Tuesday 31 July 2007

Sheep disease Bluetongue spreads
The number of Dutch farms where the Bluetongue virus has been identified has increased to 24, the farm ministry said on Tuesday. More...

Car sector lobby wants clarity on new rules
Motoring sector lobby group Bovag, has urged environment minister Jacqueline Cramer to come clean on all the new rules she is planning to introduce by August 31. It says the sector faces being snowed under by new regulations. More...

Huge mobile internet bills for holidaymakers
The consumers association Consumentenbond has urged junior economic affairs minister Frank Heemskerk to take action against mobile phone providers which it claims have not done enough to warn holidaymakers about the high cost of mobile internet abroad. More...

Migrant youth feel like outcasts
Migrant youngsters in Amsterdam tend to feel more socially isolated and less connected to their neighbourhoods than their parents, according to research by the city's statistics office O&S. More...

Sheep disease bluetongue spreads
The number of Dutch farms where the Bluetongue virus has been identified has increased to 22, the farm ministry said on Tuesday. More...

Telecom mast emissions below limit
Emissions from GSM and 3G telecommunications masts in the Netherlands are well below official limits and pose no danger to health, according to research for the economic affairs ministry published on Tuesday. More...

Family sues over gorilla escape
A Rotterdam family yesterday pressed ahead with its damages claim against the city's Blijdorp zoo, following the escape of the gorilla Bokito in early June. More...

ABN Amro sells InterBank and DMC
ABN Amro has sold its InterBank (consumer credit) and DMC Groep (credit agency) subsidiaries to French group Sofinco, which is part of Crédit Agricole. More...

Producer prices show sharp rise
Dutch factory gate prices rose 3.2% in June, compared with the year-earlier period, their highest rise in 10 months, says national statistics office CBS. More...

Fruit harvest early and abundant
The Dutch apple and pear harvest is not only several weeks earlier than normal but the volume of fruit grown is also well above average, the Telegraaf reports on Tuesday. Grapes, which are grown in the south of the country, are also being harvested earlier than normal. More...

Monday 30 July 2007

Aid minister under fire for nepotism
Aid minister Bert Koenders is under fire from all sides of the political spectrum after awarding a major contract to a company with close ties to his own Labour party (PvdA) against EU rules on tendering, ANP reports. More...

Dutch consumers among most optimistic
Consumers in the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden are the most optimistic in Europe, according to figures from European statistics office Eurostat. Those in Hungary, Portugal and Cyprus were the most pessimistic, Eurostat said.

Police arrest Apeldoorn shooting suspect
Police have arrested the man they want to interview about the shooting of an off-duty police officer in central Apeldoorn last week. The man, 57-year-old Jovica Trajkovic, was arrested in woods near Biddinghuizen in Flevoland province after a tip-off and a chase involving a helicopter. More... comments (1)

Man fined €400 for insulting queen
Amsterdam magistrates have fined 47-year-old Regilio Amelo €400 for insulting queen Beatrix and a policeman. More... comments (2)

Dutch electricity production falls
The amount of electricity generated in the Netherlands fell for the second successive year in 2006, according to new figures from the national statistics office CBS. As in 2005, power imports were up, the CBS said. More...

Dutch tax laws attract hedge funds
Between 15 and 20 hedge funds are set to officially base themselves in the Netherlands because of new tax rules, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Monday. More...

Workers prefer simple savings schemes
A work-based savings scheme, allowing workers to save a percentage of their salary to fund a sabbatical (levensloopregeling), has flopped because it is too complicated and too-focused on the long term, the plan's architect Lans Bovenberg tells Monday's Volkskrant. More...

TNT books lower operating profit
Dutch post and delivery group TNT said on Monday operating profit had fallen 2.1% in the second quarter to €330m. Turnover was in line with analysts estimates of around €2.7bn, while net profit was higher at €244m. More...

ICI rejects higher offer from Akzo Nobel
British chemicals company ICI has rejected a new takeover offer from Dutch peer Akzo Nobel. The Arnhem-based group had increased its earlier offer of 600 pence a share to 650 pence, but this was again rejected by ICI as being too low. More...

Pensioners abused out of revenge
Some 76% of pensioners who were physically abused last year were the victims of revenge or greed, the Nederlands Dagblad reports on Monday. The paper says half of the perpetrators were children or grandchildren. More...

Photos issued of police shooter
The police have taken the unusual step of issuing photographs of the man they want to question in connection with the shooting of a police officer in Apeldoorn last week. More...

Broadcaster defends editing out evolution
Religious TV station EO on Monday defended its editing of wildlife documentaries to remove references to evolution. More... comments (9)

KPN bids to buy Getronics
Telecoms group KPN has made a €6.25 a share cash offer to take over troubled IT services group Getronics. In addition, KPN is to pay €415m to take over debt and preference shares. More...

ABN Amro withdraws Barclays backing
The ABN Amro management and supervisory boards have withdrawn their recommendation that shareholders back a takeover by Barclays. More... comments (1)

Friday 27 July 2007

ING buys Santander Latam pension unit
ING has agreed to take over the Latin American pension activities of Spanish bank Santander for €960m. The takeover will be paid for in cash. More... comments (1)

Minister calls for clever cameras
Home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst has called on local councils to use smart cameras which react to agressive behaviour to boost town centre safety. One in five of the Netherlands’ 400-odd councils use cameras surveillance.

Jatropha seed key to fair trade energy
Energy company Eneco, development organisation ICCO and the Max Havelaar fair trade group have joined forces to develop a fair trade certificate for green energy. More... comments (2)

Man charged with insulting the queen
A 47-year-old Amsterdam resident has been charged with lèse majesté - or crimes against the monarch - for insulting Queen Beatrix. More... comments (6)

Bag-snatch victim prosecuted over death
A woman who drove after the 19-year-old man who snatched her bag when he tried to flee on a moped, crushing him to death against a tree, will face criminal charges after all, the public prosecution department said on Friday. More... comments (5)

Tour de France dominates papers
The doping scandals surrounding the Tour de France cycling race and Rabobank’s decision to sack race leader Michael Rasmussen generated a great deal of coverage in today’s papers and in their editorials. More...

Schiphol faces busiest day
Some 170,000 people are expected to move through Schiphol airport today (Friday), its busiest day ever. Passengers are being warned that they may face long waits to go through passport control and airport security checks. More...

Stolen mopeds are often gone for good
Nearly 4,600 mopeds were stolen in the first six months of this year, of which only 27% are ever recovered, according to new police figures. More... comments (1)

Railway allotments to be cleared
Dutch railway operator ProRail is to step up its campaign to remove all allotments from alongside the railway tracks, arguing that they create unsafe situations and are home to an increasing amount of illegal activity. Zuid-Holland allotments will be the first to be cleared, after the harvest.

Wrong man arrested, bitten by police dog
Police have apologised after arresting and injuring an innocent man in connection with the shooting of a police officer in Apeldoorn on Monday. More...

Ritalin prescriptions up 30%
The number of prescriptions for Ritalin, used to treat ADHD (hyperactivity), rose 30% last year, according to figures from medicine monitoring group SFK and quoted in today’s De Pers. More...

OPG earnings pressured in Poland
Earnings at pharmacy and drugs wholesale group OPG were pressured by disappointing results from its Polish operations in the second quarter. Net profit was down slightly at €22.5m.

