The Netherlands: Demonstrators across Netherlands protest Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ukraine, according to Omroep West, while about 40 people took to the streets in Eindhoven. Demonstrations also took place in Enschede and Hengelo, and another one has been announced via social media for Amsterdam on Sunday.

Demonstrators in The Hague have gathered in various places, including outside the city hall at Spuiplein and outside the Russian embassy. They are calling for the Netherlands to aid Ukraine and for Russia to be excluded from the international payment system SWIFT. Some signs also say the protesters no longer want gas from Russia.

Read more at: Demonstrators across Netherlands protest Russian invasion of Ukraine | NL Times

Ukraine Crises: Russian tennis star Rublev demands ‘no war please’ in TV protest Sport News

World number seven tennis star Andrey Rublev has called for the conflict in Ukraine to end following his victory against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals of the Dubai Championships on Friday.

Rublev advanced to the final with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) win against his rival before approaching a television

The 24-year-old's gesture comes after he said this week that he was receiving a torrent of negative messages on social media as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Read more at: https://www.rt.com/sport/550651-russia-ukraine-andrey-rublev-war-message/

Ukraine Crises: in Pictures: Mass demonstrations engulf Russia

Russian police have arrested more than 3,000 people in nationwide protests demanding the release of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, the Kremlin’s most prominent foe.

The unprecedented demonstrations in more than 60 cities – in temperatures as low as -50 Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit) – highlighted how Navalny has built influence far beyond the political and cultural centres of Moscow and St Petersburg.

In Moscow, an estimated 15,000 demonstrators gathered in and around Pushkin Square in the city centre, where clashes with police broke out and demonstrators were dragged off by helmeted riot officers to police buses and detention trucks. Some were beaten with batons.

Read more at: In Pictures: Mass demonstrations engulf Russia | Gallery News | Al Jazeera

The Netherlands: Covid: Netherlands to ease restrictions despite rising case numbers

Mr Rutte,DutchPM,who has faced growing calls for a relaxation of restrictions in recent weeks amid falling deaths and admissions to intensive care, added that the new rules will be effective until 8 March.

Cafes, bars and restaurants will be allowed to open until 10pm, though to gain entry patrons will be required to show a negative test result, prove they are vaccinated or have recently recovered from a coronavirus infection.

Read more at: Covid: Netherlands to ease restrictions despite rising case numbers - BBC News

Russia: Who is Alexei Navalny? The leader behind Russia’s anti-Putin protests, explained

The greatest challenger to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule is a man whose name the dictator won’t say and whom he has tried to kill: Alexei Navalny.

Having defiantly returned to Russia after surviving a brazen assassination attempt only to be immediately detained and thrown in jail upon arrival, the opposition leader and anti-corruption crusader has rallied tens of thousands of supporters to his cause like never before — a real sign of trouble for Putin’s hold on power.

Alexei Navalny has spent over a decade trying to overthrow Putin. Through slick videos, public mobilization, and even an ill-fated presidential run against the autocrat, Navalny has aimed to expose Kremlin corruption and malfeasance.

Read more at: Who is Alexei Navalny? The leader behind Russia’s anti-Putin protests, explained. - Vox

Ukraine Crises:Putin orders troops into Ukraine after recognizing separatist regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognized two regions in Ukraine as independent and ordered Russian troops to conduct "peacekeeping" operations there, raising fears that Russia is paving the way for an attack.

The Biden administration announced that the U.S. will respond with limited economic sanctions, with more to follow on Tuesday.

Putin's declaration named the two regions the Luhansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic. Both are unrecognized territories carved out by Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine after fighting broke out there against Ukrainian government forces in 2014.

Read more at: Putin orders troops to Ukraine after recognizing separatist regions : NPR

Netherlands to send military equipment to Ukraine -government

The Netherlands announced it will be sendibg military equipment to Ukraine -government

Read more at: Netherlands to send military equipment to Ukraine -government | Reuters

Storm: Britain - Netherlands hit by powerful storm: Storm Eunice Slams Northern Europe With Dangerously High Winds - by Derrick Bryson Taylor and Amanda Holpuch

Strong winds battered parts of Britain and Northern Europe on Friday, as a severe storm led to the deaths of at least seven people in the region, damaged buildings and severely disrupted travel by air, land and sea,

Netherlands Meteorological Institute warned of “significant damage and very dangerous situations” expected from falling trees and flying objects.

