Author: NLtimes.nl

Two police officers from the Noord-Holland unit were arrested at the police station in Haarlem on Thursday on suspicion of leaking confidential police information to newspaper NRC. One of the two suspected cops is a female police officer who revealed racist abuses at the Hoefkade police station in The Hague and accused a superior of sexual … Continue reading “Police officer who alleged sex harassment, racism arrested for leaking info”

Farmers with 28 tractors gathered on Dam Square and Rokin in Amsterdam on Friday to protest against the government’s nitrogen policy. They brought food with them for brunch and invited Amsterdam residents to come eat with them, specifically, Dutch-made food “with a low environmental impact.” “Farmer and citizen can talk to each other or enjoy … Continue reading “Farmers serve brunch on A’dam Dam Square to protest nitrogen measures”

Police working at the Amsterdam Sloterdijk train station arrested a suspect for allegedly making bomb threats. The threats were made by a person inside a train early Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for Dutch national railway NS told media outlets. “No explosive was found,” police said in a statement. Authorities were dispatched to the station before … Continue reading “Bomb threat prompts brief evacuation of Amsterdam train station; one arrest”

Robert Oey, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema’s partner, was given 40 hours of community service on Friday for illegal weapon possession. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the 53-year-old filmmaker had a gas or alarm revolver with a obstruction in the barrel, for which he had no license, NU.nl reports.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 13, … Continue reading “Amsterdam mayor’s partner gets community service over gun replica”

Bekir E. was sentenced to 14 years in prison and institutionalized psychiatric treatment for shooting and killing 16-year-old Humeyra at her Rotterdam school in December last year.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 13, 2019 – 11:48

The government leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, will not be visiting the Tweede Kamer on Friday as planned. The meeting between her and the Foreign Affairs committee had to be canceled due to “unexpected changes” in her program, the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, announced.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 13, … Continue reading “Myanmar leader’s visit to Dutch parliament canceled”

Car owners in the Netherlands will pay 147 million euros more in road taxes next year than this year, according to Statistics Netherlands. The increase is partly due to the growing fleet of vehicles, higher rates, and the particulate matter tax that will be implemented. In total, the government and provinces expect to collect almost 6.1 … Continue reading “Netherlands motorists to pay €147 million more in road tax next year”

The police released a video of an incident in the Duindorp neighborhood of The Hague on December 3rd. Someone in a group of young people threw a firework bomb under a police van, which was in the area due to unrest after the annual New Year’s bonfire was canceled. The police are looking for the perpetrators. … Continue reading “Video: Firework bomb thrown under police van in Duindorp”

Homosexual priest Pierre Valkering successfully appealed in Rome against his dismissal as priest of the Amsterdam Vredeskerk, he said on radio program Dit is De Dag, The Congregation for the Clergy, the Vatican department that deals with priest issues, ruled that his dismissal was unjustified because of procedural errors, NOS reports.Submitted by Janene Pieters on … Continue reading “Gay Amsterdam priest successfully appeals against dismissal”

Health risks are not evenly distributed across the different employment contracts in the Netherlands, according to a report by the social-economic council SER, the government’s main advisory body. Flexible workers face more physical dangers than permanent employees, and permanent employees struggle more emotionally, Trouw reports.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 13, 2019 – 08:43

A total of 134 police officers in the Netherlands were fired or suspended for violating integrity rules last year, an 8 percent increase compared to 2017. The most common reason for disciplinary action taken against a police officer was “violation of standards in private life”, followed by leaking, abusing or withholding information, according to figures … Continue reading “Police dismissals, suspensions up 8% to 134 last year”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party achieved an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections on Thursday. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is pleased that his win will at least bring quick clarity on what will happen with the Brexit, he said according to NOS. “I don’t feel relief or sadness, but rather an factual … Continue reading “Dutch PM pleased Boris Johnson’s election win will mean quick Brexit clarity”

