises stopped. But now the economic recovery, helped by low interest rates, is causing house prices to rise strongly again.

Record low mortgage rates

Mortgage rates moved down in March 2009 to 2.84% for floating rate mortgages and 4.16% for new mortgages with 10-year interest rate fixation (IRF), in line with the historically rock-bottom levels seen in 2005.

Interest rates recently peaked at 5.33% in October 2008 (for new mortgages with 10-year interest rate fixation (IRF), while those with floating rate and up to 1year IRF peaked at 6.02%.

Mortgage growth and stability

The Belgian mortgage market has been dominated by four major private financial institutions: Fortis, Dexia, KBC, and ING Belgium since a wave of privatization, mergers and acquisition in the 1990s. All four have interests spread across the financial industry including investment management, retail banking and insurance. Intense competition has led to low fees and charges, and more mortgage options.

Despite the credit crunch, the mortgage market grew 9% in 2008 and 7.5% in 2009. In Q1 2010, outstanding mortgage credit rose to €147.6 billion, 8.5% higher than a year earlier.

Fixed-rate mortgages dominate

Mortgages in Belgium typically have a 20 year duration, and a loan-to-value ratio of 80% to 85%. Since 2008, more than 80% of new loans have had interest rates fixed for the duration of the loan, or for ten years or more.

However, the sensitivity of households to interest rate changes has changed over the years. At the end of 2002, less than 20% of new mortgage contracts had an IRF of less than three years. Between 2003 and 2005, borrowers shifted to mortgages with shorter IRFs with interest rates typically one percentage point or more lower than fixed rate mortgages (FRM). The share of mortgages with IRF of less than 3 years rose to almost 60% at end-2004.

With the interest rate hikes from 2006 to 2008, households shifted to longer term FRMs. The share of mortgages with IRF of 3 years or less shrank to around 1% to 2% of total loans in 2007 and 2008.

Bank bailouts everywhere

Belgian financial institutions were among the worst hit by the 2008 financial meltdown. Losses from international operations, exposure to the US subprime mortgage markets, and commitments to previous expansion programs led to massive liquidity problems.

For instance, Fortis, the largest mortgage lender in Belgium, was cash-strapped after paying €24 billion for participation in the €70 billion purchase of ABN Amro in 2007. To prevent Fortis collapsing, it was partly nationalized by the governments of Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to the tune of €11.2 billion.

With assets bigger than the Belgian economy, Fortis is one of the biggest European banks bailed out in 2008. After the bailout, Fortis was carved up and sold, with only the insurance operations left. Its Belgian assets and operations were sold to BNP Paribas, after a lengthy and messy judicial process.

Dexia and KBC were likewise bailed out, after suffering major losses.

• The bailout of KBC Bank, which has major operations in Eastern Europe, was one of the most expensive. A total of €7 billion was injected into KBC, and on May 2009 the government announced that it is providing a guarantee of €25 billion to KBC Bank.
• The governments of France, Belgium and Luxembourg provided €6.4 billion to keep Dexia afloat.

In July 2010, Dexia and KBC Bank passed the EU-wide stress tests.

While the bailouts prevented a financial market collapse, they came at a huge cost. The initial bailout of Fortis led to the fall of the government in December 2008. The government’s public debt also rose significantly, from 84% of GDP in 2007 to 96.7% in 2009.

Subdued rental market

Belgium’s rapid price increases have pushed gross rental yields sharply down, to around 4.5% to 6% for apartments in Brussels, according to Global Property Guide research (see Rental Yields) in May 2009. From 1998 to 2008, rents in the private sector rose by a mere 27% while apartment prices rose 127% over the same period.

In 2009, private sector rents rose 4.9% while apartment prices rose by a mere 1.9%, In Q1 2010, private rent increase outpaced apartment price growth: 6% y-o-y compared with4.9%. These are not enough, however, to push long term yields up.

The rental market has been subdued for a number of years because of rent controls (see Landlord and Tenant section) and the rising number of homeowners. The rental market is significant, at about 30% of the housing stock (23% in the private sector, 7% in social housing); but this is falling, and is down from 38% in 1980 and 33% in 1990. However, 60% of households in Brussels are renters, a fact partly encouraged by Belgium’s unusually high buy/sell costs.

Supply and demand

In Q1 2010, total housing transactions reached 27,281, 12.6% higher than in the same period last year. In 2009 113,000 dwellings were sold, lower than the more than 120,000 dwellings sold annually from 2005 to 2008.

Dwelling permits and dwellings starts dropped from 2007 to 2009, due to the weak housing market. For instance, only 41,508 dwellings were started in 2009, compared to an average of 55,400 units from 2005 to 2007. Dwelling permits also fell to around 45,000 units in 2009, lower than 58,000 permit annual average from 2005 to 2007.

Economic recovery

The housing market’s performance is strongly influenced by the economy. The Belgian economy expanded by an average of 2.64% between 2004 and 2007, after an average annual 1.05% GDP growth from 2001 to 2003. The unemployment rate went down to 7.1% in 2008 from 8.5% in 2005.

With the global financial meltdown, Belgium’s GDP contracted by 3% in 2009, and unemployment rose to 7.9% at the end of 2009 and is expected to rise further to 8.2% by the end of 2010.

Economic recovery remains fragile. Although GDP expanded in Q1 by 0.1% q-o-q, it was lower than the increases of 0.7% in Q3 and 0.3% in Q4 2009. The economy is expected to grow by around 1.3% in 2010 and 1.8% in 2011.

Regardless of who emerges as part of the new coalition government, austerity measures are expected to cut the deficit and the national debt. But unpopular cost cutting measures are difficult to implement, especially in politically-divided countries like Belgium.

This article was republished with permission from Global Property Guide.

Belgium-rose - blog*spot

According to Belgian police, the body of a woman was found at an address used by the gunman Nordine Amrani.

Nordine Amrani, 32, was armed with grenades and an assault rifle when he attacked holiday shoppers at Place Saint-Lambert in Liege.

