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

Approaching 7 months since the last Dutch general election, new cabinet formations have been marred by internal struggles, ministerial scandals, and political betrayals hampering party leaders from partaking in constructive discussions. The current and now demissionary Rutte III cabinet holds the record for the longest cabinet formation in Dutch history: a whopping 225 days, a situation politicians hoped they would never encounter again. However, Rutte’s aspirations to become the Netherlands’ longest-serving Prime Minister, in combination with the country’s fragmented political landscape, means Dutch citizens must brace themselves for a long formation if not new elections. Recent breakthroughs to restart the current coalition have signaled a possible end to formations, but if it falls through, new elections are inevitable.

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

Facebook and Climate Change: Facebook fails to flag denial, study finds - by Rachel Schraer & Kayleen Devlin

The Center for Countering Digital Hate and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue said less than 10% of misleading posts were marked as misinformation.

And the CCDH researchers linked the majority of these to just 10 publishers.

Facebook said this represented a small proportion of climate change content.

Read more at: Climate change: Facebook fails to flag denial, study finds - BBC News

Information: It pays to stay informed

Check Out

EU-Digest for all your news related and about Europe

For news about and related to the Republic of Turkey go to:

Turkish-Digest And for news about and related to the Netherlands see more at:

Almere-Digest

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