Read more at: Storm Eunice Slams Northern Europe With Dangerously High Winds - The New York Times

The Netherlands: Travel: Netherlands to Remove Quarantine Requirement on February 25

“From February 25, 2022, people travelling from very high-risk areas are no longer required by law to self-quarantine on arrival,” the statement of the government reads.

ead more at: Travel: Netherlands to Remove Quarantine Requirement on February 25 - SchengenVisaInfo.com

The Netherlands - Electric Cars: Tesla opens entire Supercharger network in the Netherlands to all EVs - by Rebecca Bellan

Tesla said Monday that non-Tesla owners can charge their electric vehicles at all Supercharger stations in the Netherlands.

The announcement marks an expansion of a pilot program that kicked off in November 2021 with 10 stations. CEO Elon Musk had initially expressed interest in opening up the Supercharger network to other EVs in the summer of the same year.

Unlike other automakers, Tesla operates an expansive proprietary network that has previously prevented EVs from other automakers from using the chargers. The network, which Tesla began building in 2012, now numbers 30,000 Supercharging stations globally.

Read more at: Tesla opens entire Supercharger network in the Netherlands to all EVs | TechCrunch

Netherlands aims to drop most COVID measures this month

The Dutch government on Thursday said it aims to drop most of its coronavirus restrictions by the end of the month, as record levels of infections in recent weeks have only had a limited effect on hospital numbers.

Bars and restaurants will be allowed to stay open until 1 a.m. (midnight GMT) as of Feb. 18, instead of the current order to close at 10 p.m., h

Read more at: Netherlands aims to drop most COVID measures this month | Reuters

Facebook threatening EU: Meta (FB) May Shut Down Facebook, Instagram in Europe Over GDPR Data Rules - by Jillian Deutsch and Stephanie Bodoni

Meta Platforms Inc. has once again threatened to pull Facebook and Instagram from Europe if it is unable to keep transferring user data back to the U.S., amid negotiations betwregulators to replace a scrapped privacy pact.

European Union regulators have for months been stuck in negotiations with the U.S. to replace a transatlantic data transfer pact that thousands of companies relied on, but which got struck down by the EU Court of Justice in 2020 over fears citizens’ data isn’t safe once shipped to the U.S.

In its annual report published Thursday, Meta said that if it couldn’t rely on new or existing agreements -- such as so-called standard contractual clauses -- to shift data, then it would “likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe.”

Read more at: Meta (FB) May Shut Down Facebook, Instagram in Europe Over GDPR Data Rules - Bloomberg

Big Pharma and Corona vaccinations: Putting big pharma in charge of global vaccine rollout was a big mistake : by Nick Dearden

Pfizer has had an exceptionally good pandemic. Today it announced that its Covid-19 vaccine brought in $37bn billion last year, making it easily the most lucrative medicine in any given year in history.

That isn’t all. For a company that was until recently the least trusted company in the least trusted industrial sector in the United States, Covid-19 has been a PR coup. Pfizer has become a household name over the last 12 months. The company was toasted on nights out in Tel Aviv, and there are cocktails named after its vaccine in bars across the world. The US president referred to Pfizer’s chief executive, Albert Bourla, as a “good friend”, and the great man parked his jet next to Boris Johnson’s at last year’s G7 summit in Cornwal

The global vaccine rollout has created levels of inequality so great that many call it a ‘vaccine apartheid’. Pharmaceutical corporations like Pfizer have led this rollout, setting the terms by which they sell vaccines and deciding who to prioritise. Ultimately, their approach affects who does, and does not, receive vaccines. Right from the start, Pfizer was clear that it wanted to make a lot of money from Covid. The company claims that its vaccine costs just under £5 per dose to produce. Others have suggested it could be much cheaper. Either way, the company is selling doses at a huge profit – the UK government paid £18 a shot for its first order, £22 for its most recent purchase. That means the NHS has paid a mark-up of at least £2bn – six times the cost of the pay rise the government agreed to give nurses last year.

It has been claimed that the company initially tried to pitch their medicine to the US government for an eye-popping $100 a dose. Tom Frieden, a former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accused the firm of “war profiteering”.

Pfizer has sold the vast majority of its doses to the richest countries in the world – a strategy sure to keep its profits high. If you look at its global distribution, Pfizer sells a tiny proportion of its vaccines to low-income countries. By last October, Pfizer had sold a measly 1.3% of its supply to Covax, the international body set up to try to ensure fairer access to vaccines.