Temps agency USG earnings rise 40%
Temporary employment agency USG People booked a 40% increase in net profit in its last book year, the company announced on Friday. More...

Philips, ING brands rise in value
The value of the Philips brand name has risen 15% to $7.7bn, according to the latest Interbrand listing of the world’s top 100 names. More...

Delays loom for traffic blackspot projects
The transport ministry is to re-examine some 40 major road projects to assess their impact on air quality, following a Council of State ruling earlier this week. More...

Thursday 26 July 2007

Fire at Blijdorp zoo aquarium
The Oceanium aquarium complex at Rotterdam's Blijdorp zoo was evacuated on Thursday afternoon after fire broke out in one of the overhead solar panels. No-one was injured.

Three get life for café murders
Three men have been sentenced to live imprisonment for the grisly triple murder at Rotterdam café Inn & Out in 2005. The men had burst into the café, demanded money and began shooting at the guests with the aim of making sure no-one was left alive. comments (1)

Groningers are the happiest in Europe
People living in Groningen are the happiest in Europe about their city according to European Commission research. The researchers looked at 75 different cities. Amsterdam and Rotterdam ranked in the middle. Least happy were people living in Athens, Naples and Istanbul.

Vedior more than doubles net earnings
Temporary employment agency Vedior more than doubled its net profit to €94.2m in the second quarter of this year, boosted by a €31m one-off in France. More...

Refineries offset less production at Shell
Shell reported a 20% rise in second-quarter profit on Thursday, boosted by its refineries in the US and Europe. More...

ABN Amro staff polled on takeover
One in six ABN Amro workers would like to find another job if the bank is taken over, according to an internal poll by its European works council and quoted in the Parool. Employees who planned to stay said the main reason was their salary and bonuses.

Alkmaar most expensive for students
Alkmaar is the most expensive place in the country for students to live in followed by Utrecht and Leiden, according to website Kamer.nl. More...

Endemol earnings down 30%
TV production group Endemol booked a 30% drop in net profit in the second quarter of the year. Normalised net profit was up 13.6% to €56.6m, the company said.

DSM raises profit forecast slightly
Chemical company DSM raised its ful year forecast slightly to full-year operating profit of €790m on the back of a 3% drop in Q2 operating profit. ‘We benefited from higher volumes and prices,’ CEO Feike Sijbesma said.

Reed Elsevier earnings rise 8%
Publishing group Reed Elsevier booked an 8% rise in Q2 earnings at €610m. Excluding currency effects, sales were up 6% at €3.3bn. More...

Shell books sharp increase in profit
Oil giant Shell booked a 20% increase in second quarter profit at €7.56bn, bucking an industry trend. Reuters reported it was the eighth straight quarter that Shell has beaten analysts’ forecasts. The production of oil and gas was down, largely due to the warm spring in western Europe, Shell said.

Rabobank drops Tour leader Rasmussen
Rabobank has kicked Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen out of the competition and off its team for lying about his whereabouts prior to the start of the race. More...

Chronic illness rate set to soar
The number of people in the Netherlands suffering from a chronic illness will go up by 70% over the next 18 years, according to calculations by health institute RIVM. More...

Wednesday 25 July 2007

Bring back the golden share, say MPs
The government should bring back the ‘golden share’ to protect important companies against undesirable foreign takeovers, according to a majority of MPs. More...

No maternity pay for self-employed
The state is under no obligation to give maternity pay to women who work as free-lancers or run their own one-woman companies, a court in The Hague ruled on Wednesday. More...

Dutch alone on inter-ethnic policy
Creating policy to stimulate contact between natives and ethnic minority immigrants is a largely Dutch phenomenon, according to researchers at the government’s social policy unit SCP. More... comments (2)

Epe wants action on wild boar
The Gelderland village of Epe, close to the Veluwe national park, plans to start shooting wild boar inside the built-up area because of the nuisance to gardeners and risk of traffic accidents, ANP reports. Some 25 boar have taken to roaming the village streets at night, the council says.

Top earners live in Noord-Holland, Utrecht
People living in the provinces of Noord-Holland and Utrecht had an average income of €15.500 in 2005, the highest in the country. People in Friesland had the lowest average income at €12,900, according to new figures from the national statistics office CBS.

'EU action needed on sport doping'
The Netherlands should put pressure on its European partners to develop a EU approach to tackle doping in sport, Christian Democrat MP Joop Atsma said on TV programme Nova on Tuesday. More...

Over 6,100 refugees get amnesty so far
Over 6,100 long-term refugees have been given a residency permit under the government’s amnesty so far, according to immigration service figures. In total, up to 30,000 people are expected to benefit from the scheme, which applies to people who arrived before April 2001.

Action pledged on water-filled chicken
The food inspectorate has pledged to crack down on poultry companies which inject chicken with too much water and fail to label it properly. More...

Socialists call for home help debate
Socialist MPs have called for parliament to be recalled for an emergency debate over problems in the home care sector. More...

Palestinian doctor to head for Holland
Asharaf Alhajouj, the Palestinian doctor freed by Libya plans to join his family in the Netherlands. His parents and sisters who live in Woerden are traveling to Bulgaria where Alhajouj is spending 10 days to recover and undergo various health tests.

Employer lobby groups join forces
The employers lobby group VNO-NCW is to start working together with the wholesale sector organisation NVG. ‘It is important that our lobby represents as broad a spectrum of Dutch companies as possible,’ said its chairman Bernard Wientjes. ‘How bigger we are, how stronger we are.’

Helicopter problems hit Stork earnings
Earnings at engineering group Stork fell in the second quarter because of continuing problems with its NH90 helicopter, requiring a provision of €35m, the company said on Wednesday. More...

Randstad books 34% profit growth
Earnings at temporary employment agency Randstad grew 34% in the second quarter of this year. More...

Tuesday 24 July 2007

‘Internet pirates’ found not guilty
Rotterdam court has found two men not guilty and fined three others just €250 each for placing music and film fragments on the internet. The five had been accused of forming a criminal organisation and large-scale film and music piracy. The court threw out those charges.

Strong winds blow away tents
Dozens of tents on seaside campsites were blown away by Tuesday morning's strong winds and in Zeeland the Renz Berlin circus tent was badly damaged, the Telegraaf reports on its website. More...

Good colleges should get bonus boost
Education minister Ronald Plasterk should find €150m extra and use it as bonuses for universities and colleges which do better than others. This would encourage them to improve their quality, says the education council on Tuesday. More... comments (1)

Budget cuts threaten social services
Social service departments nationwide are receiving far less money than expected from the social affairs ministry, according to the social services managers organisation Divosa. More...

Dutch Rail sets up own 'police force'
ProRail announced on Tuesday that it is appointing 50 uniformed officers to police the railway lines and deal with dangerous situations and vandalism following a successful test in the south of the country. The officers have received special training and are authorised to book offenders. They are not permitted to carry firearms. comments (1)

Police want end to home marijuana growing
Current laws which turn a blind eye to private individuals growing up to five marijuana plants should be overturned, according to police drugs experts. They say small-scale growers can earn up to €3,000 a year from their home production. More... comments (5)

Akzo Nobel books sharp profit increase
Chemicals group Akzo Nobel saw second quarter earnings rise from €207m in 2006 to €279m, well ahead of analysts' expectations. Group sales rose from €2.62bn to €2.69bn. More...

