If you’re commuting between The Hague and Utrecht or using any of the highways in between, be warned as the farmers’ protest is taking place as you read this. They will jump on their tractors and will drive down from De Bilt to The Hague around 11:30 am today, reports NOS. The Ministry of Defence is assisting the police and the municipality in The Hague in making sure that the farmers don’t demonstrate at the Binnenhof.
The farmers are protesting against what they think are unfair nitrogen measuring methods of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
Where are the farmers protesting in The Hague?
They were originally planning on demonstrating at the Binnenhof but were never given permission. Therefore, they will be at Koekamp, next to the Malieveld at The Hague Central, reports NOS. The military has placed large vehicles around the city to make sure safety is observed.
So avoid the centre of The Hague if you have a large vehicle. Authorities have also advised everyone to try and avoid the highways and roads around Utrecht to avoid the protest which will be departing from De Bilt to The Hague later today.
Congratulations to Dutch farmers, who have finally hit on the perfect way to ensure the whole country dislikes thempic.twitter.com/DisLnsKUtL
The busiest highway right now is the A27, with an expected delay of more than two hours. The A28 from Amersfoort, the A1, A12, and the A7 between Hoorn and Purmerend should also be avoided. The traffic jams stretched to 375 kilometers just before 8:30 am this morning.
Have you been stuck in a traffic jam all morning because of the farmers protest? Do you agree with their methods? Let us know in the comments below!
Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is an electronic music fans’ wildest dream. It’s the main event, the pièce de résistance, thereason the Dutch capital becomes covered in black, yellow and white flags throughout the streets. But, ultimately, it’s five days of dance music coursing through over 200 locations throughout the city.
Now that we have cleared that, let’s get into details, shall we?
Amsterdam Dance Event: what is it?
Amsterdam Dance Event is the leading festival for electronic music. Hundreds of events and conferences related to electronic music and its sub-genres will take place around Amsterdam between October 16-20. It is recognized globally as the meeting point for creatives in the electronic music industry.
Amsterdam Dance Event: where is it?
With 200 locations, you will need to look up where the show you’re interested in takes place. There are over 1000 shows and conferences that are part of ADE. A couple of locations are pretty interesting, like a museum or even the Central Station!
ADE welcomes a wide range of artists, from upcoming acts to huge names like Martin Garrix or Armin Van Buren. There are more than 2500 artists this year. The genres vary from Hip Hop & Rap, to Techno, Trance, Deep House or Around the World music.
Over 400,000 people attended ADE in 2018. Image: Mark Richter/ADE
ADE by day
The event offers entertainment in one way or another 24/7. During the day, documentaries, conferences or exhibitions can be enjoyed. Fans of live music can also enjoy ADE’s Day Festival program.
ADE Conferences
The Conferences gather together industry professionals and are a great opportunity for inspiring artists or DJs. This program mainly takes place at DeLaMar Theater, the main event being ADE Pro. A wide range of conferences and industry talks can be found around Leidseplein and the general center area.
ADE is the highlight of the year for electronic dance music. Image: Mark Richter/ADE
Amsterdam Dance Event: where can I get tickets?
There are many options when it comes to purchasing tickets for the Amsterdam Dance Event. An all-inclusive ticket which offers access to all that ADE has to offer will set you back 475 EUR. I know, that’s a pretty painful number.
However, you could purchase a “festival only” ticket, or an ADE Card (17 EUR) which offers access to day events only. Interested in the industry talks? Plenty of choices for conferences. Find all options for ADE tickets here.
Amsterdam Dance Event: what does it mean for Amsterdam locals?
Well…even more tourists? Yeah, surely. Last year, the Amsterdam Dance Event attracted over 400,000 visitors from over 100 countries. If you live around the center or main venues (Melkweg, Paradiso, Conencertegebow, etc), prepare to see people up and pumped at about any hour of the day and night.
You will also meet plenty of groups heading home for a nap when you’re heading to work. It’s ok to not be sure if you’re jealous or if you feel sorry for them. It’s confusing.
