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September 13, 2013

Almere World Trade Center Starts Master Class Business Modelling

The Almere World Trade Center is offering a one day Masterclass for entrepreneurs who are starting up a business and for established managers in both the Public and Private sector.

This Masterclass is based  on "learning by doing".  Following the completion of this course participants can even develop their own business model.

For starting companies the model can be used as a marketing tool and for already established companies and organizations it can be used to develop new innovative ideas.

Either way, a win win offer for self motivational enrichment.

For additional information click here  

EU-Digest



September 12, 2013

EU asks youth: How would you fight poverty? - by Elisabeth d'Auchamp

International development may not be the first thing on the mind of a 13-year-old. Talk of frameworks, donor priorities, annual reports and endless acronyms will, in most cases, be less attention-grabbing than, well, everything else in the life of a teenager.

But while the future of the globe might currently be handled by adults, youth has an equal if not a bigger stake in creating a sustainable world.

As such, aid groups are now ramping up efforts to engage young people in global development. Among them: the European Commission.

“How would you fight poverty?” the commission is asking young people in a video contest recently launched on Facebook. The competition is open to everyone aged 13-24 regardless of nationality, and the only condition is to create a video of no more than 120 seconds which answers the question, and upload it on YouTube by Nov. 1.

For the winners, the prize involves having their solution to global poverty presented to thought leaders and decision makers in Europe. They will be flown to Brussels to attend the 2013 European Development Days in November, where their short videos will be screened.

So what do you want changed to create a poverty-free world? Take out your smartphone, digital camera, tablet or any other video-taking device, and have your say — or invite a teenager or twenty-something near you to do so. Join Young Voices Against Poverty.

EU-Digest

The Netherlands: Clipper Stad Amsterdam 'home' again!

Stad Amsterdam at sea
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam is back in Amsterdam for about 6 weeks after a wonderful time in the Mediterranean, the south coast of England and Belgium.

The coming weeks are mostly dominated by various day sails, cocktails and seminars on board. On September 7th and 8th she was moored be at the Maritime Museum in Amsterdam,where  visitors of the museum could visit her.

In late September we will go back to the shipyard for 10 days for maintenance following our intensive 6-month yard period earlier this year. Middle of October, the Clipper Stad Amsterdam will sail down south again: to the Canary Islands and later on to the Caribbean with the help of the trade winds. We will be arriving at Martinique on December 1st.

For additional Information click here

Almere-Digest

September 10, 2013

The Netherlands: Health Insurers saw their profits double last year but premiums remain high

Dutch insurance companies nearly all doubled their profits last year, but industry business leaders said they are doubtful that they can reduce their customers premiums in 2014.

Last year Dutch health insurers saw their profits more than double to 1,4 billion euros. In response to the figures, the Minister for Health Edith Schipper said was that there was a "social imperative" to conclude that higher income leads to lower premiums.

Roger van Boxtel, CEO of insurance company Menzis, said that he wants nothing more than to lower premiums, but that any further decrease in premium costs depends very much on the measures that the government presents in the Budget.

As to the large profit figures made by the health insurers, van Boxel said, "Many people have been saying over the last few months ‘that we made very large profits’. But if you want to be a healthy company, you need to have buffers."

The Dutch health insurance system (since January 1st, 2006) is a combination of private health plans with social conditions built on the principles of solidarity, efficiency and value for the patient.

Health insurance in the Netherlands is mandatory if you are on a long-term stay and is designed to cover the cost of medical care. As a rule, all expats must have a Dutch health insurance even if they are insured for healthcare in their homeland also.

Dutch insurance companies are obliged by law to offer you the basic package. They can not deny coverage because of gender, age or health profile.

Almere-Digest

September 9, 2013

Almere: Asian tiger mosquito found in seven Dutch locations, clean-up underway

The Asian tiger mosquito has been identified at seven locations in the Netherlands and efforts are underway to eradicate it, government safety experts said recently.

The mosquito, which can carry dangerous diseases such as yellow fever, has been identified at used tyre import companies in Oss, Weert, Montfort, Almere, Lelystad, Emmeloord and Harderberg, the NVWA inspectorate said in a statement.

The European centre for infectious diseases said earlier this year the tiger mosquito, an aggressive, day-time biting mosquito which can transmit some 20 viruses and parasites, had made its home in the Netherlands, but that was denied at the time by local officials.

Read more: DutchNews.nl - Asian tiger mosquito found in seven Dutch locations, clean-up underway

September 7, 2013

The Netherlands - cardiologists’ Olympics: Riding bicycle regularly keeps heart diseases away says Dr Garg from India

If you are worried about the daily consumption of petrol in the wake of price hike, you must start bicycling. By riding a bicycle, you can control the cardiac diseases and can also reduce the transportation expenses.

These views were expressed by city’s renowned cardiologist Dr Vijay Garg after he returned from Amsterdam, Netherlands recently. Dr Garg attended the conference of cardiologists’ Olympics, held between October 31 and September 4. More than 28,000 cardiologists from 82 countries attended the conference and pondered over topics of medical sciences.

Dr Garg further detailed that the government of the Netherlands supports citizens who exercise by constructing separate roads for cyclists. 

It is a matter of concern that ratio of people suffering from cardiac diseases is increasing frequently in developing countries in comparison to developed ones. If a man does exercise regularly, he can reduce 40 percent the possibility of having heart diseases.

People, who have A+ blood group, are at a higher risk to fall sick with heart diseases.

People living luxurious life have more chances of suffering from cardiac arrest. Dr Garg has been felicitated with the honor of European Society of Cardiology Fellow three years back. India has only 2500 fellows of European Society of Cardiology at present

Read more: The Freepress Journal

September 6, 2013

Netherlands liable for deaths of three Bosnian Muslims killed at Srebrenica: says Dutch supreme court

The Dutch Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Netherlands was liable for the deaths of three Bosnian Muslim men during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, even though its forces there were part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

The decision upheld a 2011 appeals court judgment that was seen as setting a worrying precedent for countries providing troops for United Nations peacekeeping forces, because it held the Dutch state responsible for events that happened during a UN mission.

The case was brought by Hasan Nuhanovic, an interpreter who lost his brother and father, and relatives of Rizo Mustafic, an electrician who was killed. They argued that all three men should have been protected by Dutch peacekeepers. Mustafic and Nuhanovic were actually employed by the Dutch, but Nuhanovic’s father and brother were not.

The victims were among thousands of Muslims who took shelter in the UN compound as Bosnian Serb forces commanded by Gen. Ratko Mladic overran Srebrenica on July 11, 1995. Two days later, the outnumbered Dutch peacekeepers bowed to pressure from Mladic’s troops and forced thousands of Muslim families out of the compound.

Bosnian Serb forces sorted the Muslims by gender, then trucked the males away and began executing some 8,000 Muslim men and boys. Those bodies were plowed into hastily made mass graves in what international courts have ruled was genocide.

The slaying was the worst massacre on European soil since World War II.

Read more: Netherlands liable for deaths of three Bosnian Muslims killed at Srebrenica: supreme court - The Globe and Mail