ABN Amro boss to assess bids ‘fairly’
ABN Amro chief Rijkman Groenink has written to staff pledging to judge both the Barclays and consortium bids for the bank in a fair, transparent manner. More...

Shop workers not safe enough
Nearly half of shops in areas with high rates of aggression, violence and robberies are not doing enough to protect their staff, according to government inspectors. More...

Dutch positive on Hariri tribunal request
The Dutch government has reacted positively to a request from the United Nations that it host the international tribunal for the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri. More...

Hema embraces El Hema art project
Budget department store Hema has withdrawn its objections to an art project called El Hema and is now offering to help the exhibition, the company said in a statement on Monday evening. More... comments (2)

Off-duty policeman shot
The police officer shot in an Apeldoorn shopping centre while off duty on Monday night is still in a 'very serious' condition in hospital, a police spokesman said on Tuesday morning. More...

Monday 23 July 2007

Barclays ups ABN Amro offer, is it enough?
Barclays bank has increased its offer for Dutch banking group ABN Amro after agreeing a €13.4bn investment package with the Chinese and Singaporean governments, the British bank said in a statement on Monday morning. More...

500 complaints about transport chip card
Travellers have made 500 complaints about the new system for paying for public transport in Rotterdam in the three weeks since the OV-chipcard has been in use. Most complaints come from people who forget to ‘check out’ of the bus or tram and end up paying too much per trip.

Finance ministry calls for higher fines
The finance ministry wants to quadruple the maximum fine for breaking securities laws to €2m. The ministry says Dutch fines are far lower than in surrounding countries and are not a proper deterrent. The ministry also wants to allow individual staff members to be fined.

Dutch fail Reader's Digest honesty test
The Dutch are not honest people, if the results of a Reader's Digest experiment are anything to go by. Reporters from the magazine left a total of 960 mobile telephones behind in 32 large cities. Of the 30 phones left in Amsterdam, just 14 were returned, putting the city in 29th place. More... comments (1)

Half of households have a newspaper sub
Just over half of Dutch households had a newspaper subscription last year, compared with 62% 10 years ago, says national statistics office CBS. Better-educated households are more likely to have a newspaper subscription as are people living in the country and those with young children.

One in three jobs hard to fill
Of the 200,000 job vacancies in the Netherlands last September, around one-third were described as hard-to-fill, according to new figures from the national statistics office CBS. More...

Criminalise youth alcohol possession: PvdA
The Labour party (PvdA) wants to make the possession of alcohol in public places by under-16s punishable by law. The idea is contained in an action plan published on Monday afternoon to deal with the problem of under-age drinking. More...

'Rabobank interested in WestLB'
Dutch cooperative bank Rabobank is one of several parties interested in taking a stake in Germany's WestLB bank, German media reported on Sunday. Magazine Focus says Rabobank has already had talks with the local authorities which own 38% of the bank.

TomTom bids for digital map maker
Car satellite navigation system maker TomTom has made a €2bn takeover offer for digital map maker Tele Atlas. More...

Legal minimum holidays suits employers
A majority of the 200 employers in BNR radio's monthly poll are happy with the current statutory holiday allocation of 20 days but almost 20% think 30 days holiday would be better. Most Dutch pay deals already include extra days off, giving people around 25 days paid leave a year.

Dutch lose Open tennis doubles
Dutch duo Robin Haase and Rogier Wassen lost the final of the men's doubles at the Dutch Open tennis on Sunday to Argentinian players Juan-Pablo Brzezicki and Juan Pablo Guzman 6-2 6-0. The men's singles title went to Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis who defeated Austrian Werner Eschauer 6-1 7-6 (7-1) for his first career tournament win.

Davids breaks leg, out for three months
Ajax midfield player Edgar Davids broke a leg in a friendly on Saturday and will miss the opening three months of the season. Davids, 34, who returned to Holland from Tottenham Hotspur in January, sustained the injury in the abandoned friendly with Go Ahead Eagles.

LPF to disband on New Year's Day 2008
Members of the political party List Pim Fortuyn (LPF) voted at their annual meeting on Saturday to disband the party on January 1 2008. Of the members who turned up, 30 voted to disband and 26 to continue. More...

Moroccan king gives award to Aboutaleb
Junior social affairs minister Ahmed Aboutaleb received an award from king Mohammed VI during his holiday in the Moroccan seaside resort of al-Hoceima, the social affairs ministry reported on Sunday. He received the award for his services to creating a positive view of Moroccans in the Netherlands.

Molotov cocktails thrown at mosque
Two molotov cocktails were thrown at the Selimiye Mosque in Haarlem on Sunday morning, police sources report. No damage was done. More...

MPs angered at nuclear power research
A slim majority of MPs is opposed to the cabinet's decision to have five different locations in the Netherlands checked out to see if they are suitable sites for new nuclear power stations, the Volkskrant reports on Monday. More...

Caution over 'success' of new benefit
Labour MPs and union officials say it is too soon to describe the new incapacity benefit system as a success because it is unclear if more people with a handicap are still in work, Trouw reported on Monday. More...

Barclays ups offer for ABN Amro
Barclays bank has increased its offer for Dutch banking group ABN Amro after agreeing a €13.4bn investment package with the Chinese and Singaporean governments, the British bank said in a statement on Monday morning. More...

Saturday 21 July 2007

Investors back consortium says ABN boss
A majority of ABN Amro's shareholders support the mainly-cash takeover bid by the consortium of three banks, chairman Rijkman Groenink says in an interview with Saturday's NRC Handelsblad. More...

Labour MPs furious at nuclear research
MPs from the ruling Labour party (PvdA) are furious at the cabinet's decision to have five different locations in the Netherlands checked out to see if they are suitable sites for new nuclear power stations, the Volkskrant writes on Saturday. More...

Few claims for new incapacity benefit
Only 3,800 people have been declared fully unfit to work since the introduction of a new incapacity benefit system a year ago, Trouw reports on Saturday. The paper says the government had expected up to 25,000 claims. More...

Friday 20 July 2007

Mink Kok freed on murder charges
Convicted drugs and weapons trader Mink Kok has been found not guilty of the 1993 murder of drugs dealer Jaap van der Heiden in a high-profile and controversial court case. More...

Dutch book stores open for Harry Potter
A number of Dutch bookshops nationwide will be open at 1am tonight so Harry Potter fans can buy the final installment of the boy wizard's adventures. More...

Consumers spend less on clothes and shoes
Consumer spending on clothes and shoes in May, compared with the year earlier period, says national statistics office CBS. In total, household spending rose 0.5%, the lowest growth figure in two years.

Burn-out victim gets record pay-out
A 46-year-old insurance agency worker has been awarded €237,000 in damages after suffering burn-out and being unable to work. More... comments (2)

New hope for babies with lymphatic cancer
Doctors at the Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam have developed a chemo treatment for babies with acute lymphatic cancer which improves their chance of survival to 50%, reports today’s Volkskrant. In the past babies with this rare form of cancer had just 15% chance of fighting the disease.

History in English a no-no says Dutch lobby
A foundation which promotes the Dutch language has taken 18 Rotterdam primary schools to court to ban them from giving children an occasional one hour history lesson in English. More... comments (2)

ID card price set to rise 25%
The cost of an identity card is to go up by at least 25% next year, according to today’s Telegraaf. More...

