The Netherlands: Nine weird things to do in the Netherlands

And you thought the Netherlands was just about tulips, windmills and clogs. Don’t you believe it. There are some very strange places to check out indeed.

Visit the mummies of Wiewerd Wiewerd is a tiny hamlet built on terps – raised mounds – in deepest Friesland. The story goes that in 1765, carpenters working in the church found a crypt with 11 coffins containing bodies that had become mummified. They are thought to have been members of an obscure Christian sect called the Labadists who lived nearby. Four bodies and several mummified birds are in the crypt today – the missing bodies are thought to have been stolen by medical students at long gone Franeker university. To visit ring a bell on the church and someone from the village will come and open the door to let you in.

Get weighed to see if you are a witch The village of Oudewater near Utrecht features on most lists of the Netherlands’ prettiest villages but we consider it to be seriously strange. Forget the cobbled streets and canals – if you go to the town’s weigh house, they will find out if you are witch.

Visit 22 bits of Belgium, completely surrounded by the Netherlands Baarle Nassau is a town of some 6,000 people in Noord Brabant which contains rather large chunks of Belgium. In fact there are 22 little bits of Belgium in the locality, the smallest of which is named H22 and measures just 2,632 square metres.

Visit 22 bits of Belgium, completely surrounded by the Netherlands Baarle Nassau is a town of some 6,000 people in Noord Brabant which contains rather large chunks of Belgium. In fact there are 22 little bits of Belgium in the locality, the smallest of which is named H22 and measures just 2,632 square metres.

Go underground in Limburg The St Pietersburg caves in Limburg are not caves at all but mines – the result of 2,000 years of digging for marl – the mud stone used in building and agriculture. The digging, which began with the Romans, led to the creation of a labyrinth of 20,000 tunnels and passageways, many of which are covered in graffiti dating back centuries.The caves are also home to what the local tourist board says is the ‘largest and oldest underground Christmas market in Europe’. We cannot imagine there are any others….

Spend time in a village devoted to prisons In the depths of darkest Drenthe is the prison village of Veenhuizen which was developed in the early 19th century as a place where anti-social families, the jobless and the poor of Amsterdam were sent to be reformed.

Check out human and animal deformities Not for the fainthearted – the Vrolik Museum in the heart of the AMC medical centre in Amsterdam Zuidoost is devoted to pathological specimens – from jars containing club feet or Siamese twins to framed pieces of skin covered in tattoos.

Go as low as you can It is somewhat disconcerting to stand next to a lorry park not far from Rotterdam and imagine that you are nearly seven metres beneath the sea. The Zuidplas polder near Rotterdam is 6.76 below sea level, making it the lowest point in the Netherlands.

Have a drink in Sexbierum Okay, school boy humour we know, but Sexbierum must be one of the wackiest names for a Dutch village – perhaps even beating the charmingly named Muggenbeet (mosquito bite) in Overijssel. Unfortunately, the name of this Frisian village of under 2,000 souls does not derive from various vices but from a combination of the name of the pope Sixtus II and the Old Frisian word for house or barra.

Read more: Nine weird things to do in the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl

Cycling: Tour de France 2016, stage nine: Chris Froome retains yellow jersey as Dutchman Tom Dumoulin grabs brilliant win

It was not the greatest British sporting achievement of the day given events back in SW19, but it was another important step towards what would be a landmark moment to rival even a Wimbledon crown.

Chris Froome survived four seasons in one day on Sunday, battling through searing 35C heat in Spain, wind, rain, and later on, huge lumps of hail at the finish in Andorra, to keep hold of his yellow leader’s jersey at the Tour de France.

Dumoulin’s win, the first Tour stage win of the Dutchman’s career, was well deserved. The time trial specialist, who will be a key rival to Froome in that event in Rio next month, was part of the day’s main breakaway, and when that split up at the foot of the final climb, he attacked a small lead group, quickly opening up a 30-second lead. Rui Costa [Lampre-Merida] and Rafal Majka [Tinkoff] led the counter-attack but finished 38 seconds back.



 Read more: Tour de France 2016, stage nine: Chris Froome retains yellow jersey as Tom Dumoulin grabs brilliant win

Migrants - the Netherlands: Doubled numbers of migrants leave the Netherlands

 Twice as many migrants chose to leave the Netherlands in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period last year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Its ‘assisted voluntary return and reintegration program’ has helped 2,500 migrants leave the Netherlands in 2016 – quite possibly for sunnier climes – compared with 1,288 in the same period last year. Most of these people came from Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kosovo, Mongolia, Serbia and Ukraine.

Last year the IOM’s international organisation helped 70,000 migrants leave the countries where they had taken refuge, and re-integrate on their return. ‘This was the largest number of voluntary returns registered in the past decades,’ says the organisation on its website.

‘The current migration trends seem to indicate that returns could increase in the years to come – not only in the number of migrants in need of assistance, but also in the complexity of the process.’


Read more: Doubled numbers of migrants leave the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl

Cancer Linked Herbicides: Private Tests Show Cancer-Linked Herbicide in Breakfast Foods; FDA mum on Its Assessments - by Carey Gillam

If you started your day off with a whole wheat bagel and a bowl of instant strawberries-and-cream-flavored oatmeal today, you might think you made some fairly healthy breakfast choices.

You might want to think again.