Attacker’s victims included two teenage boys aged 15 and 17, a 75-year-old woman and an 18-month-old baby, who died in hospital last night. A total of 122 were also wounded.

Prosecutor Cedric Visart de Bocarme told Belgian La Premiere radio station that the woman – a 45-year-old cleaner – had been found in a warehouse used by Nordine Amrani.

Cedric Visart de Bocarme said: “A search last night revealed in a warehouse used by the attacker, notably to grow cannabis, the body of a woman killed by the attacker.”

The death toll from yesterday's grenade attack at a Christmas market in Liege, Belgium, rose to six, including the killer himself

Nordine Amrani, who was previously jailed for possession of arms and drugs offences, hurled grenades and sprayed bullets into crowds of Christmas shoppers and children in Place Saint-Lambert.

The attack paralyzed the centre of Belgium’s fifth largest city, with workers trapped in offices as police sealed off the area. It is still unclear what drove Nordine Amrani to carry out the attack.

The shoppers, many of them children, ran screaming for safety in the panic as the gunman opened fire.

Men, women and children fled down the streets of the city centre – some still carrying shopping bags – as ambulances and police descended on the area.

Reports said Nordine Amrani used an FN FAL automatic rifle, a Belgian-made rifle capable of firing 700 rounds a minute, a pistol and threw three grenades in the attack.

In the initial chaos, reports said up to three men had taken part in the attack, but the Interior Ministry later confirmed only one was involved, adding the incident was not terrorism-related.

Nordine Amrani was on his way for police questioning when he attacked a crowd near a bus stop at Place Saint Lambert, a central shopping square which is the site of the city’s Christmas market and its main courthouse. It was not clear whether he committed suicide or died accidentally.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo expressed horror at the attack and travelled to the city. The nation’s King and Queen also arrived on the city this evening to visit survivors.

Interior Ministry official Peter Mertens said emergency medical teams were called in from as far away as the Netherlands.

The broadcaster Radio Television Belge Francophone said during the attack that all buses had been asked to leave the city centre and all shops in the area were closed, some with many customers stranded inside.

Police helicopters were flying over the city and a medical post has been set up in the courtyard of the palace of the Prince Bishops (the court house) located on the site.

Police were on the scene quickly and sealed off the square. TV images showed blood splattered across the cobblestones.

Place Saint-Lambert is a busy crossroads. Every day 1,800 buses serve the square, which leads to downtown shopping streets.

The Place Saint-Lambert and the nearby Place du Marche host Liege’s annual Christmas market which consists of 200 retail cabins and attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.

Belgium-rose: Belgium-rose - blog*spot

According to Belgian police, the body of a woman was found at an address used by the gunman Nordine Amrani.

Nordine Amrani, 32, was armed with grenades and an assault rifle when he attacked holiday shoppers at Place Saint-Lambert in Liege.

Attacker’s victims included two teenage boys aged 15 and 17, a 75-year-old woman and an 18-month-old baby, who died in hospital last night. A total of 122 were also wounded.

Prosecutor Cedric Visart de Bocarme told Belgian La Premiere radio station that the woman – a 45-year-old cleaner – had been found in a warehouse used by Nordine Amrani.

Cedric Visart de Bocarme said: “A search last night revealed in a warehouse used by the attacker, notably to grow cannabis, the body of a woman killed by the attacker.”

The death toll from yesterday's grenade attack at a Christmas market in Liege, Belgium, rose to six, including the killer himself

Nordine Amrani, who was previously jailed for possession of arms and drugs offences, hurled grenades and sprayed bullets into crowds of Christmas shoppers and children in Place Saint-Lambert.

The attack paralyzed the centre of Belgium’s fifth largest city, with workers trapped in offices as police sealed off the area. It is still unclear what drove Nordine Amrani to carry out the attack.

The shoppers, many of them children, ran screaming for safety in the panic as the gunman opened fire.

Men, women and children fled down the streets of the city centre – some still carrying shopping bags – as ambulances and police descended on the area.

Reports said Nordine Amrani used an FN FAL automatic rifle, a Belgian-made rifle capable of firing 700 rounds a minute, a pistol and threw three grenades in the attack.

In the initial chaos, reports said up to three men had taken part in the attack, but the Interior Ministry later confirmed only one was involved, adding the incident was not terrorism-related.

Nordine Amrani was on his way for police questioning when he attacked a crowd near a bus stop at Place Saint Lambert, a central shopping square which is the site of the city’s Christmas market and its main courthouse. It was not clear whether he committed suicide or died accidentally.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo expressed horror at the attack and travelled to the city. The nation’s King and Queen also arrived on the city this evening to visit survivors.

Interior Ministry official Peter Mertens said emergency medical teams were called in from as far away as the Netherlands.

The broadcaster Radio Television Belge Francophone said during the attack that all buses had been asked to leave the city centre and all shops in the area were closed, some with many customers stranded inside.

Police helicopters were flying over the city and a medical post has been set up in the courtyard of the palace of the Prince Bishops (the court house) located on the site.

Police were on the scene quickly and sealed off the square. TV images showed blood splattered across the cobblestones.

Place Saint-Lambert is a busy crossroads. Every day 1,800 buses serve the square, which leads to downtown shopping streets.

The Place Saint-Lambert and the nearby Place du Marche host Liege’s annual Christmas market which consists of 200 retail cabins and attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.

Love along with the Flower | Saba-Engineering

Now that Valentines Day is at our doorsteps, have you already determined which kind of blossom to give to your special somebody? There are numerous kinds of blooms that can be used like a surprise to give to this special day, but among them all, the reddish red roses is considered the most well-known.

Valentine’s Day time, that is celebrated last month 14th, is a major event in the traditional western hemisphere. Folks convey their desire for one by using presents like Valentine cards, confectionery, and even more importantly are blooms. Blooms play a popular part within this event, the truth is, it is stated that blooms and chocolates are really essential that individuals presents would be taken for granted if presented, but will probably be seen in any other case presented.