Ice-cream makes Dutch feel guilty
Only 15% of the Dutch eat an ice-cream on sunny days, compared with 50% of Germans and Swedes and 75% of Finns, according to research carried out for ice cream maker Unilever. 'We Dutch eat so few because many of us think ice-cream is unhealthy,' marketing manager Willem Brandt told ANP.

Bike maker Accell reports 35% growth
Bike manufacturer Accell benefited from the fine spring weather and an improved product range, boosting earnings from ordinary operations by 35% in the first six months of this year to €16m. Total sales were up over €30m to €275.5m. More...

'Old' cyclists need side wheels: bike group
Fitting side wheels onto cycles used by older people could help reduce the growing number of accidents involving this group, says the Cycling Association in today’s Telegraaf. More...

KLM boss plans flying stunt
KLM president Peter Hartman has raised a number of eyebrows in the boardroom over his plans to take part in an aircraft stunt over the Wadden Island of Texel during Saturday's air show, the Telegraaf reports. More...

Public sector pays most to sack staff
Government and educational institutions paid out the most money to sack people last year, according to a report sent to parliament by social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner. More...

Holiday traffic could cause delays on roads
Drivers are being warned to expect delays on Dutch roads on Friday as over one million people start their summer holidays. More...

Pressure mounts on Melkert to step down
John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations, has heavily criticised former Dutch minister Ad Melkert who is currently second in charge of the United Nation’s development aid organisation (UNDP) in New York. More...

Easier work permits for religious leaders
From next week it will be easier for churches, synagogues and mosques to appoint staff from outside Europe because of changes to the procedure for work permits for religious leaders. More...

Holland to press for tax haven treaties
The Netherlands plans to sign a 'considerable number' of treaties with tax havens to ensure better exchange of information, Robert van der Have, head of bilateral tax treaties at the finance ministry, tells the Financieele Dagblad today. More...

Thursday 19 July 2007

Baby gorilla named Shomari
The baby gorilla born at Amsterdam’s Artis zoo last week has been named Shomari which means ‘strong’ in Swahili, reports ANP news agency. The young male has been adopted by Joop van den Ende Theaterproducties, the producer of the musical Tarzan currently playing in Scheveningen.

Unemployment continues to fall
The number of unemployed people in the Netherlands is continuing to fall, with 346,000 out of work in the second quarter of this year, according to national statistics body CBS. This is 4.6% of the working population, compared to 5.5% last year, the CBS said.

Women arrested in Turkey on drugs charges
Two Dutch women have been arrested in Turkey after 21 kilos of heroine was found in their luggage at Istanbul airport. The women were arrested over a week ago as they tried to leave the country. Four other women travelling with the same group have also been prevented from leaving the country, ANP reports.

Tougher rules for telephone sales
Companies which use telephone sales will have to check if the people they are calling are on a 'don't call me' register before making calls. More...

ABP assets top €215bn
Civil service pension fund ABP, one of the biggest pension funds in the world, increased its assets by 3.1% in the first six months of this year to a total €215bn. The return on its private equity investments was 18.2% while earnings from shares rose 9.2%. Fixed income securities and property performed less well, falling 0.7% and 1.9% respectively.

Venture capital boosts PGGM returns
Health service pension fund PGGM booked a 2.7% return on its investments in the second quarter of 2007 representing around €2.2bn. PGGM's investments in private equity groups brought the sharpest increase at 9.8% in the second quarter and 17.5% over the first half year. More...

Van der Sar relaxed about future
Dutch football hero Edwin van der Sar (36) whose contract as keeper with Manchester United expires next year, says he is not thinking about life beyond the upcoming season. ' When you are 28 you might sign a four-or-five year deal, it's the same when you are 21. I am not that age, so I am not worried about the situation,' Van der Sar tells the club's website.

Haase reaches Dutch open quarter finals
Robin Haase reached the quarter finals of the Dutch Open tennis tournament in Amersfoort on Wednesday evening, beating Frenchmen Nicolas Devilder in three sets. The 20-year-old said the victory is a 'milestone' in his tennis career. Thiemo de Bakker lost his match to Frenchman Florent Serra, also in three sets.

Public transport unions threaten strikes
Public transport unions in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht are threatening strike action over junior transport minister Tineka Huizinga's apparent refusal to stop the privatisation of city bus, tram and metro services, the Parool reported on Wednesday. More...

Tax office cracks down on company cars
The tax office is photographing the number plates of cars crossing the border this weekend to crack down on people using their company cars for private holidays without declaring this, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Thursday. More...

Barclays may add cash to ABN Amro offer
Barclays is considering adding a cash element into its €65bn offer for Dutch banking group ABN Amro, the London-based bank said on Thursday. More...

Women earn 31% less in financial jobs
Women working in the financial sector in the Netherlands earn 31% less per hour than men, according to FNV union research, quoted in the Financieele Dagblad. However, the figure does not take into account the fact that women often work part-time and in lower-level jobs than men. comments (1)

Vedior takes over US temps agency
Temporary employment agency Vedior on Thursday announced the takeover of the US agency Think Resources for an undisclosed sum. Think, which specialises in personnel for the chemical and energy industries, booked a turnover of €37m last year.

Circus workers furious at blue wrist band
Circus workers in Tilburg are furious at unemployment office officials who have told them to wear blue wrist bands as proof that their papers have been checked and they are not working illegally. More...

Citizens' initiatives ignored by councils
Initiatives proposed by citizens are largely ignored by local councils, according to a survey carried out among 90% of the Netherlands' local authorities, reports today’s Volkskrant. More...

Minister rules out allowing lay judges
Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has ruled out the introduction of lay judges in the judiciary system, saying this would be too much of a break with the Dutch legal tradition. More...

Wednesday 18 July 2007

Minister wrong to back wood clearance
The environment minister was wrong when she decided to allow 20 hectares of woodland to be cut down to improve safety at the Gellenkirchen airbase in Germany, the Council of State ruled on Wednesday. More...

Locals reach Dutch Open second round
Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko was knocked out of the Dutch Open tennis tournament in the first round in Amersfoort on Tuesday, losing 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to Florent Serra. More...

Police involved after Golden Cage rumpus
Several viewers of controversial tv reality show The Golden Cage called the police after witnessing one of the house residents being partially stripped against her will while others exchanged punches, the Telegraaf says on Wednesday. More...

Amsterdam has most rental houses
Some 76% of the houses in Amsterdam are rental homes, the highest percentage in the country, says national statistics office CBS. More...

Drugs hidden among the flowers
Workers at the Aalsmeer flower auction have found 100 kg of hard drugs and 400 kg of soft drugs hidden in pallets. They made the find after realising some pallets were much heavier than others. In total, 680 packages containing drugs were found.

KPN cuts prices in fight for digital tv viewer
KPN has slashed the price of its Digitenne digital tv system by 30% in an effort to get more users. More...

Heineken almost doubles profit forecast
Brewing group Heineken is forecasting autonomous full-year profit will rise between 20% and 25% this year, almost double its previous estimate. More...

Expresso coffee machines more popular
Sales of luxury expresso machines rose from 8% to 12% of total coffee machine sales last year, says Vlehan, the umbrella organisation for domestic apparatus suppliers. More...

