Monday 30 April 2007

Koninginnedag starts peacefully
The Koninginnedag celebrations started peacefully in the big cities, with dozens of bars and clubs open for what has become known as Koninginnenacht - the night before Queen's Day. The free market started in Utrecht at 6pm last night; in most other places it began early this morning. More...

Five wounded as ducks cross the road
A family of ducks crossing the A15 by Sliedrecht on Sunday led to a five car collision and four people being taken to hospital, news agency ANP reported. The driver who spotted the duck family slammed on the brakes and was hit by a number of other vehicles. More...

Sunday 29 April 2007

PSV win league in thrilling finish
Eindhoven’s PSV were crowned premier league champions on Sunday in what many say was the most exciting end to a Dutch football season in the history of the game. More...

Three compete for football league title
One of the most exciting finishes to the football premier league race in decades is expected tonight. Three teams, AZ Alkmaar, Amsterdam’s Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, are all in with a shout, with goal difference the only thing dividing them. More...

ABN Amro LaSalle sale ruling on Thursday
The Amsterdam company court will decide on Thursday if ABN Amro should have asked its shareholders before agreeing to sell LaSalle to Bank of America for $21bn. More...

Saturday 28 April 2007

Crown prince criticises integration debate
The hard attitudes in the ongoing debate over the integration of immigrants in the Netherlands is 'worrying' and 'destructive', crown prince Willem-Alexander said in a major television documentary marking his 40th birthday on Friday. More... comments (1)

Illegal GM maize found in Rotterdam port
A type of genetically-manipulated maize which is illegal in Europe has been found by Greenpeace scientists in a consignment of maize pellets in Rotterdam port, the environmental organisation confirmed on Saturday. More... comments (1)

Agreement on refugee amnesty
The cabinet and local authorities have reached agreement on the main points of the long-awaited amnesty (general pardon) for asylum seekers, junior justice minister Nebahat Albayrak confirmed on Friday evening. More...

Friday 27 April 2007

New civil service pay deal agreed
Government civil servants are to get a total pay increase of 13.2% spread over the coming four years as well as a full 13th month pay-out by 2010. Agreement on a new pay deal (CAO) was reached between the home affairs ministry and unions on Thursday evening and will be put to members in the coming weeks. More...

Over 3,500 on queen's birthday honours list
Film director Paul Verhoeven, entertainer Paul de Leeuw, singer Mathilde Santing and pianist Wibi Soerjadi are among those recognised in the queen's birthday honours list this year. In total, 3,575 people have been honoured, 78 more than last year. Most of the honours go to people involved in voluntary work.

Company court to rule on LaSalle sale
The Amsterdam company court will look tomorrow at ABN Amro's proposed sale of US bank LaSalle to Bank of America. The shareholders lobby group VEB has taken the case to court, arguing it should have been put to shareholders. More...

Less threat of terrorist attacks in 2006
The Dutch security service (AIVD) did not identify any serious threats from Muslim terrorists last year, although such an attack remained a possibility, according to the AIVD's annual report. More...

Business hotels turnover grows 12%
The Netherlands' top 100 hotel and catering concerns booked combined turnover of over €5bn last year, some €300m up on 2005, according to trade paper Misset Horeca. More...

Vote on new post law delayed
MPs on Thursday night agreed to again delay voting on legislation to open up the market for delivery of letters weighing less than 50 grammes. Junior economic affairs minister Frank Heemskerk asked for a postponement after Labour and Christian Democrat MPs submitted several last minute amendments.

Holleeder lawyer protests over treatment
Doctors treating suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder are concerned about the conditions he is being kept in at Scheveningen prison hospital, lawyer Jan-Hein Kuijpers claimed yesterday. Holleeder underwent heart surgery two weeks ago. More...

Free textbook plan delayed a year
Government promises to introduce free text books for all secondary school pupils are to be delayed until the 2008/09 school year, education minister Ronald Plasterk told MPs on Thursday evening. More...

Wilders 'intimidated' by terrorism czar
Anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders says he felt 'intimidated' during talks with national anti-terrorism coordinator Tjibbe Joustra about the former’s statement that Muslims in Holland should tear half the pages out of the Koran. More... comments (1)

Soldier killed in Uruzgan buried today
Cor Strik, the Dutch soldier who died in Uruzgan last week will be buried in Amersfoort today. Strik (21), the first Dutch soldier in Afghanistan not to die in an accident, was killed when he stepped on a bomb while on patrol.

Hostile bid for ABN Amro confirmed
The banking consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to bring out a hostile bid for ABN Amro, the Dutch bank was formally told on Friday. More... comments (1)

Patients face €150 own-risk health charge
The introduction of an annual €150 own-risk charge on healthcare insurance to replace the current €255 no-claims bonus is to be discussed by the cabinet today. More...

Scintillating end to soccer season in sight
One of the most exciting finishes to the football premier league race in decades is expected on Sunday. Three teams, Alkmaar’s AZ, Amsterdam’s Ajax and Eindhoven’s PSV, are all in with a shout, with goal difference the only thing dividing them. More...

AH supermarket supremo steps down
Anders Moberg, CEO of supermarket concern Ahold which operates the Albert Heijn stores, is stepping down on July 1, the company announced on Friday morning. More...

Thursday 26 April 2007

Dutch farmland most 'over-fertilised'
Dutch agricultural land contains the highest level of excess fertilisers and other nutrients in the EU, totalling 200 kilograms per hectare, according to research by the European Commission. More...

Top advisor criticises civil service cuts
The deputy president of the government's highest advisory body, the Council of State, has criticised cabinet plans to slash spending on the civil service by €750m. Herman Tjeenk Willink said there have been 'endless' rounds of cuts over the past 15 years but there is still no proper analysis of how the government apparatus should ideally function.

PhD students are largely female
The average age of a PhD student in the Netherlands is 29, an overwhelming majority are women - and 40% are foreigners, according to new research by careers magazine Intermediair (IM). More...

Multinationals key for foreign staff
While companies such as Philips, Shell, KLM and Heineken are popular with foreign workers, there is a danger the Netherlands could lose out if too many Dutch companies are chopped up under pressure from activist shareholders. More...

Loan firms face ad crackdown
Finance minister Wouter Bos is to increase the fines imposed on credit companies who use misleading advertisements to €500,000, the Volkskrant reports. The current fine is €30,000. More...

Food firms lax on cancer risk, says AD
Dutch food companies are failing to use special ingredients which stop a cancer-causing substance developing in potato crisps, French fries and biscuits, the AD newspaper reports on Thursday. More...

Stork still has aerospace troubles
Engineering group Stork booked a €1m increase in net profit in the first three months of this year, taking earnings to €19m. Sales were up 4% at €497m. More...

Social insurance bank pays out €29bn
The social insurance bank (SVB) paid out some €29bn to over 4.8 million customers last year, according to its annual report. The SVB is responsible for child benefit, state pensions and welfare benefits for pensioners without a full pension because they have lived abroad. More...

Traffic jams cost economy €485m
Traffic jams damaged the Dutch economy to the tune of €485 last year, an increase of €15m on 2005, say transport sector organisations EVO and TLN. The most expensive congestion was on the A2, A28 and A1.

Most prostitutes still don't pay tax
Some 60% of the Netherlands' prostitutes still don't pay tax, despite efforts to turn prostitution into a 'normal' profession, according to justice ministry research. This also shows that the number of legal sex industry establishments has gone down 12% over the past few years, due in part to internet.

ABN Amro opens books to rival bidders
ABN Amro has agreed to open its books to a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland, the biggest Dutch bank said in a statement last night. The consortium, which also includes Fortis and Santander, has made a preliminary bid of €72bn for ABN Amro, depending on the outcome of the due diligence survey. More...

Barroso withdraws Balkenende's invite
European Commission president José Manuel Barroso has withdrawn invitations to attend an informal summit on the future of the EU from a number of EU leaders, including Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende. More...

PvdA board quits after crisis meeting
The entire management board of the Labour (PvdA) resigned late last night after a four-hour crisis meeting. The meeting was called following the surprise resignation of party chairman Michiel van Hulten earlier in the day. More...

Wednesday 25 April 2007

Battle for ABN Amro heats up (update)
A consortium of three banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has offered €72bn for ABN Amro, starting what news agency Bloomberg describes as the biggest takeover battle in financial services history. More...

MPs finally agree to open borders
A majority of MPs now back cabinet plans to fully open the Dutch borders to people from countries that joined the EU in 2004. MPs said social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner had taken enough measures to make sure new immigrants were not exploited and employers paid proper wages. comments (1)

Education minister not a fan of selection
Education minister Ronald Plasterk does not back introducing selection procedures for universities and higher vocational colleges, he says in an interview with educational news service HOP. More... comments (1)

Planners oppose more homes by Schiphol
The government's planning bureau RPB has recommended that no more homes be built close to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. It said that if the government was determined to ensure Schiphol remains an important transport hub, it should resist growing pressure from local authorities to build houses within the no-build zone. More... comments (2)

Medical errors kill 1,700 a year (Update)
Some 1,700 hospital patients die and 30,000 are injured every year because of mistakes by hospital staff, according to a report by the medical specialists association. More...

Countryside investment brings benefits
An investment of €8bn in the Dutch countryside would improve the quality of life significantly and generate income of €25bn, according to a report by research group Witteveen en Bos for farm minister Gerda Verburg. More...

Lifeboats rescue over 3,100 last year
The Dutch lifeboat association KNRM carried out 1,600 rescues last year, bringing 3,109 people to safety, a slight increase on 2005. More...

Bol.com to sell second-hand books
Internet shop Bol.com has extended its online activities to second-hand books, opening the attack on online classified ad sites such as Marktplaats. Bol said the move would allow it to offer a far greater range of books. It currently carries 100,000 Dutch titles.

