Good afternoon. To keep you up to date, we summarize the news of this Friday. One article, five minutes. If you read this, you will know the most important thing.
EU sanctions against Belarus have left little impression for the time being …
Aleksandr Lukashenko’s Belarusian regime is little impressed by the sanctions agreed by EU government leaders late last night. The opposition is hoping for additional measures: it calls these sanctions “just a first step”.
The sanctions are now targeting a group of 40 officials, held responsible for the electoral fraud and ensuing violence in the Eastern European country. However, the freezing of their assets does not deter these officials: they usually do not house their assets in the EU.
In addition, Lukashenko himself is not on the list of people affected by sanctions. The EU wants to continue to talk to him.
Cyprus has long resisted sanctions against Belarus. Only if the EU were to also do something about Turkish oil and gas drilling in the Mediterranean, Cyprus would agree. That is why the EU urges Turkey to stop drilling. In return, better trading conditions lie ahead.
… and Minister Bijleveld has an independent committee look at Hawija bombing
An independent commission will investigate why in 2015 dozens of civilian casualties occurred in the Dutch air raid on an IS bomb factory in Hawija, Iraq. Minister Ank Bijleveld of Defense promised this in a letter to the Lower House on Friday.
In the spring, American documents were released stating that it was known in advance that the airstrike involved high risks. In May, Minister Bijleveld narrowly passed a motion of no confidence in the fourth parliamentary debate on the issue.
With her promise today, Minister Bijleveld is meeting a pressing wish of the House.
Defense will also help the population in Hawija. In the northern Iraqi city, there is a particular need for better utilities, employment and housing.
Further in the news …
– President Donald Trump and his wife Melania have been infected with the corona virus. Trump announced this this morning on his own Twitter channel. The president falls into the risk group with his age and overweight. The consequences are dire for Trump’s election campaign.
– The number of new corona infections in the Netherlands has risen sharply today: more than 3,800. At the moment 733 corona patients occupy a hospital bed, 42 more than yesterday.
– The Dutch biotechnology company Qiagen, which is developing a corona rapid test, is avoiding tax on a large scale. A study by the Research Foundation for Multinational Enterprises shows that the Netherlands has lost 142 million euros in recent years.
– In order to prevent substantial pension cuts, the cabinet will already be relaxing the rules for pension funds next year. The new rules form a transitional system to 2026, when the pension agreement signed earlier this year takes effect.
– There will be no wind turbines in Het Gein, a nature reserve near Abcoude. Lately tensions in the village have been running high because the nature reserve was eligible for the generation of solar and wind energy.
– After more WhatsApp messages have been released, various parties in the Amsterdam city council want to hear from the mayor once again how the decision-making around the demonstration on Dam Square came about last June.
– Motorcycle manufacturer Honda will withdraw from Formula 1 after 2021. The Japanese car manufacturer has been the engine supplier to the team of Dutch driver Max Verstappen since 2019.
For more background …
Moerwijk in The Hague is one of the poorest and one of the unhealthiest neighborhoods in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, this combination is hardly surprising: time and again poverty and poor health appear to exacerbate each other. Figures from Statistics Netherlands show: low-educated Dutch people live more than six years less than highly educated people. In addition, they live almost fifteen years less in good health.
In her neighborhood practice, general practitioner Amanda de Glanville sees it all too clearly: “Where elsewhere in The Hague people get health problems from the age of 70, people here at 55 are really old.”
The Dutch approach to closing the gap between healthy rich and unhealthy poor is not very adequate. While the problem, the causes and the solutions can indeed be delineated. Ruben Wenselaar, Chairman of the Board of Menzis: “The research question must be: why are there actually healthy poor people? If we answer that question, we can help much better. ”
And then this …
From tomorrow, Italy will be under the spell of the battle for a pink cycling jersey for three weeks. Normally, the Giro d’Italia is a spring race. But while in May the cycling platoon had to cross mountains and valleys, everyone was inside and the hospitals were bulging. Now the riders will still do their round in October. The Dutch favorite: Team Jumbo-Visma rider Steven Kruijswijk.
It is difficult to underestimate what the continuation of this cycling race means for the Italians. While sporting events are canceled elsewhere, their Giro continues. “It is completely symbolic that the finish is in Milan,” explains Volkskrant correspondent Jarl van der Ploeg, “because this was the epicenter of the epidemic at the beginning of this year. That feels like an apotheosis. ”
Van der Ploeg travels with the cycling peloton for three weeks – his last job as a correspondent. He will make stories about the Italy that cyclists traverse. “This country has changed so much in the past eight months. I also need this tour of the country for myself to find out what kind of country I’m leaving behind. ”
The news in five minutes includes the news from Friday, October 2 to 5 p.m.
