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| Dutch women win hockey World Cup for the seventh time |
6/15/2014 |
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The Dutch women’s hockey team on Saturday won their seventh World Cup, beating Australia 2-0 in the final in The Hague.
The Netherlands were hot favourites to take the title when the competition started, and reached the final having scored 21 and conceded only one goal.
Playing in front of 15,000 people at a packed Kyocera stadium in The Hague, the Dutch women - who are current Olympic champions and ranked one in the world - dominated much of the match.
Maartje Paumen, twice voted best player in the world, is tournament top scorer with seven goals including four penalty corners. Paumen told Nos television after the match it is hard to be the favourite all the time. ''But I am so happy, so happy,'' she said.
Earlier on Sunday, defending champions Argentina won bronze, beating Team USA 2-1 in the play-off for third and fourth place.
On Sunday, the Dutch men’s team take on Australia in their World Cup final.
Housing and child poverty on policy list for new Amsterdam coalition
The newly-formed Amsterdam coalition presented its policy agreement at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
The Liberal democratic D66 finally formed a coalition, ten weeks after the local elections, with the VVD Liberals and the Socialists.
The three partners have agreed to create more affordable housing in the city, both rental and for sale. They will do this by opening up Amsterdam to new housing corporations. ''For all parties willing to build,'' D66 leader Jan Paternotte said.
The coalition wants at least 500 extra social housing units every year, with prices for middle-income earners between €700 and €1,000 a month.
It is also getting rid of the ground rent (erfpacht) system by allowing house owners who want to to pay off the rent in one go. The ground will, however, remain the property of Amsterdam.
There will also be extra money for education. Care will be organised at a neighbourhood level with the choice of the person needing the care paramount.
Other points include:
* The cost of a parking space for people living in the city will go up by 25%.
* Child poverty will be tackled with more sport and music activities for children.
* There will be a councillor responsible for sustainability.
* More support for entrepreneurs with some lower taxes.
* Substantial cuts in subsidies and council purchasing and buildings, including in the red light district.
* Dog tax is being abolished.
The new coalition marks three firsts: the first time D66 is the largest party; the first time the Socialists sit on the council; and the first time since 1945 Labour is not part of the coalition.
Dutch researchers develop urine test for test tube baby success
Researchers at Erasmus University’s teaching hospital have developed a urine test which they say shows if a women is likely to become pregnant following ivf treatment.
The test can spare many women unnecessary and costly ivf treatment, says researcher Dik Kok and fertility professor Joop Laven in Saturday’s Volkskrant.
The test involves looking for four bacteria in urine ahead of ivf treatment. Women who fail to become pregnant have a very specific volume of the bacteria in their urine which is completely different from those who do become pregnant. This bacteria shows how receptive the womb is likely to be to the embryo, the researchers say.
Expensive
Every year in the Netherlands, some 9,000 women undergo ivf treatment in which an egg is fertilized and then placed back in the womb. Many undergo several treatments and the annual cost is some €48m.
But just one third of the women treated with ivf go on to become mothers. Kok and Laven estimate their urine test can exclude 2,600 women a year because the conditions in their wombs cannot sustain an embryo. They estimate this will cut €12m from the fertility treatment bill.
The test has been trialed on 80 women so far. Gynaecologists say the results are interesting but more research on a larger group is needed. The researchers are currently being funded to run trials involving several hundred women at different fertility clinics.
© DutchNews.nl
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