Maharishi to retire in Limburg village
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the transcendental meditation movement and guru to the rich and famous, is to retire at his home in the Limburg village of Vlodrop.
His spokesman says the Maharishi deserves to spend the rest of his days in peace and quiet after 50 years of working for world peace.
Born in India [...]
Cologne: Immigrants’ Gala puts new spin on Carnival
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
Cologne’s Carnival celebrations, which begin in earnest Thursday, Jan. 31, top off months of gala soirees that are often incomprehensible to the city’s non-natives. But one party re-examines the traditional fetes.
Cologne during Carnival can be terrifying for the uninitiated. They are faced with drunken, costume-clad Karneval enthusiasts singing — and staggering — their way down [...]
The German Carnival begins with a kiss
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
Women revellers snipped off men’s neckties or shoelaces in Lower Rhineland cities of Germany Thursday as the annual carnival celebrations in the region shifted into high gear.
Hundreds of delegates to a European conference on industrial gases were warned to watch out for women with scissors if they ventured onto the streets of Dusseldorf from the [...]
Naturalisation pledge without legal implications
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
A substantial Lower House majority is supporting a proposed bill to establish that immigrants who acquire Dutch citizenship must sign a statement of solidarity during a ceremony. The statement will however have no legal implications.
According to Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin, the signature is more than a formality. The ceremony must demonstrate that naturalisation is [...]
OECD urges Netherlands to be tougher on welfare recipients
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
The Netherlands should be tougher on social benefit recipients. Also, employment protection should be reduced and the retirement age could be raised, advises the OECD in its ‘Economic survey of the Netherlands 2008′, published yesterday.
The Dutch labour market is functioning well, with employment and labour participation rates above OECD averages. “Nevertheless, there are sizable pockets [...]
Easy money for new government logo
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
From yesterday’s edition of Radio Netherlands Press review:
AD writes that Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has defended spending 60,000 euros on a new government logo. When the new cabinet took office, it decided to create a single logo and in-house style for all government departments and agencies in order to create a more unified [...]
Lions Club Maastricht Mondial announces 2008 May Fair date
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
This year’s May Fair will take place on Sunday May 25th at a location in the Parkstad region. So please note that date in your diary and tell your friends.
We are working on something completely new and exciting this year, with lots of action for young and not-so-young or simply a great day [...]
EU to look into consumers’ happiness
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
The European Commission is to present proposals on Thursday (31 January) aimed at evaluating how satisfied consumers are with the bloc’s single market.
EU consumer protection commissioner Meglena Kuneva will unveil plans for a “Consumer Market Watch”, consisting of two steps – monitoring of the market and analysis of the collected data.
The goal is to evaluate [...]
Language tests for new university students
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
The Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam is considering introducing Dutch language tests for all its first year students, reports Wednesday’s Volksksrant.
Students who fail will have to take extra lessons to achieve the required level and will not be allowed to start their second year untill they have passed the test.
VU chancellor Lex Bouter told the [...]
Heerlen has highest local taxes
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
Local council taxes are to go up by an average of 3% in major cities this year to around €606, according to research by Groningen University.
The highest local taxes are paid in the southern town of Heerlen (€752) and the lowest in Tilburg (€493)
Source: DutchNews.nl, 31 January 2008
What’s wrong with the Dutch parliament?
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
Prone to populism or talking to the public
The Dutch lower house of parliament has come under criticism recently. Many feel that parliamentarians spend too much time reacting to the day’s news stories, distracting them from the more important job of overseeing the work of the government and making laws. The leadership of the lower house [...]
Queen Beatrix celebrates 70th birthday
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands celebrates her 70th birthday today.
In a speech marking the event on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende called the queen a symbol of national unity. He said she brought people and groups together, creating more understanding in Dutch society.
The queen will celebrate her birthday with her family at her residence [...]
Dutch Minister allows porn movie on public broadcasting
January 31, 2008 Leave a Comment
Media Minister Ronald Plasterk sees no possibilities nor desire for banning public broadcasters BNN and VPRO from showing the explicit porn film Deep Throat. Christian government party ChristenUnie appears to be accepting this decision.
On 23 February, shortly after midnight, BNN and VPRO plan to show the explicit film. ChristenUnie considers this disgusting. Opposition party SGP, [...]
‘Dutch rudeness driving Chinese away’
January 31, 2008 1 Comment
Chinese investors are often treated clumsily and sometimes downright rudely by Dutch civil servants. This means the Netherlands is missing out on hundreds of millions in investments, De Telegraaf wrote yesterday.
The newspaper gave as an example the head of Chinese concern Jin Mao Group. He was “sent home like a little child last year by [...]
Three cities form so-called ‘Euro-district’
January 29, 2008 Leave a Comment
Kortrijk (West Flanders), Tournai (Wallonia) and Lille (in France) have agreed to work together to form a so-called ‘Euro-district’. The aim of the project is to join forces to tackle common cross-border problems.
Monday morning authorities from 14 public bodies of the three cities signed an agreement to establish the eurodistrict.
The cooperation between Kortrijk, Tournai and [...]
Moroccan doctors form own body
January 28, 2008 Leave a Comment
Doctors with a Moroccan background set up their own organisation yesterday, AMAN. They envisage “making a contribution to the improvement of the lagging position of Moroccan patients” in Dutch healthcare, according to website Maghreb.nl.
Moroccan patients in the Netherlands reportedly have specific problems to which AMAN is calling attention. “Here one can think of problems in [...]
