Another 9,737 people in the Netherlands tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, data from Dutch public health agency RIVM showed. That figure was 36 percent higher than on Wednesday, and less than one percent more than New Year's Eve exactly one week ago.
The total released on Thursday was the highest since Boxing Day, and snapped a 15-day streak where the moving daily average number of infections fell. It was also the first time in six days that the number of new infections was higher than the rolling average, which stood at 7,749.
That average was still higher than it was on December 12, when Cabinet members crafted a plan to put the Netherlands into the ongoing full lockdown. The lockdown restrictions were initially expected to last until January 19, but with many advising the government to keep the measures in place, the Cabinet was reportedly considering a two-week extension.
Read more at:
Netherlands reports sharp 36% jump in coronavirus infections | NL Times
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January 8, 2021
January 7, 2021
USA - discrimination alive and well in America: Black activists say double standard at play in response to pro-Trump rioters
Trump supporters gesture to U.S. Capitol Police in the hallway outside of the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington D.C. Black activists are decrying what they saw as a double standard when it comes to police responding to protests involving Black social justice activists and white pro-Trump supporters. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press)
The co-founder of Black Lives Matter in Canada said she believes police would have responded more aggressively if protesters storming the U.S. Capitol had been members of the anti-racism group instead of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.
"I want to be very clear that if those were Black Lives Matter protesters I think that would have been a massacre," Sandy Hudson told CBC News. "I think that we would all be dead."
Read more at: Black activists say double standard at play in response to pro-Trump rioters | CBC News
The co-founder of Black Lives Matter in Canada said she believes police would have responded more aggressively if protesters storming the U.S. Capitol had been members of the anti-racism group instead of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.
"I want to be very clear that if those were Black Lives Matter protesters I think that would have been a massacre," Sandy Hudson told CBC News. "I think that we would all be dead."
Read more at: Black activists say double standard at play in response to pro-Trump rioters | CBC News
USA: Totale chaos in Amerika: 'Dit is een aanval op de democratie'
Na de verkiezingsuitslag in Georgia, voor de Senaat, zijn extreme rellen ontstaan bij het Capitool in Washington. Trump-demonstranten zijn het gebouw binnengedrongen, er zijn schoten gelost en de Nationale Garde van Virginia is onderweg.
Read more at: Totale chaos in Amerika: 'Dit is een aanval op de democratie'
Read more at: Totale chaos in Amerika: 'Dit is een aanval op de democratie'
January 5, 2021
The Netherlands: Back-of-the-pack Dutch Rutte Government under fire for slow coronavirus vaccine rollout – by Eline Schaart
The Dutch government's vaccine strategy has been flawed, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Tuesday as he admitted watching on with frustration as other countries' citizens were given a jab against the coronavirus.
“Because the government's approach was not agile enough, vaccination will start later than in other European countries,” Rutte said during a debate in parliament.
The Netherlands will only vaccinate its first citizen, a care home nurse, on Wednesday — making it one of the last countries in the EU to begin giving coronavirus vaccines.
read more at: Back-of-the-pack Dutch under fire for slow coronavirus vaccine rollout – POLITICO
“Because the government's approach was not agile enough, vaccination will start later than in other European countries,” Rutte said during a debate in parliament.
The Netherlands will only vaccinate its first citizen, a care home nurse, on Wednesday — making it one of the last countries in the EU to begin giving coronavirus vaccines.
read more at: Back-of-the-pack Dutch under fire for slow coronavirus vaccine rollout – POLITICO
January 4, 2021
Global Happiness list: Netherlands one of the top 10 happiest countries globally in 2020 ranking 6th - Finland No 1 - US 18 th.- Turkey 79 th. - lowest: Afghanistan 110 th.
The World Happiness Report ranks 156 countries around the world according to how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. 2020 marks the eighth edition of the report and has the theme “environments for happiness”. It examines data from 2017, 2018, and 2019 to put together a conclusive ranking.
The ranking is compiled using data from the Gallup World Poll, in which respondents are asked to evaluate the happiness of their own lives on a scale of one to 10. Using the survey results, the ranking also shows the estimated extent to which six different factors impact happiness:
Gross Domestic Product per capita, Life expectancy, Social support, Freedom, Corruption,
According to the 2020 report, the 10 happiest countries in the world are: 1) Finland 2) Denmark 3) Switzerland 4) Iceland 5) Norway 6) The Netherlands 7) Sweden 8) New Zealand 9) Austria 10 Luxembourg
Read more at: Almere Digest
The ranking is compiled using data from the Gallup World Poll, in which respondents are asked to evaluate the happiness of their own lives on a scale of one to 10. Using the survey results, the ranking also shows the estimated extent to which six different factors impact happiness:
Gross Domestic Product per capita, Life expectancy, Social support, Freedom, Corruption,
According to the 2020 report, the 10 happiest countries in the world are: 1) Finland 2) Denmark 3) Switzerland 4) Iceland 5) Norway 6) The Netherlands 7) Sweden 8) New Zealand 9) Austria 10 Luxembourg
Read more at: Almere Digest
January 3, 2021
The Netherlands: Dutch border police bar 10 British nationals from entering the Netherlands
Dutch border police have refused 10 British nationals entry to the Netherlands since January 1, when UK visitors were no longer covered by EU regulations, broadcaster NOS said on Sunday.