Wanted to transmit some blooms to your loved ones next Love day? Then take a look at a web-based Blooms Belgium retailer to learn to buy and send blooms pozyczka gotowkowa the easy way.

It is claimed the fact that lifestyle of presenting blooms was in the beginning Neighborhood plus it was introduced to the west in the 1700s.

Among the various kinds of blooms that people used in this season of love, Increased by rankings highest one of the blooms blessed. Red rose, that is commonly associated with appreciation, and light red rose, commonly associated with thanks and empathy, are well-known presents on Evening Of Romance. Inside classification rose, giving a particular form of rose implies one impressive this means.

For next Valentines Day, amaze your loved ones in the Belgium by giving them a blossom. To begin this, take a look at a web-based Blooms Belgium retailer to learn how its done.

Red red roses are usually utilized that is why as a result of particular this means it implies. In Floriography, a Victorian times method of revealing opinions and sensations by utilization of blooms, red roses kredyty chwilowki symbolizes heavy love and respect. Other red roses used for this occasion are light red red roses that implies a smaller affection compared to a reddish rose.

Other than red roses, blooms like hyacinths, crocuses, and buttercups also are blessed on Evening Of Romance. Normally, each one of these incorporates a diverse this means. By giving the appropriate blossom, anybody can express your message question in your mind towards individual the first is interested in, or a person’s Valentine’s. The choice of the blossom relies on both personal preferences in the radio and also the sensations the provider hopes to express. When you at any time sought the best blossom to give to such a great individual in your own life, then pick the amount of blossom that really discloses anything you feel for them and which kind of blooms they enjoy.

Surprise your special somebody by giving them flowers this Valentines Day. Visit a web-based Blooms Belgium retailer to learn the achievements done.

Jack Rose Hosts New Belgium Tap Takeover | DC Beer ...

By

Michael Stein

Published: February 9, 2012Posted in: Beer Events, Beers, News

It’s a fact: once New Belgium hits your lips it’s so good. So come on out to Jack Rose tonight (February 9) and taste one. With 10 taps from New Belgium, you’re sure to find something you like. Plus from 5-7:30 PM drafts will be a measly $3. Afterwards, until close, drafts are just $5.

Tonight is also the DC launch for New Belgium’s newest releases in their Lips of Faith Series. Their Cocoa Mole (ale brewed with cocoa and ancho, guajillo, and chipotle peppers, 9% ABV) and Biere de Mars (traditional Biere de Garde-style brewed with lemon peel and lemon verbana, conditioned with a touch of Brettanomyces, 6.2% ABV).

Jack Rose will also be pouring:

Belgo IPA (Belgian IPA – 7%)
Lips of Faith: Clutch Dark Sour Ale (Blended Ale with 80% Stout Ale & 20% Dark Sour Ale, 9% ABV)
Lips of Faith: Fresh Hop IPA (Dry Hopped with Cascade and Centennial Hops, 7% ABV)
Lips of Faith: Prickly Passion Saison (Fruited with Prickly Pear and Passion Fruit, 8.5% ABV)
Ranger IPA (American IPA, Hopped with Cascade, Chinook, Simcoe and more Cascade for bold hop flavor, 6.5% ABV)
DIG Pale Ale (American Pale Ale, 5.6% ABV)
1554 Enlightened Black Ale (Black Lager, 5.6% ABV)
Fat Tire Amber Ale (Belgian Pale Ale, 5.2% ABV)

Tags: jack rose dining saloon, New Belgium, tap takeovers

XE.com - UPDATE 2-KBC reassures on state aid after earnings flop

By Robert-Jan Bartunek

BRUSSELS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Belgian financial group KBC comforted investors by saying it was required to pay back only two-thirds of its state aid by 2013, after fourth-quarter earnings came in lower than expected.

KBC, which took 7 billion euros ($9.3 billion) from Belgium and the region of Flanders during the 2008-09 financial crisis, clarified on Thursday it only needed to repay 4.67 billion euros of principal, plus penalties, in the next two years.

It had previously said it would repay 7 billion euros, but it had not been clear whether this was the principal amount or whether the figure also included penalties that ranged from 15-50 percent depending on when KBC repaid.

The group also paid back 500 million euros in December.

'Half of the analysts were still concerned about a possible capital increase, now the probability is much lower,' said Jean Pierre Lambert, analyst at KBW in London.

KBC shares increased as much as 9.3 percent, making them the strongest gainers in the STOXX 600 banking index and extending a run which has seen the shares gain some 87 percent since the start of the year.

For the fourth quarter, solid performances in Belgium and most of eastern Europe were offset by one-off hits in Ireland, Greece and Hungary, and for certain retail bonds.

Underlying net profit fell 4 percent to 161 million euros, below the 219 million expected in a Reuters poll of nine analysts.

Continued economic uncertainty in Ireland led to a loan loss provision of 228 million euros there.

Chief Financial Officer Luc Popelier said this should drop to 200 million euros in the first quarter and be between 500 million and 600 million euros for the whole of the year.

The group also set aside 71 million euros for a possible reimbursement of Belgians who bought its 5/5/5 product, a bond linked to the creditworthiness of five countries, one of them Greece. It would have to pay out if a credit event occurred.

KBC took a further 85 million pre-tax hit on its Greek sovereign debt, taking the total amount impaired to 71 percent.

KBC said it reduced its overall exposure to euro zone periphery nation government bonds by 1.9 billion euros to 4.8 billion at the end of 2011.

On the positive side, in-credit volume and deposits in Belgium rose.

In central and eastern Europe, the loan book also increased but the result was tainted by an 82-million euro pre-tax impairment in Hungary.

A law was introduced there to help households pay foreign currency loans at a discounted exchange rate, the shortfall to be covered by the bank.

