| | | | | | | Hello. The party led by anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders has won the largest share of votes in the Netherlands. Europe editors Paul Kirby and Katya Adler take a closer look at the politician that was once compared to Donald Trump for his anti-immigration views. In Mexico, Leire Ventas joins women truckers working along some of the country's most dangerous roads. And while thousands of Americans dig into their stuffed turkeys, several US towns have seen a resurgence of wild turkeys roaming their streets. |
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| | | | | | Questions Answered | | What Wilders wants: coalition partners | | | | Mr Wilders has been living under 24/7 police protection since 2004. Credit: Reuters |
| | During his 25-year career in Dutch politics, Geert Wilders has been compared to various people. Austrian composer Mozart, for his sweeping mane of blonde hair. Former US President Donald Trump, for his anti-immigration rhetoric. The hair has greyed, but the fixation on anti-immigration policy has not faded. And now, after years of progressive growth at the polls, his PVV party has become the largest in the country, more than doubling its parliamentary seats from 17 to 37. But in the Netherlands' proportional representation system, Mr Wilders cannot rule alone. | | | | Paul Kirby, Europe editor, BBC News online |
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| | Will Mr Wilders now become prime minister? | | It's too early to tell. Dutch coalition negotiations can last months. Forming a majority with centrist parties will probably require him to drop the most radical elements of his party platform. | | What are some of those policies? | | Mr Wilders wants strict limits on immigration and a complete halt to all grants of asylum in the Netherlands, and to deport asylum seekers found guilty of criminal offences. Ideas such as introducing work permits for EU nationals would be challenged in the European Court of Justice. But he may find support for significantly reducing the number of international students in the Netherlands. | | What about his controversial anti-Muslim views? | | To make his party more palatable to mainstream voters, he declared that his party's manifesto plans to ban the Koran, Islamic schools and mosques was going in the koelkast - the fridge. Other policies, including a proposed ban on Islamic headscarves in public buildings, are still in black and white in his party manifesto. | | | | | | |
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| PERSPECTIVES | USA | | Torn between grief and guilt | | | | "I feel helpless, and I feel hopeless," says Jinan. Credit: Chris Gale | | Palestinian-Americans who spoke to the BBC say watching what's happening in Gaza unfold on social media feeds and TV screens has been emotionally debilitating. One source of solace has been finding activities to support Palestinian causes. | | | Jinan Deena, born in Ohio and one of seven million Palestinians around the world, spent many summers in the West Bank and lived there for two years as a teenager. But her family eventually returned to the US because "it just wasn't easy for us to go from living in America to living under occupation". The presence of Israeli military tanks and checkpoints, tear gas and rubber bullets was too much, she says. "I look back at us leaving, and I'm like, 'Was that a cowardly thing to do? What makes me better than them?' Palestinian guilt has different levels to it."
Marcelle Afram, a food catering business owner in Washington DC, says he broke down crying while boiling potatoes. "Here I am just being able to turn on the faucet and literally pour more water into one pot to boil potatoes than one person in Gaza is able to have in an entire week right now." The feelings of guilt have moved him to turn down work that isn't related to fundraising for Palestinian causes. "If I don't use everything at my disposal to help, I will have to live with that for the rest of my life." |
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| | The big picture | | Doing it for themselves | | | | Liszt Hyde González's Truckers Ladies Facebook page has some 65,000 followers. Credit: Leire Ventas |
| | Lorry driving is a male-dominated profession, even though employers acknowledge that women are safer drivers. In Mexico, where gender-based violence and armed robbery are common, women are acutely aware of the risks and are creating communities with their fellow drivers. As part of BBC 100 Women, Leire Ventas travelled with women truckers on some of the country's dangerous roads. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Flightless but fierce | | Wild turkeys had all but disappeared. Now, their numbers are rising fast. | | |
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| | And finally... in Scotland | | Multi-tasking is often seen as a skill. But the provost of Inverness's eagerness to do two things at once led to an embarrassing moment during a committee meeting. While working from home, she stood from her desk in the middle of a video conference to grab a cloth and a bucket filled with water to clean her windows. She could be seen cleaning for several seconds before rushing to turn off her camera with a phone in her hand, perhaps alerted to her mishap by a friendly caller. |
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| | | | | | | | Influential with Katty Kay | | In-depth and unexpected conversations with today’s change makers. | | |
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| | | Let me know which wild animals roam your neighbourhoods (it's foxes in mine) and any suggestionsfor topics or areas of the world to cover in this newsletter. Tell your friends and family about it! They can sign up here.
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