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December 30, 2019

December 29, 2019

The Netherlands: Dutch Resistance movement during the 2nd World War - These Dutch girls seduced Nazis — and lured them to their deaths - by Isabel Vincent

When she came across a Nazi killing an infant by repeatedly swinging its tiny body against a brick wall, Truus Oversteegen didn’t flinch.

The freckle-faced teenager, who was just three months shy of her 17th birthday when Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, was a newly minted member of the Dutch resistance.

She had been mostly assigned to hide Jewish children, political dissidents and homosexuals in various safe houses throughout Haarlem, her hometown, which was about 12 miles west of Amsterdam.

But what she saw now forced her to act with a sudden, brutal energy.

Read the complete report at: These Dutch girls seduced Nazis — and lured them to their deaths

December 28, 2019

Britain: Inside Boris Johnson's £20,000-a-week Caribbean Christmas getaway

Pictures have emerged of the luxury Caribbean villa where Boris Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie Symonds will see in the New Year. The pair will have a pick of three swimming pools, six bedrooms and stunning views in every direction at the £20,000-a-week hideaway. The Oceanus villa on the island of Mustique comes with a dedicated butler, housekeeper, chef and gardener. They arrived today after stopping off in St Lucia where he was congratulated on his election victory by the country’s prime minister, Alan Chastanet. But he is expected to leave all formal prime ministerial work at the door to spend time with Ms Symonds, 31.

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/27/inside-boris-johnsons-20000-week-caribbean-christmas-getaway-11966178/?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/
Pictures have emerged of the luxury Caribbean villa where Boris Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie Symonds will see in the New Year. The pair will have a pick of three swimming pools, six bedrooms and stunning views in every direction at the £20,000-a-week hideaway. The Oceanus villa on the island of Mustique comes with a dedicated butler, housekeeper, chef and gardener. They arrived today after stopping off in St Lucia where he was congratulated on his election victory by the country’s prime minister, Alan Chastanet. But he is expected to leave all formal prime ministerial work at the door to spend time with Ms Symonds, 31.

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/27/inside-boris-johnsons-20000-week-caribbean-christmas-getaway-11966178/?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/
Carrie Symonds and Boris Johnson
Pictures have emerged of the luxury Caribbean villa where Boris Johnson (55) and his 31 year old girlfriend Carrie Symonds will see in the New Year.

The pair will have a pick of three swimming pools, six bedrooms and stunning views in every direction at the £20,000-a-week hideaway.

The Oceanus villa on the island of Mustique comes with a dedicated butler, housekeeper, chef and gardener.

They arrived today after stopping off in St Lucia where he was congratulated on his election victory by the country’s prime minister, Alan Chastanet. But he is expected to leave all formal prime ministerial work at the door to spend time with Ms Symonds,

Read more at: Inside Boris Johnson's £20,000-a-week Caribbean Christmas getaway | Metro News

December 27, 2019

NATO: European Security in Crisis: What to Expect if the United States Withdraws from NATO - by Liana Fix and Bastian Giegerich

t is February 2021. A few months after his re-election as president of the United States, Donald Trump declares that NATO has become obsolete and the United States withdraws from the alliance. All U.S. forces — military personnel and equipment — including nuclear and missile defense assets will be withdrawn from Europe as soon as possible.

This nightmare scenario has been on the mind of many security policy officials, and experts, ever since the New York Times reported in January 2019 that Trump discussed several times over the course of 2018 wanting to withdraw from the alliance. Congress has acted and passed the NATO Support Act, which prohibits the use of funds to withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Yet the possibility of such a move cannot entirely be excluded.

A policy game prepared by Körber-Stiftung and the International Institute for Strategic Studies sought to answer these questions this summer in Berlin. Five country teams with experts from France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States addressed a fictional scenario that involved a U.S. withdrawal from NATO, followed by crises in a NATO member state in the western Balkans and across Eastern Europe. How would Europeans react to such a scenario? What are the red lines, interests, and priorities of the respective actors? How might Europeans organize their defense if the United States withdraws from NATO, and what role could the United States play in European security after the withdrawal?

European Security in Crisis: What to Expect if the United States Withdraws from NATO - War on the Rocks

December 25, 2019

EU - reality check: - Who Still Needs the EU?

The EU elicits a range of reactions. What's behind the preconceptions and skepticism? DW reporters go looking for answers in Germany, Poland, Italy and Brussels

December 23, 2019

Christmas: Canada Is Officially The Christmas Capital Of The World

Christmas is a magical time all around the world, but we're proud to announce that Canada has taken the top spot and been officially named the #1 most Christmassy country in the whole world.

According to the rankings, there were several reasons why Canada took the top spot. There is an impressive amount of people here who listen to Christmas music relative to other countries, which also makes sense given that staple Canadian singers Justin Bieber and Michael Bublé have both released Christmas albums. 

Read more at: Canada Is Officially The Christmas Capital Of The World - Narcity

December 21, 2019

USA: Major Christian Publication Says Trump Should Be Removed from Office

"It’s time to say what we said 20 years ago when a president’s character was revealed for what it was".

Note EU-Digest: The well known US Christian Magazine "Christianity Today", finally spoke out on behalf of many Pastors and millions of Christian's around the world, including the US, who don't support Donald Trump, and said he should resign.

Read the complete report at:
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/december-web-only/trump-should-be-removed-from-office.html

The Americas - Cuban and Suriname relations: Cuba and Suriname reaffirm cooperation ties (+ Photo)

Cuba and Suriname reaffirmed today the common interest of deepening
cooperation ties, in the context of the celebrations to mark the 40th
anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations.



Read more at: The Americas - Cuban and Suriname relations: Cuba and Suriname reaffirm cooperation ties (+ Photo)

December 19, 2019

Suriname Rice Production: Suriname eyes Cuba, Barbados rice markets

Suriname’s Agriculture Minister, Rabin Parmessar is in Cuba to secure rice exports for next year.  That country’s ministry says it will do everything to make urea fertiliser and other inputs

Read more at:
http://demerarawaves.com/2019/12/15/suriname-eyes-cuba-barbados-rice-markets/

The Netherlands: Is the Netherlands becoming a narco-state?

The murder of a prominent lawyer ended a common misconception: that drug cartels only kill their own.

Read more at:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50821542

December 18, 2019

The Netherlands: Global warming:When will the Netherlands disappear?

 The low-lying country has centuries of experience managing water. Now climate change is threatening to flood it completely.