An Albert Heijn store in Den Bosch created its own version of an artwork, which consisted of a banana stuck to a wall with duct tape. But where the artwork by Maurizio Cattelan recently sold for 120 thousand euros, the Albert Heijn version is discounted to only 0.28 cents.  The recreated work in the Albert Heijn store on … Continue reading “Den Bosch grocer’s version of €120,000 banana artwork on sale for 0.28 cents”

Shots rang out at a sports school in Amstelveen on Thursday afternoon, leaving one person dead in a likely street assassination. The suspects in the case evaded arrest, and their vehicle was later found in flames, police said. The victim had just put his child into his car when the shooting took place, crime reporter … Continue reading “Father killed in Amstelveen health club shooting; Getaway vehicle in flames”

The charging cards which electric car owners use to charge their cars at a charging point are “childishly easy” to copy, which means that malicious parties can easily charge their car at other people’s cost, according to security company ESET. As far as is known, this problem applies to all Dutch charge cards and public … Continue reading “Cards for electric car charging stations very easy to copy: report”

Authorities working at the port in Vlissingen discovered roughly 1,200 kilograms of cocaine. The drugs were discovered hidden in a banana shipment that was delivered to a company based at the port, police said. A criminal investigation was launched after the contraband was found on Tuesday afternoon. No arrests were announced in the case. “The … Continue reading “Banana shipment hiding 1,200 kilos of cocaine found at Vlissingen port”

Dutch flag carrier airline KLM plans to send ticketed passengers a mobile payment request to offset their share of carbon-dioxide emissions. The airline said it will start the program as a test in 2020 using social media messaging platform WhatsApp to distribute the requests. All money collected will be invested in a Panamanian reforestation project, … Continue reading “KLM to send CO2 offset payment requests to passengers via WhatsApp”

It took less than an hour for the first tranche of Eurovision 2020 tickets to sell out on Thursday, the song competition said in a statement. Ticket sales for the semi-finals and the Grand Final in Rotterdam opened up at noon, with some customers complaining that access to the website was buggy and limited.Submitted by … Continue reading “Eurovision tickets sell out in under an hour; More available next month”

From next year, Netherlands residents and businesses who suffered collective damage, for example through a car or another product that’s been tampered with, can go together to court to get their damages compensated. A new law by Minister Sander Dekker for Legal Protection, which allows these class action lawsuits, takes effect on January 1st. Currently, … Continue reading “Class-action lawsuits coming to the Netherlands; New law starts Jan. 1”

Last year Victim Support helped nearly 172 thousand people in the Netherlands, the largest group of which were people in their twenties. The vast majority of people who sought help were victims of property- and violent crimes, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Thursday. Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 12, 2019 – 15:10

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, will meet with the government leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, on Friday. She is in The Hague due to a lawsuit that Gambia filed at the International Criminal Court against Myanmar, accusing the country of genocide against the Rohingya people. The Kamer seized this … Continue reading “Dutch parliament to receive Myanmar leader after “no genocide” testimony”

A 30-year-old man from Albania was arrested at Schiphol on December 8th on suspicion of money laundering after his cash-filled suitcase burst open at the airport, the Koninklijke Marechaussee reported on Wednesday after the man’s arraignment.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 12, 2019 – 13:30

Joel S. was sentenced to six years in prison and institutionalized psychiatric treatment for stabbing 21-year-old Sarah Papenheim to death in her Rotterdam student home last year. Her mother was angered by the sentence, which was well below the recommendation offered by the prosecution.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 12, 2019 – 12:40

After a year of difficult negotiations, a collective bargaining agreement was reached for primary education. The trade unions and employers agreed on a 4.5 percent wage increase for all teaching staff. They will also receive a once-off payment of 33 percent of their monthly wage and a once-off amount of 875 euros, education union AOb … Continue reading “Teachers to get 4.5% pay bump in new contract; January strike will continue as planned”

A major fuel outage at Schiphol in July, that left hundreds of flights canceled and tens of thousands of travelers stranded, was caused by a loose neutral wire in an electrical installation, research agency TNO concluded after investigating the failure. According to TNO, the error likely occurred during electrical installation work in February, NOS reports.Submitted … Continue reading “Schiphol’s hours-long fuel outage caused by a loose wire”

