Ahhh, the dreaded weather report. When writing one seems so futile given the rain pelts so persistently. But alas, here we are!
Tuesday
Showers will continue throughout most of the country for the rest of today. If you are lucky, the sun will occasionally peak through. The temperature will be around 7° C.
Wind will be moderate inland but stronger on the coastal towns. There may be chance of lightening come this evening.
TRANSLATION: Good morning, especially in the northwest, there will be many showers in the coming hours. Later showers are possible everywhere in our country.
The rest of the week
Showers will persist for the rest of the week and tomorrow there is a slight chance of thunderstorm. Temperatures will range between 6 and 9 degrees. Wrap up!
Friday is predicted to be the coldest day of the week as temperatures will reach a maximum of 5-6 degrees.
The weekend
Over the weekend, the temperature will remain cold with some potential showers. If we are lucky, the sun might peak through to give us one of those glorious crisp Autumn days.
The e-scooter is not allowed on the roads anywhere in the Netherlands, but in the southern city of Tilburg, you can take an “E-step” on the roads since last week. It is a “special moped” where you have two brakes and stand upright to ride it. Do we all remember how these mopeds are banned from the roads? Well, Tilburg found a way around that.
Tilburg is the first municipality to launch this through the partnership of Jaap van Ham (the director of the amazing Doloris), City Marketing Tilburg, and Citysteps BV (the company that rents out these e-steps).
How is the E-Step legal only in Tilburg?
It is illegal to drive an e-scooter on the road anywhere else in the Netherlands. However, somehow, Tilburg has managed to get 20 of these vehicles approved to be used around the city. Mike Meeusen, one of the people who came up with a model E-Step, said to NOS that it was approved by the Netherlands Vehicles Authority (RDW) and hence insured. He calls it a “special moped” where the “wheels are slightly larger and the frame is stronger than with a regular e-scooter” and therefore safer.
Image: Ticket to Tilburg/Supplied
However, Veilig Verkeer Nederlands and Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (the Minister of Infrastructure) are still not sold on this idea. Nieuwenhuizen says that we need to research more about how “light-motorized vehicles” should be used so that it is safe for everyone. “If it is one of the sixteen steps that have been approved as a special moped, then it is allowed. But we must look carefully at those light-motorized vehicles. What is needed to be able to use this e-step safely between all other traffic? ”
The spokesperson from Veilig Verkeer Nederlands also warns people to be careful with these e-steps.
As Ben Smit of City Marketing Tilburg says, “in Tilburg, we are always looking for innovative ways to make our city more livable, attractive, sustainable and accessible.” And what is better, more sustainable and fun than an E-step when you’re visiting or living in Tilburg? It runs on changeable batteries and is now allowed on roads! So it’s super easy to get around, and even the most technologically challenged person can get a hang of it.
How can I get an E-step in Tilburg?
It costs 49.50 euros per person and is totally worth it! You can book one in advance through the Ticket to Tilburg website. Then, just head on over to Doloris between 10 – 10:30 am. The representatives from Citysteps B.V will be waiting for you with at least 20 E-steps. They will go through some safety measures and show you how to work it so that you feel comfortable using it. They will give you a map of which route to take and then you can be on your merry way. Be sure to return by 3 pm, though otherwise you risk getting a fine of 50 euros per bike.
Pick up the e-step from in front of Doloris! Image: Ticket to Tilburg/Supplied
Where can I go with the E-step in Tilburg?
You will receive a map of the route which will take you through all the sites in Tilburg. Your first stop will be one of the largest forests in Tilburg, at Oude Waranade. Stop by Grotto to get a nice hot cuppa with some cake, and then you can be on your merry way.
Coffee and cake at Grotto. Image: Ticket to Tilburg/Supplied
On this route, you will get a little taste of the city’s nature and their quintessential Dutch architecture (they really have a stunning city center). Just zip through Piushaven and stop at Villa Pastorie for lunch. After a hearty meal, you will end your journey at Doloris again where you can enjoya drink and their rooftop views. For the full route and see what is included in the price, check out Ticket to Tilburg.
