The Netherlands:Trump's ambassador to the Netherlands tweets photo of Nazi cemetery

Pete Hoekstra, the US ambassador to the Netherlands, on Thursday visiteda Dutch cemetery where members of an elite Nazi unit intricatelyinvolved in the Holocaust are buried.

It's unclear if Hoekstra was aware members of the Waffen SS, the elite Nazi unit, are buried at the cemetery.

Trump tapped Hoekstra to be the US ambassador to the Netherlands in 2017.

His tenure got off to a rocky start due to anti-Muslim comments he made regarding the Netherlands back in 2015. 

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Trump's ambassador to the Netherlands tweets photo of Nazi cemetery - Business Insider

The Netherlands: Burqa ban, face mask laws frustrate Dutch Muslims

On August 1 it will be one year since the Dutch government approved a controversial law prohibiting clothing that "completely covers the face." It followed similar, albeit stricter, bans in France and Belgium.

The Dutch ban prohibited such clothing from being worn in public transport or in public buildings such as schools, hospitals and government buildings. Unlike in France and Belgium, the burqa is still permitted to be worn in the streets.

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Burqa ban, face mask laws frustrate Dutch Muslims | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 01.08.2020

Coronavirus Vaccine: EU poised to secure Sanofi deal for coronavirus vaccine

The European Union's executive on Friday wrapped up preliminary talks with French drugmaker Sanofi aimed at securing its COVID-19 vaccine for the 27-country EU bloc, the latest deal with vaccine producers.

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EU poised to secure Sanofi deal for coronavirus vaccine - Reuters:

EU sanctions Russian, Chinese hackers over alleged cyberattacks

The European Union on Thursday imposed its first ever sanctions for alleged cyberattacks. The measures involve financial and travelrestrictions against officials from Russian military intelligence, as well as firms from North Korea and China, member states said in a statement.

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EU sanctions Russian, Chinese hackers over alleged cyberattacks | News | DW | 30.07.2020

The Netherlands: Up to twice as many coronavirus deaths in the Netherlands as registered - by Victoria Séveno

In a report published by CBS on coronavirus mortalities in the Netherlands, the statistics office reported that the number of people who died of coronavirus is likely 50 to 100 percent higher than the number recorded and previously reported by the RIVM. While it has been known since the initial outbreak of the virus that more people have died than has been reported, this report gives a true indication of the excess mortality

Excess mortality is an epidemiological term to refer to the number of “extra” deaths in a period of time in comparison to what is expected under “normal” conditions. It is used to measure the number of deaths in a period of crisis (like a pandemic) when not all deaths have been officially recorded.

The report reveals that, between March 9 and May 24, the excess mortality was between 8.593 and 11.691, with these numbers revealing the minimum and maximum number of people who died from coronavirus in this time period. However, the number of recorded coronavirus deaths in that 11-week period was 5.900. CBS therefore calculates that, for every 10 registered deaths, between five and ten more people actually died of coronavirus, saying this conclusion can be drawn with 95 percent certainty.

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Up to twice as many coronavirus deaths in the Netherlands as registered

EU: Facebook cries foul on EU request for internal documents - by Andrew Rettman

Facebook, a US tech giant known for abusing its users' private information, has said the European Commission was now attempting to do the same to Facebook employees' data.

The firm filed its complaints at the EU court in Luxembourg, after the commission asked to see internal documents containing any of 2,500 search phrases as part of an anti-trust enquiry.

Brussels-based news agency MLex first revealed Facebook's legal counter-strike in a story on Monday (27 July), citing anonymous sources.

US congressmen were also due to cross-examine Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday in a separate investigation into alleged abuse of the firm's online "dominance", but the hearing was postponed due to a clash with a memorial service for a US civil rights leader.

Zuckerberg founded the California-based firm in 2004 initially as a platform for US students to talk to each other.

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Facebook cries foul on EU request for internal documents

EU: Black lives matter in Europe too – Khaled Diab

No one should be smug about racism in Europe. Here too there is a toxic interaction between ethnicity, equality and the environment.

As we Europeans gaze in dismay across the Atlantic at the generations of racism and discrimination that brought the United States to this sorry impasse, we must not, tempting as it seems, believe we are somehow superior when it comes to tolerance and multiculturalism.

The European Commission member for equality, Helena Dalli, made just this point in an interview. ‘It’s ironic that we are celebrating the 20 years of the racial equality directive, and we still have structural problems. Racism has not been eradicated. There is a wide gap between legislation and how effective that legislation is on people’s lives,’ she said.

‘We will focus on what is underneath the tip of the iceberg, the structural racism which is more difficult to address,’ she added, referring to an action plan on combating racism which the commission will put forward later this year.

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Black lives matter in Europe too – Khaled Diab