This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Rachael O'Connor is a Newsweek Life & Trends reporter based in Leeds, U.K. Her focus is on reporting trends from across the internet and all corners of the world. Rachael joined Newsweek in 2024 from Metro.co.uk and previously worked for The Irish Post. She is a graduate of the University of Galway. Languages: English, Irish. You can get in touch with Rachael by emailing r.oconnor@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content The parents of a newborn girl were excited to see the thick full head of hair their sonographer had predicted only to find it wasn't exactly what they had expected Baker Van Urk and her husband, already parents to a young son, were overjoyed to be expecting a baby girl, and their excitement grew when their sonographer predicted "she'd have a lot of hair "She mentioned being able to see so much on the ultrasound and it [was] waving about and told us she was gonna have a full head of thick hair," Baker Van Urk told Newsweek But, as shown in a viral video to Baker Van Urk's TikTok account In the video which has been viewed more than 5.6 million times baby Elsie lies with her back to the camera thick strands of dark hair visible poking out underneath She wrote over the clip: "Us after our sonographer said 'Oh my gosh your baby has so much hair! We can see it in the ultrasound!'" it reveals much thinner hair on top and around the sides meaning Elsie's thick head of hair is contained to that one patch near the nape of her neck Baker Van Urk wrote in the caption: "We really thought she was going to come out with a full head of hair after we were told that hahaha Girls got the cutest mullet though but I can't help but crack up looking at it." Baker Van Urk told Newsweek they "definitely weren't expecting her to be born with just one little It caught us all completely off guard and we honestly couldn't stop laughing but we loved it." "I always take ultrasounds with a grain of salt lol sometimes they can be so wrong," another admitted as one mother shared: "My son came out with so much hair And another shared a similar situation: "They were like omg that's the longest hair we've ever seen on an ultrasound Baker Van Urk told Newsweek that people have compared their daughter's hair to "Gino from 90 Day Fiancé "We can't wait for her hair to fill out one day we're kind of obsessed with it as is!" she added Ultrasounds are used during pregnancy to monitor the growth and development of the fetus These medical sonograms can detect the internal growth of the fetus including the heart and brain Baker Van Urk confirmed: "She's still rocking her little dark mullet and it's become such a funny talking point wherever we go." Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some extra details Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsweek is committed to journalism that is factual and fair We value your input and encourage you to rate this article Newsletters in your inbox See all The quay of Urk in the Netherlands. Markus Bernet A town in the Netherlands inhabited by a majority of Christian residents is offering a refuge to Jewish people who feel unsafe in the country as the terrorism threat has increased formerly an island within the province of Flevoland made the publicly open invitation to allow Jews to settle in the town set in the heart of the so-called Dutch Bibleland “The entire municipal council of Urk has expressed its heart-warming support for Israel and the Jewish community in a motion,” said Ronny Naftaniel former director of the Centrum Informatie en Documentatie Israël (Center for Information and Documentation Israel) A known spokesman for Jewish human rights within the Dutch Jewish community Naftaniel’s father was a German Jew who survived the Holocaust News of the friendship shown by the Dutch town residents contrasts with a stern warning that the terrorism threat in the Netherlands had increased to “substantial” after the Nationaal Coördinator Terrorismebestrijding en Veiligheid (NCTV) “With the previous Terrorism Threat Assessment in the Netherlands (DTN) the threat level was increased to substantial (level 4),” read the NCTV statement “The conceivable terrorist threat has increased slightly in recent months but remains within the bandwidth of threat level 4 This means that there is a real chance that an attack will take place in the Netherlands.”  Jihadism remained “the most important terrorist threat against the Netherlands” “The chance that persons or groups in the Netherlands will commit a terrorist attack has increased slightly in the past six months.” Urk has a population of 21,000 people of which 90 percent attend a local church. It is not the first time that the town has shown support for Jewish people. Some Urk residents also fly Israeli flags as a sign of solidarity Teams of residents have traveled to the Ukraine-Moldova border, reported The Jerusalem Post in April 2022 to support Jewish refugees fleeing in fear after Russia invaded Ukraine the organized teams have traveled twice per week to the location with help from a rabbi and lawyer from Chisinau of people giving to others what they have and what they don’t have,” said one of the Urk volunteers called “Fred” we’re doing our part to give people hope and life a place where there are no air raid alarms where they can finally sleep in peace knowing that they’re safe.” There is a core population of 40,000 Jews living in Ukraine according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research Help keep The Christian Daily free for everyone By making a recurring donation or a one-time donation of any amount you're helping to keep CDI's articles free and accessible for everyone Hope you’ll give us another try and check out some other articles. Return to homepage. Already new life can be seen returning to the scarred LA landscape It is a reminder that in the face of overwhelming devastation and destruction we can retain hope in new creation through Jesus and work now in our environments to testify to that hope A large fire broke out in the abandoned fire station on De Noord in Urk late Friday night, destroying the building entirely. The blaze began around 1:00 a.m. and was brought under control by 2:30 a.m. local time. No injuries were reported, as the building had been vacant and was undergoing demolition at the time, NOS reports. The fire emitted a substantial amount of smoke, prompting local authorities to advise residents to keep their windows and doors closed to minimize exposure. The smoke also triggered warnings to shut off mechanical ventilation systems, where applicable. As the fire raged, sparks from the blaze spread toward nearby parts of De Noord, and burnt insulation debris landed in gardens, streets, and on parked cars, causing paint damage to some vehicles. Local residents reported hearing a loud bang around 12:30 a.m. before seeing smoke coming from the building. One nearby resident called the fire department but noted that the station was already beyond saving by the time help arrived. Although he has no proof, the caller speculated that arson was likely. Earlier that afternoon, witnesses had reported seeing young people around the derelict building, which was being cleared for demolition. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. A spokesperson from the fire department confirmed that rumors suggested the fire may have been deliberately started. Police are looking into these claims as part of their investigation but have yet to draw any conclusions. The fire station had been vacant since November 2023, when the Urk fire department relocated to a new facility on Industrierondweg. The old building, which had been partially demolished, was slated for redevelopment into a residential complex with 24 apartments. As of now, no hazardous materials or asbestos were found in the building, according to fire department officials. © 2012-2025, NL Times, All rights reserved. 