The Netherlands: 747 engine turbine blades spear cars in the Netherlands

Longtail Aviation Boeing 747-400 freighter, operating Flt LGT-5504 from Maastricht in the Netherlands to New York has suffered an engine explosion, and turbine blades from the damaged engine showered down on cars in the village of Meerssen.

According to the Aviation Herald, an elderly lady was “hit by the debris and received minor injuries.”

The pilots declared an emergency and entered a hold to dump fuel and diverted to Liege (Belgium) for a safe landing about one hour after departure. A number of cars on the ground received damage as a result of debris falling. Aviation Herald says a resident in Meerssen reported he “heard a loud bang, spotted the aircraft with streaks of flames from one of the right-hand engines, then metal rained from the sky.”

Read more at: 747 engine turbine blades spear cars in the Netherlands - Airline Ratings

Dutch flower industry continues to wither amid coronavirus

Growers are preserving what they have in storage or fields, however the reality is that almost all of this 12 month’s harvest will possible go to waste.

“The loss is huge,” said Michel van Schie of FloraHolland, the world’s dominant flower clearing house for public sales.

“In the intervening time we now have solely 30% of our regular turnover, and ... that during the busiest period of the year.”

Each day gross sales in March typically move 20 million euros ($22 million) of flowers, which continue with strong sales into the Easter vacation and Mothers Day..

In all, 35% of the world's flower and plant exports, valued at 6.2 billion euros over a 12 months period, move through the Netherlands, principally from Dutch growers, but additionally from African and Latin American farms.

Van Schie said the situation became specially acute on March 13 with the  flight cancellations and bans on public gatherings at many international events. This meant almost 1 / 4 of flowers up for public sale that day went unsold and had to be thrown out.

“Subsequent on that Monday it was 50%, after which we had to take unpleasant measures and we had to tell our growers ‘please diminish your stock’ as a result much of the stock had to be destroyed.”

Read more at: Dutch flower industry continues to wither amid coronavirus - Sunriseread

Britain: Brexit damage to economy will outweigh modest wage gains, says study - by Anushka Asthana and Larry Elliott

Damage to the economy caused by Brexit will more than offset the modest wage gains for British-born workers in low-paid jobs caused by cutting net migration to the tens of thousands a year, a study has found.

A report by the Resolution Foundation thinktank said there would be a small pay increase to native-born employees in sectors such as security and cleaning if there was a big cut in the number of workers arriving in Britain from overseas.

But it estimated that these benefits would fail to compensate for the reduction in real incomes caused in the short term by the higher inflation triggered by a falling pound, and in the long term by a slowdown in the economy’s growth rate.

The Resolution Foundation also warned that achieving the government’s target of cutting annual net migration from more than 300,000 to the tens of thousands would present serious challenges for companies that rely on low-paid migrant workers – and could force some of them out of business.

Immigration was a significant factor in the referendum campaign, with a sizeable number of those who voted to leave the EU citing it as reason for supporting Brexit. Early last month, Theresa May, then home secretary, said the government had received a clear message from the electorate and needed to control the numbers of people coming into the UK from the EU.

The Netherlands: Powerful storm hits Europe -over 100 million euros damage to the Netherlands infrastructure

A storm battering north-western Europe has killed eight people - four of them in southern England.

Two people died when their car was crushed by a falling tree in Gelsenkirchen, in western Germany. Two children in the car were injured.

In Brittany, western France, a woman was swept out to sea. And in the Dutch city of Amsterdam a tree felled by the wind crushed a woman by a canal.

Many trains were cancelled in and around London and in north Germany.

In many cases in the UK fallen trees had to be cleared from railway lines.

At least 50 flights have been cancelled at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands, and the German broadcaster ARD says there are severe delays at Hamburg airport.

In the UK as many as 600,000 homes suffered power cuts, though many were later reconnected.
Power cuts also hit 42,000 homes in northern France, and at Belle-Ile in Brittany a woman was swept into the sea from a cliff.

Estimated damage to the Netherlands infrastructure is likely to go above 100 million euros

EU-Digest