Trialing the E-Step
There are a total of 20 E-Steps that have been approved. They will be trialled until March 21. If successful, they will roll out 100-200 of these: a full-fledged fleet of E-Steps in Tilburg!
Would you go on one of these e-steps? Have you been on a tour on an electric scooter? Let us know in the comments below!
The police are on the lookout for the man who beat a 63-year-old conductor unconscious on September 28, reports NOS. Although the incident happened in Breda a while back, it has just come to light. They have released surveillance footage where the man can be clearly seen.
The man in question was on the international train from Brussels to Amsterdam. He was travelling without a valid ticket. The conductor seized his fake one and asked him to buy a new ticket at Breda Central Station. As she got off the train for a break at the station, the man followed her and hit her very hard on her head.
The offender is a 35-year-old man who is said to have a Flemish accent. He is short (1.65m) and was wearing a white jacket and black pants, reports NU.nl. He has short, black hair. He quickly fled the scene of the crime at around 6:30 pm.
The surveillance cameras were able to record the whole incident, but do know that the video contains disturbing images and violence.
If you have any leads or tips, you can pass them over to the police through here.
The Dutch government unveiled their new international tourism logo last Friday. In one key difference, they’re now branding as ‘the Netherlands’ instead of ‘Holland’. In another significant change, the new logo sucks – or so Dutch Twitter thinks.
Twitter is heating up and turning some of that infamous Dutch Directness back on the government. The results? Pure gold.
While the new logo incorporates a tulip into the branding, the Dutch just really think that it could have been done better – especially considering the hefty 200,000 euros price tag.
But, according to Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag, the price tag is ‘very normal’.
“You recognize a country by this,” Minister Kaag told RTLZ. “When it comes to billions of euros and many jobs in the Netherlands, 200,000 euros, as a one-off investment, is a small amount.”
Out with the old, in with the new. Top: old logo, Bottom: new logo.
What does Dutch Twitter think?
Needless to say, they’re not impressed. A stack of graphic designers have jumped in critiquing the logo for various graphic design failings, in particular, a lack of symmetry.
“The tulip is not symmetrical. I repeat. The tulip is not symmetrical.”
“Okay, summary: – ‘the’ is missing – the tulip is not recognizable – the tulip is asymmetrical – the left leg of the left-N is weirdly shaped – the bottom leg of the L is too long – the L looks like a joint – the capital letter N in Netherlands is too small – the t is shorter than the h”
Oke: samenvatting:
– ‘the’ ontbreekt
– de tulp wordt niet herkend
– de tulp is asymmetrisch
– de linkerpoot vd linker-N is raar gevormd
– de liggende poot vd L is te lang
– de L lijkt een joint
– de hoofdletter N in Netherlands is te klein
– de t is korter dan de h pic.twitter.com/2To25aJjpW
Some people pointed out that perhaps the tulip, which originally hails from Turkey, was perhaps not the most representative of the Netherlands. They had some other ideas.
“The Netherlands has a new logo. We are no longer the land of tulips. The N and L together form a chimney.”
Nederland heeft een nieuw logo. Niet langer zijn we het land van tulpen. De N en L vormen samen een schoorsteen. pic.twitter.com/hSwru0P4LC
What do you think of the new Dutch logo? Stunningly designed and well worth the money? Or could you have done better on the Windows 98 version of Paint? Let us know in the comments below!
Remember in September when we announced that Disney+ was being trialled in the Netherlands which gave all us in the Netherlands free access? Well, that trial is now over, but the service lives on, has been upgraded and fully launched today! Better yet, there’s exclusive access to five new films.
How much will the new service cost and what are the new films?
Disney was late to the streaming service game (but better late than never), and they’re offering invaluable content and features that hope to accelerate its popularity.
A subscription for Disney+ costs 6.99 euros per month, and comes with unlimited downloads, and 4K Ultra HD content (not even Netflix has that!). You also get access to five exclusive original Disney films. What are these films? Well…
The Mandalorian
A Star Wars series, that follows a lone gunfighter on the edges of the galaxy who is far removed from the authority of the New Republic.
