Most Europeans feel happy, surveys show
March 6, 2007 Leave a Comment
Two EU reports released this week show most Europeans are happy with their lives, despite social challenges facing the 27-nation bloc. Danes tops the happiness scale while Bulgarians say they have little reason to smile.
A Eurobarometer poll published by the European Commission this week said that 86 percent of Europeans were relatively satisfied with their [...]
European cultural institutes unite
March 5, 2007 Leave a Comment
There is to be a new, global co-operation network between the different European cultural institutions. The new network is called EUNIC and was presented at the Brussels office of the British Council last week.
EUNIC stands for ‘European Union National Institutes for Culture’. It replaces the former CICEB that united the European national cultural institutes [...]
Interview with Huub Mudde, Project Coordinator of Maastricht Debates
March 5, 2007 2 Comments
Maastricht Debates is a new project in Maastricht aiming at organising debates once a month on issues of international cooperation and globalisation. With two events under the belt, project coordinator Huub Mudde offers insight on the progress so far. [continued...]
Ladies’ night out at the Africa Centre in Cadier en Keer
March 4, 2007 2 Comments
Apart from being your faithful editor, I am also a member of the International Women’s Club of South Limburg (IWC). Our latest monthly meeting exceptionally took us to the Africa Centre (Afrikacentrum) in Cadier en Keer, just outside of Maastricht. [continued...]
Review: Maastricht Debates: ‘World Bank Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation’
March 4, 2007 Leave a Comment
On 23 January, 2007, Maastricht played host to a public debate on the latest World Development Report, ‘Development and the New Generation’. This was the second such event hosted by Maastricht Debates with several more events planned throughout the year in the city.
Netherlands prime minister pledges to build support for European integration among Dutch
March 2, 2007 Leave a Comment
An anti-immigrant Dutch lawmaker said Thursday the first Muslims ever appointed to Cabinet posts should be stripped of their jobs because they hold dual nationality.
In a speech during a nationally televised debate on the new centrist Dutch government’s policy blueprint, Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders said Mohammed Aboutaleb and Nebahat Albayrak should not be allowed [...]
Holland not the same as Netherlands
March 2, 2007 Leave a Comment
What it comes down to is that the Netherlands is the name of the country- actually it’s the Kingdom of the Netherlands - and Holland is part of that country.
There are two Hollands: the provinces of North Holland and South Holland. They are coastal provinces in the western part of the country.
Back in the days [...]
Dissatisfaction with Netherlands boosts emigration
March 1, 2007 Leave a Comment
A growing number of the Dutch are considering emigration. Dissatisfaction with Dutch society is increasingly a factor in this, the Emigration Monitor shows.
Where 26 percent of the population were seriously considering emigration last August, this figure has risen to 32 percent in February. The main reason for considering emigration is a previous holiday (28 percent) [...]
Dutch public TV not popular with Turks, Moroccans, Surinamers and Antilleans
March 1, 2007 Leave a Comment
The Dutch public TV channels are not popular with some of the largest immigrant groups in the Netherlands. 39% of Turks, Moroccans, Surinamers and Antilleans don’t watch any public TV channel. That’s a big contrast with the commercial stations. 45% of the same groups watch them for more than one hour a day, compared with [...]
Almost 100,000 suicide attempts a year
March 1, 2007 Leave a Comment
More than 400,000 people in the Netherlands reach such depths of desperation each year that they consider suicide. Almost a quarter of those – 94 thousand people – goes a step further and attempts suicide. This has emerged from figures from the Trimbos institute.
The official figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) indicate that 1,600 people actually [...]
The mild winter of 2007: What were the causes?
March 1, 2007 Leave a Comment
The meteorological winter of 2007 (December 2006, January and February 2007) had an average temperature of 6,6°C in De Bilt, the Netherlands. This makes it the mildest winter since regular temperature observations were started in The Netherlands in 1706.
The normal winter temperature is 3,3°C (1971-2000 average). This winter is 0,6°C warmer than the previous [...]