KBC said it was making considerable progress on the sale of Poland's Kredyt Bank, the last major divestment required by the European Commission in return for KBC's receipt of state aid.

($1 = 0.754 Euros)

(Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and David Hulmes) Keywords: KBC/

(belgium.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)(+32 2 287 6850)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. All rights reserved.

The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

Belgium-rose: Belgium-rose - blog*spot

swtor power levelingInternational spot gold on Friday (November 25) in the European market in a little over 1%, refreshing today as low as $ 1671.9/ounce, below are still confined in 1680 dollars an ounce, gold declines this week reached 2.5%, bond suffered selling in Europe, spread of European debt crisis continues to deepen, gold followed the decline in risk assets,At the same time, stronger dollar index continued pressured the gold price. 　　On Friday Italy extremely poor auction results, the auction of two kinds of short term government bond yields hit highest level since the inception of the euro. After the publication of the results, Italy five-year government bond yields hit record highs since the birth of the Euro 7.8%; two-year government bond yields rose 40 basis points to 8.3%. 　　At the same time, other Euro-bond yields rallied together with free debt, Germany Government bond futures extended declines, days fallen 54 beats hit low 134.49; Germany five year CDS rates rose 6 basis points to 115 basis points, chasing records. In addition the old republic power leveling, Belgium five year CDS rates rose by 13 basis points to407 basis points, an all-time high, Belgium/Germany ten-year bonds carry 368 basis points, highest since at least 2008. Germany Angela Merkel (Angela Merkel) resolutely oppose issuing common eurozone bonds and on containing the crisis against the European Central Bank plays a more important role in the process, these words on Thursday (1January 24) Conference held in German, French and Italian leaders to nothing, makes European debt solution still got nowhere. 　　In addition, the US dollar forced the gold price pressure, the dollar index Friday in the European market in constantly refreshed daily 79.63 to. South Africa's standard Bank (Standard Bank) analyst Walter de wEt said part of the stronger dollar is pressured the gold price factors, of course, gold prices are already too high, especially in India markets, rupee lower prices, demand for physical gold market has sharply declined, as strong levels it is not like 6 weeks ago. Wet said factor supporting prices was already gone, but we have not seen many negative factors in the market. But JaneSingle said, buy in, if even lower gold prices in the next few days, I wouldn't be surprised. 　　Spot Gold falls below $ 1650 there are also possibilities. Although UBS (UBS) said in its latest report in October, central banks ' gold buying again, net purchases in the last year, this is the last 20 yearsAppears. But the demand for gold in central banks, as well as the gold ETF innovation positions highlight market demand for gold or offset the negative impact of macroeconomic fundamentals.

Belgium-rose - blog*spot

Rose Walker LLP, the litigation law firm, has announced that it will open a new office in Los Angeles. This will be the first office for the firm outside the state of Texas. The new office will be led by partner Michael J. Terhar, with the firm focusing on aviation and aerospace litigtation.
The new office will be located at 2 N. Lake Avenue in Pasadena, California, which used to be occupied by the firm of LaMontagne & Terhar LLP. This firm was co-founded by Terhar but he is leaving in order to take the job with Rose Walker. There are only two lawyers on the staff for the California office of Rose Walker, but there are negotiations ongoing for future hires.

Chris McDowell, a partner with the Dallas firm, said the following:

“We have a lot of clients in aviation and aerospace, and they’ve been asking us to be present in California for a long time … It seemed like the right time and right opportunity to finally do so.”
McDowell also said that the firm’s new office in California might also expand into the practices of intellectual property and commercial litigation. The opening of the firm’s office in California is expected to boost the work done by the firm for the past couple of decades in California.
“Our firm has always worked in California, and we are familiar with the business climate and the courts there. This move gives us a ‘boots-on-the-ground’ component that we didn’t have before, and that’s good for our clients,” Martin Rose, the firm’s founder, said in a statement.

Rose also said that Terhar is the perfect candidate to lead the office in California because of his 30 years of experience in litigation within the state.

“We have known him for his entire legal career and frequently worked together,” Rose said in a statement. “He’s a natural fit for our culture and results-focused practice. I’m thrilled to have him on board.”

Terhar has worked on commercial and private aviation cases, including the 1978 case involving the crash of PSA Flight 182 in a neighborhood in San Diego.

Terhar also has quite a bit of experience representing sports and concert venues in Los Angeles County. Those cases have involved crowd control, security and code violations, personal injury and wrongful death cases that cause injury to stuntmen, cast and crew in Hollywood.

The case history for Terhar is impressive as it includes him defending an aerial stunt coordinator’s role in a helicopter accident during the filming of ‘XXX,’ which was released back in 2002. Terhar also represented John Landis in wrongful death lawsuits related to the filming of ‘Twilight Zone’ back in 1983.

Terhar attended Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1979.

“We grow as our clients’ need dictate. We’re not driven to grow to a certain size by a certain time,” McDowell said.

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Posted by jim on January 9, 2012. Filed under Home,Law Firm News,Rose Walker LLP. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Belgium-rose: Belgium-rose

Statistics Belgium reports that price gains in Belgium are slowing as the country attempts to recover from the effects of the global financial crisis while negotiating the rise of a new coalition government. The country saw price surges as high as 200% in hot spots like Brussels from 1998 to 2008, but high exposure to toxic markets drove these prices down in all three market regions. Like the U.S., Belgium is now dominated by only a few mortgage lenders, the bailout of which eventually led to the collapse of the government in 2008. Now, the resulting turmoil is compromising the country’s housing market recovery. For more on this continue reading the following article from Global Property Guide.

Prices of ‘regular’ houses in Belgium rose by 2.79%, to €184,147, during the year to end-Q2 2011.

• In Brussels, prices of regular houses increased by 1.2% to €338,645.
• In the Flemish region, regular house prices rose 3.71% to €197,415. Flemish Brabant had the most expensive houses, with an average price of €232,192. The cheapest, on the other hand, were in the province of Limburg with an average house price of €174,621.