2025 Photo: Depositphotos.comA trial using peach pits to cover the ground in a children’s playground on the staunchly Protestant former island of Urk has failed because the children used them as missiles The council thought peach pits would be more sustainable than sand until it became clear they were being used as projectiles Local broadcaster Omroep Flevoland had a look around the play area involved and found peach pits spread over a large area “Children are just about killing each other with them,” one of the children told the broadcaster A group of boys admitted they used the pits to pelt each other with “They pack a bit of a punch,” one of them said The pit pelting led to councillors to question Urk officials about why this kind of material had been chosen The council subsequently decided the trial had not been a success and that although the peach pits “offered extra play potential” they were not the most adequate of surfaces We could not provide the Dutch News service without the generous support of our readers Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day Many thanks to everyone who has donated to DutchNews.nl in recent days We could not provide this service without you Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey are suspected of attempting to smuggle 261 kilos of cocaine in their boat It may be the Netherlands’ most religiously devoted community where television and dancing are spurned by some as the devil’s work But the wrath of God for indulging in those pursuits is unlikely to be the most pressing concern at the moment for some of the 20,000 residents of Urk for centuries a major centre for Dutch fishing suspected of attempting to smuggle 261 kilos of cocaine worth €6.5m in their cutter boat claims have emerged that the town’s fishing community has been infiltrated by a gang using financial favour and threats of violence are accused of taking the stash of cocaine onboard from a container ship on the orders of a Dutchman of Pakistani descent who was working with a Montenegrin henchman With cocaine production in South America said to be at an all-time high, it is claimed the tight-knit community is the latest to fall foul of an urgent need among smugglers for fresh ways into mainland Europe The breaking up of drug cartels in South America has opened up opportunities for European gangs In 2016 an estimated 866 tonnes of cocaine were produced at clandestine labs in Colombia alone according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Urk’s harbour Photograph: Judith Jockel/the GuardianUrk’s close community may have been an enticement to the drugs gang The local council admitted of the fishermen: “They don’t talk.”In an opening hearing of the case against the men the public prosecutor in charge of the case made it plain that he suspected that a tight grip has been kept on the Urk fishermen through a variety of means including in one case the threat of a grenade being thrown into a front room “The mixing of legal fishing with international drug trafficking is worrying especially in the light of the revealing reports about pressure and threat.” a man wearing a luminous jacket with “harbour master” written across the back was apparently “very busy” in his office when asked for an explanation at the town hall insisting the scandal had “come out of the blue” to the town and retains its own anthem and strong dialect to this day More than one Urk boat may have been lured into the criminal gang’s web but the council had no idea what would happen next Marianne Heida spokeswoman for the village of Urk Photograph: Judith Jockel/the Guardian“In 2008 the economy went down and the fisheries [all over the country] were very bad,” she said the criminals were coming up and going to the fishermen saying here do something of us’,” she said maybe there is a relation between the economy in 2008 and this point’.” “It was out of the blue for us,” Heida added “We didn’t know there was criminal activity here if they have a problem they will solve it themselves Also I think that is a problem of the Dutch people They didn’t go to the police and say we were threatened Heida added of Urk: “When you were born here Monument to Urk fishermen with wind turbines in the background Photograph: Judith Jockel/the GuardianThe boat at the centre of the current court case – which is due to resume in February – was bought and renovated by Johannes Nentjes took three goes to break a bottle of champagne against the bow of the ship when it was christened A party was held at the Het Achterhuis restaurant overlooking the harbour Approached by the Guardian about threats of violence to fishermen the representative group for cutter boat fishermen insisted that it was a matter of “a few rotten apples” He added: “And we have a big basket of apples.” After a bruising few years for the Dutch fishing industry Holland’s only dedicated fishing industry exhibition will be taking place in Urk later this year This is the seventh time that organisers Stichting Visserijdagen Urk brings the event to De Koningshof ‘The Dutch fleet is in recovery mode after the reorganisation and looking for new innovative opportunities This is reflected in the needs of both exhibitors and visitors who indicate a need for networking,’ the organisers state the Holland Fisheries Event this year consists not only of an exhibition but also of a conference on the same exhibition floor with the theme of Developments in Fisheries.’ Exhibition space for the Holland Fisheries Event is already close to being sold out and the event is scheduled to take place on 3rd and 4th October at De Koningshof in Urk providing a meeting point for the Dutch and European fishing sectors Made with love by ApolloMedia ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy A fundraising campaign for the Urk family, who ended up under a collapsed hotel in Germany were trapped under the rubble but were rescued on Wednesday The Reichsschenke Zum Ritter Götz hotel collapsed for still unknown reasons at around 11:00 p.m it is not yet known how this could have happened 14 people were trapped under the rubble after the tragic collapse the crowdfunding was set up to take the original victim who suffered a fracture and internal injuries and had to be operated on The money raised will also be used to cover other uncovered medical costs and lost belongings According to initiator Corne Zeeman, the crowdfunding campaign was launched to bring Mark Hoefnagel who suffered a broken bone and internal injuries and required surgery His wife Edi (23) and their two-year-old son Jamie survived the collapse with minor injuries They were saved by a door that fell on them during the collapse in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate is a popular vacation spot for Dutch people It is located next to the Moselle River and close to the Dutch border While exploring around the Black Farm on Old Mine Road we decided to travel the old farm road that goes up the hill We traveled up as far as the gate and turned around but not before noticing a bunch of metal pipes that could probably be property markers we saw a small culvert on the left that seemed to be a driveway I could see writing on a bright white flat stone on the top of the pile that was very hard to read I took a photograph of it to enhance later but the stone was almost harder to read in the photograph because you couldn't change the lighting to highlight the letters We decided we had to go back and use a pencil and paper to do a rubbing (I'm not sure of the date because the third digit has such a slant.) It seemed as though this rock may be a property marker I happened to be using the satellite images of the area and stumbled upon an image that showed an outline of a rectangle that falls almost exactly on the spot where we found that stone I'm not sure what an acre looks like but could that rectangle possibly be "URKS ACRE" I posted a request on "Sussex County Excursions" that if anyone had information on URKS ACRE to let me know Within a few days I received this information from Sandyston Historian Patte Frato: "This area of Sandyston Township you were at was part of the Black's Minisink Farm property owned by Cuddingston Black Black owned a large amount of property and rented small summer cottages This piece you found represents the property of Mr He eventually purchased the property in 1959 "There were many other cottages on this road Some were purchased and made into full-time residences Some were also located in the circular drive area further up the hill Urquhart's name is not pronounced as it looks but is pronounced as "Urkhart," thus "Urk's Acre." This stone must have been used to identify Mr was acquired by the National Park Service Army Corps of Engineers during the federal government's Tock's Island Project of the 1960s "The property was sold by this family in 1974 to the federal government." for sharing your in-depth research and knowledge and solving the mystery of the writing on this random rock in the woods Jeff Stoveken has been researching Sussex County history for 12 years and started photodocumenting the county's historic sites and buildings as a way to preserve them Sussex County Excursions began as a Facebook page in 2013 to inform/remind residents of the area's historic attractions and outdoor recreation Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday condemned riots across the country this weekend over the introduction of a nationwide curfew calling them “criminal violence.” The police arrested 240 people, mostly in Amsterdam, after riots broke out on Saturday evening in at least 10 cities across the Netherlands protesters threw stones at a local hospital while in Urk a coronavirus testing center was set on fire by angry rioters On Saturday night, the Netherlands introduced a curfew from 9 p.m which is supposed to last until February 10 Anyone breaking the curfew must carry with them an official form stating why they are outside Dutch police handed out 3,600 fines for curfew violations “This has nothing to do with protesting, this is criminal violence and we will treat it as such,” the caretaker prime minister said Rutte emphasized that “99 percent” of the Dutch population did stick to the curfew Rutte stressed that this weekend’s violence and rioting will not have