Climate change - alternative energy: Netherlands on brink of banning sale of petrol-fuelled cars - by J. Staufenberg

Europe appears poised to continue its move towards cutting fossil fuel use as the Netherlands joins a host of nations looking to pass innovative green energy laws.

The Dutch government has set a date for parliament to host a roundtable discussion that could see the sale of petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars banned by 2025.

If the measures proposed by the Labour Party in March are finally passed, it would join Norway and Denmark in making a concerted move to develop its electric car industry.

It comes after Germany saw all of its power supplied by renewable energies such as solar and wind power on one day in May as the economic powerhouse continues to phase out nuclear energy and fossil fuels.

And outside Europe, both India and China have demanded that citizens use their cars on alternate days only to reduce the exhaust fume production which is causing serious health problems for the populations of both nations.

The consensus-oriented parties of the Netherlands are set to consider a total ban on petrol and diesel cars in a debate on 13 October.

Richard Smokers, principle adviser in sustainable transport at the Dutch renewable technology company TNO, said the Dutch government was committed to meeting the Paris climate change agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions to 80 per cent less than the 1990 level. The plan requires the majority of passenger cars to be run on CO2-free energy by 2050.

"Dutch cities still have some problems to meet existing EU air quality standards and have formulated ambitions to improve air quality beyond these standards," he told The Independent, adding that the government had at the same time been reluctant to implement strict policies on the environment.

"The current government embraces long term targets and strives at meeting EU requirements, but is hesistant about proposing 'strong' policy measures.

"Instead it prefers to facilitate and stimulate initiatives from stakeholders in society."

If the law to ban the sale of new fossil-fuel cars by 2025 passes, a significant move will have been made towards phasing out all petrol and diesel cars by 2035, added Dr Smokers.

Read more: Climate change: Netherlands on brink of banning sale of petrol-fuelled cars | Climate Change | Environment | The Independent

Turkey: Absolute Power: Erdogan’s Self-Made Trap - by Stephan Richter

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would do well, for his own sake, to consider Lord Acton’s famous dictum. The 19th century English historian and politician is famous for his insight, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Mr. Erdogan is certainly succeeding with his effort to remove the few remaining obstacles to his near-totalitarian rule. The irony of it all is that the more he succeeds, the worse it becomes for his country — and, eventually, for himself.

Ultimately, Erdogan has but one ambition – a nation in total subservience to its fatherly leader. For that to become reality, he must root out any public display of Atatürk, the country’s predominant leader in its entire 20th century history. If Erdogan had his druthers, he would even eliminate the memory of him.

In a nutshell, Mr. Erdogan wants to be the new Atatürk, albeit in complete reverse. Erdogan stands against everything that Atatürk stood for.

Read more: Absolute Power: Erdogan’s Self-Made Trap - The Globalist

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.

Spain islamic terrorism: Spanish police arrest two men in Girona accused of financing ISIS

Spanish police arrested two brothers in the northern city of Girona accused of helping to fund the so-called Islamic State's operations in Syria and Iraq, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

The two Moroccans, aged 22 and 32, and who have not been identified, diverted funds from Europe to pay for the transfer of members of the militant group into conflict zones, the ministry said.

They are charged with financing terrorism, collaboration with a terrorist group and indoctrination, sent money to Islamic State administrators operating under false identities, it added. A search of the two men’s homes was later carried out.

Interior Ministry sources said that a third brother was involved in the funding, but is believed to have died fighting in Syria. The three had used false identities provided by ISIS.

Police say the supposed false identities are part of ISIS’s international fundraising network.

The death of the one of the brothers in Syria, who had travelled to the country with his wife and children to join ISIS, did not end their fundraising activities in Spain. Authorities say they used recent legislation to tackle money laundering in order to trace the international money transfers the cell was making.

This is the first time Spanish police have been able trace remittances to ISIS, establishing that the money was put at its disposal and used primarily to fund recruiting costs.

Spain increased its anti-terrorist alert to level 4 on June 26, since when the Civil Guard has extended its investigations into suspected ISIS cells. An Interior Ministry spokesman highlighted the importance of preventing ISIS from recruiting and fundraising in Europe.

Note EU-Digest: Government officials in all EU coutries are advised to encourage anyone who believes he is aware of someone ot an organization recruiting or fundraising for Daesh, also known as ISIS to immediately report this to the palice

Read more: Spain islamic terrorism: Spanish police arrest two men in Girona accused of financing ISIS | In English | EL PAÍS

Britain Terrorism: Anjem Choudary: Islamic Hate preacher finally jailed for Isis-related terror offences

Britain's most notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary is finally behind bars after being convicted of inviting his followers to support Islamic State terrorists.

