Brussels - Belgian insurance and banking giant KBC joined the country's bail-out club Monday by securing a capital injection of billions of euros from the state.

"KBC and the Belgian government have reached an agreement to further strengthen KBC's financial position. This will create an additional core capital buffer for KBC and enable it to cope with any future challenges," the company said in a statement.

The deal involves KBC selling 3.5 billion euros (4.3 billion dollars) worth of non-voting shares to the Belgian state.

Mons, Belgium - Three NATO warships have reached the coast of Somalia and are ready to defend United Nations vessels from possible attacks by pirates, the alliance confirmed Friday.

Italy's ITS Durand de la Penne, Greece's HS Themistokles and Britain's HMS Cumberland were to begin escorting World Food Programme (WFP) vessels carrying food aid to Africa.

Brussels - Grey office blocks and European Union civil servants - that's the common image of Brussels.

But behind this cliché lurks a colourful scene waiting to be discovered especially for followers of fashion. A walk through downtown Brussels reveals a palette that reaches from chic boutiques to shrill trendy shops.

"Most people think of fashion only in terms of haute couture from Paris or London, but Brussels is right at their doorstep," said Anne Weger of Belgium's tourist bureau in Cologne.

Brussels - Belgium's right-wing Flemish party Vlaams Belang (VB), known for its anti-foreigner rhetoric, Saturday mourned the car accident death of rightist Austrian politicial Joerg Haider.

Brussels  - The governments of France, Belgium and Luxembourg have agreed to guarantee the financing of regional banking group Dexia for at least a year, the three administrations confirmed in a statement Thursday.

"In order to support the group's activity and consolidate its development, the three governments have jointly undertaken to guarantee new interbank and institutional financing ... starting today and lasting until 31 October 2009," the statement said.

Brussels - Belgium's former Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene is to head the board of the struggling Franco-Belgian financial service group Dexia, Belgium's Prime Minister Yves Leterme announced Tuesday after an overnight crisis meeting in Brussels.

French banker and BNP Paribas executive Pierre Mariani is to serve as as chief executive. Mariani is currently a senior executive vice president at France's largest bank, BNP Paribas, France's largest bank.