The trend seems now to be down.  In the second quarter of 2011, prices of regular houses in Belgium dropped by 0.8% q-o-q, according to Statistics Belgium (StatBel).

Belgium’s house price boom from 2000 to H1 2008 was driven by low interest rates and increased competition between banks; and strong economic and wage growth

Total transactions for ‘regular’ houses fell by 2.4% to 15,955 units from a year earlier to Q2 2011, with apartment transactions down 9%.  The property market has been adversely affected by the country’s political troubles. Since the parliamentary election in 2010, Belgium has been in political deadlock.

Belgium’s real GDP grew by 2.5% in Q2 2011, after 3% growth in Q1, according to the National Accounts Institute. In 2010, the economy expanded by 2.1%, according to the IMF.

Brussels prices surge ahead

Belgium is divided into three regions:

• the Flemish Region that occupies the northern half with Dutch-speaking communities;
• the Walloon Region which occupies the southern-half and is made-up largely of French-speaking communities with a small German-speaking community in the south-east; and
• Brussels, the administrative capital region, an officially tri-lingual city inside the Flemish region.

Each region and community has a separate parliament and executive administration. Power has been increasingly devolved. There is also a persisting ethnic conflict, and the political union has come under rising threat.

Property prices in Belgium’s three regions move in the same price cycle, but the capital has registered much the highest price increases. Prices in Brussels surged almost 200% (140% in real terms) from 1998 to 2008, much more than in the two other regions (143% for the Flemish region and 116% in Walloon) over the same period, according to StatBel.

Prices also fell most in Brussels during 2009, though the falls were relatively insignificant. The average price of ordinary houses in Brussels decreased 1.9% in 2009; more than the 0.9% price fall for Walloon, and worse than the 1% nominal increase in the Flemish region. When adjusted for inflation, houses prices fell in all areas.

The drivers of Belgium’s house price boom were:

• rapid mortgage market expansion due to low interest rates and increased competition between banks; and
• relatively strong economic and wage growth.

When these conditions were reversed with the global credit crunch, house price rises stopped. But now the economic recovery, helped by low interest rates, is causing house prices to rise strongly again.

Record low mortgage rates

Mortgage rates moved down in March 2009 to 2.84% for floating rate mortgages and 4.16% for new mortgages with 10-year interest rate fixation (IRF), in line with the historically rock-bottom levels seen in 2005.

Interest rates recently peaked at 5.33% in October 2008 (for new mortgages with 10-year interest rate fixation (IRF), while those with floating rate and up to 1year IRF peaked at 6.02%.

Mortgage growth and stability

The Belgian mortgage market has been dominated by four major private financial institutions: Fortis, Dexia, KBC, and ING Belgium since a wave of privatization, mergers and acquisition in the 1990s. All four have interests spread across the financial industry including investment management, retail banking and insurance. Intense competition has led to low fees and charges, and more mortgage options.

Despite the credit crunch, the mortgage market grew 9% in 2008 and 7.5% in 2009. In Q1 2010, outstanding mortgage credit rose to €147.6 billion, 8.5% higher than a year earlier.

Fixed-rate mortgages dominate

Mortgages in Belgium typically have a 20 year duration, and a loan-to-value ratio of 80% to 85%. Since 2008, more than 80% of new loans have had interest rates fixed for the duration of the loan, or for ten years or more.

However, the sensitivity of households to interest rate changes has changed over the years. At the end of 2002, less than 20% of new mortgage contracts had an IRF of less than three years. Between 2003 and 2005, borrowers shifted to mortgages with shorter IRFs with interest rates typically one percentage point or more lower than fixed rate mortgages (FRM). The share of mortgages with IRF of less than 3 years rose to almost 60% at end-2004.

With the interest rate hikes from 2006 to 2008, households shifted to longer term FRMs. The share of mortgages with IRF of 3 years or less shrank to around 1% to 2% of total loans in 2007 and 2008.

Bank bailouts everywhere

Belgian financial institutions were among the worst hit by the 2008 financial meltdown. Losses from international operations, exposure to the US subprime mortgage markets, and commitments to previous expansion programs led to massive liquidity problems.

For instance, Fortis, the largest mortgage lender in Belgium, was cash-strapped after paying €24 billion for participation in the €70 billion purchase of ABN Amro in 2007. To prevent Fortis collapsing, it was partly nationalized by the governments of Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to the tune of €11.2 billion.

With assets bigger than the Belgian economy, Fortis is one of the biggest European banks bailed out in 2008. After the bailout, Fortis was carved up and sold, with only the insurance operations left. Its Belgian assets and operations were sold to BNP Paribas, after a lengthy and messy judicial process.

Dexia and KBC were likewise bailed out, after suffering major losses.

• The bailout of KBC Bank, which has major operations in Eastern Europe, was one of the most expensive. A total of €7 billion was injected into KBC, and on May 2009 the government announced that it is providing a guarantee of €25 billion to KBC Bank.
• The governments of France, Belgium and Luxembourg provided €6.4 billion to keep Dexia afloat.

In July 2010, Dexia and KBC Bank passed the EU-wide stress tests.

While the bailouts prevented a financial market collapse, they came at a huge cost. The initial bailout of Fortis led to the fall of the government in December 2008. The government’s public debt also rose significantly, from 84% of GDP in 2007 to 96.7% in 2009.

Subdued rental market

Belgium’s rapid price increases have pushed gross rental yields sharply down, to around 4.5% to 6% for apartments in Brussels, according to Global Property Guide research (see Rental Yields) in May 2009. From 1998 to 2008, rents in the private sector rose by a mere 27% while apartment prices rose 127% over the same period.

In 2009, private sector rents rose 4.9% while apartment prices rose by a mere 1.9%, In Q1 2010, private rent increase outpaced apartment price growth: 6% y-o-y compared with4.9%. These are not enough, however, to push long term yields up.

