The Netherlands - confusion court rulings : Covid: Dutch crisis as court orders end to Covid curfew - but later, a higher court ruled curfew could stay in place

A court in The Hague has told the Dutch government that an overnight curfew to reduce the spread of coronavirus should be lifted, ruling that it breaches the right to free movement.

The court said the 21:00 to 04:30 curfew was imposed by an emergency law when there was no "acute emergency".

Later, a higher court ruled that the curfew could stay in place pending an appeal on Friday.

The curfew, imposed in January, led to rioting in several Dutch cities.

Police were patrolling streets near the Dutch parliament on Tuesday evening but no unrest has been reported so far.

The earlier court ruling - which said the curfew should be lifted immediately - was a victory for campaign group Viruswaarheid (Virus Truth) and a major upset for the government.

Read more at: Covid: Dutch crisis as court orders end to Covid curfew - BBC News

The Netherlands: Brexit: Amsterdam surpasses London as Europe’s leading share trading hub - by Ben Chapman

Amsterdam has surpassed London as Europe’s leading share trading hub in the wake of Brexit.

An average €9.2bn shares a day were traded on Euronext Amsterdam and the Dutch arms of CBOE Europe and Turquoise in January, according to data from CBOE Europe first reported by the Financial Times.

EU-based financial firms are banned from trading in London because the EU has not recognised UK regulations on exchanges as equivalent to its own.

Read more at: Brexit: Amsterdam surpasses London as Europe’s leading share trading hub | The Independent

The Netherlands: New Code Red weather warning issued for the Netherlands on Monday

Dutch meteorological agency KNMI issued a Code Red weather warning for the entire country over concerns that roadways, particularly local streets, will be very icy. “On Monday, overnight and into the morning, there is a risk of treacherous slippery conditions on an extensive scale due to freezing rain,” the KNMI stated, saying that the conditions will persist when combined with residual snow.

The warning’s initial duration was set for seven hours, beginning at various times in the morning depending on the region. “From 3 a.m., Code Red applies to Noord- and Zuid-Holland and Zeeland. From 5 a.m. for the Wadden Islands, Friesland, Flevoland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Noord-Brabant. From 7 a.m. for Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel and Limburg.”

Read more at: New Code Red weather warning issued for the Netherlands on Monday | NL Times

Cuba: Biden Will Try to Close Guantanamo After ‘Robust’ Review – by Ben Fox

President Joe Biden will seek to close the prison on the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay following a review process, resuming a project begun under the Obama administration, the White House said Friday.

Read more at: ttps://www.nbcmiami.com/news/politics/biden-administration/biden-will-try-to-close-guantanamo-after-robust-review/2382249/

The Netherlands: The Coronavirus exposes the Netherlands as a tax haven – again – by Boris Kowalski

Governments miss out on billions of tax revenues annually as the result of tax havens such as the Netherlands. The Coronavirus pandemic tellingly shows how such tax havens undermine public policy and cohesion within the EU, argues Boris Kowalski.

Read more at: The Coronavirus exposes the Netherlands as a tax haven – again – EURACTIV.com

Historic winter weather: Will the Netherlands see these weather phenomena?

The so-called “cold invasion” the Netherlands is experiencing this week is extremely rare: the combination of heavy snowfall, very low temperatures, and bitter winds is “only experienced by an average person a few times in their life,” according to meteorologist Alfred Snoek.

Considering the fact that this weather is so unusual means that many are starting to wonder whether they can look forward to any other naturally-occurring weather phenomena - beyond the canals freezing over.

Temperatures in the Netherlands have settled at around -2 or -3 degrees during the day, dropping to as low as -15 degrees overnight. Thanks to these absolutely freezing temperatures, there are a handful of natural delights that you might be lucky enough to experience over the coming days.

Read more at: https://www.iamexpat.nl/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/historic-winter-weather-will-netherlands-see-these-weather-phenomena

'WHO - Coronavirus: Extremely unlikely' COVID originated from a laboratory leak, says WHO official - by Luke Hurst

It is "extremely unlikely" COVID-19 originated from a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China, an expert with the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

The team of experts sent by the WHO to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city also said they found no evidence of an outbreak related to the virus in the city prior to 2019.

Read more at: 'Extremely unlikely' COVID originated from a laboratory leak, says WHO official | Euronews