Since January 1, the UK is no longer considered an EU country and its nationals are barred from visiting the Netherlands unless their journey is essential, because of coronavirus rules.
‘They all had a negative PCR test, but had forgotten the basic rule, that they need to have an urgent reason to come, such as work or serious family issues,’ border police spokesman Robert van Kapel told NOS.
Read more at: Dutch border police bar 10 British nationals from entering the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl
Since January 1, the UK is no longer considered an EU country and its nationals are barred from visiting the Netherlands unless their journey is essential, because of coronavirus rules.
‘They all had a negative PCR test, but had forgotten the basic rule, that they need to have an urgent reason to come, such as work or serious family issues,’ border police spokesman Robert van Kapel told NOS.
Read more at: Dutch border police bar 10 British nationals from entering the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl
January 2, 2021
EU-US Relations: The Total Failure of the Militarization of U.S. Foreign Policy and the consequences for the EU - by RM
The fall of the Soviet Union handed the U.S. a unique opportunity, as the surviving superpower, to lead the world toward a period of greater cooperation and conflict resolution through the use of diplomacy, global organization, and international law. This great opportunity to change US foreign policy doctrine was completely squandered by successive US presidents, who chose "the stick above the carrot" and consequently making the world a more dangerous place today.
The differences between the foreign policies of the EU, based on cooperation, trade , the environment,and Human Rights, and that of the United States became especially aparent during the Trump Administration, when Europe started staking out separate, clashing positions, on everything, from telecommunications to energy. The EU and US both issued sharp disagreements on the basic building blocks of foreign relations—namely, how the international system should work. French President Emmanuel Macron seized the spotlight, and sent the hearts of European federalists aflutter, by calling for “a European way” while raising the possibility of a French-led European nuclear deterrent, a precondition for any true independence from the United States.
If opinion polls are to go by, we are already separated. Nowhere is this felt more acutely than in Germany, the most important country in Europe. In January, Pew Research released a poll showing that 57 percent of Germans hold an outright unfavorable view of the United States. A few months earlier, in September, the European Council on Foreign Relations reported that 70 percent of Germans want their country to remain neutral in any conflict between Moscow and Washington.
For some European, Anglo-Saxon capitalism is seen as ruthless and rootless, mowing down the social order in the service of individual greed. For others, the United States’ dominance of the West breeds resentment, especially in an era of globalization, when even the slightest shocks from across the Atlantic hit the EU's bottom line or derail its diplomacy.
With the US Biden Administration in charge soon, the overall relationship between the two Transatlanic Super Power partners certainly will get off to a better start, but the US administration must certainly not expect that the status quo is re-established. Take note America, your former "lap dog" now considers itself an independent partner with its own voice.
EU-Digest
The differences between the foreign policies of the EU, based on cooperation, trade , the environment,and Human Rights, and that of the United States became especially aparent during the Trump Administration, when Europe started staking out separate, clashing positions, on everything, from telecommunications to energy. The EU and US both issued sharp disagreements on the basic building blocks of foreign relations—namely, how the international system should work. French President Emmanuel Macron seized the spotlight, and sent the hearts of European federalists aflutter, by calling for “a European way” while raising the possibility of a French-led European nuclear deterrent, a precondition for any true independence from the United States.
If opinion polls are to go by, we are already separated. Nowhere is this felt more acutely than in Germany, the most important country in Europe. In January, Pew Research released a poll showing that 57 percent of Germans hold an outright unfavorable view of the United States. A few months earlier, in September, the European Council on Foreign Relations reported that 70 percent of Germans want their country to remain neutral in any conflict between Moscow and Washington.
For some European, Anglo-Saxon capitalism is seen as ruthless and rootless, mowing down the social order in the service of individual greed. For others, the United States’ dominance of the West breeds resentment, especially in an era of globalization, when even the slightest shocks from across the Atlantic hit the EU's bottom line or derail its diplomacy.
With the US Biden Administration in charge soon, the overall relationship between the two Transatlanic Super Power partners certainly will get off to a better start, but the US administration must certainly not expect that the status quo is re-established. Take note America, your former "lap dog" now considers itself an independent partner with its own voice.
EU-Digest
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