The rental market has been subdued for a number of years because of rent controls (see Landlord and Tenant section) and the rising number of homeowners. The rental market is significant, at about 30% of the housing stock (23% in the private sector, 7% in social housing); but this is falling, and is down from 38% in 1980 and 33% in 1990. However, 60% of households in Brussels are renters, a fact partly encouraged by Belgium’s unusually high buy/sell costs.

Supply and demand

In Q1 2010, total housing transactions reached 27,281, 12.6% higher than in the same period last year. In 2009 113,000 dwellings were sold, lower than the more than 120,000 dwellings sold annually from 2005 to 2008.

Dwelling permits and dwellings starts dropped from 2007 to 2009, due to the weak housing market. For instance, only 41,508 dwellings were started in 2009, compared to an average of 55,400 units from 2005 to 2007. Dwelling permits also fell to around 45,000 units in 2009, lower than 58,000 permit annual average from 2005 to 2007.

Economic recovery

The housing market’s performance is strongly influenced by the economy. The Belgian economy expanded by an average of 2.64% between 2004 and 2007, after an average annual 1.05% GDP growth from 2001 to 2003. The unemployment rate went down to 7.1% in 2008 from 8.5% in 2005.

With the global financial meltdown, Belgium’s GDP contracted by 3% in 2009, and unemployment rose to 7.9% at the end of 2009 and is expected to rise further to 8.2% by the end of 2010.

Economic recovery remains fragile. Although GDP expanded in Q1 by 0.1% q-o-q, it was lower than the increases of 0.7% in Q3 and 0.3% in Q4 2009. The economy is expected to grow by around 1.3% in 2010 and 1.8% in 2011.

Regardless of who emerges as part of the new coalition government, austerity measures are expected to cut the deficit and the national debt. But unpopular cost cutting measures are difficult to implement, especially in politically-divided countries like Belgium.

This article was republished with permission from Global Property Guide.

Belgium-rose - blog*spot

swtor power levelingInternational spot gold on Friday (November 25) in the European market in a little over 1%, refreshing today as low as $ 1671.9/ounce, below are still confined in 1680 dollars an ounce, gold declines this week reached 2.5%, bond suffered selling in Europe, spread of European debt crisis continues to deepen, gold followed the decline in risk assets,At the same time, stronger dollar index continued pressured the gold price. 　　On Friday Italy extremely poor auction results, the auction of two kinds of short term government bond yields hit highest level since the inception of the euro. After the publication of the results, Italy five-year government bond yields hit record highs since the birth of the Euro 7.8%; two-year government bond yields rose 40 basis points to 8.3%. 　　At the same time, other Euro-bond yields rallied together with free debt, Germany Government bond futures extended declines, days fallen 54 beats hit low 134.49; Germany five year CDS rates rose 6 basis points to 115 basis points, chasing records. In addition the old republic power leveling, Belgium five year CDS rates rose by 13 basis points to407 basis points, an all-time high, Belgium/Germany ten-year bonds carry 368 basis points, highest since at least 2008. Germany Angela Merkel (Angela Merkel) resolutely oppose issuing common eurozone bonds and on containing the crisis against the European Central Bank plays a more important role in the process, these words on Thursday (1January 24) Conference held in German, French and Italian leaders to nothing, makes European debt solution still got nowhere. 　　In addition, the US dollar forced the gold price pressure, the dollar index Friday in the European market in constantly refreshed daily 79.63 to. South Africa's standard Bank (Standard Bank) analyst Walter de wEt said part of the stronger dollar is pressured the gold price factors, of course, gold prices are already too high, especially in India markets, rupee lower prices, demand for physical gold market has sharply declined, as strong levels it is not like 6 weeks ago. Wet said factor supporting prices was already gone, but we have not seen many negative factors in the market. But JaneSingle said, buy in, if even lower gold prices in the next few days, I wouldn't be surprised. 　　Spot Gold falls below $ 1650 there are also possibilities. Although UBS (UBS) said in its latest report in October, central banks ' gold buying again, net purchases in the last year, this is the last 20 yearsAppears. But the demand for gold in central banks, as well as the gold ETF innovation positions highlight market demand for gold or offset the negative impact of macroeconomic fundamentals.

Belgium-rose: Belgium-rose: Rose Walker Opening Office in ...

Rose Walker LLP, the litigation law firm, has announced that it will open a new office in Los Angeles. This will be the first office for the firm outside the state of Texas. The new office will be led by partner Michael J. Terhar, with the firm focusing on aviation and aerospace litigtation.
The new office will be located at 2 N. Lake Avenue in Pasadena, California, which used to be occupied by the firm of LaMontagne & Terhar LLP. This firm was co-founded by Terhar but he is leaving in order to take the job with Rose Walker. There are only two lawyers on the staff for the California office of Rose Walker, but there are negotiations ongoing for future hires.

Chris McDowell, a partner with the Dallas firm, said the following:

“We have a lot of clients in aviation and aerospace, and they’ve been asking us to be present in California for a long time … It seemed like the right time and right opportunity to finally do so.”
McDowell also said that the firm’s new office in California might also expand into the practices of intellectual property and commercial litigation. The opening of the firm’s office in California is expected to boost the work done by the firm for the past couple of decades in California.
“Our firm has always worked in California, and we are familiar with the business climate and the courts there. This move gives us a ‘boots-on-the-ground’ component that we didn’t have before, and that’s good for our clients,” Martin Rose, the firm’s founder, said in a statement.

Rose also said that Terhar is the perfect candidate to lead the office in California because of his 30 years of experience in litigation within the state.

“We have known him for his entire legal career and frequently worked together,” Rose said in a statement. “He’s a natural fit for our culture and results-focused practice. I’m thrilled to have him on board.”

Terhar has worked on commercial and private aviation cases, including the 1978 case involving the crash of PSA Flight 182 in a neighborhood in San Diego.

Terhar also has quite a bit of experience representing sports and concert venues in Los Angeles County. Those cases have involved crowd control, security and code violations, personal injury and wrongful death cases that cause injury to stuntmen, cast and crew in Hollywood.