Belgian’s German minority mostly unmoved by autonomy debate
January 28, 2008 Leave a Comment
The Belgian interim government may have silenced separatist rhetoric for now but the divisive problems have not gone away. The country’s German-speaking minority is maintaining a low profile in the debate.
The debate concerning the political crisis in Belgium and the unlikely, yet much discussed, possibility of the country splitting, has focused firmly on the disagreements [...]
30 thousand people earn top incomes in excess of 200 thousand euro
January 28, 2008 Leave a Comment
Three in every four Dutch residents had an income of their own in 2005.
The personal gross income averaged more than 29 thousand euro. Approximately 40 percent of Dutch income earners earned more than 29 thousand euro. More than 15 percent earned an income in excess of 50 thousand euro in 2005. Exactly 2 percent – [...]
Women are smarter
January 28, 2008 Leave a Comment
From today’s edition of Radio Netherlands Press Review:
The headline on NRC.next’s front page is something that women have known for a long time, “Yes, we really are smarter”. A recent study by a neuropsychologist at the University of Maastricht has revealed that there are indications that brain development differs in boys and girls. According to [...]
Maastricht Carnival: to beer or not to be here
January 26, 2008 1 Comment
“Nowhere in the world have I come across the magic that is Carnival in Maastricht. The people, the music, the atmosphere, the sheer joy of life make it a magical celebration”, says British expat Maxine Self, who is also the first international member of ProBeerDers, one of Maastricht’s many Carnival ‘drunk’ bands. [continued...]
Job cuts at Limburg newspapers
January 26, 2008 Leave a Comment
European newspaper conglomerate Mecom is cutting cost in the Dutch operation by sacking 80 people at the two regional newspapers in the Southern province of Limburg. Also the company is planning to sell the free weekly De Trompetter (circulation more than one million) distributed in the Southern provinces of Limburg and Noord-Brabant.
Source: Newspaper Innovation, 24 [...]
“Netherlands should tackle drop out rate”
January 26, 2008 Leave a Comment
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has urged the Netherlands to step up efforts to lower the secondary school drop-out rate.
The drop-out rate in neighbouring countries is lower than in the Netherlands, according to a recent OECD publication.
Leaving school without qualifications leads to a higher chance of long term unemployment. Just as in [...]
Vogelaar to calculate losses due to new integration law
January 26, 2008 Leave a Comment
Minister for Integration Ella Vogelaar is going to calculate how many millions of euro have been lost because of the debacle with the new integration legislation. The minister said this on current events programme NOVA on Thursday.
Estimates on how much money has been lost vary significantly. Different educational centres say the damages have amounted to [...]
Dutch dig farmer-seeks-wife show
January 26, 2008 Leave a Comment
There is no sex, no scandal, no sniping and no foul language, but a new Dutch reality show is getting ratings TV bosses dream of, with a quarter of the country glued to their television sets.
The “stars” are Dutch farmers trying to find wives to share love and the quiet, if rough, rural life. “The [...]
UNU-MERIT research: Wikipedia to survey its members to figure out why they post
January 26, 2008 Leave a Comment
In the next several months the authors of Wikipedia will be the subject of a worldwide survey to find out about people’s posting habits on the immensely popular online encyclopaedia.
The Wikimedia foundation, which operates Wikipedia is employing Netherlands-based UNU-MERIT to conduct the research that aims to figure out not only who Wikipedians are, but [...]
13 February: 2nd Charles Cooper Public lecture: Playing in invisible markets: Innovating to harness the economic power of the poor
January 26, 2008 Leave a Comment
The 2008 Charles Cooper Annual Memorial Lecture, will be given by Dr. Shyama Ramani, Senior Researcher at the National Institute of Agricultural Research in France and Coordinator of the Franco-Indian Tsunami Reconstruction Project (www.friend-in-need.org). The lecture topic is, “Playing in invisible markets: Innovating to harness the economic power of the poor”.
Date & Time:
Wednesday, 13 February, [...]
“A Dog of Flanders” expert arrested for murder of Japanese wife
January 25, 2008 Leave a Comment
Update on our article “Do you know A Dog of Flanders?”
The Belgian daily Het Belang van Limburg reports that Japan expert Jan Corteel has been arrested on Wednesday (23 January 2008) for the murder of his Japanese wife Yoshimi in their flat in Antwerp. Neighbours heard the couple fighting early in the morning but [...]
Anne Frank tree to stay
January 24, 2008 Leave a Comment
The Anne Frank Tree in Amsterdam will be left in place for at least five to ten years. A special construction will support the world-famous chestnut, Arnold Heertje, a committee member of the Support Anne Frank Tree foundation, reported yesterday.
The Jewish girl Anne Frank looked out on the chestnut from her hiding place in WWII [...]
Wildcat strike stops trains to Belgium
January 23, 2008 Leave a Comment
Some trains between Maastricht and Liege and Amsterdam and Brussels were stopped on Tuesday because of a wildcat strike among groups of Belgian train conductors, rail infrastructure manager ProRail announced today.
The strike actions started in the Walloon region of Belgium Tuesday morning. One train from Maastricht to Liege and four between Amsterdam and Brussels were [...]
UM research: Depression might influence breast cancer risk
January 23, 2008 Leave a Comment
Depression appears to somewhat heighten the risk of breast cancer, but it has no significant association with lung, colon or prostate cancer, according to a review of the medical literature conducted by Dutch researchers.
“Depression is related to a slightly increased risk of cancer,” investigator Dr. Marjan van den Akker, told Reuters Health. “The relation [...]