any effect on measures in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus It is the virus that is robbing us of our freedom,” he said The Dutch police union (NPB) said it feared that the illegal protests and riots were just the start of the curfew-related unrest. “I hope it was a one-off, but I’m afraid it was a harbinger for the coming days and weeks,” NPB spokesman Koen Simmers said “We haven’t seen so much violence in 40 years,” he added the new head of the Netherlands’ far-right-led government is not afraid of bending the rules Ruling with a far-right party is no longer taboo as Dutch politicians agree an outline deal but will anyone be willing to work with the election’s far-right winner anti-Islam Euroskeptic who won Wednesday’s election will need a few friends to become PM By submitting the above I agree to the privacy policy and terms of use of JTA.org The 10 protesters apologized for their actions saying they had “crossed a line.” (JTA) — Several men dressed like Nazis were seen pretending to arrest a man wearing a yellow star as part of a rally against COVID-19 measures in the Netherlands Saturday’s incident in Urk, near Amsterdam, was the latest among the hundreds of rallies worldwide in which protesters have drawn what they regard as parallels between the persecution of Jews by Nazis to rules meant to curb the spread of the virus But the protest in Urk was unusual because of its theatrics and the fact that it happened where the Nazis actually rounded up Jews at gunpoint The 10 men involved in the incident apologized for their actions in writing in a statement obtained by the “Hart van Nederland” television program “We wish to express out sincere apologies,” the statement read adding that the protest “crossed a line that it should have not crossed.” The protesters said they did not mean to offend Jews The young men played out a scene in which SS officers at gunpoint led a man wearing a striped uniform and a yellow star like the one that Nazis made Jews wear during the Holocaust, the NOS broadcaster reported which is considered one of the most pro-Israeli communities in the Netherlands but also extremely inappropriate and offensive for many groups in the population,” the statement read Urk has flown the Israeli flag on various occasions, including in May to show its solidarity with Israel during its exchange of fire with Hamas JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent I accept the Privacy Policy The number of newly built homes sold increased by 38 percent to 8,500 in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the same period a year earlier The price for new owner-occupied homes rose by 4.8 percent Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the Land Registry reported The prices of existing owner-occupied homes rose more sharply in the last three months of 2024, by 11.5 percent. This continues the upward trend newly-built homes were more expensive than existing owner-occupied homes in the last quarter of last year the average transaction price was 462,000 euros This is the fifth quarter in a row that there has been an annual increase in the number of newly-built owner-occupied homes sold the increase was much lower than that for new construction He spent around 12 hours trapped under the rubble It was previously reported that the man had suffered a broken arm and damage to his esophagus His family now told the broadcaster that he also has no feeling in his feet and must undergo kidney dialysis The 23-year-old mother and nearly 2-year-old son miraculously survived the collapse largely unscathed. A door fell on top of them and sheltered them from the rest of the rubble and his mother sustained only minor injuries Fourteen people were in the Reichsschenke Zum Ritter Götz hotel when it collapsed for still unknown reasons at around 11:00 p.m Their identities have not been confirmed yet Rescue workers pulled the first four survivors out of the rubble on Wednesday morning. The Dutch mother and child were among them. The Urk man was the fifth person rescued at around 11:30 a.m. The other two were pulled from the building later in the day AGRO Merchants Group began the strategic expansion of Coldstore Urk B.V The additional 8,000 pallet positions will increase the total capacity to more than 28,000 pallets Coldstores Urk and Wibaco specialize in the fish logistics sector where they provide a comprehensive range of services including: transport We needed to meet the current demands of our clients and customers Occupancy has exceeded 100% and the demand for our services and solutions “We needed to meet the current demands of our clients and customers Partner and President of AGRO Merchants Europe added “The 8,000 pallet expansion was the first phase of our plan following the acquisition of Coldstore Urk B.V AGRO will implement several other expansion projects in the near future and continue to provide leadership to the global fish logistics industry.” Urk continues to be a major hub for the fish industry This strategic location provides Coldstore Urk B.V the opportunity to readily move fish products on LTL and FTL base within 48 hours to destinations in Europe within a range of 1200 km as well as to export product to other continents The expansion also fulfills a demand from clients for order-picking services by adding 3,000 pallet positions and an 800 m2 loading area with 6 bays The expansion will be completed late October 2015 Europe: Benedenboven http://www.benedenboven.nl Parmentierstraat 9 3772 MS Barneveld Netherlands Bart van de Glind [email protected] +31 (0) 342 411 311 U.S.: TopRight Partners http://www.toprightpartners.com 950 East Paces Ferry Road Atlanta Plaza, Suite 2195 Atlanta, GA. 30326 Steve Denker [email protected] +1 404 631 6929 x103 Steve Denker, AGRO Merchants Group, http://www.agromerchants.com, +1 (404) 483-0444, [email protected] Do not sell or share my personal information: A coronavirus testing center in a small Dutch town was set on fire by rioters angry at the country imposing a curfew According to local media “dozens of youngsters” in Urk — a town of just over 20,000 some 80 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam — gathered in the harbor area just after the 9 p.m curfew and set a drive-in coronavirus test center ablaze Mayor Cees van den Bos said he was “ashamed” and called in riot police. According to the Associated Press local authorities issued a statement expressing their anger at the rioting “from throwing fireworks and stones to destroying police cars and with the torching of the test location.” “This is not only unacceptable but also a slap in the face especially for the local health authority staff who do all they can at the test center to help people from Urk,” the local authorities said Police were also called in Stein, a town of 24,000 in Limburg, close to the Belgian border, where a group of around 100 people refused to obey the curfew and pelted officers with fireworks, according to 1Limburg The Netherlands introduced a curfew from 9 p.m that started Saturday night and will be in place until February 10 Anyone breaking the curfew must carry with them an official form with details of why they are outside You cannot buy an Ursula von der Leyen watch POLITICO has reviewed the declarations of interest of every European Commission nominee Keir Starmer’s sausages/hostages mix-up was a gaffe for the ages Netherlands — The fishermen of Urk know that Brexit is going to hurt but they aren't going to accept the pain without a fight and the construction of a dyke to the mainland Its inhabitants were so isolated from the rest of the country that in winter the sick had to be transported across the ice on sledges to reach the nearest hospital which dates back to the town's 10th century roots is still widely spoken by young and old alike Urkers say they are "on" rather than "in" Urk whose flag and coat of arms both feature a fish design will need all of that resilience to survive possibly its biggest ever economic challenge — the U.K.'s departure from the EU Fishing makes up 40 percent of the local economy and Urk is where 32 percent of the Netherlands' fish is bought and sold Fishing in turn is 0.1 percent of added value to the Dutch economy The fear is that if Dutch vessels are shut out of U.K waters as part of the British government's pitch to "take back control" much of that value will disappear overnight Urkish locals fear the end of family businesses and a way of life relegated to a maritime museum Fishing towns up and down the North Sea coast and further afield are watching the Brexit talks with apprehension A recent report from the EU's Committee of the Regions looking at the predicted cultural and economic fallout from Brexit singled out Urk as one of the fishing communities in the EU27 with the most to lose But they are far from alone. Fishing towns up and down the North Sea coast and further afield are watching the Brexit talks with apprehension. Fishing communities from Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands last October rallied behind a joint declaration signed in Spain's Santiago de Compostela