Global warming: do something about it, demonstrate in the street and in your workplace. Make your Government understand you are not accepting their "business as usual" reactions anymore.

Read more at:
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3042428/when-will-netherlands-disappear

December 15, 2019

December 14, 2019

The Netherlands - Brexit-British elections: 'We've lost our minds': British nationals in NL after election result

British nationals in the Netherlands have been turning to social media to express their feelings following Thursday night’s British election results which will see Brexit become a reality at the end of January next year.

Some 49,000 first generation British nationals currently live in the Netherlands. ‘Gutted beyond words. What happened to the British people? We’ve lost our minds,’ said one woman on Facebook. ‘No fan but hey – at least we are one step closer to knowing where we stand and moving on from the last 3 years…

Always a bright side,’ said another British resident in the Netherlands. ‘The other bright side being – you don’t live there.’ Others pointed out that youngsters will be hardest hit. ‘The future of the UK’s youth has just been made harder.

That is NOT progressing but going back to the days before the young Europeans had job opportunities throughout Europe,’ said Leroy Moorrees on Facebook. Author Ben Coates, who describes himself as a ‘recovering Tory’, said on Twitter people must now accept that millions of people were not tricked into supporting Brexit.

Read more at: 'We've lost our minds': British nationals in NL after election result - DutchNews.nl

December 13, 2019

Britain: Election results 2019: Tories on course to win majority - exit poll

First results are coming in, with the Tories gaining a seat from Labour, as the exit poll suggests Boris Johnson's party is on course for an 86-seat majority.

Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50765773

December 12, 2019

The Netherlands: Chint switches on the Netherlands’ self-styled largest solar project - by José Rojo Martín

The Netherlands has recently marked the operational launch of one of the largest solar farms seen to date, a plant delivered in the country’s northeast by Chinese partners.

Chint Solar has now powered up the 103MWp Midden-Groningen Solar Park, built within eight months this year to the east of the city of Groningen.

The 315,000-panel installation was equipped by PV module maker – and Chint’s sister firm – Astronergy and is now supplying the Dutch grid from its 117-hectare site near the village of Sappemeer.

Construction got underway in February 2019 and was completed by the October 2019 deadline thanks to favourable weather conditions this summer, Chint explained.

Read more at: Chint switches on the Netherlands’ self-styled largest solar project | PV Tech

December 11, 2019

The Netherlands: Amsterdam has the most expensive parking in the world

Amsterdam has topped another global list this week, only this time the honor is not nearly as friendly as a title like Best Place to Live, or the Safest City in the EU. Drivers resource website and app Parkopedia has named the Dutch capital the most expensive city globally for street parking.

Read more at:
https://nltimes.nl/2019/12/08/amsterdam-expensive-parking-world

December 10, 2019

The Netherlands: The Province of Brabant remains the favorite base for foreign multinationals

BOM Foreign Investments again broke its own record when it came to job creation in the province of Brabant last year, with 1,661 new jobs created in 2014 thanks to foreign companies either moving to the region or expanding their operations there.

These companies also invested €154.2 million in the province, the Brabant Development Agency (BOM) announced yesterday at its biennial Investors Day.

The 2014 figures yet another gain for BOM Foreign Investments over the preceding year, when 1,313 jobs were created and investments stood at €52 million.

Read more at: Brabant remains the favorite base for foreign multinational

December 9, 2019

EU-US Relations: Trump escalates fight over tax on tech giants - by Naomi Jagoda and Emily Birnbaum

The long-running fight between the U.S. and Europe over how to tax American tech giants is heating up.

The Trump administration on Monday proposed retaliating against France for a tax on digital services, floating $2.4 billion in tariffs, and Paris is vowing to hit back. 

The dispute is raising pressure on international negotiators to develop a framework for taxing tech companies whose businesses span the globe. But as the complicated talks unfold, the U.S. is threatening to launch more investigations.

December 8, 2019

NATO: Macron spars with US and Turkey over Nato - by Nikolaj Nielsen

EU Defense Force: Europe needs to control it's own destiny
The presidents of France, Turkey and the United States sparred over Nato as the 29 leaders of the 70-year old alliance gathered in London.

In a late night tweet on Tuesday (3 December), French president Emmanuel Macron entrenched his views on the future of the fraying alliance.

"We can't put money and pay the cost of our soldiers' lives without being clear on the fundamentals of what Nato should be," he said.

The position follows his earlier comments describing Nato as "brain dead", given Turkey's October invasion into north-east Syria, displacing tens of thousands of people.

After US president Donald Trump abandoned the Kurdish militias, who had fought alongside US and French troops in the struggle against the Islamic State, Turkey moved in.

Note EU-Digest: Macron is right on this one. US President Trump pulled out of Syria without consulting any of his NATO partners, except possibly Turkey, and created a chaos at the border between Syria and Turkey. It is high time the EU gets off the lap of the US and creates its own military defense force, which focuses on the interests of Europe.

Read more at: Macron spars with US and Turkey over Nato

December 7, 2019

USA: Why is tourism to the United States on the decline? - Gun violence

The decrease isn't steep, but any decline is seen as alarming, given the overall rise in global tourism.

One of the major reasons for this decline in tourism to the US is the fear of gun violence in America, which is widely publicized around the world.

Read more at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/09/06/more-people-are-traveling-world-than-ever-number-coming-america-is-dropping/

December 5, 2019

The Netherlands-USA Relations - Global Warming - Tampa Teams Up With Netherlands to Deal With Climate Change - by Dalia Dangerfield

The Bay Area and the Netherlands are teaming up to raise awareness on climate change. 
  • Tampa working with Netherlands on climate change
  • Tampa Chief of Staff John Bennett toured Netherlands to get ideas
  • Tampa to develop action plan with ideas
Tampa Chief of Staff John Bennett was invited to the Netherlands by Dutch Leaders to learn how their country deals with climate change.

"When you're riding around the country, it looks like any other country, but when you know what you're looking at, you're like 'wow that's a neat project," Bennett said.

The Netherlands is very vulnerable to floods and storm surge.  Their answer includes using natural resources as a defense. Something Bennett agrees with.

"Lets use nature as much as possible instead of putting more infrastructure in place," Bennett said.

 Read more at: Tampa Teams Up With Netherlands to Deal With Climate Change

December 3, 2019

Global Warming:Why we strike again – by Greta Thunberg, Luisa Neubauer and Angela Valenzuela

Facing grim science and growing activism, world leaders are increasingly recognising the urgency of the climate crisis. Yet nothing has been done.

