Inovation: The Netherlands Ranks Among Top 5 countries in The Global Innovation Index

The Global Innovation Index 2019 (GII 2019), collated by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has ranked the Netherlands amongst the global leaders in innovation. The report mentions that even in economic slower times, innovation still thrives. “In developed and developing economies alike, formal innovation—as measured by research and development (R&D) and patents—and less formal modes of innovation are thriving.” According to the GII 2019, Switzerland, Sweden, United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom complete the top five of most innovative nations in the world.

Top scores in innovation output en knowledge absorption:  The Netherlands scores particularly well on sub-rankings on innovation output (2) and knowledge absorption (2). The country remains in top position for IP payments and scores consistently strong on regulatory quality, online participat\
ion, intensity of local competition, collaboration between universities and industries, cluster development and inflows of foreign direct investment. The report specially mentions that it sees great improvements in government expenditures on R&D financed by business, and an increase in women that are employed having advanced degrees.

Online creativity and knowledge diffusion push Dutch innovative outputs:  The report mentions specifically that innovation outputs are high, because the Netherlands is strong on Knowledge diffusion (2nd) and Online Creativity (2nd), in particular in indicators such as IP receipts, FDI net outflows, ICTs and business model creation, and ICTs and organizational model creation. The GII 2019 also sees improvements in the quality of scientific publications (8th) and in cultural and creative services exports (10th).

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EU- Schengen Area: Europe's free travel zone is set to get bigger — but what are the implications?

What does Schengen expansion mean for Europe, and can the EU overcome its border policy crisis triggered by the migrant influx that began in 2014?

Read more:  Schengen Area: Europe's free travel zone is set to get bigger — but what are the implications? 

EU-US Relations: EU envoy sheds light on weird US diplomacy - by Andrew Rettman

Remarks to Congress by the US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, have shed light on the unusual nature of American foreign policy under president Donald Trump.

Sondland testified in Washington DC on Thursday (17 October) as part of an impeachment enquiry into whether Trump blackmailed Ukraine on interfering in the upcoming US Presidential election.

Read more at: EU envoy sheds light on weird US diplomacy

EU-LGBTI: Discrimination falls, but wide differences remain across EU — study shows

A new Eurobarometer study measured discrimination in Europe.

Read more at: Discrimination falls, but wide differences remain across EU — study | Euronews

Britain : UK truck victims were Chinese

Police have confirmed that the 39 people found dead in a truck were Chinese nationals. The revelation comes after three properties were raided in Northern Ireland.

Read more at:  UK truck victims were Chinese | News | DW | 24.10.2019

Tourism: Netherlands, Aruba land on Lonely Planet top 10 destinations

Aruba and Netherlands are two of the best destinations to visit in 2020, according to travel guide Lonely Planet's annual list of the best countries to visit. In the top 10 countries, Aruba is in fourth place and the Netherlands in seventh.

Read more at: Netherlands, Aruba land on Lonely Planet top 10 destinations | NL Times:

Britain - the Brexit drama: UK PM Johnson sends conflicting messages to EU on Brexit delay request

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent an unsigned letter to the European Union on Saturday requesting a delay to Brexit but he also sent another message in which he stated he did not want the extension, a government source said.

Johnson was compelled by a law, passed by opponents last month, to ask the bloc for an extension to the current Brexit deadline of Oct. 31 until Jan. 31 after lawmakers thwarted his attempt to pass his EU divorce deal earlier on Saturday.

The government source said Johnson sent a total of three letters to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council: a photocopy of the text that the law, known as the Benn Act, forced him to write; a cover note from Britain's EU envoy; and a third letter in which he said he did not want an extension.

As Parliament met in London Saturday morning and voted to force a Brexit delay, hundreds of thousands of anti-Brexit protesters marched in the city’s streets demanding citizens be given a second chance at deciding whether to leave the European Union. The massive crowds moved through the city towards Parliament in a festive and defiant demonstration of frustration with the country’s impending break with the EU, the New York Times reported.

Organizers of the effort told the Times they expected more than a million demonstrators, which would make it one of the largest protests Britain has ever had. The demonstrators were joined by a host of current and former politicians, as well as celebrities, who addressed the crowd. In his speech, former Conservative deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine said Brexit represents “a creeping paralysis, where yesterday’s nostalgia distorts tomorrow’s opportunities”.

Note EU-Digest: Boris Johnson by politically manuevering in a very devious and undemocratic way, without letting the people have a final say on the agreement he reached with the EU, is taking Britain on a disastrous destructive path, from which they probably will never recover .

Read more at: UK PM Johnson sends conflicting messages to EU on Brexit delay request