The Dutch are still happy but slightly less so, and young adults are hardest hit

DutchNews, April 20, 2022 

While a large majority of adults in the Netherlands are happy with their lives, there has been a slight drop since 2019, and young adults have been hardest hit, according to research by national statisticsagency CBS. 

In total, just over 86% of people are happy, but that is down from just under 89% before coronavirus restricted socialising. But among young adults up to the age of 25, the drop is more noticeable, from 87.5% to almost 81% now, the CBS said. 

In 1997, young adults were the happiest group in the population. Nowadays, people aged 65 to 75 are most likely to be happy, with 90% giving their lives a score of at least seven out of 10. 

The Netherlands has long been considered one of the happiest nations on the planet. In the most recent UN World Happiness Report the Netherlands was in fifth place, behind Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland. 

However, several research projects have suggested that coronavirus has had a significant impact on the lives of young adults. 

The CBS itself said last year coronavirus has had a negative impact on the lives of almost half the Netherlands’ teenagers and young adults, but 43% say it has had both negative and positive effects.

Dutch football association says women may join top men’s amateur teams

DutchNews, May 11, 2021 

The Dutch women’s team playing Germany earlier this year. Photo:
Maurice van Steen ANP

The Dutch football association KNVB has given the green light for talented female players to join men’s teams at the highest level of the amateur game. 

From next season, female players will be able to play for their club’s top men’s team, including those in the A category, the KNVB said. The decision, the association said, is a ‘historic moment for amateur football in the Netherlands and worldwide.’ Until now, mixed teams have only been an option in youth and lower level adult teams. 

‘Given the spirit of the times and recent research, we don’t see any reason to stick to [men only] teams and are going for equality and diversity,’ the association’s amateur game director Jan-Dirk van der Zee said. 

‘We want to offer girls and women a place in the football landscape based on their qualities and own ambition.’ 

The KNVB has already run one experiment. This season, Ellen Fokkema was given special dispensation to play for Frisian fourth division team Foarut. 

Even though only seven matches have been played because of coronavirus, the trial has been positive, the KNVB said. 

Men will not be allowed to join the women’s competition. 

11 things you need to know about Dutch women’s football 

Women’s football became part of the KNVB’s remit in 1971 and in 1986 the association allowed mixed teams up to the age of 12. The age limit was extended to category A youngsters in 1996. 

By sanctioning mixed football, the KNVB says, girls in small villages and towns where there may not be enough female players are now able to take up the sport.

Intimidation, bullying rampant in top flight gymnastics: report

DutchNews, April 28, 2021 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

A long-awaited report commissioned by Dutch gymnastics federation KNGU into the scale and nature of abuse in gymnastics has shown that former top athletes in particular have been the victim of ‘transgressive behaviour’, meriting apologies, after care and compensation. 

Two thirds of the former athletes participating in the survey, carried out by professor of sports law Marjan Olfers and criminologist Anton van Wijk following last year’s allegations of abuse, said they had been subjected to behaviour which broke moral and social boundaries. 

The problems ranged from ‘constant threats of humiliation, insults, negative criticism, being made a fool of, intimidation, isolation and threats’ to forcing gymnasts to practice with injuries and inciting them to lose too much weight. 

Some 85% of the former top athletes reported abuse compared with 35% of amateur gymnasts. However, the results are illustrative rather than representative, the researchers said because the number of respondents was small. 

Only 21% of adult gymnasts and 17% of juniors filled out the survey, prompting the report’s conclusion that this is the tip of the iceberg. ‘We don’t know what goes on in the greater part of gymnastics in the Netherlands,’ Olfers and Van Wijk said. 

The victims of the abuse, which included sexual abuse and two claims of rape, must be offered apologies, after care and damages, the researchers said. 

Culture 

Some of the harsh behaviour by coaches can to some extent be explained by the tough training culture taken over from East European countries, the researchers said. ‘The individual well-being of the gymnasts was not taken into account and this sort of behaviour became normalised.’ 

They recommend that the subject should be openly discussed between clubs, coaches, young gymnasts and their parents, putting the welfare of the gymnasts centre stage, and not their performance, the researchers said. 

Other recommendations to change the culture of the gym hall include having another person present to alert coaches if they go too far, and another look at the often very young age at which gymnasts start their sports career. 

Although the KNGU had investigated claims of abuse in the past, it failed to take action, the report said, in part because intimidation and violence have only been included in the disciplinary regulations in 2020 and because coaches are not under contract with the KNGU. This must change, the researchers said, and clubs too must be KNGU approved. 

KNGU chairwoman Monique Kempf said in a reaction that although painful, the KNGU is happy the ‘whole story is on the table in full openness’. She said the former gymnasts will be invited to discuss their specific needs and that lessons will be drawn from the findings.