Pay deal agreed at Smit
The 240 harbour workers attached to Smit International at Rotterdam port have agreed a pay deal after six weeks of industrial action. The agreement gives workers an annual €40 gross pay increase for three years plus an inflation increment and a €1,000 payout for healthcare costs. More...

Divorce likely to lead to 'problem' kids
The children of divorced parents are almost twice as likely to turn into 'problem' children than those from intact families, according to research by the child protection council. More...

Woman smuggled cash by swallowing it
Police at Schiphol airport have arrested a woman who had swallowed condoms containing €129,000 in €500 notes. The 57-year-old woman was travelling to Madrid when she was stopped. The police said it was the first time they had found people trying to smuggle money by swallowing it.

TomTom reports Q1 profits up 42%
Car satellite navigation systems maker TomTom booked a 42% increase in net profit and 16% growth in sales in the first three months of this year, compared with the year earlier period. More...

Randstad books Q1 profit rise of 49%
Temporary employment agency Randstad booked a 49% rise in net profit to €71.5m in the first three months of this year. Turnover was up 16% to €2.1bn, despite flat sales in the North American market. More...

Warm, dry weather could mean trouble
With the drought forecast to continue well into next week at least, Holland is heading for its longest dry spell on record, according to weather bureau KNMI. More...

Five arrested for internet 'Nigerian' fraud
Police have arrested five West Africans in connection with an international investigation into internet fraud, known as the Nigerian 419 scam. More... comments (5)

'Medical errors lead to 1,000 deaths'
Statistics collated by the medical specialists association show that at least 1,000 people die in Dutch hospitals every year because of medical errors, TV programme Nova is set to claim tonight. More...

Rival consortium bids for ABN Amro
A consortium made up of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Santander has brought out a counter bid for ABN Amro of €39 per share, ANP reports. The deal agreed between ABN Amro and Barclays on Monday put a price of €36.25 a share on the Dutch bank. More...

Barroso invites Balkenende to talk treaties
European Commission chairman José Manuel Barroso has invited prime minister Jan Pieter Balkenende and a number of other EU leaders for a special meeting in an effort to break the deadlock over the EU constitution, the Volkskrant reports. More...

Labour MPs threaten post liberalisation
Labour (PvdA) MPs are threatening to join forces with the left-wing opposition to block plans to fully open the postal delivery market to competition unless the Christian Democrats (CDA) agree to more rights for delivery workers, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday. More... comments (1)

Coalition divided over deficit plan
The three coalition parties are divided over finance minister Wouter Bos's plan to allow ministers to take longer term measures to bring their budgets under control following the discovery that the government has a far higher deficit than expected. More...

Tuesday 24 April 2007

Dutch footballer in clash of the titans
Football fans will be treated to a real spectacle on Tuesday night as two Dutch football stars, Edwin van der Sar and Clarence Seedorf, clash in the semi-final of the Champions League between Manchester United and AC Milan. More...

Finance minister rules out major cuts
The cabinet does not plan to make major cuts in its plans to cope with the unexpected increase in the budget deficit, finance minister Wouter Bos said on Tuesday. More...

Swedes and Czechs back Dutch on EU
The Swedish and Czech governments have added their support to the Dutch position on the future of the EU, backing calls for reforms to existing treaties rather than the introduction of an EU constitution, ANP reports. More...

Cabinet urged to do more for self-employed
The government pays too little attention to the growing number of individuals who are self-employed, despite their increasing importance to the economy, says a report by the FNV trade union federation. More...

Child abuse figures higher than expected
Over 107,000 children suffer some form of abuse in the Netherlands every year, according to a report by Leiden University. The figure is far higher than experts expected. Some 19,000 children suffer physical violence and 4,700 sexual abuse, according to the report, which will be formally published on Wednesday.

Productivity could grow 3.7%: McKinsey
Every hour worked in the Netherlands generates an average €33 towards gross domestic product, compared with €39 in the US, according to a report by research group McKinsey. More...

Cruijff scores high in popularity poll
More than half of the Dutch do not care that they cannot always make sense of football legend Johan Cruijff’s analyses on tv, according to a Maurice de Hond opinion poll. More...

Orthodox schools ban headscarves
Five orthodox protestant schools have been given the green light by the equal opportunities commission to ban teaching staff and pupils from wearing headscarves and Jewish skull caps. More...

Minister to tackle aggression in sport
Junior sports minister Jet Bussemaker has vowed to tackle aggression, discrimination and alcohol abuse in sport. Her pledge follows a survey published on Tuesday by the government’s social policy bureau (SCP). More...

Schoolboy dies after attack
A 16-year-old schoolboy has died in a hospital in Alkmaar Monday night after being hit in front of his school, police confirmed to ANP news agency. More...

Van der Moolen sales slump in US
Stockbroker Van der Moolen said in an interim statement that US turnover has fallen 56% to €7.4m in the first three months of this year. The company has been hit by a new trading system on the New York Stock Exchange. More...

Akzo Nobel results better than forecast
Chemicals group Akzo Nobel booked first quarter net profit of €246m, down €3m on the year earlier period. Analysts had forecast a much bigger decline to €211m. More...

'Labour leader should be in parliament'
The politicial leader of the Labour party (PvdA) should be an ordinary MP, not part of the cabinet, says Labour home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst in Intermediair magazine. More...

Randstad province on back burner
The cabinet has no immediate plans to create a new metropolitan Randstand province, made up of the four big cities (Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht) as recommended by a government working party earlier this year. More...

Bus strike likely to end Wednesday
This week’s strike by regional bus drivers could be over on Wednesday. Trade unions and employers agreed last night on a deal which will give workers the 3% pay rise they have been demanding. Workers are expected to accept the offer by Connexxion, Arriva and Veolia at a meeting today.

Schiphol passenger numbers rise in Q1
Almost 10 million passengers used Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport in the first three months of this year, 6.6% more than in the same 2006 period. The number of flights rose 8% to over 99,000 and freight transport was up 2.2% to 374,000 tonnes, reported Schiphol on Tuesday morning.

Anger at ABN Amro's sale of LaSalle
The Dutch shareholders lobby group VEB and hedge fund TCI are angry at ABN Amro's decision to sell its US bank LaSalle, saying the move has made it more difficult for Royal Bank of Scotland to mount a rival takeover bid for the Dutch bank. More...

Monday 23 April 2007

Backlash over abortion boat ruling
The controversial Dutch abortion boat operated by Women on Waves has been granted a government licence allowing it to carry out abortions in international waters on women who are up to seven weeks pregnant. More... comments (1)

ABN Amro, Barclays announce merger plan
ABN Amro and Barclays today announced details of their €67bn merger plan but analysts said the battle for the Dutch bank is probably far from over. The deal gives Barclays' shareholders a 52% stake in ABN Amro which will be called Barclays but have its headquarters in Amsterdam. More...

Trainee specialists admit mistakes
More than half (54%) the country’s doctors who are training to become specialists admit to making serious mistakes when treating patients, according to a survey by Jelle Prins of Groningen University. More...

Cosun profit up 10% in 2006
Food company Cosun booked net profit of €1.5bn last year, a 10% increase on 2005. Operating profit doubled to €111m while net profit reached €66m. The company's sugar activities came under pressure from new EU rules on sugar, but the decline in income was compensated by other activities, including alcohol production.

Strikes reach 17-year high in 2006
There were 31 strikes in the Netherlands last year, the highest total since 1989. However, the number of lost days - 16,000 - was lower than in recent years, the national statistics office CBS said. In total, 11,000 people went on strike, compared with 29,000 in 2005 and 104,000 in 2004. Around half of all strikes were related to pay claims, privatisation or factory closures.

Regional bus drivers strike for more pay
There will be no regional bus services outside the morning and evening rush hours this week due to a strike by drivers in support of a 3% pay rise, reports news service ANP. Buses will only run until 9am and between 4pm and 7pm. More...

More cyclists killed in traffic accidents
The number of cyclists who died in road accidents last year rose almost 20% to 216, according to government statistics bureau CBS. In total 811 people died in road accidents, six fewer than in 2005. Holland has the second lowest number of traffic deaths in Europe.

Spending on gardens grew 5%
Consumers spent €3bn on plants and garden furniture last year, an increase of 5% on 2005, according to figures from the gardening sector. Spending was up most in the autumn, with the good weather in November boosting sales 22%. Garden furniture, tools and paving showed the most growth.

Netherlands popular refugee destination
The Netherlands is one of the few European countries where the number of asylum applications was higher last year than in 2005, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday. More...

Primary schools under perform
Dutch primary schools are failing to teach children what they should be learning in practically every subject, according to education experts in today's Volkskrant. More...

Clamp down on illegal labour in catering
Inspectors are to increase their checks on hotels, cafés and restaurants outside the main urban areas this year, the social affairs ministry announced on Monday. A similar clamp-down last year found that 25% of catering establishments were employing staff who did not have the proper documents.

Government to investigate hedge funds
The finance ministry is to begin an investigation into how active hedge funds and private equity groups are in the Netherlands, finance minister Wouter Bos said at the weekend. More...

23,600 jobs to go following ABN Amro merger
Some 12,800 jobs are to be axed and another 10,800 will be relocated to low wage countries following the merger of ABN Amro and Barclays. More...

German wins Amstel Gold cycle race
Germany’s Stefan Schumacher won Dutch cycling’s most prestigious race, the 252 km Amstel Gold, on Sunday in six hours, 11 minutes and 49 seconds. Holland’s Michael Boogerd, who is to retire at the end of this season, was fifth. More...

Barclays, ABN Amro agree takeover deal (UPDATE)
Barclays and ABN Amro have agreed terms for their multi-billion euro merger plans in a deal which values ABN Amro shares at €36.25. More...