that calls on Brussels to prioritize fishing They fear that their sector may be too far down the priority list for EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his negotiating team to put up a real fight for their interests — particularly with such a vocal political lobby pushing London for a good deal "We all know that fisheries is a small sector in the U.K want to have some success in Brexit — for example on fishing — we think that our fishing companies and our families will lose something [in the final Brexit deal]," said Geert Meun His members are turning to Dutch Fisheries Minister Carola Schouten and Barnier to protect them from financial ruin Urk is where 32 percent of the Netherlands' fish is bought and sold | Robin van Lonkhuijsen/AFP via Getty Images "Our new minister [Schouten] was born the daughter of a farmer so she understands very well our situation because fishermen and farmers are similar I'm confident she'll do her very best to deliver a good deal," said Andries de Boer a shipowner who runs a fishing company with three vessels and comes from a long line of Urk fishermen What they want most is to keep things as they are — a deal that will maintain access to U.K waters in return for access to European markets "We hope [Barnier] reaches an agreement on fishing with the least impact possible and we ask him to please continue the current situation but we all know that isn't going to happen," said Meun clutching a mug of milky coffee in the offices of Visned The U.K. exported 442,000 metric tons of fish in 2017 so although it will in theory be possible to erect a legal barrier to foreign vessels once it leaves the EU's Common Fisheries Policy British fishermen may struggle to sell their catches The October Santiago Declaration calls on Brussels to use the leverage that buying power represents "We call upon [European decision-makers] to uphold the principle of reciprocity in trade relationships so as to make access to European markets for British seafood products conditional on access to fishing grounds for our fleets," it reads But access to U.K. waters is only one concern for Urk's trawlermen. Many own vessels on the other side of the North Sea too Since these vessels are part of the British fleet the Dutch investors own a share of both U.K it was easier to buy quota in England because there are more of the .. species [such as plaice and nephrops lobsters] we catch available So you invest your money in quota in England and it's very easy to swap quota to the Netherlands and vice versa," said Rense de Boer who owns one vessel in England and one in Urk government will oblige British-flagged vessels to land U.K the fishermen can simply shift quotas from one ship to another will likely fall under a similar quota regime to Norway meaning it is the European Commission that will negotiate quota shares Any quota received from a non-EU member has to be shared among EU countries so such quota swaps will no longer be possible Rense De Boer said he does more than 100 quota swaps a year [fishermen in Urk] have a huge problem," he said it is the same if you land [the fish] in England But now Brexit is coming and if you have to fill in papers and talk to customs I think it will be more difficult than it is to land the fish in England and sell it in Holland," said Albert Romkes who fishes in the English Channel in the winter waters is only one concern for Urk's trawlermen | Koen Suyk/AFP via Getty Images "We'll have to pay import tax," added Andries de Boer "It would be death for the flagged boats." The Dutch government can't guarantee that the EU will be able to deliver what its fleet desires but Fisheries Minister Schouten reassured fishermen that The Hague is doing its best When asked what the Dutch government's game plan is for negotiations with Barnier Schouten said the talks include "access to waters and access to the markets on both sides Schouten said she wants more clarity from the U.K "What you see there is that many families work in the fishing industry and it is not only a few ships that will be harmed It's a whole village that might get into trouble if we don't have good arrangements Therefore it's very important also for them to have clarity [on the U.K.'s position] soon," said the Dutch minister We want to know what the plans are of the British because then we know what kind of relationship we will have in the future and now it's quite unclear where we stand," she added with the agreement of a transition deal between the two sides that was met with relief in Urk it will effectively remain part of the CFP although with no formal say over quota negotiations waters for EU27 fishermen can continue — much to the anger of their British counterparts and Brexiteer politicians who leads the European Research Group Brexit caucus in the U.K said he thinks the fishing concession is "regrettable" and "an error." Prime Minister Theresa May does not appear in a rush to unveil her government's vision for how it wants fisheries to be managed post Brexit A long-awaited fisheries white paper has been delayed multiple times and is now expected by late May or June The Dutch government can't guarantee that the EU will be able to deliver what its fleet desires | Pirioschka van de Wouwa/AFP via Getty Images She told MPs last month that "from my point of view what I want to ensure is that we do take back control of our waters" and that fishing would not be a "bargaining chip" in a final Brexit deal May did not rule out a mutually beneficial access agreement though the Dutch fishermen can sympathize with their U.K counterparts' efforts to keep the British industry's interests on the political agenda They say that over the years they have bonded with British fishermen over a mutual dislike of Brussels — a common enemy for EU fishing folk "First we were colleagues and then we became friends We worked together and our relationship got better and better until the Brexit vote came," said Andries de Boer "They understood that they have to fight to get the best deal possible," he said CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misstated the added value to the Dutch economy represented by fishing much of the country’s fertile land could transform into desert Socialists on course to be largest party after snap election but may struggle to form government Warsaw is scrambling to preserve the country’s reputation as a reliable meat exporter You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Nearly two dozen Israeli flags were collected and set on fire in Urk overnight The municipality of Urk said that the flags were taken from homes and set alight next to De Poort church “Many people in our municipality feel connected with the people in Israel so they are hanging flags on their houses,” a spokesperson for Urk told NL Times on Wednesday “We have indeed received reports about Israeli flags set on fire in Urk,” a spokesperson for the police said Police officers were working in the neighborhoods where the incidents happened to collect more information and to give victims an opportunity to press charges Police were also notified about a video going viral online showing someone stomping on an Israeli flag while removing it from the front of someone’s home or information related to the investigation should contact police and police did not release a description of anyone suspected of involvement The spokesperson for Urk said that they had not yet decided whether to press charges as a municipality or to leave it to the individual households She said the Israeli flag was also hoisted at the Urk City Hall building That flag was not taken down and burned at the De Poort church with the others The debris was cleaned up by the municipality The spokesperson said she does not know if that church was chosen for a reason or if it was random was scheduled to host an event Wednesday evening called “Urk Sings for Israel.” Netherlands -- On an outcrop near this town's lighthouse a woman in stone perpetually scans the horizon for the fishing fleet returning home her view may soon be obscured by some of the world's tallest wind turbines In this eco-friendly nation where windmills are embedded in the culture it may seem strange that a spat over wind power threatens to land in the country's highest court But these turbines are a far cry from the squat four-bladed mills used for centuries to drain the swamps and create new land from the sea with gray metallic blades that will scrape the clouds at 650 feet (about 200 meters) - and residents say they'll destroy a way of life "They are the highest buildings in Holland," says Leen van Loosen Urk's undertaker who is campaigning to stop the project As wind turbines sprout up across Europe - and increasingly off its coastlines - tussles between energy developers and local opponents are increasingly common wind farm proposals often face determined defiance most famously the Cape Wind project off Cape Cod that took 10 years to win approval But with oil prices again toying with $100 a barrel and global concerns mounting over climate change biogas and other renewables is seen by many as the