Dutch Economics Minister Laurens Jan Brinkhorst said he’s confident about the EU economy and isn’t concerned about the relocation of factories to low-wage countries.
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The minister acknowledged that jobs are lost to low-wage countries, but said new jobs are created by growth in other sectors. Because productivity in the EU is higher today than it was 30 years ago, he opposes a proposed ban on relocating factories. Following the death of a Dutch soldier in Iraq, the government wants to send extra troops to the country to provide better protection for the soldiers already there. Bishop Jozef Punt of Haarlem, who is also bishop for the Dutch military, wants Dutch troops withdrawn from Iraq, however. The Bishop said “the Netherlands is unwillingly acquiring the role of an occupying force.” Nine men suspected of involvement in the Madrid terrorist attacks in March were arrested in the southern city of Roosendaal, following close collaboration between Spanish and Dutch police. The director of the city of Rotterdam’s port has resigned, after having issued 100 million euros in bank guarantees to a Rotterdam ship builder without informing his fellow directors or the Rotterdam city council. When the bank guarantees were converted to loans, the banks demanded their money back. The director said he issued the guarantees to safeguard the interests of the Rotterdam port. The government of the Netherlands Antilles has rejected Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk’s new integration rules, which require people coming to the Netherlands from the Antilles to follow an integration course and then sit an exam. If they fail the exam, they are fined. The islands’ parliament said it’s unacceptable to treat Dutch citizens differently, depending on whether they’re born inside or outside the EU. The MPs fear Netherlands Antilleans will become second-class citizens. The Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF) party, founded by Pim Fortuyn shortly before his assassination in 2002, is crumbling. In elections immediately following Fortuyn’s murder, the LPF won many seats and was part of the then coalition government. Two years later, however, and the LPF has only a few seats and LPF parliamentarians have severed ties with their own party organization and are now effectively without a party. Volkskrant columnist Remco Campert wrote: “List Pim Fortuyn is now a head without a chicken. It’ll cluck for a while longer, but it won’t survive long in the political chicken coop in The Hague. Too bad for this dead rooster.” Efforts are underway to reconcile Islamic law with the European banking system. Islam forbids usury and the payment of interest on savings and loans. The largest Dutch mortgage bank, Rabobank, wants the internal revenue service to approve a new ‘Islamic’ mortgage system, like the one used in Britain, in which clients don’t pay interest but rather mortgage costs, which are tax deductible. Meanwhile, with Dutch churches facing a severe priest shortage, new priests, mostly from outside Europe, are now being assigned to Dutch churches. Six new priests arrived from India and priests from the Philippines and Mexico are on the way. According to the Algemeen Dagblad, some Polish priests who came here have already left, however, because “in their country a priest is placed on a pedestal, but here the Polish priests couldn’t get used to the fact that they are less respected in the Netherlands”.
New government legislation requires minors to be accompanied by their parents when having body piercings done. There is also a new regulation for the kind of piercings allowed. An estimated two million Dutch people have one or more piercings. Dutch scientists have identified a protein that makes it possible for cancer cells to survive and spread through the body. Researchers at the Netherlands Cancer Institute announced their discovery of the so-called TrkB-gene in Nature magazine. “Suppression of this protein could possibly prevent the spread of tumor cells,” one newspaper wrote. At the recently completed Athens Olympics, the Netherlands won a total of 22 medals, including four gold, (as opposed to 25 in Sydney, including 12 gold). The Netherlands finished in 17th place (down from 8th place in the Sydney) in the medal standings. Two Dutch female athletes, Dutch cyclists Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel and swimmer Ingrid de Bruin return home as the greatest Dutch athletes of recent times. Zijlaard-Van Moorsel’s gold in the women’s cycling road time-trial made her the most successful woman in Olympic cycling history. In the past two Olympic Games,Zijlaard-Van Moorsel won four golds, one silver and one bronze. De Bruin, who won the 50 metres freestyle event in Athens is now the most successful Dutch Olympian of all time, with a record four golds, two silvers and two bronzes. A member of the Dutch men’s rowing team, Diederek Simon, accidentally lost his silver medal shortly after the ceremony in Athens. Fortunately for Simon, an honest Athenian taxi driver found the medal in his car and returned it. Diederek was relieved: “It would’ve looked sort of stupid if I had appeared before the Queen next week without my medal.”
