From 20 to 39 degrees: this is how warm it will be per province

National Heat Plan in effect throughout the Netherlands from 10:00 (CEST) Monday morning

It is clear to everyone: it will be extremely hot in the coming days. There is a big chance of a national heat wave and the National Heat Plan applies to all provinces from 10:00. But it will not be equally warm everywhere, there will be big differences in the coming days.
The twelve provinces (and the Wadden Islands) in a row based on the most recent weather forecast.
We start with Limburg, where the temperature will rise the most. It is good to know that the official temperature is always measured outside the city, in the shade. It will always be warmer in the city: 40 degrees will be reached there this week. But these are not official observations.

Limburg
Monday: 33 degrees
Tuesday: maximum 38 degrees
Wednesday: 38 degrees, possibly 39

Brabant
Monday: 32 degrees
Tuesday: 37 degrees
Wednesday: 38 degrees, in the west around Roosendaal 33 degrees

Zeeland
Monday: 33 degrees in Zeeuws Vlaanderen, on the beach around 27 degrees, perhaps a bit cooler with sea breeze
Tuesday: 37 degrees, and a bit cooler on the coast. There may be some wind from the sea, then 28 degrees on the coast
Wednesday: 22 degrees in the west, on the beach of Westkapelle, in the east 32 degrees

South Holland
Monday: 31 degrees on average, Rotterdam: 32 degrees
Tuesday: 37 degrees
Wednesday: in Gorinchem 32 degrees, Hoek van Holland: 22 degrees

North Holland
Monday: 28 degrees in Amsterdam, probably a bit warmer. On Texel: 25 degrees
Tuesday: 34 degrees in the south, also on Texel above 30 degrees
Wednesday: In Hilversum above 30, along the coast around 22 degrees

Flevoland
Monday: average 28 degrees, in cities like Almere it will go towards 30
Tuesday: 35 degrees
Wednesday: 32 - 33 degrees in the east of the province. In the west near Lelystad and Almere possibly just below 30

Gelderland
Monday: 30 degrees in the Arnhem region. More to the north 27 degrees
Tuesday: 34 to 36 degrees
Wednesday: In the Achterhoek 35 degrees, more to the west 32 or 33 degrees

Overijssel
Monday: 30 degrees in the Twente region, in Zwolle 26 degrees
Tuesday: 32 to 34 degrees
Wednesday: 36 degrees in Twente, 32 in Zwolle

Utrecht
Monday: 30 degrees, in the city of Utrecht it will be a bit warmer
Tuesday: 35 degrees
Wednesday: 33 to 34 degrees

Drenthe
Monday: maximum 27 degrees
Tuesday: 32 to 34 degrees
Wednesday: 33 degrees

Groningen
Monday: maximum 26 degrees
Tuesday: 31 to 33 degrees
Wednesday: the eastern half 33 degrees, 30 degrees in the west

Friesland
Monday: 26 degrees
Tuesday: 31 to 33 degrees
Wednesday: 32 degrees in the area of ​​Appelscha, in the southeast of the province. Around the beach of Makkum: just 25 degrees

Wadden Islands
Monday: Between 20 and 25 degrees
Tuesday: 30 degrees in the middle of the island
Wednesday: around 20 degrees

(Source: RTL Nieuws)

Jury's Opinion: The week of 'daddy' Trump

Jury, owner of DutchNewsAgency, gives his commentary on current news

It was quite a week in the Netherlands with the NATO summit in The Hague.
It started months ago for me, when I heard that the summit would be held in the Netherlands, why would it have to be in the Netherlands?