Barclays makes merger deal with ABN - BBC
Britain’s Barclays bank has made an agreement on a merger with ABN Amro, BBC radio reported on Monday morning at around 7.30 am. The move, which was widely expected, will create one of Europe’s largest banks with sales of over 90 billion pounds sterling, the BBC said. More...

Two die in fruit cooling plant
Two men have died after apparently entering an ultra-low oxygen fruit refrigeration plant in Gelderland, police said on Sunday evening. More...

AZ move into top spot with one game to go
Alkmaar AZ moved into the lead of the premier league on Sunday, after beating SC Heerenveen 3-1. Eindhoven PSV who have led the league since the winter break slipped to third place after drawing 1-1away to FC Utrecht. More...

Sunday 22 April 2007

RBS to mount solo bid for Dutch bank
The Royal Bank of Scotland has abandoned its consortium bid for ABN Amro and will mount a solo attempt to acquire the Dutch bank, the Sunday Times reports. More...

Friday 20 April 2007

Women want to work more, FNV report
The capacity of 1.5 million women remains wasted, according to a report by the FNV union federation on Friday. Around six out of ten women have a paid job for an average of 29 hours a week. More...

Betuwe freight railway to open in June
The freight-only Betuwe railway line between Rotterdam and Germany is finally due to open on June 16, over 10 years after the project was approved by the government. More...

General election in Dutch Antilles today
Inhabitants of the Dutch Antilles, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, are voting for new members of their five governing councils today. A central theme on all five islands (Curaçao, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint-Maarten) is their future relationship with the Netherlands. More...

Bos defends central bankers on ABN
Finance minister Wouter Bos says EC criticism of Dutch central bank president Nout Wellink is an 'annoying mistake'. The Commission has warned Wellink to keep an open mind on the takeover battle for ABN Amro and to operate in a 'non-discriminatory manner'. More...

High rates of infection in Dutch ticks
People in the Netherlands are 2.5 times more likely to develop Lymes Disease after being bitten by a tick than other Europeans, according to preliminary research by Wageningen University. More...

Bomb 'probably' killed soldier (Update 2)
The Dutch soldier killed in Afghanistan on Friday was 'probably' killed by a roadside bomb, defence minister Eimert van Middelkoop told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting. More...

MPs still oppose open borders
A majority of MPs are still opposed to opening up Dutch borders to workers from countries which joined the EU in 2004. During the parliamentary debate on Thursday evening, MPs said the government has not taken enough measures to make sure new workers are not taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers and paid less than official wages. More... comments (3)

Cyclist ‘Boogie’ announces retirement
One of Holland’s most successful and popular cyclists, Michael Boogerd (34), has announced he will retire after the current season. His impressive career includes winning two national championships, a first place in the prestigious Amstel Gold Race in 1999 and a fifth position in the 1998 Tour de France. Boogerd is nicknamed ‘Mr Prodent’ because of his big smile.

Soldier killed by landmine in Afghanistan (UPDATE)
A Dutch soldier has been killed in Afghanistan after stepping on a landmine, the defence ministry confirmed on Friday. The death means six Dutch soldiers have now died while serving with the UN mission, five were killed in accidents and one committed suicide. More...

Máxima is most popular royal
Princess Máxima is the most popular member of the Dutch royal family, with 26% of the population voting for her, a full 10 percentage points in front of queen Beatrix. More... comments (8)

Pharming losses up in Q1
Biotechnology company Pharming, which focuses on producing medicine using transgenic animals, booked a loss of €5m in the first three months of this year, compared with a loss of €3.7m in the same period of 2006. More...

C&A to open open 360 stores worldwide
Dutch clothing store C&A is to open four branches in Shanghai this year and will enter the Beijing market next year in time for the Olympics, the family-owned company confirmed on Friday. More...

ABN Amro to open Islamic bank
ABN Amro expects to open an Islamic bank in Malaysia next year, according to local bank director Harry Naysmith. Islamic banks do not offer or charge traditional interest on savings or loans.

Online investment returns disappointing
Private investors who buy stocks and shares via internet book disappointing returns, particularly those who opt for riskier derivates, according to researchers at Maastricht University. More...

Goudstikker sale raises $9.7m
The sale of old master paintings from the Goudstikker collection raised over $9.7m for its owners at a sale at Christies in New York yesterday. The collection was sold for a bargain price to the Nazi occupiers during World War II and its recovery took years of legal wrangling. More...

AZ joins Ajax in cup final
AZ Alkmaar beat NAC Breda an emphatic 6-0 to join Ajax in the final of the Dutch cup last night. The final will take place on May 6.

Thursday 19 April 2007

'Longer Afghan mission will tax army’
Any extension to the Dutch army mission to Afghanistan beyond the agreed two years will seriously tax army resources, according to internal army documents in the hands of the Telegraaf. More...

Pay rises so far around 3%, says FNV
Unions affiliated to the FNV federation have managed to win pay rises in the region of 3% in most of the pay deals agreed so far. Some 81 pay and conditions agreements (caos) out of a total 443 have been finalised already this year. More...

Belgium furious at Dutch drug café plans
Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt has written a strongly-worded letter to his Dutch counterpart Jan Peter Balkenende protesting at plans to move marijuana-selling coffee shops close to the border with Belgium. More... comments (3)

Bonus for keeping cows outside
Farmers who let their cows graze outside in the summer are eligible for a bonus of up to five cents per kilo of milk. Some 15% of Dutch cows are kept permanently indoors and that percentage is rising. More...

Ajax honours Cruijff with number 14
Amsterdam soccer club Ajax is to stop using the number 14 on its shirts in honour of Johan Cruijff who played in that number for most of his career. Cruijff celebrates his 60th birthday next week. ‘We are freezing his number in hommage to a unique player,’ chairman John Jaakke said.

Europe warns Holland on ABN Amro bids
The European Commission has warned the Netherlands to have an open mind on all bids for ABN Amro, currently at the centre of a takeover struggle, ANP reported on Thursday. More...

Unemployment stable in first quarter
The Dutch unemployment rate was stable at 5.3% in the first three months of this year, the national statistics office CBS reports. The rate was 5.1% in the previous quarter and 6.2% a year ago. The percentage of the working population actually in a job is now 64%, the CBS said.

Prison clothing will stop machismo, says MP
A Labour (PvdA) MP has called for the reintroduction of special prison uniforms for youngsters held in juvenile detention centres to help stamp out machismo. More...

Belgium angry with coffee shop policy
Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt has written a strongly-worded letter to his Dutch counterpart Jan Peter Balkenende protesting at plans to move marijuana-selling coffee shops close to the border. More...

Profits up 13% at internet bank Binck
Internet-based investment bank Binck booked net profit of €6.9m in the first three months of this year, some 13% up on 2006. The bank says the increase is due to its growing client base - now standing at 62,7000, compared with 54,100 a year earlier.

Union to cut workforce by 25%
Civil service trade union Abvakabo plans to reduce its workforce by 25%, or some 115 jobs, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday. The union is running a €3m loss but had assets of some €110m at the end of 2005, the paper says. More...

‘No revision to EU treaty’ says minister
Dutch European affairs minister Frans Timmermans has again stressed that the Netherlands is not prepared to accept a revised version of the EU constitution. Speaking in Berlin on Wednesday evening, Timmermans said a new treaty must be drastically different, in both form and content.

Dutch fear losing freedom of speech
Some 40% of the Dutch say they do not always feel free to speak their mind, particularly when it comes to multicultural issues. And some 80% think that the Netherlands is home to extremist groups which threaten their freedom. More...

Secondlife.nl has 44,000 users
Almost 44,000 people have signed up to secondlife.nl, the Dutch section of the Second Life virtual world, the company behind it claims. The English-language site has some 320,000 registered Dutch users out of a total 5.6 million. More...

Bar owners call for cheaper beer
The Netherlands' café and bar owners are calling for a reduction in beer prices, following the record fines levied on the country's big brewers for price-fixing. More...

Melkert rejects bank scandal allegations
Former Dutch Labour party leader Ad Melkert has rejected any suggestions that the World Bank's ethics committee which he chaired 'was aware or should have been aware' of the terms under which the bank president's girlfriend got a new job. More...

Ajax reaches Dutch cup final
Amsterdam Ajax will take on the winners of tonight's match between AZ Alkmaar and NAC Breda in the final of the Dutch cup in Rotterdam on May 6. Ajax, the cup holders, beat RKC Waalwijk 3-1 last night to make the final.

Wednesday 18 April 2007

Cabinet struggles with biotechnology
The cabinet is divided on plans to simplify legislation governing biotechnology, environment minister Jacqueline Cramer told MPs on Wednesday. The Christian Democrats want to continue with plans to revamp legislation introduced by the previous cabinet, but the other two coalition parties - Labour and ChristenUnie - have not yet made up their minds. Talks on streamlining the legislation were put on ice, pending a cabinet standpoint.

Smoking ban for restaurants in 2008?
The hotel and catering trade says it will back a ban on smoking in restaurants, hotels and fast-food outlets from January 2008, if health minister Ab Klink gives cafés and discos more time to take anti-smoking measures. More... comments (5)

New cabinet faced with surprise deficit (UPDATE)
The government's budget deficit is several times higher than originally thought which means the new cabinet is short of several billion euros when it comes to implementing its new policies, it emerged on Wednesday. More... comments (1)

Woman dies after plastic surgery
A 21-year-old woman has died after undergoing liposuction to remove fat from her waist and thighs at a private clinic in Utrecht. The cause of death is not yet known but is under investigation by health inspectors. More...

Ex-MPs cost the state €2.5m annually
Thirty-six of the 59 MPs who lost their jobs in the last November’s election are still jobless and receiving generous unemployment benefits, costing the state some €2.5m annually, reports today’s De Pers newspaper. More...

More asbestos arrests in Amsterdam
Three more people have been arrested in connection with the asbestos fraud in buildings in Amsterdam, bringing the total number of arrests to nine. More...

