The Flemish musician and businessman Bobbejaan Schoepen was a Belgian national institution. He was first and foremost a multi-million selling musician who worked with musicians as diverse as Django Reinhardt, Jacques Brel, Josephine Baker, Gilbert Bécaud, Heino, James Last, Slim Dusty, Roy Acuff and Red Foley.

Sexy, elegant, aggressive... machine-washable? Is there no end to black's versatility? Harriet Walker reports on an exhibition that traces the meaning of fashion's most recurrent colour

A dominatrix offering bondage, humiliation and torture has been arrested after a British motor racing boss was found dead in Belgium.

We're all set to marvel at Margiela, blame Coco and have a picnic with Alan Bennett

Be brave this spring and embrace bright colour and bold print, says Lee Holmes. Sartorial success lies in mixing rather than matching florals, stripes and checks

The Pre-Raphaelites knew how to take pains. Holman Hunt had sheep dropped from a height so that, while they remained stunned, he could study such details as the translucent membrane in their ears. Millais's Ophelia floats eternally to her death, thanks to Lizzie Siddall who posed, fully-clothed and fully compliant, in flower-strewn tepid bathwater. Ford Madox Brown spent four weeks painting the livid-pink bonnet-ribbons that fly out from under the chin of the young woman who, with her husband, is setting sail for Australia in the hope of finding gold.

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Diamonds, Rubens, waffles and contemporary fashion – indulge in a winter visit to this cosmopolitan Belgian city

Newcastle have signed defender Danny Simpson on loan from Barclays Premier League champions Manchester United.

Belgian authorities are chasing three more escaped prisoners, bringing the total to 12 over the past two weeks.

A tale of fiends in high places

Stoke have announced that 20-year-old defender Ritchie De Laet has moved to Manchester United and signed a three-year deal.

Capital of diamonds, city of Rubens, vibrant centre of fashion: Antwerp has a dazzling variety of attractions. To shop for some of the world's most fabulous jewellery head to Appelmansstraat and Hoveniersstraat near the Central Station. Diamonds here are cheaper than in Britain – there's a good selection at the huge gem store, Diamondland, at Appelmansstraat 33.

Where to go, how to save, what to avoid