After all, NATO has a beautiful headquarters in Brussels (Belgium), less than a 2-hour drive from The Hague, which is fully built and equipped to receive and protect ministers or world leaders, without having to bother the people of the Netherlands, and in particular the residents of The Hague.
Of course, I believe that Brussels should be financially compensated by the other NATO countries for holding all NATO meetings and summits there.
All attention at this summit in The Hague was focused on President Trump of the United States of America, with the question in the Netherlands weeks before the summit already being "will Trump come or won't Trump come?" But he came and that was not what should have happened on Dutch soil, because in my opinion the Dutch government and the Dutch parliament should have declared Trump 'an undesirable person' (persona non grata) and refused him access to the Netherlands.
Because Trump is a criminal convicted by the court who should never have become president.
Trump is a friend of Putin, we can see that from his disgusting treatment of President Zelensky of Ukraine in the White House, and how Trump blackmails Ukraine with a mineral deal without giving any further security guarantees.
And recently we saw that Trump attacked Iran. A sovereign country, without any mandate from the United Nations, without an official declaration of war, and without evidence that Iran is really working on building a nuclear weapon.
With this latest action, Trump follows in the footsteps of President Putin of Russia and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel as a war criminal.
It is as if history is repeating itself with 2003 in Iraq, when the Republican President Bush (jr) of the United States firmly claimed that Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons. Evidence was never provided, but Bush attacked Iraq anyway. A mistake that now seems to be made again by Trump with the attack on Iran.
This kind of corrupt and convicted presidents do not belong in the Netherlands.
But what went way too far for me as a Dutchman was how 'daddy' Trump was pleased, 'daddy' as the president was affectionately called by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

President Trump was even allowed to stay at the Huis Ten Bosch palace with King Willem Alexander and Queen Máxima. As far as I'm concerned, a 'bed and breakfast' would have been good enough at the expense of the Dutch taxpayer. Actually, that would have been too expensive for a convicted criminal president.
It seemed as if the Dutch government and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte were short of 'feathers' to stick up President Trump's ass.
This unnecessary and shameful 'Trump show' has cost the Dutch taxpayer too much money, and the Dutch government, my government, has shown how you can go way too far in letting yourself be blackmailed by a convicted President of the United States of America.
Fortunately, all NATO and Trump misery is over and the Netherlands is getting back to business as usual.
I hope that this president, who is not only a danger to the United States but a danger to the entire world and world peace, will be impeached by the American Congress as soon as possible, but that he will certainly never set foot on Dutch soil again, or better yet on the soil of the entire European Union.
Daddy, do Europe a favor and stay home in the future, forever!

Belgian media company DPG is allowed to take over RTL Nederland, but under strict conditions

(NETHERLANDS / BELGIUM) The Flemish DPG is allowed to take over RTL Nederland after all. However, strict conditions are set for the takeover, as announced by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM).
For example, the websites and apps of RTL Nieuws and Nu.nl (from DPG) must remain free and continue to exist separately. Furthermore, DPG must stipulate in the editorial statutes of all individual newspapers, magazines and news websites that budgets cannot simply be cut and that all titles will continue to operate independently from an editorial perspective. A special foundation will monitor this.
Journalists' union NVJ says it will study the conditions further, "in order to be able to make a proper assessment of whether sufficient account has been taken of the objections raised by the NVJ".

After the takeover plans became known, the union said it was concerned about the size and dominance. This would make the negotiating position of freelancers and supplying media companies more vulnerable. A year and a half ago, DPG announced that it had reached an agreement with the RTL Group on the takeover of RTL Nederland. According to the Flemish publisher, "combining forces" was necessary. DPG is paying 1.1 billion euros to acquire RTL Nederland.
DPG is large with national newspapers such as AD and de Volkskrant, news website Nu.nl, magazines such as Libelle and Donald Duck, plus the radio stations Qmusic and Joe. For investments and in particular advertising revenue, DPG believes it is in a stronger position with the TV channels of RTL, streaming platform Videoland and the popular weather app Buienradar. In Belgium, DPG has a similar position as owner of RTL Belgium.
A supplier to the combined company is news agency ANP. According to critics such as the NVJ, they could be put under pressure to lower the prices for a contract with DPG. Other publishers, especially the smaller ones, would also be left behind in the battle for advertising money and subscribers.
For that reason, the ACM conducted additional research into the takeover. Earlier (2023), the watchdog put a stop to an attempt by Talpa Network to merge with RTL Nederland. This merger would leave consumers and advertisers with little choice.
The ACM no longer has the concerns about that merger with this takeover. With the requirements for journalistic independence for all titles, the ACM does not think that consumers will miss out on anything. "RTL will also not take over news content from other national news titles of DPG on a structural basis on its app and website. In this way, RTL's own identity will be preserved," according to the ACM.
Although the ACM acknowledges that advertisers will have less choice in the future, the supervisory authority does not expect this to lead to problems. "The investigation shows that the revenue model of other media companies will not be jeopardized as a result of the takeover." The watchdog also does not think that DPG can put pressure on the ANP to lower prices.