'Spectacular' increase in self-employment
The number of officially self-employed in the Netherlands rose a 'spectacular' 9% in the first three months of this year, says national statistics office CBS. More...

Hotel buy-up set for Amsterdam IPO
A hotel fund which aims to raise €100m to buy up hotels in western Europe, will be launched on the Amsterdam stock exchange on Thursday, the Financieele Dagblad reports. More...

LogicaCMG maintains earlier forecast
Anglo-Dutch IT group LogicaCMG said on Wednesday turnover was up by some 36% in the first six months of this year. Excluding currency effects and acquisitions, the growth was 3.3%, the company said. LogicaCMG expects full year sales growth to be around the lower end of European market growth as a whole. That is forecast to be between 4% and 6%, ANP reported.

Getronics ends talks with US firm
IT company Getronics has ended talks with an unnamed US company over a possible takeover. Getronics, which has been in stormy waters for a number of years, said on July 3 that it had been asked to discuss a takeover but declined to give further details.

ASML sticks to profit forecast
Chip machine maker ASML received its lowest number of orders in two years in the second quarter of 2007 but is maintaining its earlier forecast that full year profit growth will overtake 2006. More...

Roermond fire out but don't eat the veg
People living close to the Koma factory in Roermond have been warned not to eat vegetables from their gardens or let children play on the ground or in sandpits until the soot released by the fire has been analysed. The factory, which makes cooling equipment, was destroyed in the blaze, which was finally extinguished in the early hours of Wednesday.

Legionella in 30% of dental surgeries
Legionella bacteria have been found in one third of 34 dental surgeries investigated by private certification firm Water Inspection Service. The research was carried out at the request of dentists with an eye to legionnaire prevention. More...

Thousands of home helps laid off
Home care providers have laid off thousands of home helps over the past few weeks and more are set to follow because of new rules on funding, according to ActiZ, the umbrella organisation for the sector. More...

Civilians may be used in war zones
The ministry of defence is looking into the possibility of using civilians to work alongside soldiers in war zones. Defence minister Eimert van Middelkoop has asked the advisory council on international affairs for its advice. More... comments (1)

Tuesday 17 July 2007

Major effort to end Roermond factory blaze
Firemen and fire engines from several provinces and Germany were called in to help fight a massive blaze at a factory in Roermond on Tuesday. More...

Barclays to invest in UvA, if ABN bid suceeds
British bank Barclays is to inject €20m in the University of Amsterdam's Business School – but only if it succeeds in its takeover bid for Dutch bank ABN Amro. The cash is intended to attract top economists to Amsterdam. In return part of the faculty will be renamed the Barclays Financial Center.

Call for owners to reclaim lost crocodile
Reptile rescue centre Serpo in Delft is appealing for the owners of some 150 reptiles, including snakes, iguanas, chameleons and even a crocodile, to reclaim their pets. The animals have all been found over the past year and probably all escaped pets, a Serpo spokesman told ANP.

Ministers want speedy EU treaty decision
The cabinet wants to make a decision on whether or not to hold a referendum on the new European Union treaty as soon as possible and hopes that the Council of State will have its recommendations ready before parliament returns in September, reports the Volkskrant. More...

Bank of China opens in Rotterdam
Bank of China, the second biggest banking group in the republic, opened its first branch in the Netherlands yesterday, the Financieele Dagblad reports. The bank, on Rotterdam's Westblaak, will focus on current accounts and international payment traffic to and from China. More...

Household debt up last year
Dutch households had total debt amounting to €640bn last year, 80% of which represented mortgages, says national statistics office CBS on Tuesday. While households' disposable income rose 4%, they had to spend 6.6% more on taxes and premiums, the CBS said.

Aegon goes for single brand name
Financial services group Aegon is to merge its different products under one label to boost its competitive position. Aegon's savings schemes, investment products and mortgages will all be sold now under the label Aegon Bank.

NS ticket machines out of action
Ticket machines at railway (NS) stations across the country were again refusing to accept direct debit (pin) cards this morning, ANP reports. On Monday, a similar fault stopped direct debit payments for 90 minutes. The NS charges people who buy tickets from the ticket office with cash a €0.50 surcharge. comments (1)

Ali B raps for scouting movement
Rapper Ali B was the ‘obvious’ choice when it came to making a CD to mark the 100th anniversary of the international scouting movement on August 1, says Scouting Nederland. The good boy of rap has recorded a special song based on the scouts’ swearing-in oath in which new recruits promise to help each other and make the world a better place.

Good deeds are question of cash
Almost half of the Dutch would like to do something good for their fellow man or the environment and the most popular way to help is by donating cash, according to research carried out for Trouw. More...

Former minister lured to university job
Maastricht University lured former education minister Jo Ritzen to be its new chairman four years ago with a golden handcuff package worth over €250,000, the Telegraaf reports on Tuesday. More...

Sponsor wants to buy FC Utrecht for €1
The main sponsor of football club FC Utrecht wants to buy the club for one euro, the Telegraaf reports on Tuesday. Houten-based property firm Phanos wants to double the club's budget and build a new stadium with a capacity of 50,000. More...

Some 60% trust Dutch legal system
The Dutch legal system has the trust of 61% of the population making it the fourth most trusted system in Europe, according to research for the government's social policy unit SCP. More...

Localised floods after thunderstorms
Heavy rain and thunderstorms over much of the country on Monday evening led to localised flooding in many places as drains were unable to cope with the volume of water. In Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the emergency services were called to deal with flooded cellars and roads while in The Hague storm drains lost their lids and toilets could not cope. More...

Air France-KLM has eye on Iberia
The Air France-KLM combine is interested in Spanish airline Iberia which is up for sale, various media report on Tuesday. On its website, Air France-KLM says that it wants to be involved in the new consolidation process which the industry is poised to undergo. More...

Barclays considers raising ABN Amro offer
UK bank Barclays is working on an improved bid for ABN Amro bank by introducing a cash component, the Financial Times reports on Tuesday. More...

38,000 start Vierdaagse four-day walk
Over 38,000 people are expected to start the annual Vierdaagse four-day walk in Nijmegen on Tuesday, some 6,000 fewer than last year. The AD newspaper reports that plain clothes US secret service officials are taking part in the march to keep an eye on American soldiers who are also involved. More...

Judge in LaSalle case has job with Rabobank
One of the lay judges who ruled that ABN Amro could not sell its American subsidiary LaSalle without consulting its shareholders is chairman of the supervisory board at the Rabobank in Roermond, reports today’s Volkskrant. More...

Monday 16 July 2007

Organ donor numbers rise after tv show
Some 12,000 people have signed up to be organ donors since the broadcast of hoax tv show The Great Donor Show Of these, nearly 7,300 are completely new names. The rest are made up of people who are already registered but have changed their choice or confirmed their inclusion.

Dutch world beach volleyball champions
The Dutch girl pairing of Daniëlle Remmers and Michelle Stiekema won the under-19s world championship beach volleyball in the Polish city of Myslowice on Sunday. The girls, already European under-18s champions, beat their Italian opposition 21-10, 19-21, 15-10.

Dutch may send troops to Darfur
The cabinet is considering sending troops to the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur to take part in the joint United Nations-African Union peace-keeping mission due to be deployed at the end of this year. More...