Lady and the Tramp
A remake of the 1955 Lady and the Tramp, that follows the love story between a pampered cocker-spaniel and a street dog.
High School Musical
A group of students in high school get ready to perform the original High School Musical. Bit of a mind-warp? Watch the trailer and you’ll understand.
Noelle
Noelle, the daughter of Santa Claus, played by Anna Kendrick, adores Christmas and wishes she could do something special to honour her love for the holiday. Her brother Nick must take over from their father as Santa Claus but the pressure gets too much and he runs away. It is up to Noelle must find him and bring him back so Christmas isn’t ruined.
The World According to Jeff Goldblum
See the world through the eyes of Jeff Goldblum in this hilarious docu-series.
What do people think of the streaming service this far?
A hands on review of the Disney+ services conducted by TechRadar was on the whole positive. They emphasised that “the design is sleek and tidy, the content library is substantial for what you’re paying – if considerably smaller than Netflix’s 8,000 titles – and the list of supported platforms is amazing. You can also watch four titles at a time, which is a feature you won’t easily find at this price.”
Disney Plus is available on multiple devices and operating systems such as PS4, Google Play Store and Xbox One.
Similarly to Netflix, Disney+ will have tabs that list the most popular movies, “recommended for you” and “renewed classics”. And, just one Disney+ account can give up to ten devices access to the service (take that Netflix!)
Disney+ will also showcase old films
Disney+ have made efforts to make sure the service is not too child-orientated and makes sure old classics are available. In fact, some of the films in the Disney+ library date back as far as the 1930s.
On top of this, they also include popular films such as Avengers, Aladdin, Black Panther and every episode of the Simpsons. Given Disney is such a powerful company, they have managed to secure access to brands such as Pixar and National Geographic.
How the Disney+ Streaming service appears on an Android phone. Photo by: Abuzer van Leeuwen
Videoland and NLZiet, two Dutch streaming services cost €8.99 per month and €7.95 per month respectively. But perhaps you enjoy the more popular streaming services such as AmazonPrime Video or Netflix which both cost €7.99 per month.
There is also AppleTV+, the cheapest streaming service that only costs €4.99 per month. Finally, Ziggo Go is a streaming service that is free if you already have a TV plan with the internet provider.
Have you tried out Disney+ yet? Let us know your experiences and what you think in the comments below!
On Friday night, five people between the ages of 13 and 37, were arrested following an attempted assault and arson attack on the private meet-up for the Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) protest group in The Hague. Following this assault, members of KOZP have demanded better security and emphasised that the government has not been doing enough to protect the safety of group members.
Jerry Afriyie, group member, commented to RTL news “We want extra protection, if the police does not do this, we will do it ourselves.”
The group announced that it arranged private security in order to ensure the safety of its members during the demonstrations. This is due to their perception that the police is not taking enough initiative to protect them.
Ik vind Sinterklaas geen zak meer aan. En dat komt niet door Kick Out Zwarte Piet, maar vooral door de groep die koste wat kost een cultuuroorlog wil maken van een kinderfeest (en lijkt aan te sturen op rassenrellen).
What is the ‘Kick Out Zwarte Piet’ group protesting about?
Jerry Afriyie and his supporters have explained that the Zwarte Piet tradition has been great for some children but many others feel unsafe for two months a year. This debate has been going on for a while, with some Dutch people defending the use of the ‘traditional’ blackface Sinterklaas helper. They justify it by explaining that it is ‘innocent’ childhood fun. In recent years, they have protested in cities whenever Sinterklaas was about to arrive, accompanied by the traditional Zwarte Piet. This is their way to push back on what they find to be a racist stereotype, obviously to the dismay of the supporters of Black Pete.
Afriyie asked Dutch politicians to make a stand and protect the activists, emphasising that it was a matter of free speech and basic democratic rights. The KOZP group hopes that the police and the government will step up and increase their protection.