Single-person households on the rise
The number of single-person households in the Netherlands is set to rise from 2.6 million now to 3.5 million by 2050, says national statistics office CBS. Some 1.4 million of single people will be aged over 65.

Heineken fined €219m for price-fixing
The European Commission has fined brewing giant Heineken €219m for illegal price fixing between 1996 and 1999. Grolsch has been fined almost €32m and Bavaria €23m following the Commission’s seven year investigation. More...

Shareholders group lists pocket-fillers
Former manager of construction firm Heijmans, Ton Stuifzand, tops the list of corporate pocket-fillers compiled by shareholders’ lobby group VEB. Stuifzand walked away with a €2m golden handshake despite being found guilty of construction fraud scandal, the VEB says. More...

More say for workers on top salaries
The Dutch centre for company directors NCD recommends that supervisory board members nominated by works councils are automatically on the company's salary supervision board. More...

Government to tighten voting machine policy
The government is to revamp its policy on computer voting machines. The move follows an independent report criticising it for relying too heavily on the software developers for compiling the results and a lack of in-house expertise. More...

US hope Dutch stay in Afghanistan
The US believes some Dutch troops will remain in Afghanistan after their mandate expires in mid 2006, the US ambassador to the Netherlands told RTL4 TV. 'I understand that the Dutch on some bases will stay,' Ronald Arnall told the broadcaster on Tuesday evening. The Netherlands currently has some 1,800 troops in Afghanistan, most of whom are based in the southern province of Uruzgan.

RTL to take over Tien
TV station Tien, which was set up by media tycoon John de Mol, is to be taken over by RTL Nederland, newspaper AD reports on Wednesday. This summer, the bulk of Tien's programming, including premier division football, will move to RTL, the paper says.

Unions want action on postal workers pay
Postal workers’ unions say they will not protest against the complete opening of the postal market from January 2008 if MPs make sure new players pay their delivery workers proper wages. MPs are to debate the opening of the market on Thursday. More...

Firms double spending on sustainable energy
Dutch firms last year spent €2.5bn on energy saving measures such as solar panels and using sustainable power. This is twice the 2005 level, says the government's sustainable energy agency SenterNovem. In particular small and medium-sized firms increased spending on energy efficiency and now account for 78% of expenditure in this area, the agency said.

Budget deficit higher than forecast
The new government's budget deficit is set to be twice as high as earlier thought, sources close to the cabinet have told the Financieele Dagblad. The sources say finance minister will announce in his spring statement next month that the deficit is closer to 0.5% or 0.6% of GDP, not 0.2% as originally thought. More...

ABN Amro delays Barclays' deadline
ABN Amro has given Barclays bank until late Friday to come up with a takeover offer, two days longer than planned. After the weekend, it will then open talks with the consortium made up of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Santander to find out more about their intentions, ABN Amro said last night in two press releases. More...

Competition authority raids big three banks
The competition authority NMa has raided offices at the country's three biggest banks - ABN Amro, ING and Rabobank - apparently in connection with an investigation into price fixing on interest rates to corporate clients, the banks confirmed on Tuesday night. More...

Tuesday 17 April 2007

Amsterdam asbestos scandal covers city
An investigation into a building scam involving asbestos has been extended to cover all of Amsterdam, police confirmed on Tuesday. More...

One million Unicef supporters
Some 250,000 Dutch people are members of the Unicef and donate a monthly average of €8.5 each into the United Nation’s children’s fund. A further 750,000 supporters make one-off donations or buy Unicef charity gifts, the organisation said.

EU work permits rise
The number of work permits granted to people from eastern Europe rose almost three-fold to nearly 24,000 in the first three months of this year, compared to the 2006 figure, the national centre for work and income (CWI) said on Tuesday. The social affairs ministry wants to open borders to people from newer EU member states from May 1.

Warm weather to return
Temperatures are set to soar back up into the 20s again next week, meteorlogical office KNMI said on Tuesday. Current temperatures are still warm for the time of year but such temperature swings are very unusual, a KNMI spokesman told ANP.

Fewer deaths caused by drunk drivers
The number of fatalities caused by drunk drivers went down by 4% more than other forms of fatal accidents on the Dutch roads between 1996 and 2005, reports the European association for road safety. More...

Dutch and UK unite for EU treaty
The Netherlands and Britain are calling for a new 'light' European treaty to replace plans for a European Union constitution and supplement existing treaties, the two countries' prime ministers said late on Monday. More... comments (1)

Book sales reach almost €1bn
Book sales in the Netherlands went up 6.4% last year to €967m, according to figures published by the Dutch booksellers' association. The most lucrative business was in text books where turnover rose 9.3% to €307m. More...

ABN Amro may be open to Fortis deal
ABN Amro, which is at the centre of a €65bn takeover battle, is expected to give the go-ahead for talks with a consortium consisting of Fortis, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander. More...

Dutch cheese to be made in Morocco
Dutch cheese exports take on a new flavour this autumn with the opening of a traditional cheese-making business in the Sahara. More...

Dutch snap up .eu domains
A relatively large percentage of the new .eu extensions to internet domain names have been taken by the Dutch according to the European Commission. More...

Ethnic minority managers still scarce
There is not a single manager with an ethnic minority background at two-thirds of Dutch companies, according to research by the Volkskrant and advertising agency GITP. More...

Dutch brewers fined for price fixing
The European Commission has fined the four big Dutch brewers for fixing prices to keep the cost of beer artificially high. The fines date back to 2000 when commission inspectors raided the offices of Grolsch, Heineken, Inbev (Hertog Jan) and Bavaria. More...

Monday 16 April 2007

Returning Dutch boost immigration figures
The number of immigrants coming to the Netherlands rose to 101,000 in 2006, up 10,000 on the preceding year, reported the government statistics office CBS on Monday. But although this is the first increase in four years, the numbers are not particularly high, the CBS said. More...

Holleeder trial suspended until May
The court handling the trial of crime boss suspect Willem Holleeder and nine others on Monday temporarily suspended the case, saying it would review the situation in the beginning of May. The court will then decide whether Holleeder, who had major heart surgery last week, has recovered enough continue his trial. More...

Cabinet divided on visa for Palestinian pm
The government is divided on whether to give the Palestine prime minister Ismail Haniyeh a visa to attend a conference in Rotterdam in what appears to be the first crack in the three-party coalition. More... comments (1)

Former PvdA leader link to World Bank row
Former Dutch Labour (PvdA) party leader Ad Melkert was closely involved in events surrounding the conflict of interest scandal currently facing World Bank leader Paul Wolfowitz, according to World Bank documents. More...

Share sale boosts Philips Q1 profits
Philips booked net profit of €875m in the first three months of this year, compared with €160m in the same 2006 period, boosted by an extraordinary gain from the sale of shares in TSMC. More...

Former PM Wim Kok sees income rise 18%
Labour party chairman Michiel van Hulten is ‘unhappy’ at the 18% pay rise received by former Labour prime minister Wim Kok because of his membership of a number of company supervisory boards, reports today’s Volkskrant. More...

Wassenaar has richest neighborhood
Wassenaar, Bussum and The Hague have the richest neighbourhoods in the country, according to a survey by the government’s statistics office CBS. With an average annual household income of €60,000, Wassenaar’s De Kieviet district tops the list. More...

Zeelanders are 'worst' investors
Residents of Zeeland earn the worst returns on their stock exchange investments in the country - just 4.1%, according to research by SNS Fundcoach. More...

Gangland killing witness tried to sell story
The crown witness in a case involving a series of gangland killings in the Amsterdam underworld offered to sell his story to the Telegraaf for €50,000 last year, says the Volkskrant on its website on Monday. For €100,000 he was prepared to be interviewed on tv. More...

ABN Amro publishes earnings early
ABN Amro today brought forward the publication of its quarterly figures, which were due to be announced on April 26, because of its merger talks with Britain’s Barclays bank. More...

Socialists take over Labour again in polls
The Socialist Party (SP) has recovered its popularity and once again overtaken the Labour party, according to the latest weekly internet poll by Maurice de Hond. More...

Fewer vistors to Museum Weekend
Around 850,000 people took part in the annual Museum Weekend this year, considerably less than the one million visitors in 2006 because of the tropical weekend weather, says the Museum Association. More...

Dutch Jews remember Holocaust victims
Dutch Jewish organisations held a service of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust in the Hollandsche Schouwbourg on Sunday evening, to mark the annual Jom Hasjoa, the day Jews around the world honour those who were killed by the Nazis. More...

Christianity more cultural, says survey
The Dutch believe less in the church as a religion but remain devoted to the Christian faith and rituals as part of their culture. The percentage of people that belong to the country’s two biggest churches, the Protestant and Roman Catholic, has fallen to 30% of the population compared to 40% a decade ago. More... comments (1)

PSV end losing streak
Eindhoven’s PSV returned to form on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over FC Twente of Enschede, retaining their two point lead in the premier division with just two games to go. More...

Sunday 15 April 2007

Heat halts Rotterdam marathon
The Rotterdam marathon was abandoned on Sunday afternoon after at least 26 runners were taken to hospital because of the heat, news agency ANP said. The official race had ended earlier in the day. More...

Weekend breaks weather records
Saturday was the earliest official day of summer temperatures and Sunday the hottest April day on record, weather bureau KNMI reported. More...

ABN, Barclays deal expected 'within days' (UPDATE)
ABN Amro is not yet prepared to offer Fortis, Royal Bank of Scotland and Banco Santander the same level of information it has given Barclays which is currently negotiating to takeover the Dutch bank, reports today’s Financieele Dagblad. A deal with Barclays is expected within days, says the paper which bases its story on sources around the takeover battle which broke out at the weekend. More...