Philips pre-tax profit rises 22%
Electronics giant Philips booked a 22% increase in pre-tax profit in the second quarter of 2007 at €302m, in line with expectations. The company said it was on track to meet its sales and profit margin targets. More...

Former Amsterdam mayor dies
Schelto Patijn, the former mayor of Amsterdam, died on Saturday night at the age of 70. Patijn was Amsterdam's mayor from 1994 to 2001 when he stepped down from his post to recover from cancer. More...

Divorce rate remains stable
The number of divorces in the Netherlands remained more or less stable in 2006 with 31,700 marriage breakdowns, according to figures published by the central statistics office CBS on Monday. More...

Dutch unemployment lowest in EU
The Netherlands has the lowest unemployment rate in the EU, according to the latest figures from the government’s statistics office. The Dutch unemployment rate in May was 3.2%, just ahead of Denmark with 3.3%. The EU average was 7%. Slovakia and Poland have the highest number of jobless with percentages over 10%.

Hundreds arrested at dance festivals
Hundreds of people were arrested this weekend during the dance festivals Dance Valley and Black. At Black in the Amsterdam Arena, sniffer dogs were used to detect drugs and around 300 people were questioned by police. Most were released and allowed into the event but 19 people are expected to appear in court today. More...

Finance minister opens door to Sharia banking
Finance minister Wouter Bos is looking at what obstacles need to be overcome in Dutch banking laws to allow strict Islamic banks to set up in the Netherlands, the Telegraaf reports on Monday. More...

Cabinet pay again under scrutiny
Ministers have set up yet another new committee to examine their pay and determine if they should be given hefty pay rises to bring them up to private sector levels. More...

Consortium ups cash offer for ABN Amro
The banking consortium which is battling with Barclays to take over Dutch banking group ABN Amro has upped the cash component of its offer from 79% to 93%. The remaining 7% will be paid in Royal Bank of Scotland shares. More...

Right condemns minister's Islam comments
Right-wing MPs have condemned remarks made by integration minister Ella Vogelaar in an interview with the Trouw newspaper on Saturday in which she says the Netherlands will become a country with 'Jewish-Christian-Islamic traditions.' More...

Train delays between The Hague and Rotterdam
Train services are being affected between The Hague and Rotterdam this morning following a lightning strike on Sunday in Delft. More...

Dutch set date to split energy firms
Dutch energy concerns will have to start splitting off their grids from July 1 2008 and have the process completed by January 1 2011. The cabinet announced its decision on Friday afternoon. More...

Friday 13 July 2007

Pensioners furious at funeral insurer
Hundreds of furious pensioners are threatening to take funeral insurance company Yarden to court after their policies were switched from full funeral coverage to a lump sum. They are worried that there will not be enough money to pay for the funeral of their choice and relatives will end up paying for extras.

Dutch eat and drink cheaply
Bread, milk, beer and other foodstuffs are some 10% cheaper in the Netherlands than the European average, according to research by Eurostat. Milk, cheese and eggs are up to 22% cheaper, with only meat slightly above the EU average. Bulgarians have the cheapest food, the Danish the most expensive.

Home education reaches 10-year high
Some 170 children were officially given permission to be educated at home last year, according to government figures. This is the highest number in 10 years but the Association for Home Education believes the real number is much higher.

Consumers negative about service
Two-thirds of consumers are negative about the service and quality offered by Dutch companies, according to a new book on customer service in the Netherlands. More... comments (3)

Minature royal portraits on line
The royal archive website has opened a small exhibition of 21 miniature portraits, including several members of the House of Orange. More...

Giving police 'the finger' is an insult
A court in Arnhem has ruled that a 25-year old man who stuck up his middle finger (the Dutch equivalent to the two-fingered V-sign) at a police officer is guilty of insulting behaviour after all. More... comments (1)

Dutch UN official under fire over aid funds
Dutch diplomats are trying to mediate in a row between the US and former Dutch minister Ad Melkert over his role as second in charge of the United Nation’s development aid organisation (UNDP), reports NRC Handelsblad. More...

Shareholder approval not needed for LaSalle sale (UPDATE)
The High Court in Amsterdam this morning ruled that ABN Amro bank can sell its LaSalle subsidiary to Bank of America without asking for shareholder approval. The ruling, which overturns a lower court decision, clears the way for Barclays to take over the Dutch banking group. More...

Fury over ex-military chief's pay packet
MPs and trade unions are furious over the revelation that ex-military chief Ad van Baal will earn almost €200,000 a year now that he has been appointed chairman of the police academy, reports today’s AD newspaper. More...

Police arrest 75 in international drugs raids
An international drugs gang centred around the Amsterdam suburb of Zuidoost has been busted by Dutch and German police, said an Amsterdam police spokeswoman on Friday. More...

91-year-old fined for 'employing illegals'
A 91-year-old widow, who needs a zimmer frame to get around, has been fined €12,000 for employing a building company which then brought in illegal Poles to work on a second-floor apartment she inherited, reports the Parool. More...

Hospitals to be allowed to make profits
Hospitals will be allowed to make profits and accept private investments from 2010, two years earlier than previously proposed, if health minister Ab Klink gets his way, reports today’s Financieele Dagblad. More... comments (1)

KLM to compensate CO2 emissions
KLM is to compensate for the additional four million tons of carbon dioxide emissions it is set to release in the coming four years by investing in sustainable projects, reports news agency ANP on Friday morning. More...

Soldier wounded in Afghanistan dies
Ton Krist, the 24-year-old old soldier seriously wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Uruzgan earlier this week, has died. He is the ninth soldier to die in the current Nato mission in Afghanistan. More...

Rotterdam to close 27 hash cafés
Rotterdam city council has voted to shut down 27 so-called coffee shops, where small amounts of cannabis can be bought and sold, because they are too close to schools. Earlier this year the city decided to shutter all coffee shops within 250-metres walking distance from secondary schools by 2009. The owners will not receive compensation. comments (1)

Court to rule on LaSalle sale
The High Court will today rule whether ABN Amro bank can sell its LaSalle subsidiary to Bank of America without asking for shareholder approval. The outcome is critical for the outcome of the takeover battle for the Dutch banking group. More...

Thursday 12 July 2007

Wilders to introduce burqa ban legislation
Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration party PVV, has introduced his own bill to outlaw the face-covering burqa in the Netherlands. More... comments (1)

Bos plans tax checks in 'problem' areas
Special teams from the tax office and labour inspectorate will make extra checks on people living in problem neighbourhoods to control whether they have paid their taxes, if a proposal by finance minister Wouter Bos is accepted. More...

'Wind power beats nuclear', says AD
On-shore wind turbines will overtake nuclear power plants as the cheap alternative to fossil fuels, according to a draft report leaked to the AD newspaper today. More... comments (3)

Eindhoven airport moves more passengers
Passenger numbers at Eindhoven Airport in the first half year were 40% up on the same 2006 period. The increase comes wholly from cheap charter flights, the airport said More...

Dead seals raise fear of epidemic
Officials at the Pieterburen seal rescue centre say they are becoming increasingly concerned that the distemper virus which has killed tens of seals on the Swedish and Danish coast may soon reach the Netherlands. Epidemics in 1988 and 2002 wiped out over half of the Wadden Sea seals.