D66 investigates MP over inappropriate behaviour claims

DutchNews, April 14, 2021 

Sidney Smeets in parliament. Photo: Robin Utrecht ANP/HH 

Liberal democratic party D66 has launched an internal investigation after claims of sexually inappropriate behaviour were made against new MP Sidney Smeets. 

A number of young men have reported being approached by Smeets, a lawyer and now 45, on Twitter, Facebook and gay dating app Grindr. In some cases, the young men say they were under 18 at the time. 

‘Let me be clear, in our party there is no room for inappropriate behaviour,’ party leader Sigrid Kaag said in a statement. ‘D66 has clear standards for how our people should behave and that is why we are taking these claims very serious.’ 

Smeets too has issued a statement saying he is shocked that people have experienced his approaches as being unwanted. ‘That was never my intention,’ he said. ‘As far as I am aware, I have always behaved in line with the Dutch law.’ 

Smeets said he would fully cooperate with the inquiry.

Victims of youth care abuse can claim €5,000 under new compensation ruling

DutchNews, January 4, 2021 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

People who suffered abuse in youth care can claim €5,000 in compensation under a new regulation that came into force on January 1. 

The ruling applies to anyone who was subjected to violence or abuse while living in an institution or with a foster family between 1945 and 2019. Victims have until the end of 2022 to submit their claim. 

An investigation commissioned by the government found in 2015 that 75% of children taken into care since the end of the war had suffered physical, verbal or sexual abuse as a result. Micha de Winter, professor of social sciences at the university of Utrecht, interviewed around 1,000 victims while compiling his 5,000-page report. 

De Winter said the abuse of children incare was a ‘dark chapter’ in the Netherlands’ post-war history. ‘This isn’t about people getting hit once or twice, but systematic violence,’ he said. 

‘We have been working on this for four years and we were pretty shocked by it. The people who experienced this violence often came from homes where there were problems and violence sometimes played a role. The effect was that they were exposed to it again.’

Protestant schools under fire over homosexuality statement; MPs call for change

DutchNews, November 10, 2020 

Education minister Arie Slob after the debate. Photo: Phil Nijhuis

A majority of MPs are calling for change to a loophole used by fundamentalist Protestant schools in the Netherlands to require parents to sign a document saying they reject homosexual lifestyles. 

The issue was highlighted during a debate on citizenship education in parliament on Monday afternoon, when education minister Arie Slob defended the current practice, saying that schools can require parents to state their rejection of homosexuality using freedom of education legislation. 

At the same time, Slob told MPs, schools are also required to be a safe place for all their pupils. ‘Let there be no misunderstanding,’ he said. ‘Schools are required to ensure the social, psychological and physical safety of all their pupils.’ 

MPs told the minister, who represents the staunchly Christian party ChristenUnie in the cabinet, that the two statements are incompatible. 

‘I expect Slob to put an end to this sort of declaration as quickly as possible,’ Socialist MP Peter Kwint, who drew up the motion, said. ‘A school cannot both create safe surroundings for all pupils and require parents to state that they reject homosexuality. You are making the situation unsafe for children both in school and at home.’ 

VVD MPs have also thrown their weight behind the call for change. ‘Schools have to be a safe place for everyone, regardless of origin, religion or sexual orientation,’ said Rudmer Heerma. ‘We cannot allow schools to set conditions.’ 

The proposal is also supported by D66, PvdA and GroenLinks, but not by any of the three religious parties or the far right PVV and FvD, Trouw reported on Tuesday. 

Research by current affairs programme Pointer earlier this year showed that one in five strictly Protestant schools consider homosexuality to be morally unacceptable. In total, 34 out of 170 had a document online making their position clear.

In the film "Francesco" by Evgeny Afineevsky, which premiered at the 2020 Rome
Film Festival, Pope Francis says that gay people have "the right to be in a family"

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"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)  - (Text version)

“… Gender Switching

Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."

It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”

The Netherlands is the ‘best place to be a child’ says Unicef in new report

DutchNews, September 3, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Children in the world’s richest countries, including the Netherlands, are grappling with mental health concerns, obesity and poor social and academic skills, according to a new study published on Thursday by the UN children’s fund Unicef. .

Nevertheless, the well-being of Dutch children remains top of a list of the 41 most prosperous countries in the world, Unicef said. Denmark and Norway are in second and third place. 

While the figures for the Netherlands are to be welcomed, ‘we should not forget the children in the Netherlands who do not have it so good,’ Suzanne Laszlo, director of Unicef Nederland said. 

