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In the Netherlands, a tragic incident occurred in Lochem where two workers lost their lives and two others were injured during the construction of a bridge. The collapse happened when cables supporting a bridge arch snapped, causing it to plummet to the ground. The deceased workers were identified as one from Belgium and the other from Poland, but further details such as their names and ages were not disclosed.

The collapse, labeled as an “industrial accident” by officials, prompted an ongoing investigation to determine its cause. Witnesses, including onlookers, were deeply affected by the sudden collapse and are receiving psychological support.

According to one witness, the collapse occurred shortly after the arch began swinging, followed by a loud bang. The bridge was intended to span a major canal as part of a new ring road project in Lochem, Gelderland.

Mayor Sebastiaan van ‘t Erve expressed shock over the incident, highlighting the extensive planning and development efforts over five years leading up to the construction. Despite this, the bridge collapsed in a single day, resulting in fatalities and injuries.

The exact cause of the collapse remains unclear, and investigations are ongoing. Local authorities confirmed that the injured workers were hospitalized but expected to recover.

Andre Meilink from the regional safety authority provided insight into the incident, explaining that the bridge began to twist as it was being lifted, leading to the collapse of a section.

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Russian energy giant Gazprom reportedly earned €45 million from its North Sea Sillimanite gas field in the past year, as revealed in financial accounts. The Sillimanite field, situated in UK and Dutch waters, has been operational since 2020 and is a joint venture between Gazprom and German firm Wintershall. While the arrangement is not deemed illegal, criticism has arisen, particularly from UK Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who deems it “totally unacceptable” that gas from UK territory supports “Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine.” The UK government has pledged to escalate economic pressure on Russia, aligning with international sanctions aimed at restricting Russia’s funding for the conflict in Ukraine.

Gazprom International UK, a Gazprom subsidiary, reported a pre-tax profit of €45 million in 2022, with dividends paid to its immediate owner in the Netherlands. Although Gazprom executives, including CEO Alexei Miller, face UK sanctions, Gazprom itself is not directly sanctioned. The company continues to supply reduced gas volumes to continental Europe. Concerns have been raised about Gazprom’s financial activities, given its association with the Russian state, which is accused of financing militias engaged in the Ukraine conflict.

The UK government’s response to Gazprom’s financial activities in the North Sea has been met with criticism. Global Witness, a campaign group, described it as “an indictment of the UK’s approach to Russian oil and gas.” Despite the UK’s condemnation of the war, Gazprom’s subsidiary continues to operate in the North Sea, enriching Putin’s regime. The government spokesperson reiterated the commitment to denying Russia access to goods or technologies aiding its war efforts, vowing to intensify economic pressure until peace is secured in Ukraine.

Gazprom International UK’s financial disclosures reveal a total tax bill of €29 million, distributed between the UK and Dutch governments. This includes windfall taxes imposed in response to the surge in energy prices following the conflict in Ukraine. The company ceased its gas sale agreement with Wintershall, replacing it with a deal with the Swiss-based trading company Gunvor.

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Spain secured their place in the Women’s World Cup semi-finals for the first time with a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands, thanks to a late goal from teenage winger Salma Paralluelo. Mariona Caldentey initially put Spain ahead with an 80th-minute penalty, capitalizing on a handball by Stefanie van der Gragt. However, Van der Gragt redeemed herself by scoring a stoppage-time equalizer. The game headed into extra time, where Paralluelo found the net, securing Spain’s first major semi-final in 26 years.

Despite the Netherlands’ status as runners-up in the 2019 tournament, they were outplayed for much of the match, and Paralluelo’s goal sealed Spain’s victory. Spain will face the winner of the Japan vs. Sweden match in the semi-finals. The match was marked by VAR interventions, including disallowed goals and penalty decisions. Paralluelo’s heroics ultimately stole the spotlight, making her the youngest Spanish scorer in a Women’s World Cup and a rising star in the tournament.

Van der Gragt, who is retiring after the tournament, experienced a rollercoaster of emotions, first conceding a penalty and then scoring an equalizer. The Netherlands, missing Danielle van de Donk due to suspension, struggled to find their rhythm and were largely reliant on their goalkeeper. Despite their manager Jonker’s pride in the team’s progress, their journey in this major tournament came to an end with this defeat.

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Dutch electric bike-maker VanMoof has filed for bankruptcy after its founders, Taco and Ties Carlier, were unable to rescue the company.

VanMoof, which boasts 190,000 customers globally, experienced a surge in demand for its bikes during the pandemic and secured millions of dollars in funding for expansion. However, the company faced challenges with its newer models, including repair costs and delays in deliveries and parts shortages. Administrators are exploring options to salvage VanMoof, such as selling its assets or restructuring its debts.