Brussels backs new Dutch film funding
The European Commission has given its approval to two new government-backed schemes to fund Dutch film productions. In total the government has set aside €162m to subsidise films until 2013. The Commission ruled the funds meet EU criteria for state support.

Fortis reduces rights issue
Fortis has reduced the amount it hopes to raise through a new rights issue from €15bn to €13bn, the Dutch-Belgian financial services group said on Thursday. Fortis is currently raising €24bn which it will need to pay its share in the bid for ABN Amro. Fortis is part of a consortium of three companies bidding for ABN Amro but there is also a rival bid from UK bank Barclays.

Retail sector earnings rose in May
Higher prices boosted retail sector earnings 1.9% in May on flat volumes, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday. Non-food prices in the same month rose 2%. More...

Van Aartsen to lead gas pipeline project
The European Commission has appointed veteran Dutch politician and ex-minsiter Jozias van Aartsen to coordinate the new gas pipeline project between Turkey and Austria. More...

Sleeping pills only partly in health package
Zimmer frames and other walking aids will remain in the basic health insurance package, despite recommendations that they be scrapped. However sleeping pills and some tranquilisers will only be partially covered from next year, health minister Ab Klink told MPs on Wednesday. More...

Almost 8,000 fail to win university place
Some 7,696 school-leavers have failed to win a place to study the subject of their choice, according to official figures published on Thursday. More...

Tax break for home workers: employers
Home workers should benefit from more tax breaks and allowances, says employers organisation VNO-NCW which wants junior finance minister Jan Kees de Jager to take action on this issue. More...

Long sentence for NZ honeymoon kidnappers
Two men who kidnapped and robbed a Dutch couple honeymooning in New Zealand and raped the woman, were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on Thursday, report New Zealand media. More...

Wilders to introduce burqa ban bill
Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration party PVV, will today introduce his own bill to outlaw the face-covering burka in the Netherlands, the AD reports. The paper says that if the proposal becomes law, women wearing a burqa or niqab in public would face a 12-day jail term or €3,350 fine. More...

Babel makes €18m move to Liverpool
Ajax forward Ryan Babel is set to make an €18m move from the Amsterdam soccer club to UK's Liverpool, according to Dutch media reports. The transfer, if it goes ahead, will be one of the biggest in Dutch football history. More...

Injured soldiers return to Holland
Four of the most seriously injured Dutch soldiers in Tuesday's attack in the southern province of Uruzgan in Afghanistan, will be brought back to the Netherlands for treatment, the defence ministry said late on Wednesday. More... comments (1)

Wednesday 11 July 2007

New push for Holland as financial centre
A new organisation set up to boost the role of the Netherlands as a financial centre recommends ending the requirement that all official documents be translated into Dutch and wants greater clarity about the responsibilities of non-executive directors on single-tier boards. More...

Iraq invasion met Dutch criteria: minister
There was a legally acceptable public mandate for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, foreign affairs minister Maxime Verhagen said during a debate with the upper house (senate) on Tuesday night. More...

'Sex criminals continue in healthcare jobs'
Doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who have been convicted of sex crimes can easily continue working in the Dutch healthcare system, the AD reports on Wednesday. More...

Danone owns over 25% of Numico
French food group Danone already owns 26.4% of Numico according to the latest entry in the financial sector watchdog's shareholders register. Danone has offered €55 a share for the Dutch company and says it will declare the takeover effective if 66% of shares are tendered.

Ariane to be christened in October
Princess Ariane, the youngest daughter of crown prince Willem-Alexander and princess Máxima, will be christened at the Kloosterkerk in The Hague on October 20. More... comments (1)

Fortis raises cash for ABN Amro takeover
Dutch-Belgian banking and insurance group Fortis announced on Wednesday it is to issue convertible capital exchange notes of up to €2bn as part of preparations for financing its share of the takeover of ABN Amro. More...

AMG raises €314m with IPO
Aerospace engineering group AMG raised some €314m with its Amsterdam IPO on Wednesday. The company issued 13 million shares at €24 each. More...

Minister's helicopter trip boosted CO2
Transport minister Camiel Eurlings' use of a helicopter to fly from Maastricht to Rotterdam to praise the safe driving record of a truck driver is reponsible for the emission of half a ton of CO2, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday. Eurlings'spokesman told the paper he had no choice if he wanted to get to the ceremony on time.

Numico boss criticised for takeover benefits
Labour and Socialist Party MPs have called for measures to stop company bosses benefiting personally if their companies are taken over. The call follows the news that Numico boss Jan Bennick is set to walk off with over €80m if the company's take-over by Danone goes through. More...

Utrecht books highest provincial growth
Economic growth in the province of Utrecht rose 4.2% in 2006, making it the most successful province in the country. More...

Dutch EU treaty referendum 'unlikely'
The chance of a Dutch referendum on the new European treaty is small, reports ANP news agency. More...

No job for half of welfare claimants
Some 40% of people receiving social security payments are unable to work because of physical or psychological problems or because they are too old, according to a report published today by the association of social service directors (Divosa). More...

Netherlands wants JSF test phase role
The Netherlands wants to be considered an equal partner in the testing phase of the Joint Strike Fighter jet with insight into all the relevant information, junior defence minister Cees van der Knaap, told his US counterpart during a visit to the Pentagon on Tuesday. More...

No jail for cartel chiefs
Economic affairs minister Maria van der Hoeven does not plan to introduce jail terms for company bosses who break cartel laws despite a parliamentary majority in favour, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday. The paper says the minister considers individual fines will have a 'considerable preventative effect'.

Ministers set for 10% pay rise
Ministers should get a 10% pay rise this year, says home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst who is to make the recommendation at Friday's cabinet meeting. Ministers' salary is currently €158.000 according to the ANP news agency. More... comments (1)

Tuesday 10 July 2007

Holland has one of highest prison populations
The number of people held in detention in the Netherlands has risen four-fold in the last 20 years so that it has gone from having the smallest prison population in western Europe to one of the highest, according to research published in a judicial magazine this week. More...

Deutsche Bank, LME up Stork stakes
The Icelandic consortium LME, based around food systems maker Marel, has increased its stake in Dutch engineering group Stork to 20.2%, according to the latest information in the AFM's shareholding register. More...

Flat screen maker LG Philips LCD in profit
Flat screen maker LG Philips LCD, a joint venture between Philips and South Korean firm LG Electronics, posted net profit of €182m in the second quarter, its first positive earnings figures in a year. Sales were up at €2.68bn, around one-third higher than the year-earlier period.

High court to rule on LaSalle Friday
The high court is set to rule on the takeover of ABN Amro subsidiary LaSalle on July 13. LaSalle is central in the takeover battle for the Dutch banking group. More...

Insider trading probe launched at Numico
The financial sector watchdog AFM has begun an investigation into suspected insider trading at speciality food group Numico. The company announced it has received a takeover bid from France's Danone after trading closed on Monday. More...

Women earn 18% less than men
Women earn on average 18% less than men for the same job, according to the latest survey by salary administrator ADP and Mercer Human Resource Consulting. But women saw wages rise 3.53% this year compared to 3.39% for men.

Seven Dutch soldiers injured in Afghanistan
Seven Dutch soldiers were wounded in a suicide bomb attack in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan on Tuesday, reports ANP news service. According to a spokesman for the Nato troops in Afghanistan a number of the injured are in a serious condition and one is critical. More...