long-term answer to energy security wind is the cheapest and its technology well developed Last year alone nearly 10,000 megawatts of wind power capacity was installed in the European Union lifting the EU's total to 84,000 megawatts or nearly 10 percent of the EU's power generation the European Wind Energy Association said in a report this month wind capacity grew by nearly 36,000 megawatts last year or 22.5 percent - nearly half of it in China said the Brussels-based Global Wind Energy Council But if the Dutch can't learn to love wind power what hope is there for the world to adopt it as a major energy source there's hardly any project that doesn't get delayed," said Michiel Muller a research and consultancy firm on sustainable energy starting from the required Environmental Impact Assessment to regulatory approvals by often more than a dozen authorities It takes an average of 55 months to wade through the bureaucratic tangle before work can begin Of some 200 wind energy projects studied in 2007-8 in Europe and 30 percent more faced slowdowns because of local resistance or questioning from nonprofit environmental groups It had no figures on how many projects were killed before they got started would provide enough electricity for 400,000 homes and rank among Europe's largest It would help the Netherlands as it races to catch up with the stiff target set by the European Union to generate 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 The Dutch now have a capacity of 2,237 megawatts from wind - far short of its 12,000 megawatt national target for 2020 The 86 turbines are to be erected in three rows The first will be one mile (1.6 kilometers) from the statue of the fisherman's wife a 1986 monument on the north side of town that is encircled by plaques with the names of hundreds of Urk's fishermen lost at sea since 1717 Residents cite a long litany of dangers from the wind park The tranquil panorama of the local lake will be disrupted the town will tremble with the constant rumbling noise of blades and the whole project could undermine a dike slated to host turbines "We are all for green energy," says Van Loosen Advocates dismiss such concerns as misinformation saying the turbines will be far enough from the town that they will not be heard and barely will be seen One of their leaders says the modern mills simply follow a hallowed Dutch tradition "Windmills belong to the Netherlands," says Janneke Wijnia-Lemstra who represents the farmers behind the privately-financed euro1 billion project Government subsidies will guarantee a competitive price for the energy produced they're not the only target of Dutch resistance to environmental projects Hostility by the citizens of Barendrecht killed a proposal in 2009 to bury carbon dioxide under their town that is siphoned from a Royal Dutch Shell refinery in nearby Rotterdam the plan for the experimental project was shifted to the more sparsely populated north of the country but it has now run into equally fierce protests from villagers there The government has said it will decide in a few weeks whether to go ahead Economics Minister Maxime Verhagen says the wind project set to go up 55 miles (90 kms) northeast of Amsterdam fits with the energy mix that the Netherlands needs and that every energy source has a down side "You could say 'no' to wind energy because it will spoil the view You can say 'no' to nuclear energy because of the waste And you can say 'no' to coal as well - leaving us with no energy at all in the Netherlands," he told Dutch television when asked about Urk's revolt After eliminating seven turbines from the plan the government signed off on the wind farm last month - 12 years after it was first proposed The town says it won't back down unless another 15 turbines are ditched and vows to appeal to the Council of State The farmland where the turbines are to be built is under the authority of the municipality of Noordoostpolder Noordoostpolder's council decreed against more windmills being erected on individual farms partly because the scattered turbines would be too unsightly That's when it was decided to concentrate them in a large park along the coast Urk has been inhabited for some 1,000 years Nearly all the town's revenue derives from fishing or the tourists who come to see the harbor and the old quayside cottages and residents are still resentful that they were not consulted before a dike was built that created the North East polder - land reclaimed from the sea - connecting the mainland to their rocky knoll it's just behind this dike that nearly half the turbines will rise "It's an island culture and history," says Urk Mayor Jaap Kroon To accusations of indulging a not-in-my-back-yard attitude The TimesDutch anti-lockdown campaigners have apologised after a protest at which people dressed as Nazis symbolically executed a “prisoner” wearing a concentration camp uniform and the Star of David including a private surveillance video and photographs circulated by the protesters In one image a young man wearing striped clothing resembling the uniform worn by prisoners in Nazi death camps kneels as another protester points a fake rifle at the back of his head Images from the protest showed participants dressed in Nazi military uniformsOther footage of the event on Saturday shows about a dozen protesters dressed as Nazis acting out the enforcement of lockdown rules such as the first national curfew in the Netherlands since its wartime occupation by Registered in England No. 894646. 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Photo: DutchNews.nlUrk’s harbour is no longer directly connected to the sea Photo: DutchNews.nlOn the staunchly Protestant former island of Urk the fundamentalist SGP has won the battle of the Christian parties which closes down its website on Sundays and believes the Netherlands should be governed ‘entirely on the basis of the ordinances of God’ also a fundamentalist Protestant party but left wing on social issues Local party Hart voor Urk joins the CU and CDA with three seats each on the council Local experts say ChristenUnie had been hammered because of its support for the government’s coronavirus strategy Urk has fewer vaccinated residents than any other part of the Netherlands and police were called out several times to deal with rioting youngsters during the lockdown The local testing centre was also destroyed in an arson attack a government report also suggested Urk is a hotbed of crime by the home affairs ministry’s regional crime information unit RIEC said islanders are involved in cocaine smuggling money laundering and in exploiting workers in the local fish processing industry Urk was an island until 1939 when the Afsluitdijk cut it off from the sea forcing the local fishing industry to adapt the SGP has gained about 30 seats in Bible belt towns and is also the biggest in the Zeeland town of Veere ‘I am extremely happy that the SGP is growing in so many places,’ party leader Kees van der Staaij said on Twitter Despite the SCP’s opposition to women’s involvement in politics three of the party’s 230 local councillors are now female – representing the church-dominated group in Vlissingen In 2012 the Dutch supreme court and European Court of Human Rights ordered the party to give women the right to stand as MPs and councillors The SGP took its case to the European Court after the Dutch supreme court ruled in 2010 the party must allow women to stand for election and that the state has a duty to ensure they have this right in practice The police arrested three new suspects in Urk last weekend on suspicion of the illegal possession of weapons The arrests took place as part of the investigation into photos that appeared on the internet of young people dressed in Nazi uniforms on the street in Urk A 19-year-old suspect was arrested on Tuesday for the same reason The young people are rumored to have dressed up in Nazi clothing in protest against the coronavirus measures but the investigation has not yet proven this The police searched for weapons in the homes of those involved on Tuesday A firearm was found in one residence leading to the arrest of the suspected owner and were released from custody after questioning they remain under suspicion for the illegal possession of weapons Police would not rule out more arrests for weapons charges the Public Prosecution Service will decide at a later date whether the young people will be prosecuted for publicly wearing the Nazi uniforms the young adults from Urk who wore the Nazi clothing have apologized to the municipality and to 80-year-old Lous Steenhuis-Hoepelman a lobby working on behalf of Israeli and Jewish issues said that the young people had a conversation on Saturday with the Jewish woman who survived several concentration camps The young people also gave the woman a bouquet of flowers At least six fishing boats from Urk are involved in cocaine smuggling in Danish waters, the Danish public broadcaster TV2 reported after researching the drug trafficking for two years drug criminals from the Amsterdam underworld who have ties with South American cartels are paying the Urk cutter