There you have it – what you need to know about Amsterdam Dance Event 2019. Have you ever been to the event? Let us know in the comment section below!
Did you hear of the family who was found hidden in a cellar in Ruinerwold? It was one 58-year-old man and six children between the ages of 18 and 25. They were waiting for the end of the world and were living in complete isolation for nine years.
It was the most shocking news that we’ve heard in years and is a very strange thing to happen in the Netherlands.They found out about the family when the eldest son of 25-years-old went to the nearby town, according to NOS.
Family found in cellar in the Netherlands: it is unclear how the man is related to the children
But apparently, recent news has revealed that the man who reports claimed to be the father of the six children is not, in fact, their father. Roger de Groot, the mayor of Ruinerwold, contradicted what was said earlier by saying that he is a part of the family, but it unclear in what way, reports NOS. He was found on a bed in the cellar and seemed to have suffered from a stroke.
That day you come into the office for tech support but end up reporting on alleged #Doomsday siblings kept in secluded farm #Ruinerwold Dutch police discover family locked away for years on farm https://t.co/XqJAgKcEcc
Family found in a cellar in the Netherlands: how long were they living there for?
The family has been hiding away in the cellar of their farmhouse for nine years, and were waiting around for the ‘end of the world’. But we still don’t know why they thought that, what kind of apocalypse they were waiting for, and how they could possibly live in isolation for so long.
Apparently nobody ever saw these kids!!! How does one man hide six kids? | Dutch family 'waiting for end of time' discovered in basement https://t.co/ZDL1rwK0Nu#ruinerwold
The family is thought to have had a mother as well, but police suspect that she is buried somewhere in the area. The “family” has remained self-sufficient by maintaining a vegetable garden and a goat.
The investigation is still ongoing. More information will be revealed as soon as the Mayor and the police find out what was happening with the “family” they found and how they found themselves in the situation.
Due to the farmers’ protest, traffic authorities have advised drivers to avoid the motorways around Utrecht tomorrow morning. You can expect traffic jams to occur between Utrecht and The Hague later on in the morning, reports NOS.
There will also be roadworks on the Galecopper Bridge on the A12, which could add to drivers’ delays. Tractors will drive to De Bilt to protest against the nitrogen measuring methods of National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
Farmers’ protest has been moved to sports field in De Bilt
Following the farmers’ breach of the provincial house in Groningen, the RIVM is taking precautions. Most of its employees will work from home tomorrow, save those who are “essential for the continuity of critical processes”. The farmers were originally planning to meet with officials from the RIVM head office in Bilthoven, to request clarification nitrogen measuring methods in the Netherlands. However, the protest has now been moved to a sports park in De Bilt.
Farmers will protest in The Hague later on
Following this protest, farmers will make their way to The Hague, to protest again at the Binnenhof. This is expected to take place in late morning, which is when you would want to avoid the motorways between Utrecht and The Hague. Road users can expect considerable delays on this route.
Arrests made after farmers’ protest yesterday in Groningen
Tensions can be expected to be high, as the police have arrested several farmers following the protest in Groningen yesterday, including the man who forced open the door of the provincial house with his tractor, and the co-driver of the tractor that knocked down the fences on the Vismarkt.
Will these delays affect you tomorrow? Let us know in the comments below.
A family was found hiding in a cellar on a remote farm on the Buitenhuizerweg near Ruinerwold, where they were waiting for the end of time. The mother of the children is nowhere to be found.
The family were discovered after the eldest son, 25 years old, made his way into the nearby down and arrived at a pub in Ruinerwold, according to NOS. Witnesses said he was very confused. The police were called and Mayor De Groot of De Wolden was also notified.
Police searched the farm and discovered stairs down to the basement behind a cupboard in the living room. This was where they found the father and five other children. The father appears to have had a stroke at some point, and was in the bed.
