Brussels  - Residents of the Belgian town of Fleurus have been told not to consume locally-produced vegetables and dairy products following a leak of radioactive iodine at a nearby nuclear facility, Belgian media reported Friday.

The interior ministry has also issued a warning against the consumption of local dairy products.

The warnings follow the discovery of unusually high levels of radiation in grass samples taken near the Institut National de Radio-elements, which makes radioisotopes used to treat cancer.

Brussels - For over 200 years, the Trappist monks of Belgium's Westmalle abbey have preserved their order through war, fire and revolution.

Now the abbey's famous Benedictine brewing monks are facing a new and unexpected challenge: commercial success.

The beer they brew within the abbey's walls has become so popular that they cannot keep up with demand - forcing them to choose between the Rule of St Benedict and the iron rules of supply and demand.

"Given the ever-increasing demand, should the Trappist abbey of Westmalle give in to growing market pressure and intensify its production?" a statement from the Abbey asked.

Brussels - Police in Belgium are examining CCTV footage from a Brussels bank which is said to show a child similar to missing British toddler Madeleine McCann, the Belga news agency reported Saturday.

A security guard said he saw an English-speaking blonde girl of five or six years accompanied by a woman, police spokesman John Berckmans said.

Berckmans said the criminal police laboratory was investigating the pictures to see whether they are of sufficient quality for an identification.

The footage was taken Monday in a bank branch in the Brussels district of Molenbeek.

Brussels - NATO's top official on Monday condemned the night's double bomb attack in Istanbul which left at least 16 people dead and over 150 injured.

"I condemn in the strongest terms the bombings that occurred in Istanbul yesterday (Sunday) evening. These appalling terrorist attacks targeted innocent civilians in a deliberate and brutal way," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in a statement.

"On behalf of the (NATO) allies, I express my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, and my sympathies to those injured in the blasts. NATO will continue to stand firmly in solidarity with the Turkish people in the fight against terrorism," he said.

Brussels - European Union officials Tuesday welcomed the arrest of fugitive Serbian war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, a development which could pave the way for closer EU-Belgrade ties.

EU foreign policy commissioner Javier Solana, speaking on the periphery of an EU foreign ministers' meeting, said "today I want to congratulate the Serbian government. It is a good day for the Balkans."

He said he believed Belgrade was cooperating "fully" with the international war crimes tribunal.