Fingerprint compulsory for US expats moving to Belgium
August 31, 2006 Leave a Comment
Belgium has launched a trial project which will eventually make it compulsory for all US nationals to give their fingerprints if they wish to obtain a visa to enter Belgium. A trial project is being staged at the Belgian embassy in Washington and two African nations. Eventually, a fingerprint might become compulsory for all non-EU [...]
Criminal law course for Dutch military commanders
August 31, 2006 Leave a Comment
Dutch military commanders sent abroad must take a course in criminal law and criminal proceedings. This is intended to prevent their troops from committing a crime. All military sent to high-risk areas abroad must be well-informed beforehand on the permitted use of force. During the operation, they must also continue to receive information on the [...]
July heat causes one thousand extra deaths
August 31, 2006 Leave a Comment
One thousand more people died in the Netherlands in July 2006 than in an average July. Statistics Netherlands announced earlier that the number of extra deaths in the first three weeks of July amounted to approximately 500. Warmest July since records began As the most recent heat wave lasted up to and including 30 July [...]
Home sweet home birth
August 31, 2006 Leave a Comment
Interesting article published on Radio Netherlands: The Netherlands is the odd one out when it comes to childbirth. It’s the only Western country where more than 30 percent of births take place at home. A system of highly trained, independent midwives and maternity aid nurses makes it all possible. But some people wonder whether home [...]
Bomb scare stops traffic near Dutch U.S. base
August 31, 2006 Leave a Comment
A major road and railway in the south of the Netherlands were closed off briefly on Wednesday after a bomb scare at a U.S. military base, Dutch officials said. “It was a false alarm,” said a military police spokesman. “We took precautions and stopped traffic on the motorway for one hour,” said Peter Tans, a [...]
2 September: “Welkom in Maastricht” Festival for newcomers
August 30, 2006 Leave a Comment
Excerpt from our feature article: Maastricht Mondiaal presents… United Colors of Maastricht: The “Welcome in Maastricht” festival that will take place on 2 September 2006 at Plein 1992 near Centre Céramique. Every newcomer is invited to enjoy world music and attend the millennium market where NGO’s and independent organisations will get a chance to present [...]
9-10 September: Scottish Weekend in Alden Biesen
August 30, 2006 Leave a Comment
Did you know that the ‘Landcommanderij Alden Biesen’ in Belgium is the setting for a Celtic Night, Scottish Bagpipe championships, Highland Games, sheepherding, a Scottish Market and (Whisky) tastings? This year it is to take place on 9 and 10 September 2006. Further details: Scottish Weekend Location: Landcommanderij Alden Biesen’ Kasteelstraat 6 3740 Rijkhoven-Bilzen Source: [...]
Netherlands to invest 130 million euros in AIDS research
August 30, 2006 Leave a Comment
Public Health Minister Hans Hoogervorst has announced that the Netherlands will invest 130 million euros in AIDS research. Speaking at a three-day international AIDS vaccine conference in Amsterdam, he said the funds will be used to found a new research institute. The pharmaceutical industry and the research departments of various universities are also contributing to [...]
EU struggles to save on language costs
August 30, 2006 Leave a Comment
It would be undemocratic for MEPs to be required to speak foreign languages, but they should be aware how much interpretation costs – even when they do not show up for meetings, argues Finnish deputy Alexander Stubb. His forthcoming report – to be voted on next week in Strasbourg – criticises the EU institutions for [...]
Childcare often provided by family and friends
August 29, 2006 Leave a Comment
Forty percent of households with children aged 12 years or younger in the Netherlands made use of some form of child care in 2005. This is a total of just over 550 thousand households. Most of them opt for care by relatives of friends. Formal child care in a nursery, day care centre, by registered [...]
Until 3 September: Flying Dinosaurs from China: A photo-reportage
August 29, 2006 Leave a Comment
There are still a few days left to visit the impressive exhibit about flying dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum of Maastricht: The unique exhibit features invaluable items from the Natural History Museum of Beijing, China. Explanations are offered both in Dutch and in English. The similarity between the “terrible claw” dinosaur named Deinonychus and [...]
The steep and thorny way to Naturalisation Day
August 27, 2006 2 Comments
Around this time last year, I had almost given up hope about succeeding in becoming Dutch. The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) at the Ministry of Justice was on the verge of rejecting my application for naturalisation. The only option left for me was to obtain a new residence permit and pass a new Dutch language diploma as fast as possible, in the hope that in view of these documents, the IND would accept to reconsider my case and only then decide about my fate. [continued...]
Verdonk’s integration plan hits new equality snag
August 27, 2006 Leave a Comment
Green left party GroenLinks has called on Immigration and Naturalisation Minister Rita Verdonk to respond to a report the country’s highest administrative court has shot down one of the main planks of her integration legislation. The Council of State (Raad van State in Dutch) has advised the minister that holders of a Dutch passport, regardless [...]
Green menus in Maastricht
August 24, 2006 Leave a Comment
Ten Maastricht restaurants (Cafe Sjiek, Reube, John Mullins, Ceramique, La Bonne Femme, De Bissjop, Bokes, Mestizo, Mes Amis, Petit Bonheur & Rilette) will serve organic and vegetarian meals through the months August and September. For this they work together with brewery Gulpener, butcher “the Green way” and the Dutch society for animal protection…and suddenly Maastricht [...]
