Belgium grinds to halt as strike takes hold

Construction sites, car plants, public transportation and the port of Antwerp lay still today as workers took part in a one-day national strike by Belgium’s largest socialist union to protest planned changes to social security.

Trains rumbled to a halt late yesterday ahead of today’s action and the Channel high-speed Eurostar train suspended its services to Brussels due to the strike, stranding some travellers at stations in Brussels.