Friday 13 April 2007

Labour leader shrugs off criticism
Labour leader and finance minister Wouter Bos on Friday shrugged off criticism of his dual role and urged party members to be patient. The party’s youth wing and former minister Jan Pronk have called on Bos to resign as party leader because of the conflict with his ministerial role. Comment?

Straight 'A's for royal family with Ariane
The new Dutch princess has been named Ariane Wilhelmina Máxima Ines. Crown prince Willem-Alexander announced the names when he went to register the new baby’s birth at the town hall in The Hague on Friday morning. More...

Mulisch nominated for international prize
Dutch writer Harry Mulisch is one of 15 authors short-listed for the Man Booker International Prize which was inaugurated in 2005 and is awarded once every two years to honour ‘a writer's continued creativity, development and overall contribution to world fiction.’ More...

Dutch want more civilians in Afghanistan
The Dutch defence minister has called for a bigger role for civil organisations in rebuilding Afghanistan and wants more use to be made of the NATO fund set up last year on the initiative of the Dutch. The fund contains over €500,000. More...

Dutch EU position not a 'problem'
If the Netherlands is the biggest problem facing the EU in solving the deadlock over the European constitution, then there is no major obstacle to overcome, says European parliament chairman Hans-Gert Pöttering. More...

Barclay's Dutchman is early riser
Dutchman Frits Seegers, the UK-based Barclays’ banker tipped to lead the retail sector of a merged Barclays ABN Amro combine, is at his desk at 6am and doesn’t go home until 9pm, he says in an interview with the Volkskrant today. Rarely back in his home country, Seegers is still a supporter of Amsterdam’s Ajax football club and does miss having a beer on a pavement café in the sun.

Dutch exports up 9%, exports rise 11%
Dutch exports grew 9% in February while imports were up 11%, the national statistics office CBS said on Friday. The increase in exports is in line with general developments in 2006, while imports are higher, bringing in the trade surplus to €3bn, the CBS said. Chemical products and machinery exports rose while foreign sales of fossil fuel are down.

Philips buys US iPod accessory firm
Philips is taking over a US company which supplies accessories - such as cables and loaders - for mobile music carriers like iPods. DLO booked turnover of $100m last year and is one of the biggest players in the market. The worldwide market for player accessories is currently some €4bn a year and growing by 10% annually, Philips said. Philips produces its own MP3 players.

Schiphol gets office deal for road cash
Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport has agreed to pay millions of euros on top of the €15m it has already pledged for the diversion of the A9 motorway at Badhoevedorp, reports news agency ANP. More...

Traffic jam for driving tests
The waiting list for driving tests has grown to almost five months because of a 6% (12,000 tests a month) rise in demand compared to last year, reports Dutch driving test organisation CBR (see Alphabet Soup). More...

Triple A for Dutch princesses
The new Dutch princess has been given the name Ariane Wilhelmina Maxima Ines. The baby, born on Tuesday night, is princess Máxima and crown prince Willem-Alexander's third daughter. The couple's other daughters are Amalia and Alexia. More...

MPs want action on 'underpaid' WAO
The social affairs ministry must look again at the case files of 30,000 incapacity benefit claimants to find out if they are being paid enough benefit, a majority of MPs said on Thursday evening. More...

Possible delays to ABN-Barclays deal: FT
A number of critical issues - including regulatory oversight - still need to be settled before Barclays can 'unveil an expected bid of about €65bn' for ABN Amro, the Financial Times reports on Friday. More...

AZ out of UEFA Cup
AZ Alkmaar is out of the UEFA cup after losing the second leg 4-1 to Werder Bremen. The first leg ended in a 0-0 draw. 'This is a real disappointment,' said trainer Louis van Gaal after the match. 'I didn't think we were the lesser team but we still lost 4-1. It's a real pity.' More...

Civil service pay stalemate over
Civil service unions are to restart talks with the home affairs ministry on a new pay and conditions package. Members voted to suspend their campaign of industrial action at a stormy meeting last night. More...

Thursday 12 April 2007

MPs put private equity put under spotlight
The cream of the Dutch financial world was in The Hague on Wednesday afternoon to attend a parliamentary hearing on the rise and role of venture capitalists and hedge funds in the Netherlands. More...

Health ministry overspends by €1bn
Health minister Ab Klink has reported a shortfall in his department’s 2006 budget of around €1bn, says news agency ANP. The deficit is caused by higher demand on all forms of healthcare, Klink told MPs. More...

Pension fund pulls out of cluster bombs
Civil service pension fund ABP, one of the biggest in the world, is to stop investing in companies which make cluster bombs after all, it was announced at the presentation of the fund's annual report on Thursday. Earlier ABP said it would stop investing in land mine manufacturers.

De Mol confirms bid for Endemol
Cyrte Investments, an investment fund owned by media tycoon John de Mol, is preparing a formal offer for TV production house Endemol, a company spokesman confirmed on Wednesday evening. More...

Penny stocks removed from exchange
Amsterdam stock exchange is to take measures to remove shares trading at under one euro - so called penny stocks - from the bourse. 'These shares make major swings and that can be difficult for investors who do not trade often,' a spokesman told ANP. More...

Name new princess public on Friday
The name of the third daughter of princess Máxima and crown prince Willem Alexander will be revealed on Friday when the prince formally registers the baby's birth with at the town hall in The Hague. The name registration ceremony will be covered live on TV (Nederland 1) from 9.50am.

Record year for tourists expected
The Dutch tourism sector expects another record year in 2007, with some 11.1 million foreign visitors. The tourism board NBTC said on Thursday that it forecasts an increase in visitors from Poland (up 10%), Spain (12%) and Russia (15%) in particular. Spanish tourists have a wide choice of cheap flights to the Netherlands while Poles and Russians have more money to spend, the board said.

Holleeder's co-defendents want case to go on
Lawyers representing eight of the nine defendants on trial alongside crime boss suspect Willem Holleeder on blackmail charges, have called for the trial against their clients to continue. More...

1,200 driving licences confiscated in 2006
Traffic police confiscated some 1,200 driving licences last year, an increase of 60% on 2005, according to the justice ministry's transport department in its annual report. Most licences were seized for dangerous driving or breaking the speed limit.

International investment advisor backs ABN Amro
The international investment advisor ISS has recommended that its clients oppose a hedge fund's efforts to split up ABN Amro, the Financieele Dagblad reports today. More...

Traumatised war veterans demand compensation
A group of 125 Dutch army veterans who became traumatised during a mission are going to court in pursuit of a multi-million euro compensation package. More...

Speed cameras to be cut by 12%
The number of speed traps on Dutch roads are to be cut by around 12%, the justice ministry’s traffic department confirmed on Thursday. Speed cameras in locations where there is no danger to safety will be removed, traffic officer Koos Spee told news agency ANP. More...

Finance minister rejects new tax on top pay
A new top tax rate for very high earners is not the best way to stop the rise in corporate pay packets, finance minister Wouter Bos told MPs yesterday. He has called on managers and supervisory board members to exercise 'moral restraint' on pay. More...

Arrests following asbestos risk to tenants
Four employees from two property companies have been arrested on suspicion of seriously endangering the health of tenants, Amsterdam police said on Thursday. Two civil servants from local housing departments in two Amsterdam districts have also been arrested. The locations have not been disclosed. More...

Civil servants offered 10.5% pay rise
After months of industrial action, national civil servants have been offered what amounts to a 10.5% pay rise for the coming three years and three months. The civil servants trade unions are to put the government’s offer to their members on Thursday. If it is accepted, formal talks on a collective labour agreement (CAO) will start again and industrial actions suspended. More...

Heart operation for crime boss suspect
Crime boss suspect Willem Holleeder is due to have open heart surgery on Thursday. Holleeder became ill last week during his trial on charges of large-scale blackmail operations and leadership of criminal organisations. Today’s operation is taking place at Leiden’s University Medical Centre which has been under heavy guard since Holleeder’s arrival. More...

Dutch to stay on in Sudan, says paper
The Dutch are likely to remain part of the UN peace keeping mission in Sudan for an extra year, according to the AD. The Dutch have been in Sudan since March 2006 and have around 30 military and police staff in the country. More...

Wednesday 11 April 2007

No ban on Amsterdam Hells Angels, says court (UPDATE)
A court in Amsterdam ruled on Wednesday afternoon that the Amsterdam chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club should not be banned because the public prosecution department had failed to prove the entire organisation is involved in crime. More...

Soldier suspended after beer bottle attack
A soldier has been suspended for hitting a fellow soldier over the head with a beer bottle on the island of Crete, the defence ministry confirmed on Wednesday. More...

Spielberg film for Dutch actress?
Top Hollywood director Steven Spielberg has been asking about the availability of Dutch actress Carice van Houten, the AD reports. The paper says Spielberg saw Van Houten in action in the US premier of Paul Verhoeven's Black Book last week. US critics are divided about the film but united in their praise of its star

Majority back extra tax on top pay
Almost two-thirds of the population think the government should introduce a new tax for those earning top salaries, according to a Maurice de Hond internet poll. Some 78% of Labour (PvdA) voters want such a tax but finance minister Wouter Bos (PvdA) is against the move.

Dutch TV consider action against YouTube
Lawyers for the Dutch public broadcasters are discussing what action should be taken against internet site YouTube for using copyrighted images, magazine Elsevier reports. Material belonging to most Dutch broadcasters can be found on YouTube, the magazine claims.

Animal party leader 'damaging to image'
Marianne Thieme, leader of the pro-animal rights party PvdD and Nico Koffeman who hopes to be the PvdD's senator should quit the party because they are members of the fundamentalist Seventh Day Adventist sect, says writer and party supporter Maarten 't Hart. More...

Industrial production hits 7-year high
Dutch industrial production hit a seven-year high in February with an average increase of 6%, says national statistics office CBS. The metal trades saw production rise almost 10% while the oil, chemicals and rubber industries boosted output by almost 8%.