The 49-year-old lawyer turned radical cleric has for two decades been the spiritual guide for UK extremists including Lee Rigby killer Michael Adebolajo, Isis executioner Siddhartha Dhar, and hate preacher Abu Hamza.

Through his organisations, Muslim4UK and Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), Choudary has been a constant thorn in the side of British authorities, defending terrorist atrocities while promoting an ideology of hate.

Choudary has played a "significant" role in recruiting Muslims to the extremist cause, police say, inspiring many of the 850 Brits who have headed to Syria since the establishment of the so-called Islamic State.

Read more: Anjem Choudary: Hate preacher jailed for Isis-related terror offences | Crime | News | London Evening Standard

US Presidential Elections: Full Transcript of Donald Trump Foreign Policy Speech

Donald Trump

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump delivered a speech from Youngstown, Ohio this afternoon, during which he discussed his plan for defeating ISIS.

During his remarks, Trump declared that the United States is at war with radical Islam and that any country that opposes ISIS should be considered an ally.

Trump also blamed the rise of ISIS on President Obama and on Hillary Clinton, saying that their policies allowed the terrorist organization to flourish. Finally, Trump expanded upon his controversial Muslim ban, proposing a suspension of visas to countries that he described as “exporters” of terrorism.

He also proposed an ideological test to ensure those entering the country adhere to certain principles.

Click on the link below for the full transcript of Donald Trump’s August 15th speech, via the campaign’s website.

READ: Full Transcript of Donald Trump Foreign Policy Speech | Heavy.com

The Netherlands: Efteling theme park in the Netherlands is like stepping back in time to a magical world - by Anna Melville-james

The entrance to Efteling

The thought of visiting a theme park on a busy national holiday is enough to turn most parents into a quivering wreck.

So I feared the worst when I headed across the North Sea with my five-year-old daughter to the Netherlands for a bank holiday Monday trip to the popular Efteling attraction.

But my luck was certainly in that day – unknown to me, the UK and the Netherlands do not share the same bank holiday dates, so Claudie and I had the park to ourselves.

Efteling is one of the world’s oldest theme parks and a place I had wanted to visit for a long time. 

It seemed different from the new breed of mega parks with their ever-faster rollercoasters, and instead harks back to a gentler age.

It was rumoured to have inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland – although that is now largely relegated to myth. 

Efteling opened in 1952 and was entertaining families long before Mickey and Co – and it has maintained its popularity ever since.

Unlike Disney, Efteling, just to the north of Tilburg, is low-key, something that begins with actually finding that the park is located in a dense forest.

We had travelled first to Brussels by Eurostar before a quick connecting service dropped us outside the front gate.

From 2017, Eurostar’s new direct Amsterdam service means you could easily mix a city break with a day trip to the park.

Once inside Efteling, it all felt like a stroll through a beautiful park that just happens to have a rollercoaster in the middle.

First-time visitors should start with the pagoda, a chinoiserie folly that rises above the canopy to show you the whole park.

At ground level Claudie drew up her ride wishlist and commandeered one of the free trolleys for me to pull her in, as piped music floated over the boating lake.

We hit the 1950s miniature train, pedalling engines through the mock Dutch countryside, followed by the mini-waltzer and a toy car circuit.

We then toured the enchanted elf worlds on the Droomvlucht – the dreamflight ride – through a land of castles and fairy tales.

There are faster thrills too, including the new 60mph Baron 1898 ride and the Python rollercoaster.

By early afternoon it was time to stop and admire the park’s luxuriant tulips and leafy boughs, themselves a fairytale of red squirrels and bird boxes.

In the oldest area, the Marerijk, the forest frames a trail of classic tales such as Rapunzel, Pinocchio and Rumpelstiltskin reconstructed from the nostalgic drawings of illustrator Anton Pieck.

You won’t recognise all the characters: Mother Holle and Langnek are definitely aimed at the local crowds.

But there’s something soothing about their quirkiness.

This lack of pressure also applies to merchandise – I only saw one toy store, and food kiosks sell chips with mayonnaise, rather than drinks in movie tie-in cups.

As Claudie and I sat in the sunshine, we giggled at an animatronic gnome. It was a simple pleasure. But at that moment the world was magical. 

Read more: Efteling theme park in the Netherlands is like stepping back in time to magical world | Daily Mail Online