Read more at
https://www.socialeurope.eu/why-we-strike-again

December 2, 2019

The Netherlands: Black Friday, "American Consumerism on Steroids", has hit the Netherlands: what the media say

The sales mania of Black Friday is everywhere – in the high street, on the internet and in the junk emails in your mailbox.

Now the Dutch media have turned their attention to the latest American craze to hit the Netherlands.

The Volkskrant calls Black Friday ‘unescapable’ and has published a list of tips for would-be bargain hunters. ‘If you can’t beat them join them but at least don’t fall for the retail trick of imaginary discounts,’ the list states.

It also recommends checking the prices of electronic goods, at sites such as Tweakers and Hardware Info which monitor prices throughout the year. The Volkskrant’s top tip: ask yourself do I really need another blender?
:
The sales mania of Black Friday is everywhere – in the high street, on the internet and in the junk emails in your mailbox. Now the Dutch media have turned their attention to the latest American craze to hit the Netherlands. The Volkskrant calls Black Friday ‘unescapable’ and has published a list of tips for would-be bargain hunters. ‘If you can’t beat them join them but at least don’t fall for the retail trick of imaginary discounts,’ the list states. It also recommends checking the prices of electronic goods, at sites such as Tweakers and Hardware Info which monitor prices throughout the year. The Volkskrant’s top tip: ask yourself do I really need another blender?

Read more at DutchNews.nl:
Black Friday has hit the Netherlands: what the media say - DutchNews.nl

December 1, 2019

The Netherlands: Man arrested for teen stabbings on Hague shopping street

Police in the Netherlands arrested a 35-year-old man in connection with the stabbings of three teenagers on the Grote Marktstraat in Den Haag. The man, with no fixed address, was being taken to a police station where investigators planned to interrogate him, Den Haag police said in a statement. No suspected motive was released immediately after the arrest. Earlier on Saturday,

Read more at
https://nltimes.nl/2019/11/30/man-arrested-teen-stabbings-hague-shopping-street

November 29, 2019

The Netherlands: Nine of ten biggest pension funds invest in military weaponry

Nine of the ten largest Dutch pension funds invest in arms manufacturers who supply systems to countries that violate human rights, such as Saudi Arabia. In total these pension funds invest over a billion euros in 14 of these types of arms companies, NRC reports based on the Fair Pension Guide study by peace organization PAX.

Read more at:
https://nltimes.nl/2019/11/28/nine-ten-biggest-pension-funds-invest-military-weaponry

November 28, 2019

U.S. life expectancy being driven down by middle-aged deaths, study suggests

After rising for decades, life expectancy in the U.S. decreased for three straight years, driven by higher rates of death among middle-aged Americans, a new study suggests.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/us-life-expectancy-jama-1.5374066

November 27, 2019

The Netherlands: Rutte Government under fire over costly healthcare and educational student loan programs - by RM

The Netherlands privatized Healthcare and Educational programs are not proving to be one of  the Dutch PM's Rutte success stories. As a matter of fact, they are both a disaster, too costly and worst of all undemocratic.

It seems that Mr. Rutte and some of his colleages in the Dutch Government don't seem to be aware that education and healthcare, are not, and can never be seen as marketable commodities.

They are a basic democratic right for everyone, poor or rich, and must be free and widely available to all citizens.

The present privatized health and educational programs, applied by the Dutch Government and a few other Governments in the EU, and around the world, are not only undemocratic, they are also proving to be a financial barrier in providing proper education and healthcare to every level of the population, and when all is said and done, actually do not benefit the overall economy.

It is regrettable that some countries, including the Netherlands, have turned these basic human rights, related to education and healthcare, into marketable commodities.

Almere-Digest

November 26, 2019

The Netherlands becomes World's Biggest Importer of Chocolate

 In 2018, Dutch cocoa bean imports stood at 1.1 billion kg, more than half of which came from Ivory Coast. This makes the Netherlands the largest importer of cocoa beans in the world. Approximately three-quarters are destined for domestic industrial processing while around one-quarter are resold directly to other countries. This is reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on the basis of new research into destinations of Dutch goods imports.

The Netherlands is a major importer of some important agricultural commodities such as cocoa beans, palm oil (third largest country in the world in terms of import value), soybeans (fourth largest) and coffee (fifth largest). In terms of total volume, the Netherlands is the fourth largest importer of palm oil and eighth largest of coffee.
 
Read more at: The Netherlands becomes World's Biggest Importer of Chocolate

November 25, 2019

Netherlands Headed For Unprecedented Crisis?: Millions Of Retirees Face Pensions Cuts Thanks To The ECB - "This Report is Questionable say Dutch Government insiders" - by Tyler Durden

When one thinks of pensions crisis, the state of Illinois - with its woefully underfunded retirement system which issues bonds just to fund its existing pension benefits - usually comes to mind. Which is why it is surprising that the first state that may suffer substantial pension cuts is one that actually has one of the world's best-funded, and most generous, pension systems.

According to the FT, millions of Dutch pensioners are facing material cuts to their retirement income for the first time next year as the Dutch government scrambles to avert a crisis to the country's €1.6 trillion pension system. And while a last minute intervention by the government may avoid significant cuts to pensions next year - and a revolt by trade unions -  if only temporarily, the world finds itself transfixed by the problems facing the Dutch retirement system as it provides an early indication of a wider global pensions funding shortfall, not to mention potential mass unrest once retirees across some of the world's wealthiest nations suddenly finds themselves with facing haircuts to what they previously believed were unalterable retirement incomes.

At the core of the Dutch cash crunch is the ECB's negative interest rate policy, which has sent bond yields to record negative territory across the eurozone, and crippled returns analysis while pushing up the funding requirements of Dutch pension funds.

Ahead of a parliamentary debate on Thursday on this hot topic issue, the Dutch minister for social affairs and employment, Wouter Koolmees, will write to lawmakers to outline his response to the pension industry’s problems, the FT reported.


Read more: Netherlands Headed For Unprecedented Crisis: Millions Of Retirees Face Pensions Cuts Thanks To The ECB | Zero Hedge

November 24, 2019

Netherlands-Court decission: Netherlands does not have to help kids from ISIS parents trapped in Syria

The Netherlands will not have to retrieve children of Dutch citizens awaiting their fates in Syrian detention and displacement camps, the kids of Dutch women who left the Netherlands to enter conflict zones in Syria and Iraq. The Appellate Court in The Hague overturned a lower court's ten-day old order on an emergency appeal filed on behalf of the Dutch government.

