Euranet. That is the name of the new radio and internet project that will commence broadcasting on 31 March 2008. It is a consortium of sixteen radio stations from thirteen countries. The group includes international broadcasters like Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Deutsche Welle and Radio France International. But there are also regional and local stations, often […]

Public broadcaster KRO has dropped plans to make a Biblical variant of MP Geert Wilders’ short film on the Koran. “After exhaustive discussion, journalists on various editorial staff have decided not to make a film on the Bible,” KRO said in a statement.
“The aim of the project was to make a contribution to the debate […]

The Netherlands is passing on a conflict with NATO to the EU. The Hague is asking the European Commission to apply the same strict noise norms to AWACS aircraft as for civil aircraft.
In December the Lower House, under evident pressure from the environmental lobby, adopted a motion in which closure of Dutch airspace to AWACS […]

Suspects who have been acquitted of a serious crime can in future be prosecuted again if new evidence emerges. Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin will draw up a draft bill this spring, he said in a letter to parliament.
It is not currently possible under any circumstances to prosecute suspects again for the same crime after […]

Expectations are high as The European Fine Art Fair (Tefaf) opens next week in Maastricht, where a growing number of modern and contemporary art dealers will hope to attract the event’s traditional antiquities and old-masters customers, and where everyone will hope that the multimillionaire throngs who converge on the Dutch city every year are still […]

Some 21% of people aged 15 to 35 with an ethnic minority background consider themselves ‘foreigners’ - up from 13% in 2004, according to Intelligence Group research.
The percentage who say they are Dutch fell from 32% to 25%.
Source: DutchNews, 28 February 2008
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Just over 123,000 people left the Netherlands in 2007, 9,000 less than in 2006. This is the first decline in emigration since 2000.
Emigration primarily dropped among first generation immigrants, according to figures published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on Wednesday.
The fall in emigration in 2007 follows on seven years of persistent increase. The number of 123,000 […]

European nudists can discover the latest trends at a new nudists’ fair to be held twice a year in Spaarnwoude, a small village near Haarlem in the north-west of the Netherlands.
The international nudist fair is an initiative of Uitgeverij Vizier, publisher of the so-called Campingpas. The Campingpas is a card that gives Dutch travellers reduced […]

A company that gives Dutch language courses for immigrants is demanding damages from Amsterdam city council. The capital city provides practically no students.
The company, A Deux in Almere, has demanded 1.5 million euros in compensation from Amsterdam city council. The company has instigated summary proceedings against the capital city, lawyer Harry den Besten disclosed. The […]

Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin would like to see the Dutch word ‘allochtoon’ abolished. Allochtoon is used to refer to ethnic minorities.
“We must realise that we have a great deal in common in this country. I do not like the compartmentalisation that splits our country in two, for example the antithesis that is so often […]

Crossroads writer and photographer Rosanne Rademaker takes us on a walk through Maastricht’s beautiful public cemetery. [Rosanne’s photo-reportage]

The number of foreign investment projects that landed in the Netherlands, with the assistance of the Economic Affairs Ministry, increased by 40 percent last year in comparison to 2006. This resulted in 60 percent more new jobs. The total investment amount was 25 percent higher than in 2006, the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) announced […]

A multi art exhibition will on March 1 open the festivities around the International Women’s Day in Maastricht. Mondiaal Centrum has invited three women artists from South America, Alessandra Siviero, Cecilia Agüero and Amara Valencia, to present their work at its Atelier Mondiale. [continued…]

On 5 March 2008, Maastricht University is organising a Master’s Meeting where you can gather information about all the master’s programmes we offer. During the different sessions, in-depth information will be provided by teaching and research staff as well as current students. You will also have the opportunity to visit the information market where you […]

In January 2008, prices of existing owner-occupied dwellings in the Netherlands were on average 4.0 percent higher than a year earlier. Demand for apartments was high, while other types of dwellings were less wanted.
Over 12,000 existing owner-occupied dwellings changed hands in January, a 9 percent decrease compared with the same month one year earlier. The […]

A study by the Dutch Public Health Institute has revealed that toddlers are not eating enough vegetables, fish and fibrous foods. There are also too many saturated fats in their diet.
The study looked at the eating patterns of 1,300 children between the ages of two and six years. The institutes says unhealthy diets in young […]

