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September 15, 2020
Coronavirus strikes again: 2 new coronavirus reinfection cases: Belgium, Netherlands, Hong Kong - by Aylin Woodward and Hilary Brueck
Just hours after the world's first confirmed coronavirus reinfection case was documented in Hong Kong on Monday, researchers reported a woman in Belgium had caught the virus a second time. So, too, did Dutch virus experts, who announced an older person in the Netherlands as a third confirmed reinfection of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
September 14, 2020
China-Netherlands Relations:: How China Made the Netherlands Question the Free Market - by Diederik Baazil
When the Dutch government invested in home-grown chipmaker Smart Photonics this summer, it was a departure for a country with a hands-off approach to business.
A small company with big plans, Smart Photonics was struggling to attract financing to scale up production of its next-generation chips, whose applications include self-driving cars and datacenters.
Smart’s chief technology officer, said in an interview at the company’s offices outside Eindhoven, in the southern Netherlands. “The most serious interest came from Asia,” specifically Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and from China, he said.
In late June, just as it looked like Smart Photonics was about to be lured to Asia, the Dutch government stepped in with 20 million euros ($23.7 million). A similar sum came from a consortium including a government-backed agency, PhotonDelta, whose chief executive, Ewit Roos, raised the alarm at the Ministry of Economic Affairs as soon as he learned of the company’s predicament. “The government acted swiftly and decisively,” Roos said by phone.
he Dutch government says that its decision was taken to retain key technology and wasn’t driven by concerns over China. Even so, its investment was just the latest example of a more defensive economic stance that has accompanied a hardening of the country’s attitude to Beijing.
The shift has “been very noticeable, because the Netherlands has always been that kind of small, open, free-market economy that wanted nothing to be touched and everything to be open,” said Agatha Kratz, an associate director at Rhodium Group in Paris.
Beijing still regards the Netherlands as an important trade partner and investment destination, even though the Netherlands is getting “harsher” toward China, said a researcher with the government-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who asked not to be identified due to rules for speaking with media. One reason for that change is China is becoming more competitive economically with Europe, the researcher said.
On the political front, the Netherlands angered Beijing this year by changing the name of its representation in Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. That prompted the Chinese embassy in The Hague to request clarification from the government. Taiwan’s president pointedly tweeted her gratitude to the representation’s outgoing head.
Read more at:
How China Made the Netherlands Question the Free Market - Bloomberg
A small company with big plans, Smart Photonics was struggling to attract financing to scale up production of its next-generation chips, whose applications include self-driving cars and datacenters.
Smart’s chief technology officer, said in an interview at the company’s offices outside Eindhoven, in the southern Netherlands. “The most serious interest came from Asia,” specifically Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and from China, he said.
In late June, just as it looked like Smart Photonics was about to be lured to Asia, the Dutch government stepped in with 20 million euros ($23.7 million). A similar sum came from a consortium including a government-backed agency, PhotonDelta, whose chief executive, Ewit Roos, raised the alarm at the Ministry of Economic Affairs as soon as he learned of the company’s predicament. “The government acted swiftly and decisively,” Roos said by phone.
he Dutch government says that its decision was taken to retain key technology and wasn’t driven by concerns over China. Even so, its investment was just the latest example of a more defensive economic stance that has accompanied a hardening of the country’s attitude to Beijing.
The shift has “been very noticeable, because the Netherlands has always been that kind of small, open, free-market economy that wanted nothing to be touched and everything to be open,” said Agatha Kratz, an associate director at Rhodium Group in Paris.
Beijing still regards the Netherlands as an important trade partner and investment destination, even though the Netherlands is getting “harsher” toward China, said a researcher with the government-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who asked not to be identified due to rules for speaking with media. One reason for that change is China is becoming more competitive economically with Europe, the researcher said.
On the political front, the Netherlands angered Beijing this year by changing the name of its representation in Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. That prompted the Chinese embassy in The Hague to request clarification from the government. Taiwan’s president pointedly tweeted her gratitude to the representation’s outgoing head.
Read more at:
How China Made the Netherlands Question the Free Market - Bloomberg
September 13, 2020
The Netherlands: Top five castles in the Netherlands - by Victoria Séveno
Countries across Europe are filled with gorgeous and historic castles,
surrounded by beautiful landscapes. But, you don’t need to travel all
the way to Germany or the United Kingdom to get a glimpse of some
incredible castles - there are plenty right here in the Netherlands!