In addition, she said, growing up in a prosperous country is no guarantee of a happy and healthy life. ‘We know from recent research that Dutch youngsters’ suffer most stress from pressure at school. And as this pressure increases, youngsters experience more emotional problems and become less happy. And the coronavirus crisis is only adding to this.’ 

It is therefore key to keep a close eye on the impact coronavirus is having on children, she said. ‘It is the poorest children and families who are being hardest hit, and that can increase inequality,’ she said. 

While Dutch children top the ranking in terms of their mental health, with 90% reporting being satisfied with life, they are 9th in terms of physical health. The Netherlands is also mid table for child mortality rates and 25% of children are considered to be overweight.

Women used for slave labour take Sisters of the Good Shepherd to court

DutchNews, April 7, 2020 

A Magdalene laundry in England. Photo: Wikimedia Commons 

Five former inmates of the Catholic order of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, have subpoenaed the nuns to appear in court on charges of forced labour, the NRC reports. 

The women want the abuse they suffered to be recognised and the money they were denied to be paid to them. The order has always refused, arguing there is no legal basis for the accusation because the events took place too long ago. 

It is up to the court to decide if this argument is valid. The statute of limitation rule is rarely lifted, the paper said, although the judge may take into account the fact that for decades the women had been too traumatised to ask for legal redress. 

In the Netherlands at least 15,000 young girls and women were forced to work in the laundries and sewing rooms of the Catholic order of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd between 1860 and 1979. 

The order had homes all over Europe, Canada and Australia where girls were forced to work, with some of the most notorious abuse taking place in the Magdalene laundries in Ireland. 

In the Netherlands, where the order ran homes in Zoeterwoude, Almelo, Velp and Tilburg, girls – prostitutes or unmarried mothers but more often orphans, disabled girls or girls convicted of petty crime – were put into the homes against their will by parents and official child protection organisations until the late 1970s. 

Work therapy 

Once in the home the chores, presented as ‘work therapy’ turned out to be forced labour in what was in fact a textile factory with clients including hospitals, hotels, the church and the government. For example, in 1933 an order for 40,000 army shirts was given to the nuns. In Velp the girls even made the dowry of the late princess Juliana. 

Apart from hard unpaid labour the inmates of the homes were also subjected to sexual abuse, harsh punishments and a lack of medical care and education. 

An independent investigation into the abuse last year concluded that the women had indeed been subjected to slave labour, including according to the norms of the time. 

The five women, who lived at the institution between 1951 and 1979 and were between 11 and 21 at the time, will be represented in court by lawyers Liesbeth Zegveld and Brechtje Vossenberg.

What the new coronavirus measures in the Netherlands mean for you

DutchNews, March 13, 2020 

Empty shelves in a Dutch supermarket. Photo: DutchNews.nl 

The Dutch government on Thursday announced new nationwide measures to try to contain the coronavirus epidemic in the Netherlands. Here’s what you need to know. 

Social contacts

• If you have a cold, a cough, sore throat or a fever stay home. Avoid contact with others. Only call your doctor if your symptoms get worse. 
• Gatherings of more than 100 people have been cancelled. This includes public places such as museums, concerts, theatres, professional and amateur sports events and matches. 
• Churches and mosques are also cancelling their services 
• There are currently no restrictions on visiting a cafe or restaurant, as long as you do not have any symptoms 
• Work from home if possible or stagger your working times. 
• Try to avoid close contact with the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. 
• In particular, elderly people and those with weakened immune systems are asked to avoid large gatherings and public transport. 
• Healthcare workers are being asked to stay home only if they have symptoms including a fever. They are also being asked not to travel abroad. 

Education

• Universities and hbo colleges have been requested to offer online lectures and the university and college associations have said they will stop all physical forms of education for the time being, including exams. 
• Children who have a cold, cough or fever should stay at home. 
• Primary schools, secondary schools, secondary vocational schools (MBO) and childcare centres will remain open as usual. This, the government says, is because children and young people are not high-risk groups and closing schools would have a major impact on society without contributing significantly to reducing the spread of coronavirus. 

The measures apply up to and including March 31. 

Hygiene 

The Dutch public health institute RIVM and World Health Organisation say everyone should follow these instructions to prevent infection: 

• Avoid shaking hands and physical contact 
• Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap or alcohol rub 
• Sneeze into a tissue or  your elbow 
• Use paper tissues and dispose of them immediately 
• Stay away at least one metre away from people who are sneezing or coughing 
• Avoid touching your face with your hands, which may have picked up the virus 

The RIVM says face masks should only be worn by medical staff. Most of the paper masks used by the general public are worthless and offer a false sense of security, officials say. 