The Netherlands Fire Brigade wants to make more use of drones in fighting fires and measuring for dangerous substances, among other things. “Sometimes they can make the difference between life and death,” Stephan Wevers, chairman of Brandweer Nederland, said to the Telegraaf.  The fire department started experimenting with drones in 2013 and last year got … Continue reading “Fire department wants to make more use of drones”

Mayor Henri Lenferink of Leiden is organizing two discussion evenings for students and other residents to discuss the feeling of insecurity in the city after two recent sexual assaults and a rape. The meetings will take place on December 16 and 19 at student associations, but they “are explicitly open to anyone who needs it”, … Continue reading “Leiden mayor to meet with residents after recent rape, sexual assaults”

Shots were fired in Diemen and Amsterdam Zuidoost early on Thursday morning. A gas line was hit in Diemen, resulting in surrounding residents being evacuated as a precaution, the police said on Twitter. Both shootings happened at around 5:30 a.m. As far as is known, no one was hurt. The shooting in Diemen happened on Rode Kruislaan. … Continue reading “Shots fired in Diemen & Amsterdam; hit gas line prompts evacuation”

The first tickets for the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam next year will go on sale at noon on Thursday. Rotterdam residents with a low income can now also sign up on the municipality’s website to win free tickets.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 12, 2019 – 08:38

The Noord-Zuid subway line in Amsterdam will be extended to Schiphol and Hoofddorp within the next decade, and the estimated costs of the project are least 3 billion euros, the Volkskrant reports based on sources within the seven parties involved in the project.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 12, 2019 – 08:10

An explosive went off at a Coolblue store on Europaplein in Utrecht early on Thursday morning. Two perpetrators were seen fleeing the scene on a scooter, the Utrecht police said on Twitter. The explosion happened at around 2:00 a.m. It seems the perpetrators were trying to blow their way into the store. Photos on social … Continue reading “Explosion at Coolblue store in Utrecht; two perpetrators at large”

Nine-year-old Laurent Simons is almost certainly exchanging Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) for a top university in the United States, his father Alexander Simons said on Pauw on Tuesday. The boy and his parents planned for him to graduate as an Electrical Engineer in December, but clashed with TU/e when the university called this unattainable. Submitted … Continue reading “Dutch boy, 9, to move to U.S. university after conflict with TU Eindhoven, father says”

A two-year long experiment with running a night train from Rotterdam Central Station to Groningen after Friday night draws to a close attracted enough passengers to be considered a success, according to NS. The rail company will add this train to the timetable for the coming two years, RTV Noord reports. The train departs from Rotterdam Central … Continue reading “Rotterdam to Groningen night train to continue running after successful test”

School kids in the Netherlands share quite shocking images on their WhatsApp groups, RTL Nieuws found by gaining access to dozens of these groups. The researchers found child pornography, revenge porn, videos of ISIS decapitations, racist- and anti-Semitic images, and Nazi propaganda commonly shared on these groups.  The broadcaster gained access to dozens of these … Continue reading “Child pornography, ISIS decapitations, Nazi propaganda shared in kids’ WhatsApp groups”

The Tax Authority released the files of some parents whose childcare allowance was halted because they were unjustly suspected of fraud, at the parents’ request because they wanted to know what led to these suspicions. But to the fury of a number of parliamentarians, large parts of the documents are completely blacked-out, according to a video … Continue reading “Anger over blacked-out dossiers sent to tax office profiling victims”

Moving scooters and mopeds from bicycle paths to the public roads had a positive effect on both road safety and the flow of traffic, the municipality of Amsterdam said in a press release. Since the scooter ban from bike paths was implemented in April, the number of accidents decreased considerably, the city said.Submitted by Janene … Continue reading “Amsterdam scooter ban from bike paths increased traffic safety, flow”

The police are expanding its cybercrime teams with 145 full-time employees. That doubles the capacity of the cybercrime teams, which were established early this year to fight digital crimes like hacking, phishing and ransomware, AD reports.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 11, 2019 – 12:00