Here’s IamExpat’s list of the five castles and palaces in the Netherlands that are definitely worth a visit.
Read the complete report at:
Top five castles in the Netherlands
Here’s IamExpat’s list of the five castles and palaces in the Netherlands that are definitely worth a visit.
Read the complete report at:
Top five castles in the Netherlands
September 12, 2020
The Netherlands: Positivity in the Netherlands remains high in spite of coronavirus
Research by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) has shown that people in the Netherlands are still satisfied with their lives, in spite of the wide-ranging impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more at:
Positivity in the Netherlands remains high in spite of coronavirus
Read more at:
Positivity in the Netherlands remains high in spite of coronavirus
September 11, 2020
USA - California wildfires: California wildfire smoke reaches Europe
Wildfires continued ravaging portions of the western United States on Friday, stoked by gusty winds and dry conditions.
Although some weather relief appears to be en route in the coming days, millions of acres have already burned. Homes and businesses have been engulfed, and injuries to both residents and first responders continue mounting. More than a dozen deaths, including at least 10 in California, have been reported.
Note EU-Digest: Tonight the Dutch KNMI weather report also mentioned that the haze which covered the Netherlands today was directly related to high altitude smoke that was drifting in from the California fires over Europe.
Western wildfires live updates: California wildfire smoke reaches Europe
Although some weather relief appears to be en route in the coming days, millions of acres have already burned. Homes and businesses have been engulfed, and injuries to both residents and first responders continue mounting. More than a dozen deaths, including at least 10 in California, have been reported.
Note EU-Digest: Tonight the Dutch KNMI weather report also mentioned that the haze which covered the Netherlands today was directly related to high altitude smoke that was drifting in from the California fires over Europe.
Western wildfires live updates: California wildfire smoke reaches Europe
September 9, 2020
The Netherlands: Weekly coronavirus update: 76.548 total cases in the Netherlands
The weekly report from the RIVM (National Institute for Public Healthand Environment) reveals that, since the update last week, another 5.427 people in the Netherlandshave tested positive for COVID-19, the illness that is caused by the new coronavirus. This means that the new total of infected people is 76.548.
Of the 76.548 people infected, another 17 people have died since last Tuesday*, September 1, bringing the death toll to 6.244. In total, 12.225 (+43) patients have been admitted to hospital. As not all people are getting tested, the true number of people infected with the new coronavirus is higher than reported.
*There may be a delay between the day of death and the day that it is reported.
Read more at:
Weekly coronavirus update: 76.548 total cases in the Netherlands
Of the 76.548 people infected, another 17 people have died since last Tuesday*, September 1, bringing the death toll to 6.244. In total, 12.225 (+43) patients have been admitted to hospital. As not all people are getting tested, the true number of people infected with the new coronavirus is higher than reported.
*There may be a delay between the day of death and the day that it is reported.
Read more at:
Weekly coronavirus update: 76.548 total cases in the Netherlands
September 8, 2020
The Netherlands: Sudden rise in Dutch coronavirus infections continues
Public health agency RIVM announced on Saturday that 654 more people were diagnosed with a SARS week's total of new infections up to 3,732, up 21 percent compared to the same point last week. The Netherlands will conclude the week with more new infections from Monday through Sunday for the first time in three weeks.
It was not immediately clear if the increase in infections was linked to an increase in testing, or an increase in the percentage of people producing a positive test result.
That information was expected to be released in a weekly report from the RIVM on Tuesday. To date, about 74,500 people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the virus.
The RIVM also said that between Wednesday and Friday, 17 more people have been admitted to a Dutch hospital with Covid-19, the illness caused by the infection. Six people were also moved into intensive care during that time.
Read more at:
Sudden rise in Dutch coronavirus infections continues | NL Times
It was not immediately clear if the increase in infections was linked to an increase in testing, or an increase in the percentage of people producing a positive test result.
That information was expected to be released in a weekly report from the RIVM on Tuesday. To date, about 74,500 people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the virus.
The RIVM also said that between Wednesday and Friday, 17 more people have been admitted to a Dutch hospital with Covid-19, the illness caused by the infection. Six people were also moved into intensive care during that time.
Read more at:
Sudden rise in Dutch coronavirus infections continues | NL Times
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