A southern Dutch city has incurred the ire of nearby Belgian towns by opting to move seven cannabis-vending coffee shops closer to the border to dilute the nuisance it claims is caused by drug tourism.

Belgian pop artist Guy Peellaert, whose work includes album covers for the Rolling Stones and David Bowie and posters for films such as `Taxi Driver,` has died, his agent said Wednesday.

Peellaert died Monday in Paris aged 74 after a long illness, Noemie Mainguet said.

Belgian pop artist Guy Peellaert, whose work includes album covers for the Rolling Stones and David Bowie and posters for films such as `Taxi Driver,` has died, his agent said Wednesday.

Peellaert died Monday in Paris aged 74 after a long illness, Noemie Mainguet said.

The nephew of Herge, author of the comic-book boy reporter Tintin, will auction off some of his uncle`s sketches, photos and letters in Paris on Friday, a Belgian newspaper reported.

Georges Remi said he had `some misgivings` about the sale of the items, which belonged to his Belgian uncle of the same name -- Herge was his famous pen name.

The nephew of Herge, author of the comic-book boy reporter Tintin, will auction off some of his uncle`s sketches, photos and letters in Paris on Friday, a Belgian newspaper reported.

Georges Remi said he had `some misgivings` about the sale of the items, which belonged to his Belgian uncle of the same name -- Herge was his famous pen name.

BANGKOK, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - Two Dutchmen and two Belgians alleged to be part of a global drug trafficking gang have been arrested on Thailand's resort island of Samui, police said Friday.

Ronald Koornwinder, 46, and Paulus Meyer, 44, from the Netherlands, and Koen Van Staay, 30 and Kelly Cautereels, 25, from Belgium, were nabbed at a house Thursday on the island, some 670 kilometres (415 miles) south of Bangkok.

BRUSSELS, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - Six people went on trial in a Brussels court Monday over their suspected roles in recruiting and sending would-be suicide-bombers to Iraq.

The group is suspected in particular of having recruited 38-year-old Muriel Degauque, a Belgian woman from the southern city of Charleroi who is thought to be the first female suicide bomber in Iraq from Europe.

Investigators have built up a 'weighty' case against the group using intercepted phone calls, Internet chat and mobile phone text messages, according to judge Pierre Hendrickx.

BRUSSELS, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - Newly created zinc producer Nyrstar unveiled plans on Monday to raise up to 2.3 billion euros via a stock market flotation aimed at tapping growing investor interest in booming base metals.

The Belgium-based company began operations in September after its two 50:50 shareholders, Umicore of Belgium and Zinifex of Australia, merged their zinc smeltering businesses earlier this year.

Initially, 70 percent of Nyrstar's stock is to be offered at 18 to 23 euros per share, raising 1.35-1.6 billion euros (1.92-2.28 billion dollars).

BRUSSELS, Oct 14, 2007 (AFP) - A Belgium resistance fighter of World War II, Andree De Jongh, who founded a group that saved some 800 Allied aviators, has died at the age of 91, according to her family cited by the press Sunday.

De Jongh, founder of the 'Comet' escape network during the war, died in Brussels on Saturday.

The network helped more than 800 British pilots get back home, according to www.cometeline.org, an Internet site run by former resistance members.

BRUSSELS, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) - A baby girl was born over the Sahara desert during the night aboard a Brussels Airlines flight from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Belgium, the company said in a statement Friday.

Baby Daniella -- named after the co-pilot for the Kinshasa-Brussels flight -- 'is doing fine thanks to the help of two doctors who happened to be aboard as well as the crew,' the statement said.

A 31-year-old Congolese woman, who was not identified, gave birth to the child at around 0200 GMT as the Airbus A330-300 was flying over the Sahara.