"Father and six children found isolated in basement in North Netherlands, waiting for the end of the world"… wtf. what a nightmarehttps://t.co/aIuqUuTXhD
Family found hiding in cellar were self-sufficient
The children are aged between 16 and 25 years old, and have had no contact with the outside world. The family was self sufficient, growing vegetables in the farm’s garden. They also had a goat. Neighbours said they did not know the family.
Amazing story- family found living in cellar on Dutch farm, waiting for the end of the world. "The father had a cerebral infarction a few years ago and was in bed. The children are between the ages of 16 and 25 and had no contact with the outside world"
The mother of the children is nowhere to be found. It is possible that she is buried on the site. While the police search the property, and check it for fire safety, the family have been removed to a recreational park. The children might not have known there were other people in the world.
Police continue to search the property of family found hiding in cellar
The police searched the property yesterday evening and closed it off last night. They will continue to search it today, and according to a spokesperson, they are still full of questions and have a lot to investigate.
D66’s proposal to pass a law which would allow childcare centers to refuse unvaccinated children from being admitted has been received with positivity from VVD, CDA, GroenLinks and the PvdA, marking a majority in the House of Representatives.
However, it is still not a law yet. According to the latest figures released by RIVM, the decline in children being vaccinated has stabilized, showing that it may not be necessary to pass such a law.
But according to RTL Nieuws, recent years have shown that there is a decline in the number of parents opting to have their children vaccinated. MP Rens Raemakers says that this law should be passed “so that you as parents can see where you can safely bring your child.”
Daycare centers taking matters into their own hands
Over the last few months, around 100 daycare centers have stated that they will be refusing unvaccinated children. As of May, 2019, 25 of them have already done so. However, we do not know if this is legally possible. D66’s new law would make sifting through murky legal waters easier by making it clear.
They also say that they are doing this so that parents know their child is being left in a safe environment.
Will compulsory vaccination become a law in the Netherlands?
The government has been investigating the pros and cons of passing such a law since the beginning of this year, and whether it would actually help in stabilizing the declining vaccination rates. According to NOS, the government has started making preparations to pass such a law only if the vaccination rate continues to fall.
Currently, the number of vaccinated children in the Netherlands stands at 90.2%, which is lower than the standard set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) at 95%. However, State Secretaries Blokhuis (Public Health) and Van Ark (Social Affairs) will be going on the advice of the report released by the Vermeij Committee.
According to this report, they believe the government should set a legal lower limit for the vaccination rates in the Netherlands (independent of the WHO limits). If the rates drop below this, then passing a law making vaccination obligatory so as to access daycare centers should come into effect.
What do you make of this? Do you think daycare centers should already have the legal right to refuse unvaccinated children? Let us know in the comments below!
According to research commissioned by the municipality of Amsterdam and the Koninklijke Algemenee Vereeniging voor Bloembollencultuur (KAVB), the tulip bulbs at the Amsterdam flower market are mostly duds- they will never bloom.
The tulip bulbs are a popular souvenir for tourists who visit the Amsterdam flower market. Following complaints and observations by residents, entrepreneurs and the KAVB, Amsterdam decided this needed further investigation. Buyers were found to be deliberately misled both in the Amsterdam flower market and on the Bloembollenboulevard along the N208 in Lisse, another tulip-and-tourist hotspot, according to RTL Nieuws.
Only 1 percent of tulip bulbs bloomed
The research revealed some really surprising results. Firstly, only 1 percent of the bulbs bought by the researchers at the Amsterdam flower market bloomed; this was 2 percent with the market in Lisse. Furthermore, the tulips that did bloom were nothing like those advertised on the package.
?De gemeente #Amsterdam liet een extern onderzoeksbureau maar liefst 1.364 tulpenbollen kopen. Hoeveel daarvan kwamen daadwerkelijk tot bloei, denk je? Lees het antwoord hier. #opgelichthttps://t.co/lSTRRpb5XS
The chairman of the KAVB noted that this deceit could have lasting consequences for the image of the Netherlands. “Millions of tourists and day-trippers are the victims of this. The tulip is our national symbol and the bulb sector is an important sector for the Dutch economy. As an association, we find it very unfortunate that scammers structurally mislead consumers and damage the image of the bulb sector.”