Coronavirus in the Netherlands, the questions you want answered 

Tests 

Tests for coronavirus can only be requested via the local health board or a hospital and it takes around 24 hours for the test results to come through. 

Testing is currently only being carried out on people who have worsening symptoms and have been in an at risk area or in contact with people who have coronavirus. 

The RIVM has an interactive map showing where corona infections are being confirmed. 

Can I still go on holiday? 

The Dutch foreign affairs ministry has up-to-date advice on foreign travel and has set up a red to green coding system for coronavirus. Currently China, Iran and Italy should be avoided for all but essential travel. The Dutch government website has more information in English. 

The US has imposed a travel ban on all incoming flights from the EU from Saturday. 

Official information sources in English 

Dutch public health institute RIVM 
Dutch government website 
The government has also published flyers in a variety of languages about the recommended hygiene measures.

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"Kryon on Corona", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar 13, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis) - New

Dutch get tough on ‘virginity repair ops’ and child marriage

DutchNews, February 19, 2020 

Golden handcuffs? Photo: Depositphotos.com

Dutch doctors have pledged to stop carrying out operations to ‘restore’ women’s hymens, as one of a package of measures to tackle what ministers call ‘damaging practices’ affecting mainly women and girls. 

There were 120 hymen repair operations at Dutch clinics in 2018, broadcaster NOS reported, most of which took place in a commercial clinic and cost up to €1,100. 

The operation, which involves a few stitches under local anasthetic, is undergone by girls whose culture expects them to bleed the first time they have sex on their wedding night. Doctors are particularly opposed to the operation because there is technically nothing to ‘repair’.

‘Family pressure on girls should not be a way to make money,’ health minister Hugo de Jonge said. If the practice is not stopped on a voluntary basis, the Netherlands will bring in legislation to make it illegal, De Jonge said in a briefing to MPs. 

Child marriages

In addition, the Netherlands will no longer recognise child marriages which have been performed abroad, even if both partners are now adults. 

‘If your parents marry you off at a young age, perhaps to someone you don’t even know, then your childhood ends abruptly,’ justice minister Sander Dekker said. ‘Children should be allowed to be children and marriage is not part of that.’ 

The measures, announced by the two ministers on Wednesday, are part of a major programme by the health and justice ministries to combat domestic violence and child abuse.

Half the children in final refugee amnesty review can stay

DutchNews, February 12, 2020 

Children in the Ter Apel refuguee centre. Photo: Peter de Ruiter/ UNHCR Brussel

Just over half the refugee children hoping to be given residency rights in the Netherlands in a final review of the child refugee amnesty have won the right to stay. 

In total, 569 out of 1,100 children have been given residency permits, along with 502 adult family members, junior justice minister Ankie Broekers-Knol told MPs on Wednesday. 

The cases of 263 children were given an automatic review, after MPs agreed to soften the criteria in a final attempt to end the problems around the amnesty early last year. 

Of those 263 cases, 235 were granted residency. In addition, a further 837 children applied for the amnesty who were not part of the automatic review. Most of those cases were rejected, but 334 children were given a residency permit, Broekers-Knol said. 

Most of the children who did not qualify had either not lived in the Netherlands for five years, had not applied before they turned 18 or did not have a refugee request pending, the minister said. 

Scrapped 

Wednesday’s announcement means the amnesty (known as a pardon in Dutch), has now been scrapped, as agreed by the coalition parties last year. Officials hope asylum procedures have now been made faster so that children do not have time to become ‘rooted in the Netherlands’. 

The Netherlands has been criticised by both human rights groups and psychiatrists for deporting children, many of whom were born here, back to countries where they did not speak the language and which they had never visited. 

The issue came to a head in January last year and threatened to cause a serious rift in the cabinet after the Christian Democrats did a u-turn and said they supported giving the children the right to stay after all. 

IND officials said at the time the review was launched they expected most of the children and their family members will now be allowed to stay, taking the total to around 1,300 people.

Amsterdam hotels, nightclubs asked to help spot sex abuse, grooming

DutchNews, February 4, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Amsterdam city council is to ask hotels, restaurants and nightclubs to report potential cases of grooming, harassment and abuse as one of a series of measures to try to boost the safety of women in the capital. 

National research shows that 22% of women have been victims of sexual violence and the number of incidents of domestic violence registered by Amsterdam police department increased by 7% within a year, from 6,183 in 2017 to 6,608 in 2018, officials said on Tuesday. 

In addition, city research published last July shows 51% of women in Amsterdam had been subject to some form of harassment in the street in the previous year. The figure rises to 81% among the under-35s, with women most likely to report being whistled at, or subject to sexually-tinted comments. 