Read more at:
https://nltimes.nl/2019/11/22/netherlands-help-kids-trapped-syria-appellate-court

November 23, 2019

Tourism: Spain set for tourism record as U.S. visitors counter Brexit blues

Spain is on track for a record year of tourist arrivals, the seventh straight year of new highs, with U.S. and Asian visitors countering the disruption of Brexit and collapse of tour operator Thomas Cook, the industry minister said on Wednesday.

Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-spain-economy-tourism/spain-set-for-tourism-record-as-u-s-visitors-counter-brexit-blues-idUKKBN1XU20E

November 22, 2019

The Netherlands: Two gov't parties now support women's quota in listed companies

A mandatory women's quota for executive positions in listed companies is now one step closer. Coalition party CDA expressed support for a quota to ensure that at least 30 percent of listed companies' top positions are filled by wmen. The party, along with coalition partner D66, is submitting a motion calling on the government to adopt the recent proposal.

Read more at:
https://nltimes.nl/2019/11/21/two-govt-parties-now-support-womens-quota-listed-companies

November 21, 2019

Democracy: The Shocking Paper Predicting the End of Democracy - by Rick Shenkman

Everything was unfolding as it usually does. The academics who gathered in Lisbon this summer for the International Society of Political Psychologists’ annual meeting had been politely listening for four days, nodding along as their peers took to the podium and delivered papers on everything from the explosion in conspiracy theories to the rise of authoritarianism.

Then, the mood changed. As one of the lions of the profession, 68-year-old Shawn Rosenberg, began delivering his paper, people in the crowd of about a hundred started shifting in their seats. They loudly whispered objections to their friends. Three women seated next to me near the back row grew so loud and heated I had difficulty hearing for a moment what Rosenberg was saying.

What caused the stir? Rosenberg, a professor at UC Irvine, was challenging a core assumption about America and the West. His theory? Democracy is devouring itself—his phrase — and it won’t last.
As much as President Donald Trump’s liberal critics might want to lay America’s ills at his door, Rosenberg says the president is not the cause of democracy’s fall—even if Trump’s successful anti-immigrant populist campaign may have been a symptom of democracy’s decline.

We’re to blame, said Rosenberg. As in “we the people.”
Democracy is hard work. And as society’s “elites”—experts and public figures who help those around them navigate the heavy responsibilities that come with self-rule—have increasingly been sidelined, citizens have proved ill equipped cognitively and emotionally to run a well-functioning democracy. As a consequence, the center has collapsed and millions of frustrated and angst-filled voters have turned in desperation to right-wing populists.

His prediction? “In well-established democracies like the United States, democratic governance will continue its inexorable decline and will eventually fail.”

Read more: The Shocking Paper Predicting the End of Democracy - POLITICO Magazine

November 20, 2019

Israel-USA-Palestine Relations: Is the US Trump Administration starting to embrace international lawlessness?

The US Trump Administration’s declaration that it no longer considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal marks another step away from the principles of international law.

The illegality of the settlements by Israeli citizens on Palestinian land is quite clear from Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: “The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”

The 600,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have already colonized much of Palestine, fragmenting its territory — over which the Israeli occupier retains complete military control — criss-crossing it with roads barred to Palestinian users, stealing much of the most fertile land and depriving the Palestinian population of most of the available water.

The Israeli towns that have been planted across Palestinian territory are a serious barrier to the independent Palestine to which almost all countries, including the US and Israel, remain technically committed — though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown up how hollow this commitment is by repeatedly stating explicitly that there will never be a Palestinian state on his watch.

The pro-forma international condemnation has not halted the settlement programme nor prompted any Israeli government to consider meeting its obligations towards Palestine under the Oslo Accords.

The US has also regularly used its veto to block UN resolutions condemning the settlements even while officially viewing them as illegal.

It’s also against international law to apply sanctions with the aim of changing the government in the targeted country.

The US Trump Administration decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, is in fact encouraging ever more reckless and aggressive ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by the Israeli Right-Wing authorities and assures them that racist legislation such as the Nation State Law, reducing Israeli Arabs to second-class citizens, will not affect the enormous economic and military sponsorship they receive from the US.

Relying on Israeli allies to rein in its expansionist government has never worked. A US thumbs-up to illegal settlements makes that clearer than ever.

Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said: "The United States is neither qualified nor is authorised to negate international legitimacy resolutions, and it has no right to give any legitimacy to Israeli settlement."

Palestinian militant groups also weighed in, calling it the official funeral of the Oslo peace process - which laid the foundations for Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip - and urging stepped-up resistance to the Israeli occupation.

Bottom-line: the US Trump Administration has basically ripped-up the Oslo Agreement of which the US was a co-signer and is now applying the "Trump doctrine of the jungle"

 EU-Digest

November 19, 2019

November 18, 2019

The Netherlands: Amsterdam wins prestigious award for circular economy

has won the World Smart City Award for circular economy. The price was awarded on Wednesday 15 November at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona. With the award, the organization shows it’s appreciation for the pioneering Amsterdam bprogram for circular economy and for the city’s efforts to develop policy for urban-level circular economics in several areas: local production of sustainable and seasonal food, local production of electricity, reduction of fuel consumption and the improvement of waste recycling. 

Read more at: Amsterdam wins prestigious award for circular economy

November 17, 2019

France unveils new model for EU enlargement - by Andrew Rettman

Western Balkan countries should still become EU members, but via a new, step-by-step process, France has said.

The "gradual association" idea was the basis for a "reformed approach to the [EU] accession process", set out in an informal, six-page paper circulated to EU diplomats by France on Friday (15 November) and seen by EUobserver.

Read more at: France unveils new model EU enlargement

November 16, 2019

Telescammers not only want your money. They're also after your phone number

 Most times, George Baiden avoids answering calls from numbers he doesn’t know. But when a Toronto area code appeared on his cell, he picked up thinking it was a friend. It turned out to be from an elaborate telephone scam whereby fraudsters steal phone numbers to make their calls.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/scam-cellphone-spoof-cra-1.5360162

November 15, 2019

The Netherlands: Green party's Jesse Klaver named leader of the future by Time Magazine

Time Magazine included GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver in its Time 100 Next list - a list of 100 people the magazine expects will shape and change the future. This is the first publication of the Time 100 Next list, in addition to the Time 100 list of the most influential people of the moment. Klaver is the only Dutch person on the list.

