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The Nertherlands: Little Wendy's in the Netherlands wins another case against big Wendy's USA

A court in Den Bosch has scuppered another attempt by American fast food restaurant chain Wendy’s to force its Dutch namesake in Zeeland to drop the name which is stopping it from establishing itself in the Benelux countries. Raymond Warrens, owner of the Wendy’s in Goes, named his snack bar after his daughter in 1988 and in 1995 registered his right to use it in the Benelux countries.

So far the Wendy’s in Goes is the only Dutch Wendy’s in existence. Wendy’s USA has been trying to convince Dutch courts since 2000 that his right should be declared invalid so it can register and establish itself in the Benelux. The fast food giant currently has over 6,500 restaurants in the United States and wants to gain a foothold in Europe.

Read more at: Little Wendy's in the Netherlands wins another case against big Wendy's USA - DutchNews.nl

The Netherlands: Face masks are back, more working at home, as Dutch bring back anti-Covid rules

The Netherlands is bringing in new measures to control coronavirus in a bid to reverse the sharp rise in new cases, and tougher rules are also in the pipeline if there is no improvement. The new plans were outlined by ministers at a press conference on Tuesday evening, shortly after officials raised the risk level to ‘severe’ now that the average number of hospital admissions per day is above 100.

Although social distancing will not be compulsory, it is the government’s ‘urgent advice’, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press conference on Tuesday evening.

Read more at: Face masks are back, more working at home, as Dutch bring back anti-Covid rules - DutchNews.nl

Costa Rica: A climate success story - by Laurence Cuvillier and Matthieu Comin

In the space of just a few years, the small Central American nation of Costa Rica has become a global laboratory for decarbonisation. Costa Rica is the world's only tropical country that has managed to reverse the process of deforestation: forests now cover more than half its surface. It’s also one of the few countries to get almost all its electricity (99 percent) from renewable sources. Costa Rica's inspiring and bold example reflects badly on major world powers, which have considerably more resources available to achieve their climate goals.

Costa Rica abolished its army back in 1948, and 99 percent of its energy is renewable. The small country is an exception in Latin America. Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada sat down for an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24. Ahead of November's COP26 conference in Glasgow, he laid out several concrete proposals to fight climate change and sounded the alarm, saying: "The biggest challenge of this generation is decarbonisation and fighting climate change."

Read more at: Costa Rica: A climate success story - Reporters

Netherlands - Belgium EU Cocaine Hubs: Dutch customs officers discover four tons of cocaine in Rotterdam

Customs officers seized more than four tons of cocaine in two containers at the port of Rotterdam, Dutch prosecutors said on Sunday.

The illegal drugs, which have an estimated street value of €313 million ($362 million), were found hidden in soy bags destined for Portugal from Paraguay via Uruguay.

"It has been the largest haul discovered so far this year" in the Netherlands, a public prosecution official told the ANP news agency. The cocaine has since been destroyed. Why are smugglers using Rotterdam port?

Europol warned that Rotterdam port is a major entry point for drugs, with the Netherlands and Belgium becoming central hubs for cocaine.

Read more at: Dutch customs officers discover four tons of cocaine in Rotterdam | News | DW | 31.10.2021

The Netherlands: Coronavirus: Netherlands entirely red on European Covid map

Noord-Holland, Noord-Brabant, Groningen and Drenthe turned red on the map of coronavirus cases in Europe. This means that the whole of the Netherlands is now at the second-highest warning level. The four provinces were still orange last week but moved up due to the rapid increase in positive tests.

The ECDC, the European counterpart of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), publishes its coronavirus map every Thursday. The service looks at the number and percentage of positive tests in the two previous calendar weeks. The European coronavirus map has four colors. From low to high, these are green, orange, red, and dark red. Countries use the map to decide to tighten rules for travelers from other countries.

Read more at: Netherlands entirely red on European Covid map | NL Times

The Netherlands: Rutte for Fourth Term? Splintered Dutch Political Landscape

With more than 10 years of Rutte at the helm of Dutch government, he is very close to breaking Ruud Lubbers record of 11 years and 291 days to become the longest-serving PM of the Netherlands; a record that is bound to be broken if Rutte IV materialises. By presenting himself as the country’s national crisis manager, Rutte has held onto his popularity by pragmatically steering the Netherlands through the pandemic, thus strengthening his mandate to form a fourth cabinet under his leadership. However, soon after ‘scouts’ started their exploratory post-election research into cabinet formations, what appeared to become an easy path to Rutte IV took an unexpected turn. Research notes were accidentally leaked revealing Rutte’s now infamous statement: “positie Omtzigt, functie elders” (Omtzigt’s position, function elsewhere), a statement interpreted as exploring means to silence critical members of parliament. The PM’s initial denial of mentioning Omtzigt as part of the talks, followed by his claims of forgetting it, triggered an eruption of political and public outrage, threatening the future of a fourth Rutte cabinet

Read more at: Rutte for Fourth Term? Splintered Dutch Political Landscape | Global Risk Insights