‘Fighting harassment and violence against girls and women is a priority for the city’s administration,’ officials said in a press release. ‘This must take into account the many different forms that can take: from catcalling and hissing, to repeated sexual abuse. If a law is being broken, it is of the utmost importance that this is being reported.’ 

Mayor Femke Halsema is introducing a range of new initiatives to tackle different aspects of the problem, including setting up support networks and shelters for victims and boosting the amount of research.. 

In particular, officials say, it is ‘highly likely’ that hotels, restaurants and nightclub staff are witness to plenty of cases of grooming, harassment and abuse. 

The mayor is now approaching the industry to make agreements based on a voluntary commitment to report these crime and is also looking into ways to force businesses that are unwilling to cooperate on this to report crimes. 

In 2017, city councillors voted in favour of a ban on street harassment, such as hissing and catcalls. However the bylaw has not yet been enacted pending the outcome of complicated legal case launched by Rotterdam city council last year.

Turkey deports ISIS bride and child back to the Netherlands

DutchNews, December 29, 2019 

Photo: Depositophotos.com

Turkey has sent a 28-year-old Dutch woman who went to Syria to join IS forces back to the Netherlands, along with her four-year-old child, the public prosecution department has confirmed. 

The Telegraaf named her as Kawtar S from Gouda who had been living in the Kurdish refugee camp Al-Hol. 

The paper quotes Middle East news website Al-Monitor as saying that the S and another woman paid smugglers €3,600 each to take them to Turkey, where they reported to the Dutch consulate in Ankara at the end of October. 

S left the Netherlands in 2013 when she was 21, despite the efforts of the authorities and her family to keep her home, the paper said. She is now being held in the high security prison in Vught, along with other terrorist suspects. Her child has been handed over to social workers. 

Turkey sent two other Dutch women back to the Netherlands in November. One of them has two children and has been stripped of her Dutch nationality, making her liable for deportation to Morocco after serving jail time. 

Since November, Turkey has deported more than 110 foreigners back to their countries of origin, according to Turkish press agency Anadolu. The Netherlands wants them to be tried at a special tribunal in the region.

Dutch king focuses on freedom, urges people to listen to each other

DutchNews, December 25, 2019

The king giving his speech. Photo: Arenda Oomen via HH

King Willem-Alexander’s Christmas speech to the nation focused on the theme of freedom this year. 

Freedom, the king said, is a flame that burns in the heart of the Netherlands. ‘But that freedom has a price,’ he said. ‘It demands reason, a willingness to give each other space and tolerance.‘ 

The Netherlands, he said, is a successful country because it is a country in which people work together. ‘Even if emotions can run high, the Dutch have a feeling of togetherness. That is our strength. This contributes not only to a country which performs well, but to a land in which people are happy,’ the king said. 

At the same time, young people in particular should ‘give yourself space’, the king said, speaking in the hall of the Huis ten Bosch palace where the royal family live.  Doubt, sadness and insecurity are all part of life, the king said. 

‘As free people, we want to get the best out of life, and we blame ourselves if that does not happen. We reflect ourselves in others, we aim too high and we want to present a perfect version of ourselves to the rest of the world… but no-one is perfect.’ 

‘Our happiness lies in our connections to others. We should not let each other go. We should listen to each other and show understanding… it helps if you look at someone and say “it is okay”,’ the king said.

‘A listening ear, an outstretched hand or a shoulder to lean on is the best present a person can give, and not only at Christmas.’

Eight men arrested in Den Bosch, charged with raping teenage girls

DutchNews, December 3, 2019 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Eight men have been arrested in early morning raids on homes in Den Bosch and Rosmalen in connection with the rape of a number of under-age girls. 

The arrests are the result of an investigation lasting several months and more arrests cannot be ruled out, police said in a statement. 

The investigation began after three girls aged 15 and 16 made separate reports to the police about being raped by a group of men. The girls had been groomed via social media, lured to a garage in Den Bosch and then raped several times. 

Police say the youngsters may have been drugged and there are indications that the same may have happened to other girls. They hope that by rounding up the ringleaders, girls who have been too scared to report the attacks may come forward. 

‘A sex case of this magnitude is very rare,’ a police spokesman said. 

The eight men who have been arrested range in age from 18 to 26 and are being kept in isolation, which means they may only have contact with a lawyer.

Dutch police arrest Hague knife assault suspect

Yahoo – AFP, Danny KEMP and Sara MAGNIETTE, November 30, 2019

The attack took place in Grote Marktstraat, the city's biggest shopping area
(AFP Photo/Sara MAGNIETTE)

The Hague (AFP) - Dutch police arrested a homeless man on Saturday over a knife assault in a busy shopping street in The Hague which three teenagers were wounded.