Retail sales rise sharply
Dutch retail sales rose 3.6% in February compared with the same period in 2006, national statistics office CBS said on Wednesday. Non-food sales showed the sharpest growth at 4.8% with clothing sales up 10%. More...

Shell reaches deal on reserves question
Shell is to pay investors outside the US a total of $352.6m to settle claims following the over-statement of its oil and gas reserves in 2004. Dutch pension funds ABP and PGGM and the investors lobby group VEB have all backed the settlement. More...

Máxima home with new daughter
Princess Máxima and her new daughter left hospital early on Wednesday morning and returned home to Wassenaar, the state information service RVD said. Earlier, crown prince Willem-Alexander had shown off the baby, born just before 10pm, to reporters who had gathered at the Bronovo hospital in The Hague. More...

Too much help doesn't reach the poor
Getting proper help to the poor is difficult because so many different organisations are involved, says a report published on Wednesday by 27 medium-sized local councils, known as the G27. More...

Bank of Scotland joins Zuidas auction
Bank of Scotland, Schiphol airport and civil service pension fund ABP have all been given the green light to join the bidding to develop the Zuidas business district around the Amsterdam A10 ring road. More...

Teachers furious with minister
Education minister Ronald Plasterk is on a collision course with the teachers' unions, according to Marleen Barth of the CNV. 'He's nearly half way through his first hundred days and I still haven't spoken to him,' says the angry union representative in Wednesday's Volkskrant. More...

Holleeder poisoned, suggests lawyer (update)
Suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder (48) may have been poisoned, says his lawyer Jan-Hein Kuijpers in Wednesday's Telegraaf. 'His heart valve was leaking on Monday but he seemed fine. That his liver and kidneys have also failed is suspicious,' according to Kuijpers. More...

New royal baby grabs attention
Congratulations have been flooding in to princess Máxima and crown prince Willem Alexander following the birth of their third daughter last night. The baby, the eighth grandchild for queen Beatrix, was born at 9.56pm and weighed in at 4.1kgs. Willem Alexander showed off the baby to the press and waiting crowds early on Wednesday morning. More...

Four in race for bus group Connexxion
Four companies are in the running to take over bus group Connexxion which is currently 100% state-owned, the Financieele Dagblad reports today. The UK's FirstGroup, German company Deutsche Bahn, French firm Transdev and a combination of Rabo Capital and Gilde Investment are on the shortlist, the FD says, quoting sources. More...

Amsterdam Hells Angels verdict today
A court in Amsterdam will announce today whether the city's chapter of the motorcycle club Hells Angels should be banned. The public prosecution department (OM) says the group is a criminal organisation with no place in Dutch society. More...

Tuesday 10 April 2007

Princess Máxima has third daughter
Princess Máxima has given birth to a baby girl, the state information service (RVD) announced on Tuesday evening. The baby is the third daughter for Maxima and crown prince Willem Alexander and the eighth grandchild for queen Beatrix. More...

Holleeder to undergo heart surgery (update)
The trial of suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder on four counts of blackmail has been suspended because of his health problems. Holleeder, 48, was taken to the Leiden University medical centre on Monday ‘on the advice of a prison doctor’, a spokeman for the prison service said. He is to undergo heart surgery on Thursday. More...

Princess Maxima in hospital for birth
Princess Maxima was admitted to the Bronovo hospital in The Hague on Tuesday afternoon to await the birth of her third child, the state information service RVD announced. Crown prince Willem-Alexander is with his wife at the hospital. Sources told ANP that Maxima's parents have also arrived from Argentina. More...

Dutch welcome Australian Afghan decision
The Netherlands has welcomed Australia's decision to send an extra 450 soldiers to help UN peacekeeping and rebuilding efforts in Uruzgan, Afghanistan. Australia has 550 troops in the region, based alongside some 1,400 Dutch soldiers in Tarin Kowt.

Pickpockets returned to Romania
Six young Romanians, arrested for pickpocketing in January and held in secure accommodation since then, have been returned to Romania, child protection officers said on Tuesday. The Romanian authorities will try to find the boys' parents. The children, aged between nine and 11, are thought to have been part of an organised ring.

Animal activists attack Euronext boss car
Animal rights activists have vandalised cars and thrown paint at houses belonging to senior Amsterdam stock exchange staff, a Euronext spokesman confirmed to ANP on Tuesday. More...

French group to buy Rodamco (update)
French property group Unibail has made a bid for Rodamco Europe, valuing the Dutch property company at €11.2bn. If the bid succeeds, it will be the biggest ever takeover of a Dutch company by a foreign concern. More...

PvdA in leadership crisis, says Pronk
The PvdA (Labour party) is becoming embroiled in a leadership crisis, former aid minister and PvdA elder statesman Jan Pronk told VPRO radio on Tuesday. Now that party leader Wouter Bos is deputy prime minister and finance minister in the new cabinet, he can no longer come out for the party line, Pronk said. More...

PGGM to up property investments
Health service pension fund PGGM is to increase the proportion of property investments in its portfolio to 15% and reduce its investment in shares from 42% to 40%. More...

Holleeder blackmail trial suspended
The trial of suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder, currently being tried on four counts of blackmail has been suspended because of Holleeder's health problems. Holleeder, 48, was taken into hospital in Leiden on Monday. The court said Holleeder's right to attend his own trial was paramount. More...

Prince crashes during Easter races
Prince Pieter-Christiaan was involved in a crash with another driver during the BMW 130i races at Zandvoort on Monday. The prince was unhurt but his car was badly damaged. The other car flipped over after the incident but the driver was also unharmed, a track spokesman said. More...

Teachers work too long, says union
Teachers in secondary education are being asked to spend too many hours teaching according to the CNV, the Volkskrant reports on Tuesday. The union has been inundated with complaints since the introduction of a minimum number of teaching hours by the previous government. More...

French firm bids for Rodamco Europe
French property group Unibal has made a bid for Rodamco Europe, valuing the Dutch property company at €11.2bn. If the bid succeeds, it will be the biggest ever takeover of a Dutch company by a foreign concern. More...

DNB has no objects to ABN Amro sell-off
The Dutch central bank has no objections in principle if another bank takes over ABN Amro, divides up the company and sells off parts, said DNB president Nout Wellink in the Financial Times on Sunday. More...

Easter tourists top 900,000
Over 900,000 foreign tourists were in the Netherlands over the holiday weekend, while 400,000 locals took a break in their home country, the Dutch tourist board NBTC said. More...

Second case of pollution in Limburg streams
Several streams in Limburg have been polluted for the second time in two weeks. Hundreds of fish died in the latest incident, this time from ammonia. The source of the ammonia is not known. Two weeks ago diesel from a leaking tank was responsible for the pollution. More...

Car drivers swallowing their drugs
Drug runners from Belgium and France who visit the Netherlands by car are increasingly swallowing their merchandise to avoid detection, according to Algemeen Dagblad on Tuesday. More...

Holleeder in hospital, trial may be delayed
Suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder, currently on trial for blackmail, has been admitted to hospital with what his lawyer Jan-Hein Kuijpers says are 'serious' complaints. Holleeder, 48, was taken to the Leiden University medical centre on Monday 'on the advice of a prison doctor', a spokeman for the prison service said. More...

Sunday 08 April 2007

Amsterdam wins European hockey title
Hockey club Amsterdam won the men's European Cup in Madrid on Sunday. The Dutch club beat England's Cannock HC 6-2 in the final. Amsterdam also won the European title in 1999 and 2003.

Ajax misses chance to lead league
Amsterdam's Ajax was held to a 2-2 draw by RKC Waalwijk on Sunday, missing out on a chance to take the premier division lead. The draw means the Amsterdam club is two points behind PSV Eindhoven, who lost to NEC Nijmegen on Saturday. More...

Ill-health keeps Holleeder out of court
Suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder, on trial in Amsterdam on blackmail charges, will not attend Tuesday's court session on medical grounds, his lawyer Jan-Hein Kuijpers said. Kuijpers said it was not clear what was ailing Holleeder, but the symptoms were an increased heartbeat and raised blood pressure. More...

PSV loss opens leadership door to Ajax
Brett Holman scored two goals in three minutes to give NEC Nijmegen a 2-1 victory over league leaders PSV Eindhoven on Saturday, reopening the championship race. If Ajax beats RKC Waalwijk on Sunday by enough goals, the Amsterdam club could move into the lead. More...

Saturday 07 April 2007

Thirty arrests at extreme-right demo
Police in Oss have arrested 30 people following a demonstration by extreme-right group NVU, including five members of the organisation itself. Some 100 people took part in the demonstration. More...

Left-wing MPs act on post office pay
Socialist and Labour party (PvdA) MPs have introduced an amendment to the post office bill being discussed by parliament on Wednesday which says all delivery workers should be paid by the hour. More...

Security bill for politicians soars
The cost of security for politicians and members of the royal family soared to €34m last year, compared with €12m in the early part of this century, a police spokesman confirmed on Saturday. More...

No extra tax on top salaries
The cabinet has no plans to introduce an extra taxes on top people's pay, finance minister Wouter Bos has told MPs. Bos said such a measure would damage the Netherlands' competitive position. More...

Amsterdam in hockey European Cup final
Hockey club Amsterdam has reached the final of the European Cup tournament in Madrid after a 0-0 draw in the final group match against Germany's De Club an der Alster. Amsterdam, Dutch league champions last year, will play either Madrid's Club de Campo or English team Cannock in the final.

Romario forgets Dutch goal in list of 999
Brazilian soccer star Romario de Souza Faria, poised to score his 1,000 goal, has already reached the magic target, claims the Volkskrant on Saturday. In the list on his current club Vasco da Gama's website, one goal is missing: the goal Romario scored against amateur club Nieuw Buinen on August 3 1990, when he was playing for PSV Eindhoven. More...