fishermen for the cocaine smuggling The drugs are dumped from container ships from South America into the North Sea with a GPS transmitter The Urk fishers fish the packages out of the water and ship them to Danish ports from where they are transported to the Netherlands by road the drugs are cut and transported further into Europe spoke with involved people in the Danish ports and interviewed an anonymous Dutch fisherman it concerns at least six fishing cutters from Urk Its analysis showed that the cutters switch off their own position signal at sea It saw the fishing boats lay still for a long time in the same place as if they were waiting for something while other cutters zig-zag back and forth The stationary cutter then follows a container ship The anonymous Dutch fisherman told TV2 that smuggling occurs in Danish waters because the controls are less strict than in the Netherlands the drug criminals offer fishermen large amounts “If you can get 100,000 euros to ‘help them a little,’ then you say yes What would you do if you saw that much money?” It starts with small quantities of around 50 kilograms of cocaine which quickly increases to over 100,000 kilograms “They will haunt you for the rest of your life.” Mayor Cees van den Bos (SGP) of Urk would not give a detailed response to the Danish investigation yet. But he told Omroep Flevoland that he was “not immediately shocked” by the news. “As a municipality, we have been alert to these kinds of signals for some time and we are not going to brush it off.” He called it vital to protect the fishing industry in Urk against criminal influences email editor email editor by | Oct 1, 2020 | European Fishing Industry, Latest News The Dutch fishing sector has unanimously decided to leave the North Sea consultation a broad front of organizations from the Dutch fishing sector has unanimously decided to leave the North Sea consultation due to the complete lack of future prospects The fishing organizations who consist of the Dutch Fishermen’s Union the National and Urk Dome for the Fish Processing Industry and Trade the Fish Federation and the Urk Fish Traders Association have written a letter to Ministers Schouten of Agriculture Nature and Food Safety and Van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management The Dutch fishing sector was already critical of the North Sea Agreement because the construction of large-scale wind farms the ban on pulse trawling and the uncertainties surrounding Brexit leaves little room and perspective for the entire sector The perilous action by North Sea Agreement partner Greenpeace to dump large boulders on the Dogger Bank has turned the world upside down as far as the fishing industry is concerned “Radical activists who endanger the lives of fishermen by dumping boulders the size of cars on legal fishing grounds are not hindered but the Dutch fishing sector must be put on a chain,” said Fish Federation Chairman Guus Pastoor “We want the Dutch government to finally start fighting for us by taking more account of the dangers of Brexit by challenging the outdated pulse trawl ban and our interests to continue fishing in the North Sea where things can still be tougher The fishing industry is committed to a course that offers scope for preserving and restoring the perspective for the sector but also future generations can continue to find valuable work in the fishing industry Fishing is not only one of the most traditional economic activities in the seas around our country it is also crucial to today’s desire to create food supplies close to home The agricultural industry in the Netherlands that adaptations and innovations are also needed but that is different from simply reducing the fishing grounds or buying out part of the fleet which offers every perspective for the fishermen and the processing companies behind the horizon disappears Source Disclaimer +353(0)83 826 8406 (editor) +353(0)83 826 8406 (sales) [email protected] [email protected] If you have a fishing news related story call or WhatsApp Oliver on +353 83 826 8406 or email [email protected] Copyright © 2020 – 2025 The Fishing Daily COMHLACHT CUMARSÁIDE AN tSÁILE TEORANTA (Saltwater Media Company Ltd)Registered Office: No IRL VAT No: IE3718993GH            IRL Company Reg No: 681474Sitemap | Terms & Conditions have apologised in person to a Holocaust survivor who was sent to various concentration camps during World War II invited the group for a talk after seeing the images on September 11 has been the scene of some of the most vehement protests against vaccination and Covid measures and has the lowest vaccination rate in the country The boys brought flowers and apologised to Steenhuis-Hoepelman who told them about her experiences at Bergen-Belsen and Westerbork They now understand the emotional upset their behaviour has caused, Urk local council and the Israel information and documentation centre CIDI told local broadcaster Omroep Flevoland. The group will also visit the Westerbork detention centre in the Netherlands in a few months time. We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day. Many thanks to everyone who has donated to DutchNews.nl in recent days! We could not provide this service without you. If you have not yet made a contribution, you can do so here. Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey. Photo: DutchNews.nlA boat in Urk’s harbour Photo: DutchNews.nlThe staunchly Protestant former Dutch island of Urk is a hotbed of crime The report, by the home affairs ministry’s regional crime information unit RIEC says islanders are involved in cocaine smuggling The hospitality industry – both legal and illegal – is also a centre of illegal goings-on, local broadcaster Omroep Flevoland quoted the agency as saying The report is based on interviews with 25 professionals police and public prosecution department staff is that of ‘it takes one to know one’ and the situation is made worse by the town’s role in the international fishing trade The widespread acceptance of working illegally and hiding money from the taxman is another problem Last year, the five strong crew of an Urk-based fishing boat were jailed for up to six years for their role in a drugs smuggling operation a fish processing plant was closed by police at the beginning of July after a hand grenade – a known form of gangland intimidation – was found outside The broadcaster says the local authority has acknowledged the problem and is working on a plan to tackle the situation but that the local mayor has declined to comment further is one of the most Protestant parts of the Netherlands Avowedly Christian parties have 12 of the 19 seats on the town council URK (NETHERLANDS) - From his surgery in the remote Dutch fishing village of Urk family doctor Wilco Bloed is trying to win over coronavirus vaccine hold-outs who believe that God is on their side Only around one-third of people have been jabbed in this community deep in the conservative Protestant "Bible Belt" region fewer than anywhere else in the Netherlands But with Covid-19 cases soaring nationwide doctors in Urk have started their own vaccination campaign to reach out and convince people to get the shot "We started the initiative because Urk is the place in the Netherlands with the lowest vaccination rate and because the contaminations were really going up," Bloed told AFP "So as family doctors we have decided to offer vaccinations in the practices (instead of vaccination centres)." It will "offer a possibility to have a conversation (with a trusted person) and remove barriers Rates have since risen to 35 percent since the scheme started at the beginning of November but that is still far below the national adult vaccination rate of 84.7 percent "The aversion to vaccination was quite large.. it is true that people in Urk can be quite stubborn," said the doctor Urk was "ground zero" for the Netherlands' worst riots in decades which erupted in January over a coronavirus curfew Since then the village has seen scuffles with journalists outside churches that held services during lockdown and a small outbreak of unrest on Saturday night as fresh rioting gripped the country The village with its picture-postcard harbour and fishermen's cottages was an island until 70 years ago when it was joined to the Dutch mainland by a land reclamation project "If the rest of the Netherlands does one thing a 21 year old from Urk fishing on the harbour with his friend Urk has above all retained the strict Calvinist beliefs of the so-called Bible Belt that stretches through the heart of the Netherlands The church's beliefs on vaccination too have long been a key factor in low uptake rates for all kinds of jabs with a measles outbreak in Urk two years ago Vaccination is seen by some as intervening in God's will of the Christian Reformed Eben-Haezerkerk church in Urk "On the one hand the Bible says that you can take precautions So you may prepare for certain crisis," such as coronavirus "Another part says vaccinating is not allowed because you intervene in God's providence." with rules that also include two church services on Sundays on which shops are