(Source: NOS.nl)

Several prominent members of the PvdA party resign after unrest over Israel position

A few prominent party members of the PvdA (Social Democrats), of current party leader Frans Timmermans, resign from their party membership due to a proposal for an arms embargo against Israel and the unrest that has arisen over it.

Former Speaker of the House Gerdi Verbeet (on photo), former MP Lutz Jacobi and former alderman Reshma Roopram have resigned their membership.
At the same time, hundreds of new members have also registered last weekend, according to GroenLinks (left Green party) and PvdA.
Last week, the GroenLinks-PvdA parliamentary group proposed in the House to impose a temporary full arms embargo. This would also stop the delivery of components for Israel's air defense, the so-called 'Iron Dome'.
Because Israel is currently being attacked with rockets and drones, including from Iran, the proposal caused unrest, both inside and outside the party. Incidentally, the proposal did not receive a majority in the House of Representatives. Tensions on the subject rose around the joint congress of the PvdA and GroenLinks on Saturday. A large majority of the members voted in favour of the arms embargo at the congress; a motion by a number of PvdA members, including Verbeet, to reject the plan was voted down.
Verbeet is unhappy with how that went. In her letter of resignation to PvdA chairwoman Esther-Mirjam Sent, she writes that she "no longer feels at home" in the party because of the "indecent course of events".
According to Verbeet, the embargo proposal deliberately and knowingly deeply hurt and frightened "Jewish and non-Jewish party members". According to her, no action was taken at the congress when "boos" were shouted at those who were against an arms embargo. "I am deeply hurt and astonished that none of you intervened. Or was that perhaps the intention?"
Roopram and Jacobi resigned their membership for similar reasons. "The Labour Party is dead," writes Roopram, who was an alderman in Barendrecht. "There was booing, former Speaker of the House Gerdi Verbeet was thrown out," Jacobi told De Telegraaf yesterday. "I have decided for myself: I really don't want to be part of this anymore."
Incidentally, the three prominent resigners are all against the impending merger of GroenLinks and PvdA.
Other prominent figures who opposed the Israel course, such as former party leader Ad Melkert and former chairman Hans Spekman, are still members of the party.

(Source: NOS.nl)

Dutch government has no official opinion on US attack, emphasises danger from Iran

Outgoing Prime Minister Schoof believes it is "of the utmost importance" that Iran never gets its hands on a nuclear weapon, he said in a press moment after a meeting of the National Security Council. He calls on Iran to return to the negotiating table soon.

Schoof expressed great concern about the developments in the Middle East. He remained silent about the American bombing of Iran; he did not want to say whether or not the cabinet supports it. "I will not make any statements about whether international law has been violated," Schoof said.
The outgoing cabinet held an extra meeting of the National Security Council today. In that council, the ministers discuss developments that also affect Dutch security.
According to the cabinet, there are currently no major consequences for the NATO summit, which will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Now that American President Trump is busy with the bombing of Iran and its aftermath, it is also questionable whether his visit to the Netherlands will go ahead. "I still assume that, I have not received any counter-message," says Schoof.
At the moment, there are still around 150 Dutch soldiers in Iraq, Iran's neighbouring country. They cannot leave there now, because the airspace is closed. According to caretaker minister Brekelmans (Defence), they are still safe at the moment, but they are looking into how they can leave quickly.
Brekelmans of Defence also said this morning in the television programme WNL op Zondag that he does not find the move by American president Trump surprising in any case. "We have not been formally informed, but we already had indications through our sources that it would happen."
Brekelmans says he understands the bombing of Iran, because the nuclear threat of the country is too great for Israel. "It cannot be the case that Israel is doing the dirty work all the time. Ultimately, agreements must be reached with Iran, so that they stop the nuclear programme."
The VVD minister therefore hopes that Iran will accept the offer to negotiate. "As far as I'm concerned, we need to increase the pressure on Iran to come to the table. I think that hardly anyone has any sympathy for this Iranian regime, given what they do for their own people."

(Source: NOS.nl)