Friday 06 April 2007

Minister calls for open borders in May
The Dutch borders can be fully open to people from countries which joined the EU in 2004 from May 1, social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner told MPs on Friday. Donner said further delays would damage Dutch industry and the Netherlands' reputation abroad. More...

Dutch soldier killed in Afghanistan
A 33-year-old Dutch soldier has been killed in Afghanistan in an accident involving an armoured vehicle, the defence ministry said on Friday afternoon. The accident happened during a river crossing by a patrol 3.5 km north of the Dutch base in Tarin Kowt. More...

River flooding biggest threat to Holland
The Netherlands will have to spend €26bn over 15 years on widening and deepening the country’s rivers to cope with consequences of global warming, Wageningen University environmental economist Ekko van Ierland said on Friday. More...

Space agency wants 'Mars' volunteers
The European Space Agency (ESA), whose operational centre is in Noordwijk, is looking for volunteers to take part in a simulated 500-day journey to Mars. Two of the six volunteers will be Europeans and the experiment will take place in Moscow starting next year. More...

Inflation rises to EU average
Higher prices for clothing and shoes pushed up the inflation rate slightly in March to 1.8%, reports the government statistics office CBS. Clothes and shoes were 3.5% more expensive last month than a year ago, said the CBS. More...

Kidnapping suspect extradited from Brazil
One of the main suspects in the kidnapping of millionaire’s daughter Claudia Melchers in 2005 arrived in the Netherlands on Friday morning following his extradition from Brazil, reports news agency ANP. More...

Civil service pay talks continue Tuesday
Home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst will meet leaders of the civil service unions on Tuesday in an effort to break the deadlock over pay. Civil servants from the tax and prison services have been on strike in support of their pay claim.

More Dutch on Schiphol signs
Christian Democrat MPs have called on Schiphol to use more Dutch language information on the airport’s boards. As Schiphol’s biggest shareholder, the government should make sure boards carry both Dutch and English information, MP Maarten Haverkamp said.

Millionaire Nina Brink accused of stealing
Lawyer Oscar Hammerstein is taking legal action against millionaire businesswoman Nina Brink, claiming she has stolen tape recordings from the home of his client, the late astrologer Simon Suiker. Hammerstein says the tape may have contained confidential conversations between Brink and the astrologer, whom she visited for years.

Princes to make racing debut on Monday
Dutch princes Pieter-Christiaan and Bernhard have joined the Racing for Oranje team in this year’s BMW 130i Cup, under the leadership of veteran racer Jan Lammers. Queen Beatrix’s nephews will debut at the Zandvoort track on Monday.

PCM booked €31m net loss in 2006
Newspaper group PCM, currently embroiled in a management crisis following the departure of British venture capital group Apax, booked a net loss of €31m last year. More...

Friesland Bank books record year
The Friesland Bank booked record earnings of €107m last year, an increase of 39% on 2005. Lower costs and higher earnings from its shareholdings in other banks were the most important profit motor, the company said.

Family reduces stake in VolkerWessels
The Wessels family is reducing its stake in construction company VolkerWessels from 90% to 42.5%. Asset manager CVC Capital Partners is taking over a 42.5% stake in the company with the remaining 5% going to management. More...

ABN Amro interested in stake Chinese bank
ABN Amro, currently in merger talks with British bank Barclays, is interested in taking a minority stake in China's Huishang Bank, sources have told Reuters news agency. US cooperative bank UCBH Holdings is also believed to be in the running, Reuters said.

AZ Alkmaar unbeaten in 30 home games
Alkmaar’s AZ drew 0-0 against the German team Werder Bremen in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup on Thursday evening, bringing its score in terms of unbeaten home games to 30. The record stands at 31 and is currently with the UK’s Ipswich Town. More...

Dutch national cricket coach steps down
The Australian Peter Cantrell who is the Dutch national cricket coach is to step down, reports news agency ANP on Friday. Cantrell says he can no longer combine his duties with the national team with his job as golf instructor. More...

Pension fund stops investing in landmines
The civil service pension fund ABP has stopped investing in four companies that manufacture land mines but firms that make cluster bombs remain in the fund’s portfolio. Next week ABP will publish a list of the 500 or so companies in which it invests. More...

Thursday 05 April 2007

Chairman is latest to quit PCM group
Ton aan de Stegge, chairman of newspaper group PCM, has become the latest casualty following the withdrawal of UK private equity group Apax last month. Aan de Stegge, who has been in the job for a year, is leaving because of ‘differences of opinion over strategy’ with the new owner, the Foundation for Democracy and the Media. More...

Holleeder treatment 'verges on torture'
The treatment being meted out to suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder 'verges on torture', his lawyer Jan-Hein Kuijpers said in court on Thursday. Holleeder is suffering from exhaustion and hyperventilating because of the way he is being treated, Kuijpers said. More...

More security after young refugees vanish
The justice ministry is to increase security at its Ter Apel refugee centre in Groningen following the disappearance of 11 young asylum seekers (known as AMAs). More...

Dutch army has two types of cluster bomb
The Dutch army still holds two types of cluster bomb in its arsenal, defence miniser Eimert van Middelkoop told MPs on Thursday. The use of such types of munition is justified 'in certain circumstances and after very careful consideration,' Van Middelkoop said. More...

IT project puts Samas in the red
Office supplies group Samas issued a profit warning on Thursday, saying that a computerisation project was causing more problems than expected and would result in a loss of €11m over the first six months of its current book year. More...

Prince's watch auctioned for €12,000
A Rolex Oyster Perpetual watch owned by queen Beatrix’s late father, prince Bernhard, raised €12,000 at an auction by Christies yesterday. The watch, which the prince bought in 1990, had been expected to raise up to €5,000. It went to an anonymous buyer.

Police break law on working hours
Nearly every police force in the country breaks the law on working hours, according to a report by the labour inspectorate. More...

Discount on fines for crooks paying by pin
Thieves, vandals and marijuana growers who agree to pay their fines with a direct debit card at the police station are entitled to a 20% discount, the public prosecution office in Zwolle says in today’s Telegraaf. More...

Boekhoorn buys into Spyker
Investor Marcel Boekhoorn has put €7.5m into luxury sports car maker Spyker, giving him a stake of 5.7% at €20 a share. According to the Financieele Dagblad, Boekhoorn was the first Dutchman to buy a Spyker, which cost him €360,000.

Managers can't let go on holiday
Eight out of 10 managers think about work during their holidays and are available by phone while they are away, according to a survey by Management Team magazine. More...

Rabobank biggest corporate sponsor
Cooperative bank Rabobank is the biggest corporate sponsor in the country, shelling out €39m this year on sponsorship deals, according to Sponsor Magazine. More...

Hospitals €521 mln over budget
Hospitals have exceeded their budget for 2005-2007 by far more than initially expected, says the umbrella organisation for health insurers. Original estimates put extra expenditure at €291 mln, but a further over-spending of €230mln is now expected, the organisation said today. More...

Govt to spend €10mln on new phone nrs
The government is to make €10mln available for new mobile phone numbers. Making the announcement this morning, junior economic affairs minister Frank Heemskerk said the move will increase the number of mobile phone numbers in the Netherlands to 60 million. More...

Murder of activist was revenge on squatters’ movement
The 38-year-old man from Rotterdam who has confessed to the murder of left-wing activist Louis Sévèke wanted revenge on the squatting movement and claims to have been involved in several left-wing terrorist attacks, reports Thursday’s Volkskrant. More...

Ahold preparing bid for Hema, says FD
The owner of the Albert Heijn supermarkets, Ahold, is preparing a bid to take over one of Holland’s best known departments stores, Hema, reports Thursday’s Financieele Dagblad (FD). More...

Wednesday 04 April 2007

Arrest in drug baron murder case
Police have made an arrest in connection with the shooting of drugs baron and property magnate Kees Houtman, NOS news reported on Wednesday. More...

'Giant North Sea waves are not a myth'
Waves of up to 17 metres high do exist in the North Sea, despite the Dutch water board's assertions that they are a myth, says the national lifeboat society KNRM. More...

Three possible buyers for Endemol
At least three companies are seriously interested in taking over Dutch-based television production company Endemol, British newspaper The Times reports on Wednesday. More...

Bankruptcies down 19% in Q1
The number of firms and private individuals that went bust in the Netherlands fell 19% in the first three months of the year to 1,955. At the same time, the number of companies applying for help with debt management rose 14% to 4,507.

Organic food sales up in 2006
Dutch consumers spent €460.3m on organic food last year, up almost €40m on 2005, according to sector organisation Biologica. In particular, dairy products, meat and bread were in demand.

Labour under fire over Iraq inquiry (update)
Labour MPs came under heavy pressure in parliament on Wednesday afternoon over their about-face on calls for an inquiry into Dutch support for the invasion of Iraq. More...

Power firms forced to hive off grids (update)
The four biggest Dutch energy concerns are to be forced to create separate companies for their transport grids. Economic affairs minister Maria van der Hoeven told MPs last night that she wants Essent, Nuon, Eneco and Delta to separate their commercial activities (power production, supply and trading) from their electricity transport activities. More...

Shareholderscan question strategy
Shareholders are quite within their rights to question the course a company is taking, Arthur Docters van Leeuwen, chairman of financial services watchdog AFM said on Wednesday. More...

Registrar resigns over gay marriages
A local council executive for the orthodox ChristenUnie party has stepped down as registrar in the Frisian town of Drachten because of his opposition to gay marriages. More...

Tax office gave wrong advice on digital ID
The tax office was wrong to advise people who had lost their digital identity code (DigiD) to use someone else’s, a home affairs ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday. More...

Bus brakes not up to standard
Government transport inspectors have banned regional bus firm Connexxion from using 113 new 20-seater mini-buses because the brakes are not up to standard. The buses were built by local firm VDL Berkhof. Bus safety has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months.