– compiled by David McMullin
Dutch Economics Minister Laurens Jan Brinkhorst said he’s confident about the EU economy and isn’t concerned about the relocation of factories to low-wage countries. The minister acknowledged that jobs are lost to low-wage countries, but said new jobs are created by growth in other sectors. Because productivity in the EU is higher today than it was 30 years ago, he opposes a proposed ban on relocating factories. Following the death of a Dutch soldier in Iraq, the government wants to send extra troops to the country to provide better protection for the soldiers already there. Bishop Jozef Punt of Haarlem, who is also bishop for the Dutch military, wants Dutch troops withdrawn from Iraq, however. The Bishop said “the Netherlands is unwillingly acquiring the role of an occupying force.” Nine men suspected of involvement in the Madrid terrorist attacks in March were arrested in the southern city of Roosendaal, following close collaboration between Spanish and Dutch police. The director of the city of Rotterdam’s port has resigned, after having issued 100 million euros in bank guarantees to a Rotterdam ship builder without informing his fellow directors or the Rotterdam city council. When the bank guarantees were converted to loans, the banks demanded their money back. The director said he issued the guarantees to safeguard the interests of the Rotterdam port. The government of the Netherlands Antilles has rejected Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk’s new integration rules, which require people coming to the Netherlands from the Antilles to follow an integration course and then sit an exam. If they fail the exam, they are fined. The islands’ parliament said it’s unacceptable to treat Dutch citizens differently, depending on whether they’re born inside or outside the EU. The MPs fear Netherlands Antilleans will become second-class citizens. The Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF) party, founded by Pim Fortuyn shortly before his assassination in 2002, is crumbling. In elections immediately following Fortuyn’s murder, the LPF won many seats and was part of the then coalition government. Two years later, however, and the LPF has only a few seats and LPF parliamentarians have severed ties with their own party organization and are now effectively without a party. Volkskrant columnist Remco Campert wrote: “List Pim Fortuyn is now a head without a chicken. It’ll cluck for a while longer, but it won’t survive long in the political chicken coop in The Hague. Too bad for this dead rooster.” Efforts are underway to reconcile Islamic law with the European banking system. Islam forbids usury and the payment of interest on savings and loans. The largest Dutch mortgage bank, Rabobank, wants the internal revenue service to approve a new ‘Islamic’ mortgage system, like the one used in Britain, in which clients don’t pay interest but rather mortgage costs, which are tax deductible. Meanwhile, with Dutch churches facing a severe priest shortage, new priests, mostly from outside Europe, are now being assigned to Dutch churches. Six new priests arrived from India and priests from the Philippines and Mexico are on the way. According to the Algemeen Dagblad, some Polish priests who came here have already left, however, because “in their country a priest is placed on a pedestal, but here the Polish priests couldn’t get used to the fact that they are less respected in the Netherlands”.
New government legislation requires minors to be accompanied by their parents when having body piercings done. There is also a new regulation for the kind of piercings allowed. An estimated two million Dutch people have one or more piercings. Dutch scientists have identified a protein that makes it possible for cancer cells to survive and spread through the body. Researchers at the Netherlands Cancer Institute announced their discovery of the so-called TrkB-gene in Nature magazine. “Suppression of this protein could possibly prevent the spread of tumor cells,” one newspaper wrote. At the recently completed Athens Olympics, the Netherlands won a total of 22 medals, including four gold, (as opposed to 25 in Sydney, including 12 gold). The Netherlands finished in 17th place (down from 8th place in the Sydney) in the medal standings. Two Dutch female athletes, Dutch cyclists Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel and swimmer Ingrid de Bruin return home as the greatest Dutch athletes of recent times. Zijlaard-Van Moorsel’s gold in the women’s cycling road time-trial made her the most successful woman in Olympic cycling history. In the past two Olympic Games,Zijlaard-Van Moorsel won four golds, one silver and one bronze. De Bruin, who won the 50 metres freestyle event in Athens is now the most successful Dutch Olympian of all time, with a record four golds, two silvers and two bronzes. A member of the Dutch men’s rowing team, Diederek Simon, accidentally lost his silver medal shortly after the ceremony in Athens. Fortunately for Simon, an honest Athenian taxi driver found the medal in his car and returned it. Diederek was relieved: “It would’ve looked sort of stupid if I had appeared before the Queen next week without my medal.”
– compiled by David McMullin
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