Okay, opdoeken die malafide handel en er een leuke wandelpromenade van maken. Misleiding op Amsterdamse bloemenmarkt: tulpenbollen komen bijna nooit uithttps://t.co/FRDPOqtq45
The municipality of Amsterdam, the KAVB and the municipality of Lisse sent a letter to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) on Monday, requesting them to further investigate and deal with the deceit.
Have you ever bought any of these bulbs? Have they bloomed? Let us know in the comments below.
The Netherlands and the United States have enjoyed long-standing history together, but could it be on its way to simmering down? That’s the feeling some diplomats, diplomatic experts, and Henne Schuwer, the recently retired Dutch ambassador to the US, are sensing. Now Schuwer has told all in a recent interview with NRC, revealing what it was like working as a diplomat in the Trump era.
Earlier this year, his British colleague, former ambassador Kim Darroch was forced to leave his job when it came to light that he thought the Trump administration was “clumsy and inept”. You see, being a diplomat is all about being…well, diplomatic.
Schuwer, therefore, had to keep his head down and his opinions to himself – not just to keep his job but to also fulfil his duties as the Dutch ambassador to the US.
But now that he is retired, he’s spoken out about the inner workings of the Trump administration.
De toekomst, zei #Trump, was aan het volk. (…) Schuwer schrok: „Ik hoorde hoe hij over de instituties heen stapte. Vooral mijn Duitse collega was er kapot van. Die zei: ‘Dit hebben we al eens meegemaakt.’” https://t.co/YMa0PCptL2
Schuwer on the Trump government: Trump is driving the country apart
In the first two years of the Trump administration, things appeared chaotic as Trump’s unpredictability meant the work of diplomats changed drastically.
In the pre-Trump era, diplomats would work with the State Department officials to get their messages and work through. However, during the Trump administration, that channel dried up. Instead, they had to change the way they received information about the White House: by waking up at half-past six to check what the president had been tweeting.
Schuwer said that the “influence and importance of Washington” combined with a president who frequently vocalises/tweets polarising opinions, is reducing. “Not just the federal government is strong, but also the states,” he explained. With the states breaking away from under Washington’s thumb, his shrewd comment where he made a comparison between Trump in the US and Boris Johnson in the UK in respect to driving their respective countries apart seems justified.
“So we started to concentrate more on that,” he said. When their visions started shifting on to the individual states, they started looking at America “differently”. Schuwer admitted that too much attention was being given to Washington initially. “Our idea was that it would be better to send small clubs into the country, especially to states where we don’t normally go, like New Mexico and Alabama.”
Schuwer on the Trump government: Rutte did not let Trump walk all over him
The former ambassador also asserted that Rutte held his ground against Trump. We all remember when Rutte visited the US and the infamous moment of Dutch directness stealing the spotlight, don’t we? If you don’t, let’s refresh your memory.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte has made two visits to the US – one in July 2018, and one in July 2019. In the first meeting, they discussed a lot of things, including trade disputes which have arisen.
But more importantly (in some ways), it was in this first meeting that Rutte’s famous “no” moment came. Trump made a statement about how the upcoming EU-US trade talks would be positive regardless of whether there is a substantial deal. Rutte’s resounding “no” to this statement made global headlines at the time.
“You don’t have to put salt on all slugs, but if something is wrong, you have to contradict him,” Schuwer remarks. “It worked out well, Trump saw that he was not sitting at the table with a yes-man, but with someone with whom he could do business.”
Schuwer on the Trump government: we have a powerful economic position in the US, and that’s what we use
So what do you do when you’re working with a (not so successful) businessman? You talk economics, jobs and investments to get him to like you. “We do not play a role in geopolitics as we are not a superpower. We do have an important economic position in America and you can use that,” Schuwer said. “For that, you need a visit from the prime minister who says: “Donald, can I show you something?”
