NEWS - House prices rose 3.7%

House prices rose 3.7% on average last year (2006), says estate agents' association NVM. Home-owners now pay an average of €241,000 for a home. The NVM says interest rate rises and an increase in economic growth will boost house prices some 5% in 2007.

NEWS - Give your money to a Gorilla

The gorilla Jacko, who picks stocks for the beursgorilla.nl website according to which banana he eats, has had better result than the AEX for the seventh year running. Jacko booked a return on investment of 27.9% last year while the AEX as a whole rose 13.4%. Jacko’s portfolio of 10 stocks is adjusted every month.

The Netherlands is the third most pleasant country to live

The Netherlands is the third most pleasant country to live in after France and Australia according to a survey of 193 countries by internet magazine International Living. Criteria measured included the cost of living, tax levels, climate, opportunities for growing markets, safety, infrastructure and pollution.


FRANCE: DONE
NEXT DESTINATION: AUSTRALIA

NEWS - Dutch children are the luckiest

Dutch children are the luckiest in the developed world in terms of wealth, education, security and family relationships, according to a new Unicef survey of 21 developed countries entitled Child Poverty in Perspective.

NEWS - The Dutch economy grew by 2.9%

The Dutch economy grew by 2.9% last year, double the rate of 2005, the national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday. The CBS said the Netherlands is poised for an economic boom which is defined as three years of growth above 3%. The last time the Dutch economy was officially booming was between 1995 and 2000.

NEWS- Winter warmest on record so far

Winter 2006-7 is the warmest on record with an average temperature of around 6.5 degrees Celsius – twice as warm as the 3.3 degrees norm for December to February - say weather experts at Meteo Consult. The previous record was set in 1990, with an average temperature of 6 degrees.

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

What is 2.0.
It is US, linking, sharing, and much more

NEWS - HOLLAND WILL NOT FLOOD... E MENO MALE!!

The Netherlands will not be flooded because of global warming but the sea level along the Dutch coast will rise more than the in the rest of the world, according to a report by Dutch environmental think-tank MNP and weather bureau KNMI.

The United Nations climate panel said on Friday that the sea level is set to rise between 18 and 59 centimetres by 2100. But the KNMI says the rise in sea levels off the Dutch coast could be as high as 85 cm because the level of the North Atlantic will rise more than elsewhere.

Increases of less than one metre per century could be tackled using current technology, the Dutch organisations said. However they warned that inland waterways would also be more vulnerable to flooding. Most of the Netherlands is below sea level and the country is protected by a complicated system of dykes, seawalls and sluices.

The UN report said that human behaviour is responsible for more than 90% for global warming. Average temperatures will rise between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees this century, bringing more extreme weather conditions, melting glaciers and raising sea levels.

Reacting to the report, environment minister Pieter Winsemius said the battle to reduce global warming needs a much stronger emphasis in the ongoing cabinet formation talks. ‘Something extra must be done,’ he said. Junior minister Pieter van Geel, tipped for a top environmental job in the next cabinet, said there was no escape from the need to take urgent action.


MORTACIC VOSTRI HO APPENA COMPRATO CASA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!