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News Below Sea Level

In the aftermath of the Madrid bombings, much of the Netherlands observed a three-minutes’ silence, with Dutch Railways (NS), Schiphol airport and many private companies also observing the silence.

Flags on government buildings flew at half-mast and Vice-Premier Gerrit Zalm laid a wreath at the Spanish embassy in the Hague. Dutch newspapers wondered if EU leaders will now agree to set up a European intelligence service for terrorism, with the Volkskrant reminding readers that although the 15 EU countries agreed to establish a European arrest warrant following the 9-11 attacks in 2001, the Netherlands and five other countries have yet to make the required changes to their national laws. A new survey revealed that many people in the Netherlands are willing to forfeit more privacy in exchange for better protection against terrorism. 81% of the people questioned approve of preventive body searches at train stations, although nearly half of those surveyed said they had little confidence in the government%s ability to protect them from terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the Dutch parliament warned Premier Balkenende not to make any promises regarding the Dutch troops in Iraq when he meets with U.S. President George Bush. Elsewhere, Amsterdam’s mayor Job Cohen wrote a letter of support to San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom for his stand on gay marriage. Mayor Cohen officiated at the world’s first gay marriage in Amsterdam in 2001.

Dutch Roman Catholic bishops met Pope John Paul in Rome, with newspapers reporting that the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands is apparently in terminal decline. While the Dutch population is growing by 100,000 a year, membership in the Roman Catholic Church is dropping by 50,000 a year. ‘Any child can figure out that at this rate, it’s curtains for the church within a century,’ the Volkskrant wrote. According to recent Eurostat figures, the Netherlands has a major shortage of medical personnel compared with other European Union countries. Most European countries have over 300 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants; the Netherlands has fewer than 200, the second lowest number in the EU after Britain. The Dutch also have the lowest number of surgeons, only six per 100,000 inhabitants, as opposed to 19 in Finland. Unsurprisingly, the Netherlands is the first country to consider a no-claim reward system in health insurance, whereby patients receive bonuses for keeping their medical costs low. Meanwhile, two of Holland’s largest multinationals, Shell and supermarket concern Ahold, are taking action against executives who falsified the companies’ financial performances. Shell CEO Philip Watts was forced to resign for concealing the actual size of Shell’s oil reserves and Ahold is taking legal action against executives responsible for the company’s accounting scandal. However, Ahold announced it would allow former executives to keep three-quarters of their 2001 and 2002 bonuses, which were based on inflated profit figures. Dutch monarch Queen Beatrix was in Berlin to open the new Dutch embassy, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. Amsterdam police will use bicycles equipped with hidden GPS transmitters to bait thieves and track them down in the latest effort to stamp out rampant bike theft. It’s estimated that 80,000-150,000 bicycles are stolen in Amsterdam every year.”It’ll be great to use GPS technology to get hold of the organized bicycle thieves, to track the whereabouts of stolen bikes and see if any end up in official bicycle shops,” Amsterdam police spokesman Rob van der Veen said. In the spring, the police will begin leaving locked bikes with secret GPS emitters inAmsterdam’s bike theft hotspots, such as the city center. Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, who is 114 years-old and lives in the Dutch province of Drente, is now the oldest person in Europe and the second oldest person in the world. Hendrikje’s advice for long-life: one herring a day, an occasional drink of alcohol and, he added, “Don’t forget to breathe.” And finally, a German man traveling on a train to Eindhoven to buy a car and who had 10,000 euros in cash in his back pocket for the purchase was relieved in more ways than one. After paying a visit to the train’s toilet, he discovered his money was gone and concluded that he’d accidentally flushed it down the toilet. Police officers and the man spent two days searching for the cash on the railroad tracks, ultimately recovering all but 50 euros.

In the aftermath of the Madrid bombings, much of the Netherlands observed a three-minutes’ silence, with Dutch Railways (NS), Schiphol airport and many private companies also observing the silence. Flags on government buildings flew at half-mast and Vice-Premier Gerrit Zalm laid a wreath at the Spanish embassy in the Hague. Dutch newspapers wondered if EU leaders will now agree to set up a European intelligence service for terrorism, with the Volkskrant reminding readers that although the 15 EU countries agreed to establish a European arrest warrant following the 9-11 attacks in 2001, the Netherlands and five other countries have yet to make the required changes to their national laws. A new survey revealed that many people in the Netherlands are willing to forfeit more privacy in exchange for better protection against terrorism. 81% of the people questioned approve of preventive body searches at train stations, although nearly half of those surveyed said they had little confidence in the government%s ability to protect them from terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the Dutch parliament warned Premier Balkenende not to make any promises regarding the Dutch troops in Iraq when he meets with U.S. President George Bush. Elsewhere, Amsterdam’s mayor Job Cohen wrote a letter of support to San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom for his stand on gay marriage. Mayor Cohen officiated at the world’s first gay marriage in Amsterdam in 2001.

Dutch Roman Catholic bishops met Pope John Paul in Rome, with newspapers reporting that the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands is apparently in terminal decline. While the Dutch population is growing by 100,000 a year, membership in the Roman Catholic Church is dropping by 50,000 a year. ‘Any child can figure out that at this rate, it’s curtains for the church within a century,’ the Volkskrant wrote. According to recent Eurostat figures, the Netherlands has a major shortage of medical personnel compared with other European Union countries. Most European countries have over 300 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants; the Netherlands has fewer than 200, the second lowest number in the EU after Britain. The Dutch also have the lowest number of surgeons, only six per 100,000 inhabitants, as opposed to 19 in Finland. Unsurprisingly, the Netherlands is the first country to consider a no-claim reward system in health insurance, whereby patients receive bonuses for keeping their medical costs low. Meanwhile, two of Holland’s largest multinationals, Shell and supermarket concern Ahold, are taking action against executives who falsified the companies’ financial performances. Shell CEO Philip Watts was forced to resign for concealing the actual size of Shell’s oil reserves and Ahold is taking legal action against executives responsible for the company’s accounting scandal. However, Ahold announced it would allow former executives to keep three-quarters of their 2001 and 2002 bonuses, which were based on inflated profit figures. Dutch monarch Queen Beatrix was in Berlin to open the new Dutch embassy, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. Amsterdam police will use bicycles equipped with hidden GPS transmitters to bait thieves and track them down in the latest effort to stamp out rampant bike theft. It’s estimated that 80,000-150,000 bicycles are stolen in Amsterdam every year.”It’ll be great to use GPS technology to get hold of the organized bicycle thieves, to track the whereabouts of stolen bikes and see if any end up in official bicycle shops,” Amsterdam police spokesman Rob van der Veen said. In the spring, the police will begin leaving locked bikes with secret GPS emitters inAmsterdam’s bike theft hotspots, such as the city center. Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, who is 114 years-old and lives in the Dutch province of Drente, is now the oldest person in Europe and the second oldest person in the world. Hendrikje’s advice for long-life: one herring a day, an occasional drink of alcohol and, he added, “Don’t forget to breathe.” And finally, a German man traveling on a train to Eindhoven to buy a car and who had 10,000 euros in cash in his back pocket for the purchase was relieved in more ways than one. After paying a visit to the train’s toilet, he discovered his money was gone and concluded that he’d accidentally flushed it down the toilet. Police officers and the man spent two days searching for the cash on the railroad tracks, ultimately recovering all but 50 euros.

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