In the period November 2007-January 2008, an average of 308 thousand people were unemployed, corresponding to 4.0 percent of the labour force, as against 5.0 percent in the same period one year previously. Seasonally adjusted unemployment fell by an average of about 7 thousand a month over the past six months, as the latest unemployment […]

On 1 January 2008, the Dutch population totalled 16.4 millon. The population growth over 2007 was 46 thousand, about twice the growth over 2006, which was historically low. In 2007, births outnumbered deaths by 48 thousand. The higher population growth in 2007 relative to 2006 is mainly caused by an increase in immigration and a […]

In 2007, the number of asylum requests submitted in the Netherlands had reached its lowest point since 1988. Iraqi and Somali asylum seekers constituted the largest groups.
Sharp increase until mid-1990s
Last year, the number of requests submitted in the Netherlands totalled 9.7 thousand. In 7.1 thousand cases, it concerned first-time requests. The remaining 2.6 thousand concerned […]

From today’s edition of Radio Netherlands Press Review:
Nrc.next writes that “Alongside the Polish church, delicatessen and baker there’s now a newspaper for the 150,000 Poles in the Netherlands.” This week the first issue of Populsku will be distributed via temporary job agencies, Polish shops and bus companies. The free newspaper relies on revenues from advertising […]

It is difficult to imagine a more agonizing dilemma for parents and doctors than to decide on the life of a newborn infant who is able to continue living, but who is suffering unbearable pain from an untreatable illness. What is the duty of those who must decide for the child in this case?
To […]

The right-wing populist Geert Wilders is causing an uproar in the Netherlands with his plans to make a film about the Koran. A new caricature debacle is not in the offing this time, however, says publicist Geert Mak. Nevertheless, a nervous mood prevails.
Read the interview with Dutch historian Geert Mak by Daniel Bax, in […]

Date: Wednesday 5 March, 8 pm
Location: Aula Minderbroedersberg 4-6
Entrance: € 5,- / Students free
One consequence of mass higher education, the greater ease of travel, and the increasing accessibility of the new media is that Middle Easterners (Arab states, Iran, and Turkey) get in contact with (Western) democracy and argue over its meaning.
Democracy is […]

Date: Tuesday 26 February 2008, 8 pm
Location: Aula Minderbroedersberg 4-6
What is the position of China in the human rights discussion? In June of last year, the United Nations in Geneva established a new Human Rights Council, in which China is participating and the US is not! Due to the fight against terror, the traditional […]

The Alliance Française in Maastricht is going to hold a festival devoted to French culture on May 1 in Maastricht. The ‘muguet’ is the Lily of the valley and is given to friends on May 1 and should bring good luck for the rest of the year. The festival will start in the upper foyer […]

Magnificent works by the finest artists of every era from classical antiquity to the 21st century will go on show when TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair) is held in the Dutch city of Maastricht from March 7 through March 16, 2008. Paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, furniture, illuminated manuscripts, textiles, porcelain, glass, silver and jewelry […]

5-plus which gives a n overview of tourism in five of Meuse-Rhine’s cities (Aachen, Hasselt, Heerlen, Liège and Maastricht) is launching a new web site today. Check the link.
Source: Meuse-Rhine Journal
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The Dutch and Belgian authorities must improve their cooperation in dealing with cross-border disasters. The Benelux parliament has pointed to this need. A committee of parliamentarians from both countries, headed by Mayor Jacques Niederer from Weert, has requested — among other things — a unified communication system. The Dutch C2000 system is not compatible with […]

Aachen’s plans for a new campus include 270,000m2 for the first part of the research institute and industrial activities. This is a project that is of great importance for Aachen in the competition among European technology regions and it is expected to produce 10,000 new jobs in the Melaten area and thereabouts.
Professor Günther Schuh sees […]

Leo Delcroix, a former Belgian minister and former director at the Maastricht School of Management, has signed a contract with the Chinese government to produce a weekly English-language newsletter on China. The newsletter has now been published for the first time and will be sent to 700,000 emails addresses in Europe.
http://www.chinareference.eu/
Source: Meuse-Rhine Journal
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