Legionella Bacteria found at Center for Dentistry

At the Center for Dentistry and Oral Care (CTM) in Groningen, the Legionella bacteria has been found. This was announced by a spokesperson from the University Medical Center in the town. Part of the CTM has been temporarily closed down. The entire water system will be disinfected and cleaned chemically. Afterwards, a new inspection will be carried out.
www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4492/Nederland/article/detail/3398933/2013/02/23/Legionella-bij-tandheelkunde-van-UMC-Groningen.dhtml

Turkish Youths Approve of Holocaust on Dutch TV

On a program of the Dutch NTR TV station, a number of Dutch Turkish youths said that they approved of the Holocaust. One of them said, “What Hitler did to the Jews is fine with me.” The Center for the Information and Documentation Israel has called on the Minister of Education to investigate anti-Semitic prejudice among high school students. An earlier study among Amsterdam high school students showed the existence of much stereotypical prejudice against Jews.

www.nd.nl/artikelen/2013/februari/25/cidi-onderzoek-antisemitisme

European Commission Pessimistic about Dutch Economy

The European Commission has further lowered its forecast about the Dutch economy in 2013. It now expects a decline of 0.6% in the GDP. In November 2012, it was still forecasting an increase of 0.3%. Also, the inflation will decrease slower than expected. It will be in this year 2.6% and 1.4% in 2014. The 2013 deficit will be at 3.6%, once again above the limit of the EU at 3%.

www.refdag.nl/nieuws/politiek/ec_nederlandse_economie_krimpt_tekort_3_6_procent_1_717483

European Union Summons Netherlands before European Court

The EU Commission summons The Netherlands before a European Court. It states that the Netherlands discriminates pensioners who live abroad but have rights to a Dutch state pension. They do not receive an additional allowance paid to those living in The Netherlands. The EU Commission says that this policy contradicts European law.
http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2664/Nieuws/article/detail/3397719/2013/02/21/EU-Nederland-discrimineert-gepensioneerden-in-het-buitenland.dhtml

Banned Doctors Still Practicing

Thirteen doctors and therapeutics who had been banned from practicing due to medical errors, are still working with patients. These people have been banned because of the prescribing of wrong medicines, failed breast enlargements or sexual abuse. Some work abroad, others work as alternative healers, psychoanalysts or psychologists. The latter is not forbidden.

http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/5270/Zorg/article/detail/3395132/2013/02/16/Artsen-met-beroepsverbod-toch-aan-het-werk.dhtml

Possible Deaths Due to Slowness of Caretakers

There are regular misjudgments when emergency patients ask for help from their family doctors, or request an ambulance to be sent. According to a list from the Inspectorate for health care, there are 38 cases in which the patient died possibly due to the inaction or slow care of these services. This very often concerns signs of cardiac arrest which were not properly noticed. People die because resuscitation is done too late.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/5270/Zorg/article/detail/3397280/2013/02/20/Mogelijk-doden-door-trage-zorgverleners.dhtml

Millions of Pensions will be Cut

The Dutch Central Bank has announced that 68 pension funds will reduce pensions on April 1, 2013. This involves 5.6 million participants. Of these, 1.1 million are already retired. The others are employees whose amount of pension funds will be reduced. The reductions vary form 0.5% to 7%. The general social security pension will not be reduced. The pension funds suffer from the low interest rate. It is the first time in history that so many pensioners and people employed are faced with such reductions.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2664/Nieuws/article/detail/3396404/2013/02/19/Pensioenkorting-treft-5-6-miljoen-mensen.dhtml

More than 1,000 Youth Gangs in the Netherlands

About three hundred out of the 1,200 youth street gangs in the Netherlands are violent, or there is a great risk that they will become violent. This results from new research conducted for the Ministry of Security and Justice. Nineteen percent of the gangs cause major disruption and 6% are criminal. The violence of these gangs varies from verbal, to heavy physical violence. The most severe criminals cannot be found on the streets – they operate on a national and international level. Research shows that the violence increases with the size of the area the gangs operate in.

http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4492/Nederland/article/detail/3395735/2013/02/18/Lid-Jeugdbende-We-gebruiken-alle-vormen-van-geweld.dhtml

Sweden Removes Infected Dutch Meat from its Shelves

Six tons of hamburger and kebab meat have been taken off the shelves in Sweden. According to the Swedish media, this meat was imported from the Netherlands. The infected meat was discovered when in January, two children became ill after eating the hamburgers. Investigations showed that the meat contained dangerous EHEC bacteria. The meat has already been on the market for many months. Possibly 60,000 hamburgers have been sold already.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2672/Wetenschap-Gezondheid/article/detail/3395686/2013/02/18/Zweden-haalt-besmet-vlees-uit-Nederland-uit-de-handel.dhtml

The Netherlands Again in Recession

The Netherlands again find itself in a recession. The economy shrank in the 4^th quarter of 2012 with 0.2% as compared to the third quarter. In the third quarter there was shrinkage of 1.1% compared to the second quarter. Domestic consumption declined 2.3% compared to the same quarter a year before. Dutch domestic consumption has been shrinking for almost two years already. On the average, there were 63,000 less jobs available than in 2011. With this, the level of jobs has declined to that of the year 2007.

www.elsevier.nl/Economie/nieuws/2013/2/Economie-gekrompen-Nederland-opnieuw-in-recessie-1174354W/

