Koba Ryckewaert

Greece to Acquire Nazi Execution Photographs That Were Up for Sale Online

The Greek government is acquiring never-before seen photos of 200 Greek Communists just before being executed by a Nazi firing squad in 1944, which were put up on eBay recently by a Belgian collector. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/w...

Dutch Queen Joins the Military Queen Máxima of the Netherlands enlisted as a reservist, the Royal House said, because the country’s security “can no longer be taken for granted.”

Queen Máxima of the Netherlands enlisted in the Dutch Army as a reservist, the Royal House said, because the country’s security “can no longer be taken for granted.”

After freelancing for the paper for years, I joined the @nytimes.com Brussels bureau last week. I’ll be working with @jeannasmialek.bsky.social to cover Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and all things E.U.

Send me your secrets at koba.ryckewaert@nytimes.com !

$10 Million in Contraceptives Have Been Destroyed on Orders From Trump Officials The birth control pills, IUDs and hormonal implants were purchased by U.S.A.I.D. for women in low-income countries. They had been in limbo in a Belgian warehouse after the U.S. cut much of its foreign aid.

Millions of dollars worth of contraceptives destined for low-income countries were destroyed at the direction of the Trump administration.

The Trump administration intends to incinerate $9.7 million in already-purchased birth control in Belgium after USAID shut down, at a cost to the U.S. of more than $160,000 in transport and incineration fees. European governments are still hoping to stop it. nyti.ms/4ma5iaa

She’s Trying to Stay Ahead of Alzheimer’s, in a Race to the Death (Gift Article) In the Netherlands, doctors and dementia patients must negotiate a fine line: Assisted death for those without capacity is legal, but doctors won’t do it.

For the last year and a half I've been traveling to countries around the world to talk to people about assisted dying and the ways that different societies find ethical comfort with the practice. The first story in that series published today www.nytimes.com/2025/02/16/h...

Belgium Forms a Government After 7 Months of Squabbling (Gift Article) The country’s tense negotiations hinged on taxing and social spending — and they highlight issues facing Europe, and Western democracies, as a whole.

Belgium has reached an agreement to form a coalition government, ending seven months of partisan squabbling
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/w...

Scenes from the Belgian government formation talks. Or the thing that flashes before your eyes when you imagine the family Christmas dinner you're dreading

A map of flight paths emanating from breeding colony of gulls, with this caption: Early on, LifeWatch noticed something odd. Most gulls were making daily trips to Mouscron, a city on the French border 65 km away. They went to investigate and found the birds bingeing on discarded snacks at the Roger & Roger potato factory.

Today in relatable science: Gulls making a mysterious daily trip that turned out to be to a potato chip factory

If you like to ingest long articles with your ears rather than your eyes, my Guardian Long Read on Avatar Therapy - one of the most extraordinary things I’ve ever reported on - is now a podcast podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...