The bankruptcy currently affects only the Dutch business, while international subsidiaries remain unaffected. VanMoof intends to continue operating its stores outside the Netherlands but has temporarily closed its London and Paris locations.

The company plans to maintain ongoing services for its customers and has advised them to download their e-bike’s digital key as a precautionary measure.

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In a small room near the Alps in northern Italy, millions of crickets are being processed to become food despite initial resistance. The crickets are frozen, boiled, dried, and pulverized to create a light brown flour used in various food products such as pasta, bread, energy bars, and even sports drinks. Italy, known for its culinary traditions, has traditionally resisted the idea of eating insects, with the government even taking steps to ban their use in pizza and pasta production. However, several Italian producers have been experimenting with cricket-based pasta, pizza, and snacks.

The shift towards insect consumption in Italy is driven by sustainability concerns. Insect farming requires significantly less water and land compared to traditional livestock farming, making it a more environmentally friendly option. Insects are also rich in vitamins, fiber, minerals, and amino acids, making them a nutritious superfood. However, the main challenge to widespread adoption of insect-based food is the price, as it remains more expensive than traditional alternatives.

In addition to cost, social acceptance plays a role in the resistance to insect food in Italy. The country prides itself on its Mediterranean diet, and some view insect products as a threat to Italian culinary traditions. Concerns about the potential health effects of consuming insects and the fear of deviating from established eating habits contribute to the opposition.

Italy is not the only country divided on the issue of insect food. Poland and other European countries have seen debates and political disputes surrounding the topic. However, countries like Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands have shown more openness to insect consumption.

As the global population continues to grow, finding sustainable food sources becomes crucial. Insect consumption is seen as a potential solution to meet the rising demand while minimizing the environmental impact. With the recent approval of insect consumption by the EU, the insect food sector is expected to grow, leading to potential price reductions and increased availability.

Producers like Ivan Albano, who runs the Italian Cricket Farm, see insect farming as an environmentally friendly and sustainable practice that could play a role in addressing global food challenges. Despite initial resistance, more people are showing curiosity and ordering cricket-based products, indicating a shifting mindset towards insect consumption. The hope is that as awareness and acceptance increase, insect food will become a viable option to feed the growing population while minimizing ecological impact.

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The Dutch government has revealed plans to implement a ban on devices, including mobile phones, in classrooms to prevent disruptions to learning. The ban, set to take effect from the beginning of next year, is a collaborative effort between the government and schools.

While exceptions will be made for students with medical needs, disabilities, and digital skills-focused classes, the ban is not currently legally enforceable but may become so in the future.

Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf emphasized the importance of creating a focused learning environment for students and cited scientific research demonstrating the disruptive nature of mobile phones in classrooms.

The prohibition extends to other devices such as tablets and smartwatches. Individual schools will determine specific rules in consultation with teachers, parents, and students, including the possibility of a complete ban. The effectiveness of the ban will be evaluated at the end of the 2024/2025 school year, which may lead to the implementation of a legal ban.

This decision follows a similar move by Finland and aligns with proposals in countries like England and France to enhance learning by prohibiting mobile phone use in schools.

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A 41-year-old man named Jonathan from the Netherlands has been ordered to stop donating sperm, as he is suspected of fathering more than 550 children worldwide through sperm donations. The man was banned from donating to fertility clinics in the Netherlands in 2017 after it was discovered that he had fathered more than 100 children.

Despite the ban, he continued to donate sperm abroad and online. The court in The Hague has instructed him to provide a list of all the clinics he used and to order them to destroy his sperm. He was taken to court by a foundation protecting donor children’s rights, and by the mother of one of the children allegedly fathered by his sperm. Dutch clinical guidelines state that a donor should not father more than 25 children in 12 families.

The man misled hundreds of women and helped produce between 550 and 600 children since he began donating sperm in 2007. Some of the children were born in Dutch clinics, but he also donated to a Danish clinic which dispatched his semen to addresses in various countries. The court has said that the kinship network with hundreds of half-siblings is too large. If he tries to donate again, he could be fined more than €100,000 (£88,000).

The court in The Hague has prohibited the Dutch man, Jonathan, suspected of fathering over 550 children through sperm donations, from donating his semen to new prospective parents. The judge has also barred him from advertising his services to prospective parents, joining any organization that establishes contact between prospective parents, or contacting any prospective parents to offer his services. The court found that the donor deliberately misled prospective parents about the number of children he had fathered in the past.

This has resulted in the children being part of a huge kinship network, which could have negative psychosocial consequences for them. Sperm donors are advised to limit the number of times they offer their services to avoid the possibility of siblings forming a couple and having children together unknowingly.

In the past, the Netherlands has experienced fertility scandals, such as a Dutch fertility doctor who was found to have used his own sperm to inseminate patients without their consent, resulting in him being confirmed as the father of 49 children.