Feature Image: Constablequackers/wikipedia
What happened on Friday in The Hague?
Vandaag om 19u organiseren KOZP Nederland en KOZP Den Haag het landelijke KOZP congres.
Verschillende sprekers zullen kennis, ervaringen en praktische tools delen in de aanloop naar de intochten die in het weekend van 2019 zullen plaatsvinden. Meer info:https://t.co/gImylpkky0pic.twitter.com/SzPfPrjAZg
60 to 70 individuals flocked to the former school building in The Hague to meet up and discuss the new ‘Zwarte Piet’ season. The Sint is scheduled to arrive next weekend, in Apeldoorn.
At 7:30 p.m., police arrived on location and witnessed the violent actions. The assailants wrecked the parked cars, smashed the building’s windows and tried to start a fire by bombarding the building with fireworks. The frightened activists had to resort to locking themselves in the building out of fear for their own safety.
Onaccceptabele schending van het recht op vrijheid van vergadering en vereniging. Bot en bruut. En dan neem je een jongen van 13 mee ? Schandelijk https://t.co/nP2yrarYF6
However, once the suspects were arrested, the police surrounded the building and guarded the doors. This allowed the meeting to continue. Four of the five men arrested have since been released. However, the police ensured that the investigation will be carried out properly and that the suspects will be questioned thoroughly.
How will this issue be addressed?
In the next few months, the KOZP group will protest in twelve municipalities. They insisted that “It is now up to the police and the government. We are repeatedly attacked. If we get the feeling that we are not being protected, we want extra protection.”
John van Zweden, staunch supporter of Zwarte Piet and an entrepreneur based in The Hague, had previously asked people to protest against the meeting on Twitter, stating: “This will be the last year for that bunch of troublemakers and failed clowns from our society. 95% are for, only 5% are against Zwarte Piet.” He goes on to say that he hopes the group will be disbanded in every city. He has since deleted the tweets due to complaints about his inflammatory remarks. On the same online platform, KOZP announced that they will make a stand against him.
Dit wordt het laatste jaar voor dat stelletje onruststokers en mislukte clowns uit onze maatschappij. 95 % is voor, slechts 5% is tegen #ZwartePiet. Ik hoop echt dat dat #KOZP er in iedere stad uit worden gedonderd, met pek, veren en nog meer shit #HUFTERShttps://t.co/nFoOD9LHaC
The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), in their latest Care for Landscape report, has asserted that the Dutch landscape needs better protection against fragmentation due to buildings and industrialisation caused by the agricultural industry.
The Netherlands feeds the world and it shows in the cultivated landscapes
Long gone are the days of endless grassy lands and wild plants. If you drive around the Netherlands today, you’ll witness row after row of wind turbines, glowing greenhouses stretching kilometres long and intensely cultivated fields. In fact, more than half of the Netherlands land mass is used for agriculture and horticulture.
This may be good for the economy, but what about nature?
The dramatic rise in solar parks, wind turbines, business parks and new residential areas, have a profound effect on the landscape, NOS reports. It is imperative that all aspects of the landscape are considered when planning agricultural development.
“the number of onshore wind turbines has increased from 300 in 1990 to more than 2000 in 2019”
“The Dutch landscape has changed considerably in the last thirty years,” PBL stresses, “the built-up area has increased from 12 to 16 percent and the number of onshore wind turbines has increased from 300 in 1990 to more than 2000 in 2019. Ditches and banks have disappeared as a result of the increase in agriculture. In 2017 there were 22 solar parks of more than 1 megawatt in the Netherlands, now there are now 80,” NOS reports.
Windturbines in the Netherlands. Source: Siebe Schootstra/Flickr
The landscape needs to be a primary consideration, not merely an afterthought
PBL states that “in the current environmental policy, the landscape is often an afterthought. This results in a worrying fragmentation of the landscape”, NOS reports.