Read more at: 
https://nltimes.nl/2019/11/14/green-partys-jesse-klaver-named-leader-future-time-magazine

November 11, 2019

The Netherlands: Court orders Netherlands to bring back kids from Dutch ISIS mothers, but not mothers, stuck in Syria

A court in Den Haag ordered the Netherlands to quickly bring 56 children of Dutch parents back to the country from Syrian detention and displacement camps. The case was filed on behalf of 23 mothers living in the camps. In its verdict, the court noted that "the children have not chosen to go to Syria or to stay in Syria. They are sitting there now because their parents have been involved in ISIS.

Read more at:Court orders Netherlands to bring back kids, but not mothers, stuck in Syria | NL Times:

The Netherlands: Dutch economy growing greener

As reported in Statistics Netherlands’ latest publication Green Growth in the Netherlands 2015, the Dutch economy has become ‘greener’ over the past 15 years. Out of the six different themes structured around green growth, progress has been made on five themes. For example, environmental efficiency in the economy is improving, although compared to other European countries the Netherlands obtains a relatively low score on this theme.

Green growth is measured by using a framework of environmental and economic indicators as defined by the OECD. Within this framework, six themes were identified: environmental efficiency, raw material efficiency, natural resources, environmental quality, green policy instruments and economic opportunities. These themes cover a total of 36 indicators.

Over the period 2000-2014, the Netherlands made headway on 22 of the indicators while it retreated on 8. As a result, improvement rather than deterioration can be seen on five out of six themes. In spite of this advance, the Netherlands is in the bottom half of the European ranking on four out of the six themes, and its position has not improved in recent years. Other countries, too, are putting less economic pressure on the environment than in the past.

Read more at: Dutch economy growing greener

November 9, 2019

Germany celebrates 30 years since fall of Berlin Wall

Nationwide celebrations have kicked off in Germany to mark 30 years since the Berlin Wall fell. The event shows that "no wall... is so high and so wide that it could not be broken through," said Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-celebrates-30-years-since-fall-of-berlin-wall-live-updates/a-51178230

EU needs to learn the 'language of power', incoming chief says

The European Union can no longer rely on soft power to promote its interests and must develop more security "muscle" and policy focus on trade, incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

In a speech on the state of Europe, von der Leyen stressed the EU’s strengths as a bastion of openness and democracy in a troubled world and said Brexit had forged a tighter group out of the remaining members of the bloc.

“We must go our own European way with confidence,” she said in Berlin. But she added: “Soft power alone won’t suffice today if we Europeans want to assert ourselves in the world. Europe must also learn the language of power.” 

November 7, 2019

The Netherlands - Smoking Statistics: Netherlands has few smokers compared to other countries

Internationally, the Netherlands has a relatively low percentage of smokers, according to figures from the OECD publication Health at a glance 2019, that Statistics Netherlands released on Thursday.

The percentage of daily smokers in the Netherlands fell from 23 percent in 2007 to 17 percent in 2017, just under the 18 percent average in OECD countries.

Read more at:
https://nltimes.nl/2019/11/07/netherlands-smokers-compared-countries

November 5, 2019

Germany: In 20 years, 1 in 3 people will be a migrant

In large cities of Germany up to 70% of inhabitants will have a migrant background in two decades, experts say. Germany will need to attract a "range of nationalities" to keep the "economy stable."

Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-in-20-years-1-in-3-people-will-be-a-migrant/a-51101172

November 4, 2019

The Netherlands: Teachers union reverses course; Renews call for national strike on Wednesday

The largest union representing education workers in the Netherlands now wants its membership to take part in a national educators strike on Wednesday after its chairperson was pushed to resign.

Read more at:
https://nltimes.nl/2019/11/03/teachers-union-reverses-course-renews-call-national-strike-wednesday

November 3, 2019

Italy: For the first time ever, a US cheese is named best in the world - by Katia Hetter

    Rogue River Blue has taken the top prize at the 2019 World Cheese Awards, marking the first time a US cheese has ever been named World Champion Chees
     Some 260 judges from 35 different countries judged the cheeses, narrowing the list down to a final 16. An international "super jury" of experts chose the winners.

    Coming in second place was an Italian cheese, the 24-month aged Nazionale del Parmigiano Reggiano Latteria Sociale Santo Stefano. It was followed by a Spanish raw ewe's milk cheese, Torta del Casar D.O.P. Virgen Del Prado made by Queseria Doña Francisca.

    Read more at:
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/foodnews/for-the-first-time-ever-a-us-cheese-is-named-best-in-the-world/ar-AAJH2Fr

    November 1, 2019

    Netherlands to pump €460 million into education; Teachers cancel planned strike | NL Times

    The Dutch cabinet announced on Friday it had reached an agreement with teachers unions and employers to boost government spending in education by roughly 460 million euros, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in an interview on broadcaster NOS. The deal puts an end to a planned November 6 strike by primary and secondary school teachers and special education instructors teachers.

     Read more at: https://nltimes.nl/2019/11/01/netherlands-pump-eu460-million-education-teachers-cancel-planned-strike

    USA: Impeachment rules process approved in House as another U.S. official testifies

    The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives approved the rules for its impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, which sets the stage for outlining the process for public hearings and possibly drafting articles of impeachment.

    The 232-196 roll call vote overwhelmingly along party lines was the chamber's first formal vote on a process that's likely to take months, possibly stretching into the early weeks of the 2020 election year.

    Two Democrats voted against party lines, while one Independent voted in favour.

    Underscoring the gravity of the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presided over the chamber as it voted on the rules package.

    Read more at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/impeachment-rules-morrison-1.5342368

    October 30, 2019

    October 29, 2019

    Inovation: The Netherlands Ranks Among Top 5 countries in The Global Innovation Index

    The Global Innovation Index 2019 (GII 2019), collated by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has ranked the Netherlands amongst the global leaders in innovation. The report mentions that even in economic slower times, innovation still thrives. “In developed and developing economies alike, formal innovation—as measured by research and development (R&D) and patents—and less formal modes of innovation are thriving.” According to the GII 2019, Switzerland, Sweden, United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom complete the top five of most innovative nations in the world.