The 35-year-old suspect was detained in the centre of the city a day after the stabbing which caused panic as shoppers hunted Black Friday bargains.

Police had earlier said they were investigating "several scenarios" and that it was "too early to speculate" about whether there was a possible terror motive.

The attack happened just hours after a terror suspect stabbed two people to death in London.

"Following the stabbing incident in Grote Marktstraat, a 35-year-old man has just been arrested in the centre of The Hague. The man has no fixed place of residence," police said on Twitter.

"He will be transferred to a police station where he will be questioned."

The victims were a 13-year-old boy and two 15-year-old girls, none of whom knew each other, police said. They were all treated in hospital but released overnight.

The male attacker ran off after the stabbings at a department store in the city centre, triggering a huge manhunt involving police helicopters.

Images on social media showed shoppers running in panic away from the scene, on a nighttime retail street lit by Christmas fairy lights.

Two teenage girls came running into the store after being stabbed, broadcaster NOS quoted witnesses as saying.

Map of Europe locating London and The Hague, after stabbing attacks 

on Friday (AFP Photo/AFP)

'Screaming and running away'

"I saw two girls screaming and running away. A man fled. He jumped very athletically over benches to get away. He looked like a cheetah," one witness told NOS.

"People were trying to get away. but that didn't work. I was shocked."

Police forensics officers were seen examining a knife found at the scene overnight.

"It's a little too early to speculate about that kind of thing," police spokeswoman Marije Kuiper told AFP earlier when asked about a possible terrorist motive, adding that investigators were still looking at several possible scenarios.

The stabbing took place not far from parliament, which is the seat of government for the Netherlands and home to many international organisations and courts.

In Britain, two members of the public were killed in a stabbing on London Bridge in the heart of the capital on Friday.

The Netherlands has seen a series of terror attacks and plots, although not so far on the scale of those in other European countries.

In March four people were killed when a Turkish-born man opened fire on a tram in the city of Utrecht.

In August 2018 an Afghan man stabbed and seriously wounded two American tourists at Amsterdam's central station, saying he wanted to "protect the Prophet Mohammed".

He was jailed for 26 years in October this year.

Earlier this month a Pakistani man was sentenced to 10 years in jail for a plot to kill far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

Nine-year-old Belgian prodigy set for university degree

AFP, Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD, 22 November 2019

The Belgian boy will in December become one of the world's youngest graduates

Like many other nine-year-olds, Laurent Simons likes TV and his pet dog. But he also wants to make artificial organs, and is about to get the qualifications to set him on his way.

The Belgian boy will in December receive a degree in electrical engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, which will make him one of the world's youngest graduates.

Far from being fazed by his achievements, which also saw him complete the course in just nine months instead of the usual three years, Laurent says it's "normal" -- although he adds too that it's "cool".

"I'm currently studying electrical engineering. It's about designing circuits and things like that. So chips, actually," the mop-haired youngster told AFP in the Dutch capital Amsterdam.

He adds that "I really like karting. And I like playing with my dog and watching Netflix."

His teachers run out of superlatives to describe him.

"Laurent's qualities are all simply extraordinary," says Sjoerd Hulshof, programme director for electrical engineering at the university, a course that itself is considered particularly difficult.

The boy is "the quickest student we've ever seen. And he's not just hyper-intelligent, but very nice", Hulshof told AFP.

He was raised in Ostend by his grandparents until the start of this year, 

as his parents Alexander and Lydia were "busy with work

'Being a child'

While Laurent is studying in the labs of the university, his best friends are playing tag in the playground of his old school in the Belgian coastal resort of Ostend.

Laurent, wearing a rollneck jumper, jeans and trainers, himself says that "I don't really miss primary school, but I still have friends there."

He was raised in Ostend by his grandparents until the start of this year, as his parents Alexander and Lydia were "busy with work" in the Netherlands.

Starting school at four, he completed primary in a year and a half. It has taken him just five years to go through primary and secondary school and university.

"In the end, it's about finding a balance for the child so that he enjoys life, being a child and being mischievous," says Alexander, 37, a Belgian dentist who has a practice in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

"His grandfather and his grandmother, who raised him, told us already: he is very intelligent, more than the others... Then, when he was old enough to go to school, they kept doing tests on him from higher levels," adds Lydia, 29, who is Dutch and works as a dental assistant for her husband.

Laurent has to be accompanied to university by his parents

'I've only just started'

They are now selling the Rotterdam surgery so they can "completely dedicate" themselves to Laurent, who must be taken to university every day because he is too young to go by himself.

"He can't take the train himself," says Alexander, whose Amsterdam home features a huge black and white artwork of the faces of himself and his son.