“Many people worry about the disappearance of openness, vistas, trees, birds and insects, and the increase in windmills, solar parks and distribution centres,” writes the PBL,RTL news reports.
It is difficult for the people involved in the agricultural industry as their livelihoods are effected but as PBL states, action must be taken now ‘to prevent us from looking around in ten or twenty years and realising that we did not want this to happen’, RTL news reports.
Crowds gathered around Amsterdam’s Blue Mosque this afternoon, the mosque attendees thrilled that the afternoon call to prayer would be broadcast over the loudspeakers for the first time. But at showtime, there was only silence.
The people of the mosque were left shocked after the call to prayer failed to play. A spokesperson for the mosque says that a cable was cut in what was likely a ‘boyish prank’.
The spokesperson said the moment was painful. “We were full of excitement and there were many people outside. To our surprise, nothing sounded,” he told RTL Nieuws.
Residents and the city council opposed the change, with Mayor Femke Halsema describing it as “unnecessary and no longer of this time.” However, the call to prayer is protected by the constitution and so the plan to amplify the sound went ahead, only to be stopped by the saboteurs.
What do you think of the plan to amplify the call to prayer at the Blue Mosque in Amsterdam? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Last month the Dutch Government announced it would be ditching the word “Holland” and be rebranding as “the Netherlands” and today, the Dutch government launched its new international logo. But don’t worry, they got a bargain at only €200,000. That’s right, 200,000 big ones.
The new symbol
The new symbol will be a capitalised NL with a simple stylised tulip in the middle.
The new logo. Source: rijksoverheid/nbtc
Ministers Kaag, the Foreign Trade Minister and Wiebes, the Economic Affairs minister, thought it was time to revamp and modernise the logo. Kaag thinks this will attract new investors and talent “This is used on every trade mission, you can identify a country here,” she explained.
The old logo
The logo will start being used from January 2020 by ministries, universities, colleges, municipalities and other organisations that collaborate with the government.
How much did it cost?
This new design cost 200,000 euros. But Kaag justifies this crazy cost by explaining “this is a small investment on a very large government sum to make the earning capacity of the Netherlands abroad as smart and attractive as possible,” NOS reports.
Do you like the new logo? Think it was money well spent? Let us know in the comments below!
The Blue Mosque in New-West Amsterdam decided to become the first mosque in Amsterdam to sound their call to prayer through loudspeakers and the first call to prayer will be amplified today.
Why do they want to amplify their call to prayer?
To normalise Islam and to make it a more visible part of Amsterdam “Amsterdam, the most tolerant city,” is the perfect place to do this for the first time, according to the main Imam at the mosque, Yassin Elforkani.
Pooyan Tamimi Arab, who carried out PhD research on use of speakers in Islamic prayer call, found that some mosques around the Netherlands began amplifying their call to prayer years ago, NOS reports.
Why on Friday?
“Most mosques only use the speakers on Friday afternoons” Saïd Bouharrou, chairman of the Council of Moroccan mosques in the Netherlands (RMMN), tells NOS “Friday afternoon prayer is the most important of the week.”
All in all, there are around 500 mosques in the Netherlands, spread throughout the country.
The legal point of view
The constitution states that everyone has “the right to profess freely his religion or belief, either individually or in community with others.”
The Public Events Act, introduced in the 1980s, states that “bells on the occasion of religious and philosophical ceremonies and funeral ceremonies, as well as calls to confess religion or belief, are permitted”.
Amplifying a call to prayer is therefore legally protected under these rights and laws so the municipality in Amsterdam cannot prohibit it but can make rules about how loud the amplification can be and the duration of it.
Not everyone agrees
Bouharrou says when the call to prayer is sounded through speakers “it evokes a certain feeling, has spiritual value. All people can hear it. That also applies to church bells.”, NOS reports.
Amsterdam mayor, Halsema, acknowledges that the the Islamic prayer call evokes “for many people the association with violence.” “I can’t deny that and I don’t want that at all,” she said in a debate with the city council last week.
Would you say Amsterdam is a tolerant city? Let us know in the comments below.