    Top scores in innovation output en knowledge absorption:  The Netherlands scores particularly well on sub-rankings on innovation output (2) and knowledge absorption (2). The country remains in top position for IP payments and scores consistently strong on regulatory quality, online participat\
    ion, intensity of local competition, collaboration between universities and industries, cluster development and inflows of foreign direct investment. The report specially mentions that it sees great improvements in government expenditures on R&D financed by business, and an increase in women that are employed having advanced degrees.

    Online creativity and knowledge diffusion push Dutch innovative outputs:  The report mentions specifically that innovation outputs are high, because the Netherlands is strong on Knowledge diffusion (2nd) and Online Creativity (2nd), in particular in indicators such as IP receipts, FDI net outflows, ICTs and business model creation, and ICTs and organizational model creation. The GII 2019 also sees improvements in the quality of scientific publications (8th) and in cultural and creative services exports (10th).

    Read more: The Netherlands Ranks Among Top 5 countries in The Global Innovation Index

    October 28, 2019

    October 27, 2019

    EU-US Relations: EU envoy sheds light on weird US diplomacy - by Andrew Rettman

    Remarks to Congress by the US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, have shed light on the unusual nature of American foreign policy under president Donald Trump.

    Sondland testified in Washington DC on Thursday (17 October) as part of an impeachment enquiry into whether Trump blackmailed Ukraine on interfering in the upcoming US Presidential election.

    Read more at: EU envoy sheds light on weird US diplomacy

    October 24, 2019

    Britain : UK truck victims were Chinese

    Police have confirmed that the 39 people found dead in a truck were Chinese nationals. The revelation comes after three properties were raided in Northern Ireland.

    October 23, 2019

    Tourism: Netherlands, Aruba land on Lonely Planet top 10 destinations

    Aruba and Netherlands are two of the best destinations to visit in 2020, according to travel guide Lonely Planet's annual list of the best countries to visit. In the top 10 countries, Aruba is in fourth place and the Netherlands in seventh.

    Read more at: Netherlands, Aruba land on Lonely Planet top 10 destinations | NL Times:

    October 21, 2019

    Britain - the Brexit drama: UK PM Johnson sends conflicting messages to EU on Brexit delay request

    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent an unsigned letter to the European Union on Saturday requesting a delay to Brexit but he also sent another message in which he stated he did not want the extension, a government source said.

    Johnson was compelled by a law, passed by opponents last month, to ask the bloc for an extension to the current Brexit deadline of Oct. 31 until Jan. 31 after lawmakers thwarted his attempt to pass his EU divorce deal earlier on Saturday.

    The government source said Johnson sent a total of three letters to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council: a photocopy of the text that the law, known as the Benn Act, forced him to write; a cover note from Britain's EU envoy; and a third letter in which he said he did not want an extension.

    As Parliament met in London Saturday morning and voted to force a Brexit delay, hundreds of thousands of anti-Brexit protesters marched in the city’s streets demanding citizens be given a second chance at deciding whether to leave the European Union. The massive crowds moved through the city towards Parliament in a festive and defiant demonstration of frustration with the country’s impending break with the EU, the New York Times reported.

    Organizers of the effort told the Times they expected more than a million demonstrators, which would make it one of the largest protests Britain has ever had. The demonstrators were joined by a host of current and former politicians, as well as celebrities, who addressed the crowd. In his speech, former Conservative deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine said Brexit represents “a creeping paralysis, where yesterday’s nostalgia distorts tomorrow’s opportunities”.

    Note EU-Digest: Boris Johnson by politically manuevering in a very devious and undemocratic way, without letting the people have a final say on the agreement he reached with the EU, is taking Britain on a disastrous destructive path, from which they probably will never recover .

    Read more at: UK PM Johnson sends conflicting messages to EU on Brexit delay request

    October 15, 2019

    Unicef: One third of children on the globe do not receive proper nutrition

    One in three children don't receive proper nutrition

    Read more at:
    https://p.dw.com/p/3RI4f

    The Netherlands: Europe's number one biking country, becoming unsafe for bikers as higher speed mopeds and scooters are also allowed on bike paths

    Scooters and Mopeds,
    danger on Dutch bike-paths
    There are more bicycles than residents in The Netherlands, and in all the big Dutch cities up to 70% of all journeys are made by bike.

    To make cycling safer and even more inviting the Dutch have also built a vast network of cycle paths.

    These are clearly marked, have smooth surfaces, separate signs and lights for those on two wheels, and wide enough to allow side-by-side cycling and overtaking.

    In many cities the paths are completely segregated from motorised traffic. Sometimes, where space is scant and both must share, you can see signs showing an image of a cyclist with a car behind accompanied by the words 'Bike Street: Cars are guests'.

    But there is a major danger now lurking on these beautiful bike paths, Molpeds and scooters,the Dutch call them "snor fietsers",  and these also include, what one biker called the "silent killers", electric scooters, who are also racing silently over these serene bike-paths, at high speeds.

    Very often Scooters and Mopeds go at speeds of 50 km per hour or even more, specially when the engine is "souped up".

    Also Pizza delivering persons on scooters have a reputation of always going too fast.  To make matters worse, because these scooters are on the bike-path, they also don't have to wear a helmet.

    In December 2017 a majority of the Dutch parliament approved  a city of Amsterdam request to move mopeds and scooters from their municipality bike-paths to the open roads and highways. 

    Unfortunately not many, if not any, of the cities in the Netherlands, have taken any similar action as Amsterdam so far.  It is also well known in the Netherlands, that local police is not very agressive, when it comes to writing out "tickets" against moped and scooter riders, who are going too fast on the bike-paths.

    As one bike-rider in the city of Almere noted: how many more bikers will need to get serious accidents, before our Municipality takes any action?

    EU-Digest 

    October 14, 2019

    October 13, 2019

    MODERN CULTURE: How we came to live in cursed times - by Jia Tolentino

    On Twitter, people appear to identify objects and phenomena with “cursed energy” every hour of every day. It’s not just creepy images: the word has acquired new valences, has come to signify increasingly generalized feelings of anxiety and malaise. “The way I use ‘cursed’ has a connotation of being trapped, i.e. a sort of Greek Mythology Ironic Eternal Punishment vibe,” Alex Pareene, a writer for The New Republic, told me.