His parents admit they "don't understand at all" the subjects that come so easily to Laurent, whose closest companions apart from his dog are his laptop and a book on integrated circuits.

Laurent says his goal now after receiving his degree in December is to "make artificial organs to prolong life".

The reason? He wants to help heart patients -- like his grand-parents.

"I still have to see how I'll do it. I've only just started."

His parents are now already in contact with universities in the United States as they eye another degree for their son.

Aware of the media attention that has recently surrounded his son, Alexander says his son is growing up in a healthy environment unlike "singers and pop stars."

"If, one day, we realise he's becoming big-headed, that he's becoming pretentious or arrogant, we'll put his feet back on the ground."

VIDEO: Child prodigy Laurent Simons, 9, will graduate from the Eindhoven University of Technology before the end of the year after completing a multi-year course in less than 10 months pic.twitter.com/WiH3a9fbZU

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 24 november 2019

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"Common Questions from Non-Lightworkers" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"... Question Three: Is there life on other planets?

... I will tell you, as long as you stay in 3D, you'll still be getting in little metal cans and air suits and going to planets. As soon as you begin the quantum age, however, you will simply wish yourself there, because you will be entangled with everything and can go with intent. If you don't believe this now, you will later, for what I give you is true. It may be lifetimes and lifetimes from now, but the group that is before me is the group that is going to come back over and over. The difference is that you're done coming back in an old energy. This is a new energy..

When you come back, dear one, everything you know will be in your DNA and be on top [available]. You're not going to have to go through what you did before. As soon as you decide to look around and open the door [metaphor for free choice to awaken], everything you've learned this time around will be right there.

This is the attribute of what you would call "a child of new consciousness," which you have labeled with a color - indigo. The child remembers who they are. They are conceptual, and you believe they have to be taught from scratch! Hardly! They remember! Do you understand what is taking place? We told you this last time, but we want to review something with you: The animal on the prairie drops its calf and within hours, the calf is up, running with the herd. Did you know that the calf instantly knows who its enemies are, what water to drink that doesn't smell right, and what berries to eat that are not poison? Where did that come from? How did that infant animal know these things? The answer is that this information was biologically inherited. You call it instinct. But when you have a Human baby - nothing! It doesn't know anything but that it's hungry. It requires 20 years of teaching! Aren't you tired of that? Did you ever think about why the animals have so much knowledge to begin with and you have so little? Does that seem correct for the top of the evolutionary ladder? It's time for that to change.

You're starting to see it, even with the indigos. They come in knowing. That's why they're so impatient. You're trying to teach them things they already know instinctively. Just like the calf on the prairie, they come in knowing. Some of them try to teach you. That doesn't always go well. That was question three...."

"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)

"..... DNA - A Quantum Force 

Now we get to the core truth, don't we? So I will tell you. The ninety percent of DNA which is quantum, is filled with information, both esoteric and timeless. It is a quantum blueprint for everything you are and have been since you arrived on the planet the first time. DNA contains instruction sets for your life; everything from your full Akashic Record - every single lifetime you have had - to the benevolent creator's fingerprint within the seeds of creation itself. Every single talent you ever had is there, even if you don't have any of those today... the record is there. Every predisposition of weakness and strength are there. Biologically, every single instruction to every single stem cell is there. . ..."

"..... DNA is a Dynamic Molecule, not a static one.

Humanity is stuck in the 3D portion of their biological thinking. In your 3-D life, you simply accept the chemistry you're given. You act as though the three percent gene producing part is all there is. You believe it is a chemical protocol that is unchangeable and simply "you." You don't see it for the way it's designed. It's dynamic and always has been. It's not set, but will continue to simply repeat what it does unless there is another quantum influence on it.

Therefore you live with the 3 percent as though it were all there is, and since it just "came with your body" and seems to control everything, you never talk to it. Many of you come in with pre-dispositions based upon the karma which is put upon you from your past lives. You don't come in clean [without karmic energy]. Instead, you arrive with pre-dispositions, fears and phobias. Some are positive. Perhaps you come in as a prodigy continuing your last life... the 8-year-old who can paint like a master and do brushstrokes that take 30 years to develop. What does that tell you about what must be in the DNA?

Perhaps you come in as the composer, the pianist, the prodigy, the violinist, just waiting until your hands can go on the fingerboard or can reach up and fret the notes. Perhaps you come in knowing how to play the piano, just waiting for your hands to get big enough to do what you used to do... without any lessons. How do you explain that, dear ones? The answer is that all this is contained in the dynamic quantum instruction sets of your DNA... the part you never talk to it. .."

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon, would you please tell me if Indigo Children and Star Children are the same? Can someone born in the 1960’s be an Indigo?