Pfizer wasn’t selling many doses to poorer countries, but neither would it allow them to produce the life-saving vaccine on their own, through licensing or patent sharing..

Read more at: Putting big pharma in charge of global vaccine rollout was a big mistake | Nick Dearden | The Guardian

The Netherlands: Why the Dutch embrace floating homes - by Shira Rubin

When a heavy storm hit in October, residents of the floating community of Schoonschip in Amsterdam had little doubt they could ride it out. They tied up their bikes and outdoor benches, checked in with neighbours to ensure everyone had enough food and water, and hunkered down as their neighborhood slid up and down its steel foundational pillars, rising along with the water and descending to its original position after the rain subsided.

"We feel safer in a storm because we are floating," says Siti Boelen, a Dutch television producer who moved into Schoonschip two years ago. "I think it's kind of strange that building on water is not a priority worldwide."

As sea levels rise and supercharged storms cause waters to swell, floating neighbourhoods offer an experiment in flood defence that could allow coastal communities to better withstand climate change. In the land-scarce but densely populated Netherlands, demand for such homes is growing. And, as more people look to build on the water there, officials are working to update zoning laws to make the construction of floating homes easier.

Read More at: Why the Dutch embrace floating homes - BBC Future

The Netherlands: Around 90% of newly built homes erected last year in the Netherlands are gas-free – by Emiliano Bellini

Netbeheer Nederland, the Dutch association of national and regional power network operators, has revealed that approximately 90.1% of new buildings erected last year are not connected to the gas network in the service areas of grid operators Liander, Enexis Netbeheer and Stedin.

A year earlier, this percentage had reached around 87%. “The number of applications to disconnect existing homes from natural gas is also increasing,” the organization said. “For example, households are switching to all-electric as a sustainable alternative.”

Netbeheer Nederland specified that the 10% of new homes built last year that were still linked to the gas grid were granted this possibility as their environmental permit was filed before 1 July 2018. “In addition, municipalities still have the option of granting an exemption for new construction projects after 1 July 2018, for example when solutions other than natural gas are technically impossible,” it added.

Read more at: Around 90% of newly built homes erected last year in the Netherlands are gas-free – pv magazine International

EU: Time to make new alliances? European diplomacy in the Ukraine crisis

The Ukrainian parliament witnessed an unusual scene this week. A group of representatives gathered around the lectern and held up flags of NATO and allied countries for the cameras — a demonstration of gratitude for foreign support for Ukraine in the confrontation with Russia. The flag of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack, featured twice.

It was also on display in the streets of the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday, when the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, visited Kyiv. Ukraine is clearly grateful to the beleaguered Johnson, who is under considerable pressure on the domestic front. His government supplied Ukraine with anti-tank weapons in recent weeks, the British army is training Ukrainian soldiers, and now the British Conservative leader is holding out the prospect of financial support equivalent to 100 million euros to assist Kyiv in the current crisis.

Read more at: Time to make new alliances? European diplomacy in the Ukraine crisis | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 04.02.2022

The Netherlands-Ukraine Relations: Dutch PM, in Kyiv, urges justice for MH17 victims, dialogue in Ukraine crisis

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged dialogue to defuse a crisis with Russia on Wednesday during a trip to Kyiv in which he also reaffirmed his resolve to secure justice for families of the victims of an airliner downed over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Rutte is the latest leader - following in the tracks of the British and Polish premiers - to visit Kyiv in a show of solidarity after Russia massed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's borders in a standoff that has alarmed the West.

The Ukraine crisis is closely watched in the Netherlands, where Dutch prosecutors have sought the convictions of four men charged with murder over the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Read more Dutch PM, in Kyiv, urges justice for MH17 victims, dialogue in Ukraine crisis | Reuters

The Netherlands: How the Dutch Built the Netherlands to Protect it from Flooding

through the building of dikes, drainage canals, and pumping stations. Today, there are more than 3,000 polders throughout the nation. This wasn't enough though, and in 1916, they suffered from severe flooding.

That's when the Dutch decided to work on the Afsluitdijk to protect low-lying areas and the wall off the Zuiderzee from the sea. The seawall was one of the largest engineering feats of its time, spanning 20 mi (32 km) and a final height of 23 ft (7 m) above sea level. More impressive was the fact that it was topped off by sand and clay, and held together by grass.

Read more at: How the Dutch Built the Netherlands to Protect it from Flooding