So what did Rutte show the president of America? An A4-sized infographic on a plastic card which highlights the main numbers of the trade relationship. “We had said to Rutte ‘just slide it over the table,” Schuwer explained. “And apparently he does not read his files before such a meeting, because some of those [figures on the card] seemed really new to him. ”
Schuwer on the Trump government: there are serious doubts about Trump being an “ally”
He did also touch upon Rutte’s speech from earlier this month when he had a lot of positive things to say about Trump and some not-so-positive things about Obama. But the ambassador says it served the purpose of staying on “good terms with America”. This speech was also before Turkey’s invasion of Syria following Trump’s withdrawal of US troops from the region.
Sad and devastating news came last week as Turkish troops advanced into Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria. Having been a long-time ally of the Kurds at the border, Turkish troops were kept at bay. But, the world was shocked when Trump announced that the American troops will be withdrawn.
Like everyone might be wondering, the ambassador raised serious questions about how much the world can trust Trump. “This is a president with whom you can have serious doubts about the concept of “ally”: what does that mean for him?” he wondered. “The Syrian Kurds, now under attack by Turkey, have lost more than 10,000 people in the fight against IS, they have done the dirty work. But Trump abandons them. How can you ever get someone to do something for the Americans?”
What do you think about Schuwers insights into working alongside the Trump administration? Surprising, or expected? Let us know in the comments below!
Brrr! Last week was chilly for the Netherlands, but we’re sad to say there is more to come. If you’re looking to say sayonara to the sunshine though, tomorrow gives you one last chance with temperatures up to 23 degrees.
The south and east will get the warmer temperatures, although it’s still forecast to be cloudy with light rain across most of the country. The north will be pulling on more warm clothes than the rest with the mercury forecast to hit just 16 degrees. The middle of the country will only be two degrees higher.
That means a hearty goodbye to warm weather as the Netherlands begins its yearly descent into coats, gloves and scarves territory. “The chance is really very small that we will rise above 20 degrees in the coming weeks,” explained Maurice Middendorp from Buienradar to RTL Nieuws. “In October it will certainly not happen again.”
But, it’s not all bad news! While the nights at this time of year usually force you to burrow down in your blankets we’re experiencing a short reprieve with the first night frost not expected for another two weeks.
Wat zijn er vandaag grote verschillen in het land! In het zuidoosten is het zonnig bij 20 à 21 graden en in het noordoosten is het grijs en soms nat bij een graad of 13. Check de temperaturen hier: https://t.co/Z4eomnpxROpic.twitter.com/pdKnYYgAhX
The nighttime temperature at the moment is hovering around 14 degrees – double what it has been in previous years. “That is special,” said Middendorp. “It does not cool as much because there are a lot of clouds that work as a blanket.”
Are you looking forward to things cooling down, or are you begging Summer to make an unexpected return? Let us know in the comments below!
Update on the farmer protest: farmers have attempted to storm the provincial house in Groningen and are being beaten back by police with batons.
The atmosphere is grim in Groningen as farmers clash violently with police, reports NOS. Farmers used a tractor to break down the door to the provincial house and have hung a noose outside. Earlier in the day, they threatened to storm the building unless the deputy met with them to discuss their problem with the measures Groningen is proposing to take against the nitrogen crisis.
According to police, the farmers have hit a police horse with a tractor. A police officer was also wounded when the farmers broke down the doors to the provincial house.
In de omgeving van het provinciehuis is een van de demonstranten aangehouden die met een tractor zou zijn ingereden zou zijn op een van de politiepaarden.
There have been protest in other parts of the country, but most are coming to an end now. The farmers had success in Drenthe, Gelderland and Overijssel, where nitrogen rules were withdrawn by the provincial houses.
What do you think of these protests? Let us know in the comments below.