closed and people may not go to work Women are required to wear dresses and to put on headscarves for worship the final choice was left to people's "individual conscience" "It is my job to give good information to the church members it's not my job to give them direction to do it or not to do it," he said without revealing whether he had been jabbed In this village where science and religion collide doctors and pastors say they have been talking to try to find the best way forward Religion was however "actually a very small part" of the problem Instead it was "largely fear of side effects" coupled with Urk's isolation from the government in The Hague and a young population that is more likely to be resistant to vaccination being carried out with the Dutch GGD health authority and local municipality have so far been encouraging although there is far to go the same number of injections was given as the GGD did four weeks before though we see it slow down a bit," said Bloed who is also a member of the village's Reformed churches said he kept his own religious beliefs out of things And yes you don't have to agree on everything," he said By subscribing, you accept the terms and conditions in our privacy policy The bodies of two men were found in sunken fishing cutter Lummetje in the North Sea early on Sunday afternoon. While official identification is still in progress, the victims are almost certainly 27-year-old Hendrik-Jan de Vries and 41-year-old Jochem Foppen, who disappeared with the Lummetje on Thursday. "It is good for the families that the uncertainty has come to an end" Mayor Ineke Bakker of Urk said in a statement Lummetje left the Den Helder port at 3:45 p.m the Coastguard center in Den Helder received an emergency alarm from the fishing vessel The alarm was sent from the Global Maritime Distress Safety System which sends an alert when the beacon comes into contact with water The Lummetje was located about 7 kilometers west of Texel at the time A naval ship with sonar equipment quickly managed to locate the sunken ship, but due to poor weather conditions, no divers could be deployed to search the wreck on Thursday or Friday. On Sunday, divers finally managed to search the fishing cutter. The two bodies were found in the wheelhouse, according to the newspaper. On Monday the flag will hang half-mast at the town hall "as a sign of collective mourning", mayor Bakker said. She will convey the municipality's condolences to the families. "I hope the bodies can be released to the families as soon as possible after identification and research", she said. "The families can now say goodbye to their loved ones and Urk can sympathize. It is precisely in moments like this that there is great mutual connection on Urk." youngsters protest in Limburg as curfew comes into force January 24 2021 Youngsters set the coronavirus test centre on fire Photo: Pronews via ANPYoungsters set the coronavirus test centre on fire Photo: Pronews via ANPThe first curfew in the Netherlands since the occupation during World War II began smoothly in most part of the country but riot police were drafted in to restore order on the staunchly Protestant former island of Urk after youths went on the rampage went to the village’s harbour area just after the 9pm deadline and set the drive-in coronavirus test centre on fire Police have not yet said how many arrests were made but local mayor Cees van den Bos said the events were ‘dramatic’ ‘I am so ashamed of what has happened,’ Van den Bos said before evoking his emergency powers and calling in the riot police calm was restored before the riot police were needed Urk was also the scene of rioting by youngsters in November and December Elsewhere, police also reported trouble in Stein, a town of 24,000 in Limburg, close to the Belgian border. At least 14 arrests were made after a group of around 100 youngsters refused to go home, and stood outside drinking and playing music. Some also pelted police with fireworks, local broadcaster 1Limburg reported In central Rotterdam, 50 people were fined for continuing their protest against the coronavirus rules and the curfew, and there was also a small protest in Amersfoort, website Nu.nl said. Some people who did break the curfew were fined and police handed out 45 fines to drivers on the A2 motorway who were stopped and did not have a valid reason to travel In most of the country it was ‘totally quiet’ after the 9pm deadline to return home Lummetje, fishing cutter UK165 from Urk that sank in the North Sea west of Texel last week according to Jouke Soelstra of rescue organization KNRM The area around De Razende Bol sand bank is very treacherous due to the many shipwrecks there "The mast or other part of the wreck is hidden under the sea sand such a wreck suddenly protrudes above the seabed on a bad day" "Then fate can strike if a fishing net gets caught." This conclusion is based on the last movements of the cutter reconstructed based on data from marinetraffic.com "The signal from the UK165 indicates that the crew tried to release the net from the wreck which indicates the location of the cutter Maarten Noot of KNRM said to the newspaper "Suddenly a cross appears on that spot: the ship is wrecked." the Lummetje got caught up on Swedish cargo ship Ruth which sank in 1842 after being attacked by RAF aircraft 2018 Photo: Depositphotos.comPhoto: Depositphotos.comThe five-strong crew of a fishing boat from the staunchly religious village of Urk were jailed for up to six years for their role in a cocaine smuggling operation by judges in Amsterdam on Wednesday one year more than the public prosecution had called for He claimed in court to have been threatened by a major drugs gang and said he eventually gave into their demands to smuggle cocaine into the Netherlands Two other crew members were jailed for 3.5 years and five years while a Polish crew member who said he knew nothing about the cocaine was jailed for three years went to Montenegrin national Dalibor D who was the link between the fishermen and the drugs gang The five were arrested last June when customs officials and police found 261 kilos of cocaine on board their trawler in the North Sea after being alerted to potential shipments via another case was apparently used to fish for lobster and flat fish The Leeuwarder Courant said at the time of the arrest locals in Urk had for several years been puzzled by the extravagant spending of the family on their homes despite the downturn in the fishing industry ‘I asked myself what I was doing wrong,’ one fisherman told the paper ‘Should I have been fishing in better place?’ Urk has a problem: Dutch village caught up in cocaine smuggling trial News | World Dutch police used water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters in Amsterdam demonstrating against a new lockdown curfew that was introduced to curb the spread of coronavirus It comes after rioting youths set a coronavirus testing facility on fire in Urk, a small fishing village in the Netherlands on Saturday Officials said many of the protesters failed to social distance and were not wearing protective face masks also used a water cannon and tear gas against a crowd of demonstrators that included supporters of the anti-immigrant group Pegida It was the worst violence to hit the Netherlands since the pandemic began and the second straight Sunday that police had clashed with protesters in Amsterdam. The country has been in a tough lockdown since mid-December which is due to continue at least until February 9. Boris plots border crackdown as children ‘face months at home’ Fireworks thrown at police in Amsterdam lockdown protest New Zealand suffers first virus case in community for over two months Prince Louis steals the show at VE Day parade as he keeps dad William looking sharp and mimics brother George Prince Louis steals show with sweet antics at VE parade VE Day 2025 fashion: best looks from the day, Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, Lady Victoria Starmer VE Day 2025 fashion: Princess of Wales to Lady Victoria Starmer Royals watch historic flypast as huge crowds turns out for VE Day 80th anniversary  Royals watch historic Red Arrows flypast for VE Day 80th anniversary David Beckham’s 50th birthday bash in London 'shut down' by council over noise complaints David Beckham’s 50th birthday bash 'shut down' over noise complaints Stacey Solomon 'regrets doing reality show with Joe Swash' for tough reason Stacey Solomon 'regrets reality show with Joe Swash' for tough reason Dutch cutter fishery is vulnerable to criminal networks, according to a report commissioned by the Police and Science research program. Drug smugglers actively approach fishers in economic difficulties. The vast majority of fishers reject the offers, but the economic downturn in their sector makes them vulnerable to criminal networks. Researchers from the Mehlbaum Research agency came to this conclusion in the study. Fieldwork in the ports of IJmuiden, Urk, and Den Over, during which the researchers interviewed dozens of fishers and other people from the fishing industry, revealed an idea of how fishers bring drugs ashore. Cocaine is first transported from the production country by container ships and then thrown overboard in the North Sea. Later, the drugs are fished out by fishers or other professionals from the maritime world. This could involve fishers who are vulnerable to being recruited into maritime drug traffickers or fishers who "characterize as key criminals and who are in contact with the criminal networks that organize the drug trade," the researchers said. "A good information position" is essential for the police to fight drug smuggling. "However, the police and other governments often experience the fishing industry as a closed community. The services have only limited information about fishing communities. Both the government and the fishing industry have a negative image and mistrust of each other," the researchers said. The researchers, therefore, recommend that the police and governments should "invest in these relationships" and "build trust." Police and Science is a research program that carries out scientific research for the benefit of the police. The program has been in existence since 1999 and, in its own words, fulfills "a bridging function between science and the police." One of its goals is that knowledge development contributes to the functioning of the police. 