The case history for Terhar is impressive as it includes him defending an aerial stunt coordinator’s role in a helicopter accident during the filming of ‘XXX,’ which was released back in 2002. Terhar also represented John Landis in wrongful death lawsuits related to the filming of ‘Twilight Zone’ back in 1983.

Terhar attended Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1979.

“We grow as our clients’ need dictate. We’re not driven to grow to a certain size by a certain time,” McDowell said.

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Posted by jim on January 9, 2012. Filed under Home,Law Firm News,Rose Walker LLP. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

What makes me cry « « The Great Escape » Life from behind a lens

What makes me cry

Posted by Robin on February 4, 2012 · 5 Comments 

Ms Waterpebble and I back in the day

Honestly, not much makes me cry. I’m a rock. If I were a character in the TV series Chuck I would be Colonel John Casey. When I asked a certain Ms Waterpebble (whom I dated for several days months years) about my ability to cry, her response was “Not Applicable”. But I have cried. On the odd occasion.

I cried when I said goodbye to Karen, the first girl I truly loved. I was at the open door of a train in Florence, Italy, about to leave for Belgium. I gave her a rose, said goodbye, and the train pulled out of the station all-too-slowly. I found my seat and then I cried – with one of those deep lung-wrenching sobs – on and off all the way to Switzerland (or it felt that way, anyway). We were in our late teens; we’d both been exchange students in Belgium. She was Canadian; I was from South Africa. Within a month I was back in Pretoria, serving a two-year stint in the South African Airforce. I cried again for her just before checking in for basic training – distressed that I might never see her again. I never did.

I cried when my grandmother (on my father’s side) died. I cried because our little Schnauzer, which she loved so much, and which used to wait for her at our front gate, would never see her again. I cried because I had gone for a run earlier in the day, right by where she lived, and I hadn’t popped in to say hello.

I cried at the hospital beds of both my mother’s parents just before they died and choked back tears at their funerals.

I cried while watching the movie My Dog Spot. A team of workers was retiling the bathroom in the apartment I was house sitting at the time and the foreman walked in to find me a blubbering mess. I didn’t care; it was cathartic.

I cried while sitting on an Air Singapore flight from Johannesburg, bound for Mongolia. The little Chinese woman next to me took one look at this howling wreck of a man and promptly buried her face in her inflight magazine. I was heading to Ulaanbaatar on the other side of the world, further from my close friends than I had ever been. (This was in the days before ready access to email and cellphones.) I sat there reading deep-felt notes of affection and support, sending me on my way, and the floodgates opened – floodgates which no number of Kleenexes could stem.

I’ve cried when seeing the lost, lonely, poor and hurting in Africa and Madagascar. I’ve cried with joy when seeing people accept Jesus into their hearts … I’ve cried … No, that’s about it. I don’t remember any other occasions… Wow! I guess I’m going to have to work on that.

I would ask “What makes you cry?” but I’m not sure I’d be able to deal with the answers …

Karen asleep on a park bench in Monte Carlo, just days before we saw each other for the last time in Florence, Italy.

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Belgium-rose

Statistics Belgium reports that price gains in Belgium are slowing as the country attempts to recover from the effects of the global financial crisis while negotiating the rise of a new coalition government. The country saw price surges as high as 200% in hot spots like Brussels from 1998 to 2008, but high exposure to toxic markets drove these prices down in all three market regions. Like the U.S., Belgium is now dominated by only a few mortgage lenders, the bailout of which eventually led to the collapse of the government in 2008. Now, the resulting turmoil is compromising the country’s housing market recovery. For more on this continue reading the following article from Global Property Guide.

Prices of ‘regular’ houses in Belgium rose by 2.79%, to €184,147, during the year to end-Q2 2011.

• In Brussels, prices of regular houses increased by 1.2% to €338,645.
• In the Flemish region, regular house prices rose 3.71% to €197,415. Flemish Brabant had the most expensive houses, with an average price of €232,192. The cheapest, on the other hand, were in the province of Limburg with an average house price of €174,621.

The trend seems now to be down.  In the second quarter of 2011, prices of regular houses in Belgium dropped by 0.8% q-o-q, according to Statistics Belgium (StatBel).

Belgium’s house price boom from 2000 to H1 2008 was driven by low interest rates and increased competition between banks; and strong economic and wage growth

Total transactions for ‘regular’ houses fell by 2.4% to 15,955 units from a year earlier to Q2 2011, with apartment transactions down 9%.  The property market has been adversely affected by the country’s political troubles. Since the parliamentary election in 2010, Belgium has been in political deadlock.

Belgium’s real GDP grew by 2.5% in Q2 2011, after 3% growth in Q1, according to the National Accounts Institute. In 2010, the economy expanded by 2.1%, according to the IMF.

Brussels prices surge ahead

Belgium is divided into three regions:

• the Flemish Region that occupies the northern half with Dutch-speaking communities;
• the Walloon Region which occupies the southern-half and is made-up largely of French-speaking communities with a small German-speaking community in the south-east; and
• Brussels, the administrative capital region, an officially tri-lingual city inside the Flemish region.

Each region and community has a separate parliament and executive administration. Power has been increasingly devolved. There is also a persisting ethnic conflict, and the political union has come under rising threat.

Property prices in Belgium’s three regions move in the same price cycle, but the capital has registered much the highest price increases. Prices in Brussels surged almost 200% (140% in real terms) from 1998 to 2008, much more than in the two other regions (143% for the Flemish region and 116% in Walloon) over the same period, according to StatBel.

Prices also fell most in Brussels during 2009, though the falls were relatively insignificant. The average price of ordinary houses in Brussels decreased 1.9% in 2009; more than the 0.9% price fall for Walloon, and worse than the 1% nominal increase in the Flemish region. When adjusted for inflation, houses prices fell in all areas.