House prices rise 1% in Q1
The price of the average house in the Netherlands rose 1% in the first three months of this year to €240,000, property agency association NVM said. In 5.2% of house sales, buyers offered more than the asking price.

Baby elephant trampled to death
A baby elephant born in Amersfoort zoo has been trampled to death by its mother. The incident was recorded live on webcam. Zoo officials said pain can make elephants aggressive.

Kidnapped Dutchman in Nigeria released
A Dutchman kidnapped from German construction company Bilfinger Berger in Nigeria two weeks ago has been freed by his captors, ANP reported. No further details have been released.

Pressure mounts over Iraq inquiry
The senate is free to carry out its own research into the circumstances surrounding Dutch support for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende said on Tuesday evening. More...

Motorist killed in petrol station blaze
A driver was killed in a fire after crashing his car into a petrol station on the N205 close to Schiphol airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The blaze, which destroyed the petrol station, led to the closure of the N205 in both directions for several hours.

Energy firms face network split off
Economic affairs minister Maria van der Hoeven has told the Netherlands' big power firms she will take a quick decision on whether to force them to hive off their network operations. Van der Hoeven was discussing the energy sector with MPs last night. More...

PSV lose 3-0 to Liverpool, cup hopes over
Liverpool dominated PSV to win 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in Eindhoven on Tuesday. PSV coach Ronald Koeman said the defeat appeared to end the Dutch club's European football campaign this season. More...

Tuesday 03 April 2007

Threatening email writer faces jail
The public prosecution department is calling for a three year jail sentence for a 26-year-old man accused of sending threatening emails to a number of right-wing politicians including Geert Wilders and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. More...

Senators want answers on intervention
Labour (PvdA) senators want ministers to define exactly what conditions will need to be met before the Netherlands will support future military interventions, in light of the Dutch political support for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. . More...

Court attack still a mystery (update)
Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin is to investigate whether the Netherlands needs a new high-security court following Monday’s grenade attack on the Amsterdam Osdorp complex just hours before the trial of suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder was due to start. More...

Court attack still a mystery
Amsterdam police are continuing their investigation into the two missiles, possibly grenades, which hit the high-security Osdorp court building early on Monday, just hours before the trial of suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder was due to start. More...

Océ division DDS books sales drop
Copier and printer maker Océ's most important division - Digital Document Systems - saw turnover and operating profit fall in the first quarter of this year, Océ said on Tuesday. More...

TNT to slash 7,000 jobs (update)
TNT Post is to cut its Dutch workforce by between 6,500 and 7,000 by 2010 and bring in a 30-month pay freeze, the company announced on Tuesday. More...

Eureko profit up
European cooperative insurance company Eureko said net profit rose 40% in 2006 to € 985m. Eureko, the parent company of Dutch insurers Achmea and Interpolis, said the bulk of the rise was due to the consolidation of Interpolis. More...

Recycling surcharge too high
The recycling surcharge consumers pay on household appliance is too high, the Dutch Retail council (RND) said in today’s Algemeen Dagblad. More...

EMI on the right track, but …
The Dutch consumer lobby group Consumentenbond said music company EMI’s decision to release music without anti-copy protection was a ‘good first step’, but was critical of the fact that the unprotected music was more expensive. More...

Late payments on the rise
The number of households paying bills too late rose to 53% in 2006, up from 51% in the previous year, according to a study by market research company Interview-NSS and debt collectors GGN. More...

Dozing on the job
Employees lose an average of one working day a month due to a lack of alertness, according to a study by market survey company TNS NIPO. More...

MPs debate Essent Nuon merger
MPs will today tackle economic affairs minister Maria van der Hoeven about the planned merger between energy companies Nuon and Essent, the Financieele Dagblad reports. More...

Severe delays to trains in Brabant
Train services throughout Noord-Brabant were being severely affected on Tuesday morning because of technical problems. There are no services at all between Breda and Den Bosch or Breda and Eindhoven and buses have been brought in to transport stranded passengers. More...

TNT Post to scrap 7,000 jobs
TNT Post is to cut its Dutch workforce by between 6,500 and 7,000 by 2010, the company announced on Tuesday. The job losses could reach 11,000 if unions don't agree to a reduction in secondary benefits across the board, TNT Post said. More...

Monday 02 April 2007

Crime boss trial moved after explosions (update)
The long-awaited trial of suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder was moved to a different court in Amsterdam on Monday afternoon following the discovery of a ‘partly unexploded projectile’ at the high security Osdorp court complex. More...

‘Chemicals to Iraq’ legal appeal begins
A court in The Hague today began hearing the appeal by Dutch businessman Frans van Anraat, sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2005 for selling chemicals to Iraq. The chemicals were used to make chemical weapons which killed thousands of people. More...

Electricity imports up 17% in 2006
Electricity imports rose by 17% in 2006, said the government statistics office CBS on Monday. Imports now account for 22% of Dutch power consumption. Total consumption rose by 1.8%. More...

150 sheep die in farm blaze
At least 150 sheep and lambs have died in a fire on a farm in Lettelbert, in Groningen. The animals were inside a barn, which was completely destroyed in the blaze. The cause is unknown.

Kelder quits as Quote editor
Jort Kelder, the flamboyant editor of business monthly Quote, has resigned after 13 years in the job. Kelder will stay on as an adviser. His departure was prompted by the sale of the magazine to French publishing group Hachette Filipacci. 'I didn't like the takeover for the simple reason that it feels cheap to be sold,' Kelder said.

Easter tourism down on 2006
Some 850,000 foreign tourists are expected in the Netherlands for the Easter break, some 50,000 fewer than last year, says tourism board NBTC. Some 60% of this year’s visitors will come from Germany and 25% from Belgium. Around 600,000 Dutch nationals are expected to go away over the Easter weekend, but two-thirds of them will remain in the Netherlands.

One in nine welfare claimants under 27
One in nine of the 300,000 people claiming welfare benefits are aged 27 or younger, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday. One-third of benefit recipients under 27 are single parents. The number of welfare claims fell 8% last year. The drop was greatest (24%) among the under-27s.

Terrorism czar gets 12.5% pay rise
Dutch anti-terrorism czar Tjibbe Joustra saw his income rise by 12.5% to €224,0442 last year which means his salary is almost €100,000 higher than the prime minister, reports Saturday’s Financieele Dagblad. More...

Finance minister to sue over family photos
Finance minister Wouter Bos is to sue gossip magazine Weekend for taking photographs of his children. Bos said that while he accepts that he can be photographed as a public figure, photographs of him with his children are an infringement of his privacy. And he said that the law protects the right of children to a ‘carefree youth’.

Holleeder trial moved to new court (UPDATE)
The long-awaited trial of suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder has been moved to a different court in Amsterdam for security reasons, a court spokesman told news agency ANP. The trial is now scheduled to start at the Parnassusweg court building at 2pm. More...

Antonov steps down as deputy chairman
Rouman Antonov, founder of Amsterdam based gear-box maker Antonov, is leaving the company's board, where he is deputy chairman, but will remain involved with the company as a technical advisor. More...

Smokers smoked more in 2006
Cigarette smoking went up 1.5% in 2006, the first time there has been a rise in 25 years, the government statistics office CBS reported on Monday. In total the Dutch smoked around 25 billion cigarettes – or 864 per person – in 2006, the CBS said. The actual number of smokers remained stable.

Jumbo takes over 15 Super de Boer shops
Supermarket group Laurus has sold 15 Super de Boer stores to competitor Jumbo for €16m. Laurus said it had made the move because the shops were either loss-making or no longer fitted its format. The sale will bring the number of Jumbo supermarkets in the Netherlands to 120. In total, Laurus plans to sell 50 stores this year.

'France too dominant in NYSE merger'
The merger between the New York stock exchange and pan-European bourse group Euronext has provoked complaints in Amsterdam and London that Paris is becoming too dominant, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Monday. More...

Traffic jams on the up
The number of traffic jams in the Netherlands rose 20% in the first three months of this year, compared with the same period in 2006, according to traffic information service VID. More...

Sphinx in EU bathroom tap cartel probe
European commissioner Neelie Kroes is investigating a potential cartel amongst bathroom tap and shower makers, including Dutch firm Sphinx. More...

Royal Bank of Scotland eyes ABN Amro
The Royal Bank of Scotland is asking its biggest shareholders if they would be in favour of making a bid for ABN Amro, UK newspaper The Business reported on Sunday. 'We are looking at what is happening. It is very interesting to be on the sidelines,' an RSB source told the paper. ABN Amro and Barclays are currently in exclusive talks on a takeover.

Dutch take five swimming medals
Marleen Veldhuis took the bronze medal in the 50 metres freestyle at the World Swimming Championships in Melbourne this weekend, taking the Dutch medal total to five. More...

Marijnissen shows 'shameless opportunism'
The Labour party is furious at comments made by Socialist Party leader Jan Marijnissen at the weekend that Labour junior ministers Ahmed Aboutaleb and Nebahat Albayrak would be setting a good example if they gave up their dual nationality and chose to hold on only to their Dutch passports. More...

PSV wobble as Ajax closes gap
Amsterdam's Ajax on Sunday narrowed the gap with league leaders PSV of Eindhoven to three points with four games still to play in the premiership. More...

Bos holds cycling sprint crown
Dutchman Theo Bos took the sprint title at the track cycling world championships in Spain this weekend. Bos, who also took the sprint crown in 2004 and 2006 and the keirin last year in Bordeaux, beat Frenchman Gregory Baugé in the final. The sprint is a highly tactical one to one race over 1,000 metres with no lanes. More...

Explosions at crime boss trial courtroom
A number of explosions have badly damaged the heavily guarded Amsterdam courtroom where the trial of alleged crime boss Willem Holleeder is due to begin on Monday morning. More...