With No New Government, Belgium Edges Towards Split

It's been 3 months since Belgians went to the polls, and their binational kingdom still has no government. Yves Leterme, the winner of June's elections, has been unable to form a coalition in parliament. Now the king has been forced to step in, and the perennial question of whether Belgium will at last break up holds new urgency.

Senior politicians are confident that the king's mediator can get the country's Walloon and Flemish parties to strike a deal, the Independent reports. But the election stalemate has caused further dissatisfaction in the richer Dutch-speaking region, and French-language media are debating a divorce. A recent poll confirmed that 43% of Dutch-speaking Belgians favored an independent Flanders. (More Belgium stories.)