2021 The fire brigade put out a burning car on Urk Photo: GinoPress via ANPThe fire brigade put out a burning car on Urk Photo: GinoPress via ANPIf it had been the children of immigrants throwing fireworks at police rather than youngsters in several Bible belt villages the response would have been very different says Leiden University professor Leo Lucassen The events on New Year’s Eve and the days leading up to it demonstrated yet again that double standards are still rife in the Netherlands. Many criticised the Urker youngsters for going on the rampage but the explanation that was given for their violent and destructive behaviour was that it stemmed from a centuries old ‘tradition’ of rebelliousness against authority In short it was ‘our’ national character that had been on display here If similar violence had taken place in areas with a large percentage of Dutch with a migrant background Papers and talk shows would have been full of learned musings about the failed integration of Turkish and Moroccan Dutch in particular citing their ethnicity and religion as causes This was clearly not the case in Duindorp where hundreds of locals welcomed the New Year by flouting the coronavirus measures on the Tesselsplein where ‘a jolly atmosphere was created by singing along to Dutch tunes à la Tino Martin,’ according to the AD Most people on social media disapproved of the event but it was generally reported as a nice get-together for young and old in a close-knit neighbourhood But just imagine if it had taken place some five kilometres to the southeast These examples show that not only do we require migrants to abide by a completely different set of rules but that our thinking has become submerged in what expert Peter Geschiere calls ‘autochtonity’ The term refers to group thinking based on a perceived ethnic identity which excludes others and which has become widespread in Europe as well as the US The fixation on ethnicity has shown itself as a source of exclusion and racism the world over It makes us lose sight of the fact that there is much more that unites us than divides us Ethnicity is just one of many identities and often not the most important one as Nijmegen-born anthropologist Sinan Çankaya’s analysis in the excellent My Innumerable Identities shows The fact that we place such importance on a person’s ethnic background cannot be separated from post-war immigration and the Dutch colonial past That politicians and media are continuing to breathe new life into the contrast between ‘us’ the newcomers and their children is much more problematic Right-wing populist parties are particularly prone to this It started with Joop Glimmerveen in the 1970s and Hans Janmaat some time later Both advocated an ethnically homogenous (‘white’) society In the 1990s their brand of politics was embedded much more generally and deeply as Pim Fortuyn and Geert Wilders gained support except that the emphasis has shifted from the (native) poor to migrants It’s not that long ago that the native poor were thought of as the most important problem in society Until after the end of the war ‘the social question’ was completely home grown Excessive and deviant behaviour in working class neighbourhoods were attributed to the anti-social character of the poor In the 1950s the authorities in the big cities did their utmost to re-educate them in separate little neighbourhoods under the control of social workers Although disdain for (white) people with a low level of education or income has certainly not disappeared – think of the term ‘tokkies’ – ethnicity has become a much more common dividing line Institutional racism, such as the childcare benefits scandal and ethnic profiling are just two of the most serious consequences But the damage to society is not limited to the discrimination of newcomers to this country It also stands in the way of the solution of a much bigger problem: that of social inequality If politicians are really serious about creating a just and inclusive society they must break with populist ethnicity politics and the scapegoating that goes with it The gesture politics towards white Dutch which is the trademark of Wilders and Baudet may give them the illusion of ethnic belonging but will only feed their resentment and will not resolve their real problems Leo Lucassen is research director at the International Institute of Social History and professor of Global Labour and Migration at Leiden University This column was published earlier by RTLNieuws.nl A Bible-themed floating museum meant to be a replica of Noah's Ark went adrift from the port of Urk early Wednesday afternoon crashed into several ships in the harbor along the shore of the IJsselmeer lake Several people and animals were aboard the vessel at the time it broke free of its moorings told Omroep Flevoland he was stunned by the damage caused by his ship "We have been on the road for years and have experienced many storms but this has never happened before," Peters said Wind gusts of about 107 kilometers per hour were reported just north of Urk at the time of the accident Gusts nearing 119 km/h were measured in the middle of the lake The Ark ripped a post out of the ground and nearly floated away last month This morning there was a big gust of wind and there it went," a port representative told the broadcaster They planned to actively investigate what went wrong Emergency services were first called out to the harbor for a reports of a ship in trouble just after 12:30 p.m More crews were sent to the scene on a high priority call about 25 minutes later dive teams were dispatched to the scene to assist The 70-meter-long ark measures 10 meters wide and is 13 meters high It claims to be Europe's first floating Bible museum It was scheduled to remain there until the end of February De ark op drift... #urk #stormweer #storm pic.twitter.com/OoExKiaA7L Storm op Urk #ark is op drift... #stormweer #storm pic.twitter.com/b60jYBkeb3 The municipality of Urk reacted with horror on Monday to images of around 10 young people marching through the village in Nazi uniforms on Saturday evening allegedly protesting against the coronavirus measures Photos online show one of them wearing prisoner stripes and a Star of David I am ashamed of those people who think they are funny in Nazi uniforms in The Netherlands village Urk, a "Christian" community. pic.twitter.com/JAjjqxlFgo "This behavior is not only highly objectionable and extremely inappropriate but also hurtful to large population groups a line has very clearly been crossed as far as the municipality of Urk is concerned,' the municipality said in a statement "We understand that these young people want to make their voices heard about the impact of the current and upcoming coronavirus measures," mayor Cees van den Bos said "This discussion is not only taking place in Urk we do not understand the way they are doing it but the entire community completely disapproves of this way of protesting." The Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed the incident and is investigating whether a criminal offense was committed The young people apologized on Monday evening according to Hart van Nederland who saw the letter of apology they wrote "It was absolutely not our intention to arouse memories of the Second World War," they wrote though they did not clarify what their intention was "We want to emphasize that we are absolutely not anti-Semitic or against Jews This is not the first incident around the coronavirus in Urk. In January, a GGD testing center in the village was set on fire. In March, journalists were attacked by churchgoers who continued to attend church despite the coronavirus measures The predominantly Christian village has the lowest vaccination rate of all Dutch municipalities Only 23 percent of adults in the municipality are fully vaccinated