Naturalisation
August 24, 2006 Leave a Comment
Radio Netherlands Press review, 24 August: Today is the first – of what’s to be known here as – Naturalisation Day, for foreigners who’ve become Dutch citizens. Every single municipality in the country is organising a ceremony for foreigners who became Dutch nationals after 1 January, this year. “Little interest for naturalisation day”, is de [...]
More older mothers
August 24, 2006 Leave a Comment
In 2005, 188 thousand babies were born in the Netherlands. One quarter of these babies had a mother aged 35 years or older; 6.5 thousand of them even had a mother aged 40 years or older. The number of women over 40 having a baby has not been this high since 1970. More and more [...]
Four murders a week
August 24, 2006 Leave a Comment
In the last ten years, an average 230 people per year in the Netherlands have been victims of murder or manslaughter. In 2005 a total 198 people were killed, an average of four murders a week. This is the lowest number in the last ten years. Compared with 2004 – 223 victims – it is [...]
Dutch Minister and German Secretary of State open the academic year at Maastricht University
August 24, 2006 Leave a Comment
Launch of the Strategic Programme for 2006-2010: ‘Inspired by talent’ On 4 September 2006, Maria van der Hoeven, Minister of Education, Culture and Science will be joined by Michael Stückradt, Secretary of State for Innovation, Science, Research and Technology for Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, to open the academic year at Maastricht University (UM). During the event, Jo [...]
Accord on moving US embassy
August 24, 2006 Leave a Comment
The city council of The Hague and the United States have reached a final agreement on the relocation of the US embassy. The embassy is exchanging its location in the centre of The Hague for one outside the city. The Hague Mayor Wim Deetman has announced that the Americans gave the green light in July [...]
New LGBT student association in Maastricht
August 21, 2006 Leave a Comment
Read in Kaleidoscope’s website: About Kaleidoscope We are a student association in Maastricht, committed to two aims: With Kaleidoscope, we want to provide a social space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and like-minded students in Maastricht. Furthermore, we want to promote a more diverse student community in Maastricht, creating more awareness and acceptance of [...]
New immigration policy good for international students
August 21, 2006 Leave a Comment
International students who want to stay in the Netherlands after their studies here are to be given more opportunities to look for work. And international freelance researchers should be allowed easy access to the Netherlands. These are two of the key points in the Cabinet’s plans for a modern immigration policy that is expected to [...]
The Libertas Support Fund programme
August 21, 2006 Leave a Comment
The Libertas Support Fund programme aims to help students who find it impossible or extremely difficult to study in their home country because of the political situation there. In 2006, the programme will only be open to students from Belarus, but in the future it may be opened to students from other countries too. The [...]
Blue tongue in sheep in Limburg
August 21, 2006 Leave a Comment
A suspected outbreak of the animal disease bluetongue was confirmed on a holding in Kerkrade on 17 August. There is now a ban on all exports out of the Netherlands of live ruminants and live products of these animals. Restrictive measures have been imposed in a 150-kilometre zone around the infected holding. Bluetongue is a [...]
Opening of the Academic Year at the UM
August 21, 2006 Leave a Comment
On Monday 4 September 2006, Universiteit Maastricht will open the 2006-2007 academic year in the Theater aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht. The Jazz Ensemble from the Conservatorium Maastricht, the Academy of Music, will provide the musical accompaniment. The theme of the festivities is ‘A Taste of Quality’. Universiteit Maastricht has decided to use the occasion [...]
Best students study for free at UM
August 21, 2006 Leave a Comment
The top three percent of students of Maastricht University (UM) may study for free the coming years. Spread amongst the various disciplines the best students will be awarded a grant at the end of the academic year that matches their paid tuition fees. This new fellowship opportunity is estimated to cost half a million euros. [...]
The Netherlands heads index on poverty reduction
August 18, 2006 Leave a Comment
This year the Netherlands heads the index of countries whose aid does the most to foster poor countries’ development. This Commitment to Development Index rates 21 rich countries on policy areas that affect poverty reduction. The independent Centre for Global Development and the magazine Foreign Policy, which issue the annual Commitment to Development Index, announced [...]
Naruhito and Masako on holiday in the Netherlands
August 18, 2006 Leave a Comment
Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako of Japan on Thursday arrived in the Netherlands for a holiday. The fact that the crown prince and his family have left Japan is apparently related to Princess Masako’s state of health. The 42-year-old former diplomat is suffering from stress. She is said to have been unable to adapt [...]
Léon Frissen, Governor of Limburg: “I feel like a true European”
August 18, 2006 2 Comments
Léon Frissen has just completed his first year as the Queen’s Commissioner of Limburg and acts like a fish in water. “Limburg is the Netherlands’ most European province and I feel like a true European, professionally and personally”, he says. [continued...]
Declining dialects
August 17, 2006 Leave a Comment
Interesting feature article published on Radio Netherlands’ website: Fewer and fewer dialects are being spoken in the Netherlands. Researcher Geert Driessen expects regional dialects to disappear altogether eventually and adds, “Though perhaps unfortunate for Dutch cultural heritage, this is a logical development.” Rowen Hèze, a well-regarded Dutch pop band, sing in the dialect of Limburg, [...]
Fewer jobs from foreign companies in the Netherlands
August 17, 2006 Leave a Comment
The number of foreign company establishments in the Netherlands rose by 1.5 percent to 5,380 in 2005 from 2004. But the number of jobs at these actually fell by over 2 percent to 535,000. Economic Affairs State Secretary Karien van Gennip has sent the Lower House the report Operations of Foreign Companies in the Netherlands [...]