Answer: Dear Human, don’t get bogged within your linearity in these things. You wish to compartmentalize everything, and thereby feel more comfortable in your understanding. Know this: All children being born on the planet have strong potential to be of the Indigo consciousness. Within that group there are many parts and attributes. What you have called a “Star Child” is a type of Indigo. The same goes for the “Crystal Children.”

Years ago we identified a new breed of Human that was slowly being introduced to earth. Now they are so plentiful that many are beginning to notice and categorize them. Our admonition is NOT to, but we know that sometimes make you feel better to do so. Another name for these “Star Children” are the Interdimensional or even the Interplanetary, if you wish.

As far as the potential of those born before or during the 1960’s: The answer is yes, but with a qualification. The “pure” Indigo Children have really only been arriving slowly for the past 25 or 30 years, but there are many who have what we call an “Indigo overlay.” This is Human who fits the generalizations, but without some of the absolutes that are buried in what you call the DNA that really qualify this new Human experience.

— Kryon

2016 begins and ends with music deaths

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two days after releasing an acclaimed album, "Blackstar" (AFP Photo/FRANCK FIFE)

"THE THREE WINDS" – Feb 23-24, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Humanity, Home - other side of the veil, Wind of Birth - Birth, Wind of Existence - Life, Wind of Transition - Death) - (Text version)

“… The Human Spiritual System

The puzzle during your life is about how much of this truth of being part of the creator you can accept. How far can you open the quantum door to see this truth when you are alive? This single attribute determines how enlightened you become during life. Listen: It's not how much knowledge and experience in is your Akash, but how much you allow yourself to believe it. There are many old souls on this planet who have an amazing amount of spiritual learning, yet they don't want to touch that "spiritual jar" within them at this point in their lives. This is the free choice of the Human Being we speak about.

There is immense planning that puts you at the Wind of Birth. What did you accomplish during the last lives, if anything? Who were you and what did you do? What energies did you start that were not complete that you wish to continue? What soul group were you in? Who were your parents? Are you in certain soul agreements to become their grandchildren? That is more common than you think! There are so many things that go into the planning of the "entry energy" of your life, and each life potential is different and unique. The planning is done by you when you have "the mind of God" on my side of the veil.

Humans don't like the fact that there is no generic spiritual instruction manual that states, "Here is what happens and here is what to do." Listen, dear ones, humanity is honored way above that! Are all your children the same? Do books on how to raise children always work for your child? The answer is no, because each soul is totally unique. But Humans still wish to have a list of things to do and not to do, as though each soul somehow came out of a spiritual machine that made them all the same. No. Instead, Spirit honors each soul with unique choice and a tremendous variety of energy selections.

The Great Artists

There are certain attributes that Humans receive on the planet, and we'll call them creative attributes. These are almost quantum attributes that may take several lifetimes to complete. What often happens to these creatives is that they go through a series of lifetimes as though it were one in order to have completion of their creative cycle. Famous artists will come back, and the first thing they want to do is pick up a brush and continue what they did before. Famous composers, famous poets and sculptors will come back and simply keep going! It's so obvious, yet you deny this in your scientific way.

So the creatives are different from the others, and their puzzle is to bring the planet the greatest treasures of art through a unified series of lives, yet personally they try to sort out the puzzle of "what they carry inside is valuable, but nobody knows it". If you've noticed, most of the great artists who have even lived and are here today carry a burden that is easily identified as "lack of self-worth". Do you see the set-up? It's ripe for personal discovery, isn't it? So can you see the Human standing in the Wind of Birth, ready to continue what they only began last time? With the "mind of God", there is a smile on their face as they hear the music that they will compose, for it's with them when they arrive.

As you stand at the Wind of Birth, you are completely and totally a unique creature with incomplete energies. It takes more than one short earthly life to create Human attributes that grow into maturity. Even non-creatives (most of you) have a lineage of starting something that never got fully completed. Sometimes it's within relationships. Sometimes it's learning or teachings. Old souls are good at this coming and going and often pick up where they leave off as they slowly change the planet by their very presence upon it. The old soul is, "Sewing the seeds of light on the carpet of linear time, not even knowing that he will also be harvesting those exact mature plants of wisdom as he returns in a subsequent life."

Therefore, dear one, you don't arrive with a blank slate, but you have to know that, don't you? The old soul feels it. The only ones who arrive with a completely blank slate are the newbies [first timers] and we'll talk about that in the next wind. But this is a room of old souls who are hearing and reading right now. Each of you is here with a spiritual jar that is filled with the experience of living on Earth, and sometimes even the attribute of "awakening to your own mastery".  ….”