The drivers of Belgium’s house price boom were:

• rapid mortgage market expansion due to low interest rates and increased competition between banks; and
• relatively strong economic and wage growth.

When these conditions were reversed with the global credit crunch, house price rises stopped. But now the economic recovery, helped by low interest rates, is causing house prices to rise strongly again.

Record low mortgage rates

Mortgage rates moved down in March 2009 to 2.84% for floating rate mortgages and 4.16% for new mortgages with 10-year interest rate fixation (IRF), in line with the historically rock-bottom levels seen in 2005.

Interest rates recently peaked at 5.33% in October 2008 (for new mortgages with 10-year interest rate fixation (IRF), while those with floating rate and up to 1year IRF peaked at 6.02%.

Mortgage growth and stability

The Belgian mortgage market has been dominated by four major private financial institutions: Fortis, Dexia, KBC, and ING Belgium since a wave of privatization, mergers and acquisition in the 1990s. All four have interests spread across the financial industry including investment management, retail banking and insurance. Intense competition has led to low fees and charges, and more mortgage options.

Despite the credit crunch, the mortgage market grew 9% in 2008 and 7.5% in 2009. In Q1 2010, outstanding mortgage credit rose to €147.6 billion, 8.5% higher than a year earlier.

Fixed-rate mortgages dominate

Mortgages in Belgium typically have a 20 year duration, and a loan-to-value ratio of 80% to 85%. Since 2008, more than 80% of new loans have had interest rates fixed for the duration of the loan, or for ten years or more.

However, the sensitivity of households to interest rate changes has changed over the years. At the end of 2002, less than 20% of new mortgage contracts had an IRF of less than three years. Between 2003 and 2005, borrowers shifted to mortgages with shorter IRFs with interest rates typically one percentage point or more lower than fixed rate mortgages (FRM). The share of mortgages with IRF of less than 3 years rose to almost 60% at end-2004.

With the interest rate hikes from 2006 to 2008, households shifted to longer term FRMs. The share of mortgages with IRF of 3 years or less shrank to around 1% to 2% of total loans in 2007 and 2008.

Bank bailouts everywhere

Belgian financial institutions were among the worst hit by the 2008 financial meltdown. Losses from international operations, exposure to the US subprime mortgage markets, and commitments to previous expansion programs led to massive liquidity problems.

For instance, Fortis, the largest mortgage lender in Belgium, was cash-strapped after paying €24 billion for participation in the €70 billion purchase of ABN Amro in 2007. To prevent Fortis collapsing, it was partly nationalized by the governments of Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to the tune of €11.2 billion.

With assets bigger than the Belgian economy, Fortis is one of the biggest European banks bailed out in 2008. After the bailout, Fortis was carved up and sold, with only the insurance operations left. Its Belgian assets and operations were sold to BNP Paribas, after a lengthy and messy judicial process.

Dexia and KBC were likewise bailed out, after suffering major losses.

• The bailout of KBC Bank, which has major operations in Eastern Europe, was one of the most expensive. A total of €7 billion was injected into KBC, and on May 2009 the government announced that it is providing a guarantee of €25 billion to KBC Bank.
• The governments of France, Belgium and Luxembourg provided €6.4 billion to keep Dexia afloat.

In July 2010, Dexia and KBC Bank passed the EU-wide stress tests.

While the bailouts prevented a financial market collapse, they came at a huge cost. The initial bailout of Fortis led to the fall of the government in December 2008. The government’s public debt also rose significantly, from 84% of GDP in 2007 to 96.7% in 2009.

Subdued rental market

Belgium’s rapid price increases have pushed gross rental yields sharply down, to around 4.5% to 6% for apartments in Brussels, according to Global Property Guide research (see Rental Yields) in May 2009. From 1998 to 2008, rents in the private sector rose by a mere 27% while apartment prices rose 127% over the same period.

In 2009, private sector rents rose 4.9% while apartment prices rose by a mere 1.9%, In Q1 2010, private rent increase outpaced apartment price growth: 6% y-o-y compared with4.9%. These are not enough, however, to push long term yields up.

The rental market has been subdued for a number of years because of rent controls (see Landlord and Tenant section) and the rising number of homeowners. The rental market is significant, at about 30% of the housing stock (23% in the private sector, 7% in social housing); but this is falling, and is down from 38% in 1980 and 33% in 1990. However, 60% of households in Brussels are renters, a fact partly encouraged by Belgium’s unusually high buy/sell costs.

Supply and demand

In Q1 2010, total housing transactions reached 27,281, 12.6% higher than in the same period last year. In 2009 113,000 dwellings were sold, lower than the more than 120,000 dwellings sold annually from 2005 to 2008.

Dwelling permits and dwellings starts dropped from 2007 to 2009, due to the weak housing market. For instance, only 41,508 dwellings were started in 2009, compared to an average of 55,400 units from 2005 to 2007. Dwelling permits also fell to around 45,000 units in 2009, lower than 58,000 permit annual average from 2005 to 2007.

Economic recovery

The housing market’s performance is strongly influenced by the economy. The Belgian economy expanded by an average of 2.64% between 2004 and 2007, after an average annual 1.05% GDP growth from 2001 to 2003. The unemployment rate went down to 7.1% in 2008 from 8.5% in 2005.

With the global financial meltdown, Belgium’s GDP contracted by 3% in 2009, and unemployment rose to 7.9% at the end of 2009 and is expected to rise further to 8.2% by the end of 2010.

Economic recovery remains fragile. Although GDP expanded in Q1 by 0.1% q-o-q, it was lower than the increases of 0.7% in Q3 and 0.3% in Q4 2009. The economy is expected to grow by around 1.3% in 2010 and 1.8% in 2011.

Regardless of who emerges as part of the new coalition government, austerity measures are expected to cut the deficit and the national debt. But unpopular cost cutting measures are difficult to implement, especially in politically-divided countries like Belgium.

This article was republished with permission from Global Property Guide.