    We must be cursed, one would think, to spend so much of our day walking around with our eyes glued to a device that provokes bad feelings. Ashley Feinberg, a writer at Slate, wrote, in an e-mail, “To me, cursed energy is about any number of bad or dystopian things finding each other and congealing into something that is somehow more stupid than the sum of its parts.” She included a link to an image of an Instagram meltdown queen appearing on a leftist reactionary podcast whose hosts are best known for denigrating #MeToo and valorizing anorexia. Sam Biddle, who writes about tech for the Intercept, told me, “I think so much of the Internet feels like hell now that it just makes sense to blame it on the devil.”

    Read more at: 

    October 10, 2019

    EU-Digest editorial: Turkey - Northern Syria - Incursion: Turkey's military operation has made one thing more clear - the world has become a far more dangerous place than it already was

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said any military operation must fully respect the UN Charter and international humanitarian law (LOL) - unfortunately nobody listens to them anymore.

    EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker demanded Turkey to halt its military operation, telling Ankara the bloc would not pay for any so-called "safe zone" that might be created.  Sure, he probably does not believe that statement himself  !!!  (LOL).

    The EU's top foreign policy official, Federica Mogherini warned that "unilateral action on Turkey's part threatens concerted action by the West and Turkey and other countries to defeat ISIL".

    Turkish military action, she said, risked "protracted instability in northeast Syria, providing fertile ground for the resurgence of Daesh". 

    Obviously this EU response had no "bite" to it, since the EU does not have its own military force, or the  backing among its members to support such actions, and, unfortunately, because they still closely follow US directives, when it comes to their foreign affairs policies. 

    Erdogan also threatened  that he would be sending back all the  + 3 million refugees who were in Turkey, to the EU, if the EU continued to condemn Turkey's  incursion into Syria. That obviously is the last thing the EU wants, not even having a comprehensive policy on Migration in their "back-pocket".

    Chief Jens Stoltenberg of NATO (another unneeded US military relic from the past in Europe), urged Turkey to show "restraint", while acknowledging that Ankara had "legitimate security concerns".( LOL ) - as he was obviously told to say that by the US, which controls NATO. 

    As to the US Trump Administration- the US President, who has been rightly accused of double-crossing the Kurdish fighters, crucial in the war on ISIS, by pulling US troops out of the war-torn country,made another one of his brilliant statements and said: "the Kurds didn't help us in the Second World War; they didn't help us with Normandy”. He added the Kurds were only willing to help with “their land”, and concluded  "With all of that being said, we like the Kurds.”  

    At least this drama is giving the President of the US a moment of relief from the ever louder cries in his country for his impeachment. Hopefully the country does not forget to get rid of him a.s.a.p.

    China voiced concern over the Turkish incursion in Syria, urging Ankara to exercise restraint and calling on all parties to respect Syria's sovereignty. However deep down, "China must be laughing all the way to the bank, looking at the lunatic actions of the US Trump Administration"

    Russian reactions to the incursion were more complicated:   What’s already clear is that deeper divisions are likely to emerge among Russia, Iran, and Turkey, three actors that previously had mostly been united in their opposition to U.S. interests in the region. Though in recent months leaders from Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara—as the so-called Astana Group—have been working toward conflict resolution in Syria through the framework of the Russia-led Syrian constitutional committee, disagreements among them have prevented serious progress. As Turkey stages its incursion into territory previously held by U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, Russia’s reaction has been rooted in a mix of implicit apprehension and explicit platitudes about integrity and restraint. The Kremlin’s frustrations will grow as Turkey expands its attacks in a way that further risks the constitutional committee’s progress and jeopardizes Bashar al-Assad’s consolidation of power.

    And so, the sad result of the U.S. decision to withdraw its troops from Syria abruptly, without prior consultation with its allies, is a guarantee that the eight-year conflict in Syria will rumble on with no end in sight. 
    ©   EU- Digest

    October 9, 2019

    Turkey invades Northern Syria and attacks US abandoned Kurdish allies: Civilians flee N.Syrian border towns attacked by Turkish warplanes, and artillery offensive

    Reuters reports that Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria today Wednesday 10/9/2019  just days after U.S. troops pulled back from the area, with warplanes and artillery striking militia positions in several towns in the border region.

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, announcing the start of the action, said the aim was to eliminate what he called a “terror corridor” on Turkey’s southern border, but European countries immediately called on Ankara to halt the operation.

    Thousands of people fled the Syrian town of Ras al Ain towards Hasaka province, held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The Turkish air strikes had killed two civilians and wounded two others, the SDF said.

    Turkey’s lira slid 0.5%, breakingthrough what traders called a key support level of 5.85 against the dollar to its weakest level since August.

    World powers fear the action could open a new chapter in Syria’s eight-year-old war and worsen regional turmoil. Ankara has said it intends to create a “safe zone” in order to return millions of refugees to Syrian soil.

    "It is certainly going to be a bloody conflict," Kurdish political analyst Mutlu Civroglu said from Washington, D.C., noting that while the SDF is led by Syrian Kurds, it includes a wide range of ethnic groups. "The Arabs, the Syrian Christians, Yazidis, they are in no way going to accept a Turkish military presence in their region."

    EU-Digest

    The have and have nots; Analysis Shows Top 1% Gained $21 Trillion in Wealth Since 1989 While Bottom Half Lost $900 Billion

    October 4, 2019

    The Netherlands: Dutch change international branding: Holland becomes The Netherlands

    The Dutch government is going to stop promoting the country abroad as ‘Holland’ and will instead use The Netherlands’, marketing magazine Adformatie said on Thursday.

    The detailed plan will be published later this year, but a group of marketing professionals were briefed on the change earlier this week. The aim, the magazine said, is to be less promotional and more about content.

    The Netherlands currently promotes itself as Holland.com, illustrated in marketing literature by an orange tulip.

    The new strategy means, the Netherlands will present itself to the rest of the world as ‘co-creating pioneering solutions to global challenges’, Adformatie said.

    Read more at: Dutch change international branding: Holland becomes The Netherlands - DutchNews.nl

    October 2, 2019

    EU pays tribute to Saudi journalist Khashoggi on anniversary of killing - by Toga Bozoglu

    The European Union paid tribute on 2 October to the memory of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who was murdered last year in the premises of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul.

    The EU reiterated in a statement the need to ensure full accountability for those responsible and insisted on an investigation of the circumstances of the killing.

    “Jamal Khashoggi continues to be an inspiration to journalists and associates with whom he was in contact for his work, including colleagues in the EU institutions.”

    “As Jamal Khashoggi, journalists are too often the target of attacks in many countries.