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Three men were convicted guilty of murder by a Dutch court for shooting down a passenger plane over eastern Ukraine in 2014, which resulted in the deaths of 298 people. The court determined that a Russian-made missile fired by an armed group controlled by Russia and supplied by Russia brought down flight MH17.

The three men—two Russians and one Ukrainian—were convicted in absentia and given life sentences. A third Russian was found not guilty. Prior to accusations of atrocities occurring there becoming a reality practically every day, the missile attack was one of the most infamous war crimes in Ukraine.

Many surviving family members of the victims believe that the invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent geopolitical upheaval could have been avoided eight years ago if the world had responded differently and taken a firmer position against Russia.

The only one of the four defendants who had a lawyer at the trial was Oleg Pulatov. Despite finding that he was aware of the missile, the judges declared him not guilty. 80 children and 15 crew members were among the 298 passengers that boarded Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

Over Ukraine, the aircraft was flying at 33,000 feet. It was early in Russia’s attempts to annex areas of the nation. This was a relatively low-intensity conflict area at the time, although recent air combat had increased fighting. A number of military aircraft had been shot down in the months before.

In retaliation, Ukraine shut down the airspace up to 32,000 feet below ground level. However, flights continued to span the nation. One thousand feet above this constrained airspace, the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was travelling.

It lost communication with air traffic control around 13:20 GMT. 196 of the 298 passengers, who were travelling from 17 different nations, were from the Netherlands, 43 from Malaysia, 38 from Australia, and 10 from the United Kingdom. They had packed for their ideal vacations, a symposium on AIDS, family gatherings, and more. All future plans vanished in a split second.

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The use of nitrous oxide, sometimes known as laughing gas, is now prohibited in the Netherlands due to health concerns regarding the rising number of young people who use it.

The ban, which goes into effect in January, makes it unlawful to purchase, sell, or possess gas. The authorities claim that it is still permissible to utilise it in food production and medicine.

The government also anticipates that the prohibition will result in fewer drug-related auto accidents. Laughing gas has reportedly been a factor in 1,800 accidents in the Netherlands over the last three years, according to road safety watchdog TeamAlert.

According to Maartje Oosterink of TeamAlert, “almost two a day, data that really astonished us,” she told AD newspaper earlier this month.

The well-known legal high has been more popular among clubbers and festival goers in recent years, and it’s frequently combined with other drugs like ketamine or MDMA (ecstasy).

Most of the time, the gas is sold in little metal canisters, which are then poured into balloons before being breathed. The Trimbos Institute estimates that more than 37% of Dutch partygoers, predominantly young people, regularly consume laughing gas.

However, there are significant worries over how the depressant-like medicine affects the brain and how the body reacts. Regular heavy use might also result in a vitamin deficit, which can harm your nerves permanently and leave you paralysed.

As the government’s decision was made public, State Secretary for Health, Welfare, and Sport Maarten van Ooijen stated that the use of nitrous oxide for recreational purposes poses significant health hazards.

Dilan Yeşilgöz, the minister of justice, stated that the prohibition would allow the police to take prompt action if they discovered someone driving around with nitrous oxide gas canisters in their vehicle.

Beyond the Netherlands, worries about the drug’s rising popularity exist.

In England, it is the substance that 16 to 24 year olds abuse most frequently (behind cannabis).

Due to worries over its misuse, the UK Home Office faced calls this month to outlaw all sales of the gas to direct consumers.

Due to the fact that it is acceptable to legally purchase and sell it for the purpose of manufacturing whipped cream, it has become widely and easily accessible for recreational use.

In hospitals and dental offices, large canisters of nitrous oxide are frequently utilised to administer anaesthesia to patients.

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Authorities claim that in some areas of the Netherlands, wolves can be blasted with paintballs to try and make them less domesticated. There are worries that wolves may pose a severe threat if they lose their fear of people.

The Arnhem provincial administration made this choice in response to a social media video that showed a wolf ambling past a family in the area’s Hoge Veluwe national park. Paintballs were chosen so that rangers could identify the targets that had been hit.

Additionally, it is believed that this will motivate wolves to keep at least 30 metres (100 feet) away from people.

DutchNews was informed by a provincial spokeswoman that one of the wolves in particular appeared to be searching for humans. The wolves are being fed, according to the environmental organisation Faunabescherming, since if they become too tame they could be labelled “problem animals” and put down.

According to DutchNews, Seger Emmanuel baron van Voorst tot Voorst, the park’s owner, disputes the claim but has previously declared that wolves have no place in the Netherlands. Around 20 adult wolves are thought to be residing in the nation, according to a report that was released in June.

The announcement from the local government does not mean that anyone with a paintball gun can head to the park and start firing at wolves. No date has yet been given for when the measure will start and it will be carried out by people authorised to do so.

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