Minister Worried about Growing Number of Jihadists

Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk (Labor) has said in Parliament that he’s concerned about the young Muslim jihadists who want to fight for their religion in conflict areas, such as Syria. He said that the number has grown in a very short time from 2 or 3 to several tens. He is worried that they will return with fighting experience and then can present risks to the Netherlands. He added that “this isn't so in most cases.”

http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/3587/POLITIEK-BINNENLAND/article/detail/3392687/2013/02/12/Plasterk-bezorgd-over-groei-aantal-jihadisten.dhtml

Forty percent of Dutch Soldiers did not Pass Fitness Test

In 2012, three thousand, three hundred Dutch soldiers failed their annual fitness test. Of the in total 43,000 Dutch military, 15,500 did not appear for the test, were sick, or wounded. Therefore, they cannot be sent on any military missions. Also, most of the generals did not participate in the test, or didn’t pass it. In total, only 30 of the 82 highest ranking Dutch military men seem to have the required fitness condition.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3393062/2013/02/13/Duizenden-militairen-niet-fit-genoeg.dhtml

Airsoft Weapons Increasingly Popular in the Netherlands

Airsoft weapons, which are exact copies of regular weapons and with one shoots light plastic balls, are increasingly popular in the Netherlands. They are freely available in Germany and Belgium, but are illegal in the Netherlands. Dutch Customs caught 65,000 weapons last year in total among regular freight – six times as much as in 2011. The overly great majority of items were airsoft weapons. It is mainly Belgian and German traders who sell these airsoft weapons to the Dutch. Some even send them by mail.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/21286550/__Nepwapens_steeds_populairder__.html

Police and Prosecution cannot Cope with Growing of Cannabis

The Dutch police and prosecution are, despite major efforts, not advancing in the battle against the illegal growing of cannabis. According to police figures, more than 5,000 plantations were dealt with in 2012, a similar number as in previous years. However, the multitude of this number was not dealt with.

www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/21275390/__Hennepteelt_groeit_politie_boven_hoofd__.html

Tens of Dutch Muslim Youths Fight together with Syrian Terrorists

Rob Bertholee, head of the Dutch General Intelligence Service (AIVD) has said that tens of Dutch Muslim youths are fighting side by side with radical terrorist organizations in Syria against President Bashar Al Assad. According to the AIVD, the number of Dutch Muslims who participate in Jihad in the past months of 2012 exceeded that of the whole year of 2011. At the end of November, three people were arrested in Rotterdam, whom according to the prosecution, intended to go and fight in Syria.

www.elsevier.nl/Nederland/nieuws/2013/2/AIVD-tientallen-Nederlanders-naar-Syrie-om-te-vechten-1169280W/

Despite Investments, Railways Less Safe

Last year, 13% more trains jumped red lights. In 2012, 175 trains jumped red lights compared to 155 in 2011. That, despite the tens of millions of Euros which have been invested into the improved safety system, ATB-vv. This system makes it possible to stop a train at a speed of under 40 kilometers if it passes through a red light. These figures come from the Inspectorate of Environment and Transport (ITL).

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3389938/2013/02/07/Spoor-steeds-onveiliger-ondanks-investeringen.dhtml

Nationalization of failing Bank costs 3.7 Billion Euro to Taxpayers

The Netherlands has nationalized bank and insurance group SNS Reaal at the cost of 3.7 billion Euros. This was done in order to prevent its collapse under the weight of property loan losses and to shore up confidence in the financial system. The Dutch government already paid out nearly 40 billion Euros to rescue the financial domestic sector in 2008 when it provided capital injections to ING, AEGON and SNS Reaal as well as nationalizing the large ABN Amro Bank. The rescue will lead to a worsening in the Dutch budget deficit in 2013, already forecast to exceed EU targets. Prime Minister Rutte said “Without a doubt, this is a serious setback for the state budget.” The Dutch Association of Shareholders is considering whether to challenge the nationalization.

www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/01/dutchfinance-cenbank-idUSL5N0B11LP20130201

Inspectorate Barely Supervising Smoking Prohibition in Cafés

The Dutch Food and Commodities Authority (NVWA) doesn’t have enough personnel to supervise the smoking prohibition in cafes and restaurants. In 2012, only 3,000 inspections were carried out in the 60,000 cafes and restaurants for which this prohibition is meant.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3388076/2013/02/04/Rookverbod-horeca-vrijwel-niet-gecontroleerd.dhtml

Christian Democrat Leader Expects Major Unemployment

Sybrand Buma, head of the Christian Democrat faction in Parliament said that if the Dutch government continues to follow its policies, mass unemployment will be forthcoming. He mentioned that while Europe’s economy is slowly progressing, the Netherlands’ is not. Buma said that the prospects for growth are not better than those of problematic countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy. According to him, the government should invest in job creation and promoting investment in businesses. At present, Dutch unemployment is hovering around 7%, but is rapidly growing.

www.nu.nl/politiek/3035792/buma-vreest-massale-werkloosheid.html

New Marine Helicopters have many Problems

The Royal Marine has no choice but to place the old Belgian helicopters on its ships as the new NH90 helicopters have many technical problems. These have been produced by EU consortium at the Italian manufacturer Agusta and stop functioning regularly. There have also been major delays in the supply of the helicopters.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/21262014/__Nieuwe_heli_s_vol_gebreken__.html