     On this occasion, the European Union reaffirms its unequivocal commitment to the freedom of the press and the protection of journalists across the world.”, the statement reads.

    Note-EU-Digest: Kudos to the Government of Turkey, for renaming a street near the former Saudi Consulate General offices in Istanbul, "the Khashoggi street", and allowing Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon, and owner of the Washington Post, where Khashoggi worked, to unveil a memorial to the murdered journalist today, the first anniversary of the journalist's death. 

    The US remains the number one exporter of arms to Saudi Arabia and the world. Earlier in the year, Trump rebuffed bi-partisan US congressional efforts to punish Saudi Arabia for the killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi , and turned back criticism over the kingdom’s prosecution of its war against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

    EU pays tribute to Saudi journalist Khashoggi on anniversary of killing | New Europe

    September 30, 2019

    The Netherlands: Marianne Thieme steps down after 17 years as founder and party leader of the Animals Rights Party (PvdD)

    Marianne Thieme,
    founder of the Dutch animal rights party PvdD, is stepping down as
    leader after 17 years.

    Thieme’s announcement on Sunday came as a surprise to most of the
    political world, in keeping with a career that has constantly defied
    expectations.

    ‘Party leaders usually step down as MPs after losing an election,’ she
    told a gathering of Partij voor de Dieren members. ‘Looking at our
    growing movement, that would mean I wouldn’t be able to stop until I was
    300 years old. But I’m not waiting until then: I’m doing it today.’

    The 47-year-old said she had made up her mind following the European
    Parliament elections in May, where the PvdD retained the seat it won in
    2014.

    Thieme founded the party on October 28 2002 to promote animal rights in
    the context of a wider programme of activism on a range of issues
    spanning vegetarianism, women’s rights and the TTIP transatlantic trade
    treaty.

    Read more at DutchNews.nl:
    Marianne Thieme, founder of the Dutch animal rights party PvdD, is stepping down as leader after 17 years.

    Thieme’s announcement on Sunday came as a surprise to most of the political world, in keeping with a career that has constantly defied expectations.

    ‘Party leaders usually step down as MPs after losing an election,’ she told a gathering of Partij voor de Dieren members. ‘Looking at our growing movement, that would mean I wouldn’t be able to stop until I was 300 years old.

    But I’m not waiting until then: I’m doing it today.’ The 47-year-old said she had made up her mind following the European Parliament elections in May, where the PvdD retained the seat it won in 2014.

    Thieme founded the party on October 28 2002 to promote animal rights in the context of a wider program of activism on a range of issues spanning vegetarianism, women’s rights and the TTIP transatlantic trade treaty.

    Marianne Thieme steps down after 17 years as animal rights party leader - DutchNews.nl

    World Day for Migrants and Refugees: 'We cannot remain insensitive': Pope decries world's indifference to migrants, refugees

    Pope Francis on Sunday decried "the culture of comfort" that leads to indifference in the face of a global migration and refugee crisis.

    The Pope, who has made caring for migrants a major objective of his papacy, spoke during a mass at the Vatican in Rome for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees.

    "We cannot be indifferent to the tragedy of old and new forms of poverty, to the bleak isolation, contempt and discrimination experienced by those who do not belong to 'our group,"' Francis said.

     "We cannot remain insensitive,our hearts deadened, before the misery of so many innocent people. We must not fail to weep. We must not fail to respond.

    The pontiff has often spoken of the need to be welcoming to migrants, travelling to the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013 on his first trip as Pope to comfort refugees.

    His message found political resistance in Italy's previous populist government, during which the former hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, campaigned to prevent the arrival in Italy of migrants rescued at sea by humanitarian groups.

    The Pope also noted the weapons that fuel wars are often produced and sold in other regions, "which are then unwilling to take in the refugees generated buy these conflicts."

    Read more at: 'We cannot remain insensitive': Pope decries world's indifference to migrants, refugees | CBC News

    September 29, 2019

    Capitalism: The Bilderberg Group safeguarding the future of Capitalism?

    The 67th Meeting of the secretive Bilderberg group was held from 30 May to 2 June 2019, with some 130 guests from all over the world. 23 countries that stayed in one of the most sumptuous places in Switzerland, the Montreux Palace Hotel.

    Among the participants this year were the Dutch King Willem Alexander, Dutch PM Mark Rutte, Jared Kushner and Mike Pompeo from the USA.

    Bilderberg Hotel-Oosterbeek
    The Bilderberg meetings began at the start of the Cold War as a discussion club of American and European leaders against communism or, more specifically, against the Soviet Union. The first event took place in 1954 at the Bilderberg Hotel (which remained as the name of the group), in the Dutch city of Oosterbeek. Since then its meetings have been in various places in the western world.

    Founded in 1954, the Bilderberg Meeting was designed to foster warmer relations between the United States and Europe. The annual talk fest is considered secretive because guests are not allowed to reveal who said what at the meeting.

    One of the permanent agenda items propagated by the Bilderbergers is the reduction of the world’s population, so that the few at the top can live better and longer with the world’s rapidly diminishing resources.

    Switzerland has been one of the Group’s preferred host countries after the United States. Switzerland had hosted it five times before this occasion (1960, 1970, 1981, 1995 and 2011).

    Bilderbergers conferences are secret events, run by those who pull the strings behind world leaders – politicians, CEOs, big financiers and other business executives, artists and personalities from the Western world.

    They are almost always American and Euro-Western. This time there were a dozen from Turkey, Poland, Bulgaria and Estonia.

    The most they get to the East is Turkey, perhaps in the hope of attracting it back to NATO from where it is slowly trying to move away from.

    Yes indeed, call the "Bilderbergers" whatever you want to, but don't be mistaken, they  are not just any rich and influential people, they are the richest and most powerful people on the planet.

    Among the members of this club are George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Paul Wolfowitz (former World Bank president and the godfather of the Iraq War), Henry Kissinger (who got the Nobel Peace Prize soon after he authorised chemical warfare against Vietnam), Tony Blair (best known for lying about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction), European royalty, CIA directors past and present, directors of the British secret service MI6, and other such figureheads.

    This report was compiled  by EU-Digest from several published articles about the Bilderberg group .

    September 27, 2019

    The Netherlands: Murder figures went down

    Read more at: https://nltimes.nl/2019/09/26/murders-netherlands-quarter

    September 25, 2019

    The Netherlands - healthcare: profits skyrocket at 85 Dutch Healthcare firms

    Read more at: 
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