According to a report released Tuesday by the Alliance for Natural Health USA, testing procured from an independent laboratory found detectable levels of the herbicide glyphosate in oatmeal and bagels as well as coffee creamer and seven more products, for a total of 10 out of 24 breakfast food items showing levels of glyphosate - a chemical the World Health Organization’s cancer experts have linked to cancer.

Notably, some of the highest levels of the chemical were detected in organic food products, including eggs marketed as “organic, cage-free, antibiotic-free” eggs; and in organic bagels and bread. Indeed, the organic cage-free eggs contained more glyphosate than regulators allow, the group said.

The group also tested flour, corn flakes, instant oatmeal, yogurt, frozen hash browns, and coffee creamers.

The laboratory that conducted the tests was Microbe Inotech Laboratories in St. Louis. Microbe, founded by former Monsanto Co. scientist Bruce Hemming, has been sought out by an array of food companies, consumer groups and others to conduct glyphosate residue testing over the last few years.

Read more: Private Tests Show Cancer-Linked Herbicide in Breakfast Foods; FDA mum on Its Assessments

Britain: Tony Blair unrepentant as Chilcot gives crushing Iraq war verdict - by Luke Harding

A defiant Tony Blair defended his decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 following the publication of a devastating report by Sir John Chilcot, which mauled the ex-prime minister’s reputation and said that at the time of the 2003 invasion Saddam Hussein “posed no imminent threat”.

Looking tired, his voice sometimes croaking with emotion, Blair described his decision to join the US attack as “the hardest, most momentous, most agonizing decision I took in 10 years as British prime minister”.

He said he felt “deeply and sincerely ... the grief and suffering of those who lost ones they loved in Iraq”.

The head of the Iraq war inquiry said the UK’s decision to attack and occupy a sovereign state for the first time since the second world war was a decision of “utmost gravity”. Chilcot described Saddam as “undoubtedly a brutal dictator” who had repressed and murdered many of his own people and attacked his neighbors.

But he was withering about Blair’s choice to sign up to a military plan drawn up in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 by the US president, George W Bush, and his neo-con team. Chilcot said: “We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort.”

Overall, Chilcot’s report amounts to arguably the most scathing official verdict on any modern British prime minister. It implicitly lumps Blair in the same category as Anthony Eden, who invaded Egypt in a failed attempt to gain control of the Suez canal. Chilcot’s 2.6m-word, 12-volume report was released on Wednesday morning, together with a 145-page executive summary.

Note EU-Digest: Tony Blair needs to be put in jail together with Bush Rumsfeld and Cheney. They (the US) are the root cause for our European refugee and terrorism problems which came as a direct result of the IRAQ war and US's Middle East policies..

It is high time the US Congress also puts together an investigation committee to investigate Bush, Cheney and Rumsfelds role in the IRAQ war and their lies to the US population and the countries who were called upon to support the US in this disastrous war.

Read more: Tony Blair unrepentant as Chilcot gives crushing Iraq war verdict | UK news | Th

As the Muslim community celebrates Eid al-Fitr - it's also almost 500 years since Martin Luther's Reformation

While the Muslim community celebrates Eid al-Fitr, also known as Eid ul-Fitr or Eid celebration that marks the end of Ramadan (a holy month of fasting observed by Muslims) - it is also almost 500 years ago since Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation revolutionized the former dogmatic, legalistic Christian thinking;

One of the greatest achievements of the Reformation movement was that it brought forward the need for "educated faith"

As Martin Luther would have said:"You can now ask questions. You can be critical about the church. You yourself can read the Bible and sharpen your own conscience". Maybe, as we wish our Muslim brothers and Sisters a Şeker Bayramı, we also pray for them that they will be blessed in finding their own Martin Luther.

Almere-Digest

Britain: Is US-UK Trade Bill Now In US Congress, One Week After Brexit Legal?

Despite claims that the US would banish Britain to the “back of the queue” if it dared to leave the European Union, Congress is already considering measures to boost trade with the UK.

A bill to lock down current trading arrangements, and fire the starting gun on a bilateral deal, was introduced to the US Senate yesterday.

The United Kingdom Trade Continuity Act mandates the US to keep trading on exactly the same terms after Britain leaves the EU.

It also urges the President to start fast-track talks with the UK, with the aim of concluding a bilateral trade deal in just one year.\

The bill was introduced by senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Tom Cotton (R-AR), who said strengthening the so-called special relationship is in the interest of both nations.

It comes after a string of nations made positive noises about stepping up UK trade within days of it ditching the EU, which removes the ability of member states to strike their own deals.

The crucial section of the bill reads: “Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President should initiate negotiations with the United Kingdom with the goal of reaching a final comprehensive bilateral trade agreement by the date that is one year after such date of enactment; and the President should make every effort to negotiate such an agreement expeditiously.”

While the bill has no power to compel the President to do anything, it would be a strong sign that the US prioritizes closer economic relations with the UK.

In a statement on the bill, Senator Lee said: “Our nation’s special relationship with the United Kingdom has promoted economic prosperity and security in both countries for over a hundred years.

The legality of the bill, however, is questionable, since Britain has not yet formally put EU article 50 up for implementation, and is consequently still tied to EU laws, which does not allow member states of the EU to instigate their own trade negotiations.

EU-Digest