Football was clearly on people’s minds in the Netherlands this year. “Ajax” and “WK Voetbal Vrouwen”, or the Women’s Football World Cup in English, were the most googled search terms in the country in 2019, Google announced in its Trend Reports on Wednesday.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 11, 2019 – 11:10

NS dit its first experiment with a self-driving train during the early hours of Wednesday morning. The experiment was a great success, the rail company said. The train departed and arrived on time. Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 11, 2019 – 10:20

Divorced parents who keep a child away from another parent against the rules must be tackled by the police, according to the D66 and SP in a proposal to Minister Sander Dekker for Legal Protection. Police officers must also receive extra training on how to deal with such conflicts, the parties said, the Telegraaf reports.Submitted … Continue reading “MPs want police to intervene if divorced parents ignore custody rules”

The punishment for fraud with newer payment methods such as banking apps and Tikkie will increase, according to a legislative proposal Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security is working on. Those caught committing fraud with Tikkie or other apps will soon face up to six years in prison, instead of the current between one … Continue reading “Harsher punishments for fraud with payment apps”

Ajax was eliminated from the Champions League after a 0-1 loss against Valencia in Amsterdam on Tuesday. Coach Erik ten Hag is very disappointed, calling the defeat unnecessary. “We had the opportunities, but we did not take advantage of it,” he said, according to NU.nl. “This is incredibly bitter.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 11, 2019 … Continue reading “Ajax knocked out of Champions League; “Bitter”, coach says”

Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management is turning her focus to road safety. Over the next 10 years, her Ministry will invest a total of 500 million euros into safer intersections bicycle paths and roads. This investment is desperately needed, according to the Minister. “The number of victims is increasing instead of … Continue reading “Gov’t to invest €500 mil. into traffic safety in 10 years”

“The American people are constantly being lied to”, is the conclusion of an institute that investigated whether American money for the war in Afghanistan is being well spent. Those involved knew from the start that the war could not be won. Dutch parliamentarians are flabbergasted and want to debate the matter with Defense Minister Ank … Continue reading “Dutch MPs want to debate reports of America lying about Afghanistan war”

A major investigation into sexual extortion in Delft and surroundings has resulted in a total of 48 arrests, a vast increase over the 28 suspects police were investigating in the case late last month. Some 50 victims came forward to report that this group extorted a total of almost 125 thousand euros from them, the … Continue reading “50 victims and 48 suspects in major sexual extortion case; Dating sites targeted”

Three men taken from a train in Venlo on Monday and hospitalized with hypothermia, were arrested in connection with a burglary in Eindhoven, the Oost-Brabant police said on Twitter.  The three are suspected of breaking into a store on Gemmastraat in the city. Exactly when the burglary happened, the police did not say. The trio … Continue reading “Hypothermia patients removed from train arrested for burglary”

Farmers in the Netherlands will hold more protests on Wednesday, December 18th. Exactly what form these protest actions will take, is not yet clear and will likely only be announced shortly in advance, NOS reports.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 10, 2019 – 16:20

Utrecht is creating a permanent memorial garden on 24 Oktoberplein to commemorate the victims who died there in a mass shooting on March 18th, the city announced on Tuesday. According to the municipality, residents of the city started expressing their wish for a permanent place of remembrance shortly after the shooting. “To show sympathy and … Continue reading “Permanent memorial garden to honor Utrecht mass shooting victims”

Laurent Simons, a 9-year-old from Amsterdam, immediately stopped his studies at the Eindhoven University of Technology. The boy was on track to be the youngest ever graduate of the Electrical Engineering course, but will not finish his studies due to a conflict with the university, NOS reports.Submitted by Janene Pieters on December 10, 2019 – … Continue reading “TU/Eindhoven’s youngest student, 9, drops out over conflict with university”

After a mass shooting in a tram in Utrecht on March 18th, the police responded quickly and effectively and acted according to prepared plans and protocols, according to an evaluation by an internal committee on the handling of the shooting. While the committee largely praised the police’s actions, it concluded that there is room for … Continue reading “Utrecht Mass Shooting report praises police response, criticizes crisis communication”