Dutchman loses home in devastating avalanche in Switzerland: 'Everything gone in a few seconds'

(EMMEN / BLATTEN) On the spot where Harry Leutscher's home stood until Wednesday, there is now nothing left but a thick layer of mud, ice and stones. For seventeen years, Leutscher had a second home in Blatten, Switzerland, which was buried under an avalanche on Wednesday. Now that house has been 'completely destroyed'. "There is literally nothing left of it," Leutscher told RTL Nieuws.

The resident of Emmen is still stunned by it. His beloved holiday home was in a beautiful spot in the Lötschental, the region where his roots lie. From the balcony, Leutscher looked out at the mountains. He was still on his May holiday, not knowing that it would be his last visit to Blatten.
Earlier this month, Leutscher was informed by telephone about the evacuation of the village. People only had an hour to gather their most important possessions. The signals were such that a disaster was imminent. It took until last Wednesday. "The worst-case scenario has come true," says Leutscher. "What could have happened in the most extreme scenario has happened."
"It happened in a few seconds," he says. He calls it a tragedy, primarily for the permanent residents of the Swiss village. "For me it is a second home. Here in Emmen I still have my own things. But my Swiss upstairs neighbor is truly speechless because of the situation. He can hardly talk about it. The emotional impact is enormous. Although fortunately everyone survived."
That they are going to rebuild Blatten is 'clear as day' for Leutscher. "How they are going to do that, no one is thinking about that yet. There are also still many questions. What is possible? Will the village be rebuilt in the same place, or in a different place? It will all take a few more years. But the knowledge, money and the right mentality are there for that."

(Source: RTL Nieuws)

Dozens of Dutch people affected by huge fire at French campsite

Dozens of Dutch campers have lost their holiday homes after a huge fire at a campsite in Agde, France. It destroyed a total of 181 mobile homes. No one was seriously injured, but the Dutch had to watch from the beach as one caravan after another went up in flames. "You can see: hey, there goes our spot."
It concerns Les Sables d'Or, a large campsite on the beach at the Mediterranean Sea. Dozens of Dutch people have their own caravan there, often extended with a beautiful veranda. Some have been coming there for over forty years, which has created a real Dutch community. With even its own Dutch reception.
That community is now suddenly in danger of falling apart. It started on Tuesday afternoon around 3:30 PM with a small fire, but the enormous wind made it spread quickly, Jacques Bonnier saw. He is chairman of the association of Dutch caravan owners at the campsite. “When it became clear that it was unbearable, people started running and shouting. The site was evacuated very quickly.”
The strong wind caused the fire to spread quickly, but it also saved some suffering. It was not nice beach weather, which is why many people were at their caravans, Bonnier saw. “Luckily, many immediately took their car and passport with them. But most of them don’t have much left. A pair of swimming trunks, a T-shirt. A few essentials. That’s it.”
Most people fled to the beach, where they were safe from the sea of ​​flames. From there, they still had a good view of the campsite. “You see those enormous plumes of smoke. And from a distance you can also see: hey, that’s our spot. That’s not going well. At one point, it went from bad to worse. You see helicopters flying over, lots of fire brigades. And you hear gas bottles continuously popping. That’s not nice to hear either. It’s all very bad.”
Bonnier suspects that the fire department decided to let a part of the campsite burn down in a controlled manner, in order to save the area around it. In the end, 181 mobile homes burned down, on a piece of land the size of 1.5 hectares. About 35 of those caravans belonged to Dutch people. Bonnier's own caravan was also completely burned down, as were those of his son and daughter. "They were beautiful, large mobile homes. With beautiful verandas in front. But we went there yesterday and there is really nothing left of them."
It was therefore a sad sight when the Dutch people were allowed to return to the otherwise completely closed campsite on Wednesday. Some were able to get some things from their damaged or undamaged holiday home. Others could do nothing more than take some dejected photos of the charred remains.

(Source: AD.nl)

EU just misses 2030 climate target, questions about 2040 not answered

(BRUSSELS) The European Union is almost on track to meet the 2030 climate target, but without additional measures it will just miss. The European Commission reports that as things stand now, the EU will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. The legal climate target of 55 percent emission reduction would therefore be achieved by a hair's breadth.
The three European Commissioners Wopke Hoekstra (Climate), Teresa Ribera (Clean Transition) and Dan Jørgensen (Energy) conclude this based on the climate plans of all European member states, they said at a press conference this morning. If the member states implement their existing and proposed climate plans, the 54 percent emission reduction will be achieved, they say.
This means that the legal target remains in sight. That goal is part of the global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2 and to mitigate climate change. Without major emission reductions, the process of climate change will not stop.
The Commission is particularly positive about the energy sector. In 2023, renewable energy accounted for around 24 percent of European energy consumption. The agricultural and transport sectors are lagging behind, the Commission notes. Belgium, Estonia and Poland also have yet to submit their full climate plans.
Although it is therefore too early to blow the trumpet, the European Commission noted that previous backlogs have been significantly reduced and the Member States are almost there. The Commissioners believe that the countries have shown that they have the "political will to reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels, and to improve the resilience and security of energy supplies and infrastructure".
The three Commissioners speak of a "solid foundation" for the discussions they will have with the Member States about the next steps. The intention is for the EU to be climate neutral by 2050. This means that the EU will no longer add any extra CO2 to the atmosphere from that year onwards.
That target still stands, but remarkably enough the Commission is now a lot vaguer about the interim target for 2040. Originally, the aim was to achieve a 90 percent reduction in emissions compared to 1990 in that year, but that intention has come under great pressure in recent months. Whether the EU will stick to this target, one of the most ambitious worldwide, was not stated.

(Source: NOS.nl)

Jury's Opinion: Who is guilty in Gaza?

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

On Friday (May 16), Israel began the actual ethnic cleansing and further extermination and starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Netanyahu is reviving the history of 85 to 80 years ago, of the ethnic cleansing and extermination of a people, as if the government of Israel, which represents the Jewish people, has learned nothing from its own history.

While the whole world, including Israel, keeps shouting "never again", it is precisely Israel itself that is now guilty of these war crimes.
The worst thing at the moment, in my opinion, is that the Western world, such as the US and the countries of the European Union, are standing by and doing nothing to stop Netanyahu. There are calls to 'start an investigation' into the proportionality of Israel's current actions in Gaza, such as by the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Veldkamp, but of course that makes no sense and has no influence on the Israeli government, certainly not on the nationalist Orthodox Jewish parties in that government.
Why is there such a cautious reaction and why are people in the West afraid to take a harder line with Israel? In the Netherlands it will have to do with the fear of Geert Wilders and the PVV, the biggest friends of genocide of Israel and Netanyahu in the Dutch government.
As soon as the cabinet wants to take a harder line with Netanyahu, Geert rushes up to speak out against X shame of letting Israel fall.
And abroad, Donald Trump, president of the most powerful country in the world, fails in all languages to take a harder line with Israel.

But what should we do then?
Well, as far as I'm concerned, the only correct reaction at this moment is to break ALL relations with Israel, both political and scientific, and declare the ambassador of Israel an 'undesirable person' and expel the Netherlands, whereby this should actually be done by all countries of the European Union together.
If this does not happen and no more robust steps are taken against Israel than some nonsensical weak requests for an investigation, the Netherlands, the countries of the European Union, but also countries like the US, are partly guilty of the ethnic cleansing and the murder and starvation of the Palestinian people by Israel, and therefore partly guilty of war crimes.
And that is something we should not want in the Netherlands (and Europe), as the host country of international law and the largest and oldest defender of democracy and the rule of law in the world.

Jury.