Angry reaction to agreement on illegal immigrants
The Liberals (VVD) and Geert Wilders' anti-immigration party (PVV) have reacted angrily to an agreement reached on Monday between junior justice minister Nebahat Albayrak and local councils on how to deal with illegal immigrants who do not qualify for a residency permit under the recent amnesty. More...

Renewable energy investments total €3.6bn
Dutch companies invested a total of €3.6bn in renewable energy production and energy saving schemes that qualified for tax breaks (EIA) last year according to the government's energy innovation body SenterNovem. More...

Zalm not interested in top IMF job
Ex-finance minister Gerrit Zalm is not interested in heading the International Monetary Fund because he doesn’t want to move to the US. More...

Albers removed from Spyker racing team
Dutch luxury sports car maker Spyker has removed formula 1 driver Christijan Albers from its active racing team, the company confirmed on Tuesday. The move has been expected for some time, said news agency ANP. More...

Dutch business not innovative enough
The business climate in the Netherlands is reasonable to good, but Dutch companies do not invest enough in research and new developments, according to a new report by the government statistics office CBS. More...

25% AEX firms are takeover candidates
One-quarter of the top companies listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange are potential takeover candidates for private equity and strategic buyers according to Iris, the research bureau of Rabobank and Robeco, reports today’s Financieele Dagblad. More...

Bos worried about Sarkozy's policy
Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos is concerned at an announcement by new French president Nicolas Sarkozy who says he will not comply with budgetary agreements made by EU states until 2012, two years later than agreed. More...

Dutch company to certify Chinese products
The Dutch quality control company KEMA is the first foreign certification body to be given permission to set up independent operations for the certification of electrical products in China. More...

Numico boss could earn €81m from sale
Jan Bennink, top man at Dutch baby food group Numico, could make around €81m from the sale of his company to France’s Danone, according to today’s Volkskrant. The sale of Numico was announced on Monday after the stock exchange closed. More...

Climate neutral air travel more popular
The number of Dutch travellers who take action to neutralise the environmental effects of travelling by air is growing fast, according to the Volkskrant on Tuesday. More...

Senate turns down Iraq enquiry
The upper house (senate) will not hold an enquiry into Dutch support for the US invasion of Iraq, despite a petition with 130,000 signatures calling for an investigation, reports today’s Volkskrant. More...

Monday 09 July 2007

Danone makes offer for Numico
French food group Danone has made a €55 per share offer for Dutch specialty food group Numico, the two firms announced following the close of trading on Monday. More...

Holleeder better, blackmail trial to resume
The trial of suspected crime boss Willem Holleeder and nine others on blackmail charges can resume on September 10, his lawyer said on Monday. More...

Numico trading halted pending statement
Trading in speciality food-maker Numico was halted at around midday on Monday pending a company announcement. More...

Dutch lukewarm on Live Earth
The Dutch papers are fairly unanimous in their reviews of the Live Earth concerts on Saturday. More...

Eyeworks buys English tv company
Dutch tv producer Eyeworks is to buy the English tv production company As It, reports ANP on Monday. Eyeworks makes programmes such as Stars Dance On Ice for the Dutch market. More...

Burglar's fear of dogs leads to arrest
A 22-year-old burglar called the police during a break-in in Leidschendam early on Monday morning because he was afraid of being attacked by police dogs. More...

Half a million viewers for naked talk show
Radio dj and celebrity Giel Beelen attracted nearly half a million viewers to the first in his series of tv talk shows, Giel in which both he and his guests appear naked. More... comments (1)

UK private equity to take over Univar
Chemicals distribution company Univar is to be taken over by venture capital group CVC in a deal worth over €1.5bn. More...

Golden handshake cut to 'hit average man'
Government plans to cut golden handshakes will hit people hardest who are on average wages (around €30,000), are in their 50s and have worked a long time for the same company, unions said on Monday. More...

Dutch win wheelchair Wimbledon title
Dutch pair Robin Ammerlaan and Ronald Vink took the Wimbledon men's wheelchair doubles tennis title, beating the defending Japanese champions 4-6 7-5 6-2. 'This is definitely one of the highlights of my career,' Vink told the BBC.

Dutch buy more cars abroad
The Dutch are buying more cars abroad, according to figures from the government road traffic organisation on Monday. More...

Smoking ban for school playgrounds
Schools should ban pupils from smoking in playgrounds, says school board group Besturenraad, which represents 2,250 Christian schools with 800,000 pupils. More...

Spending up on tourism at home
The Dutch spent around €26bn on home tourism in 2006, a rise of 4.2% over 2005, according to the national statistics office on Monday. More...

Dutch cycle 14 billion kilometres
The Dutch cycled more than 14 billion kilometres in 2005 - an average of 2.5 kilometres per person per day and 10% more than in 2002, says national statistics office CBS. More...

Minister says link defence budget to growth
MPs are very sceptical about defence minister Eimert van Middelkoop's suggestion to link the size of the defence budget to economic growth, the Volkskrant reports on Monday. More...

Pay rose faster than expected
Wages in the Netherlands rose by an average of 3.45% last year, according to research by Mercer and wages processor ADP. More...

Supermarkets no longer keen on cash
Dutch supermarkets are launching a campaign to encourage shoppers to pay with direct debit cards rather than cash, Trouw reports on Monday. More...

Stop the nannying, says VVD leader
Liberal party (VVD) leader Mark Rutte is calling for a 'ignore agreement' which would consist of areas in which the government will not interfer, according to Monday's Volkskrant. More...

Health budget cuts to fall on elderly
Junior health minister Jet Bussemaker has received qualified support from labour and liberal colleagues for her plan to save at least €500m by cutting care for the elderly, the Volkskrant reports on Monday. More...

Friday 06 July 2007

Feyenoord lets wealthy fans invest in talent
Rotterdam football club Feyenoord has been financing the purchase of new players by offering devoted supporters a stake in the club's fortunes, the Volkskrant reports on Friday. More...

Killer jailed for 20 years
Assen court has jailed 46-year-old Henk van Dijk for 20 years in a sychiatric prison for the rape and murder of 12-year-old Suzanne Wisman. Suzanne was cycling home along a quiet dyke road when she was attacked. The public prosecution department had called for a 30-year sentence.

Dutchman arrested for McCann extortion
A 39-year-old unemployed man has been arrested in Eindhoven charged with attempting to extort money from the parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann, the public prosecution service said on Friday. More...

Delta works voted Holland's top wonder
The Delta works flood defence system has been voted the top Dutch wonder by users of website Planet.nl. The 16the century fortified town of Bourtange in Groningen was in second place with the Afsluit dyke across the Zuider Zee just one vote behind in third.

Baby seals washed up
The seal rescue centre in Pieterburen has been inundated with baby seals which have become separated from their mothers in the strong winds and storms. So far, 60 seals have been washed up on sandbanks and taken to the centre, compared with a total of 38 last summer.

Drug incident register to be set up
MPs have voted to set up a national registry of all serious drug and alcohol-related incidents. MPs say a central organisation will provide more insight into the scale of problems with drugs such as ecstasy and hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Amsterdam to get freight tram
Amsterdam regional officials have voted to allow private firm Citycargo to run freight tram services in the city from 2008. More...

Unilever to merge Dutch-Belgian ops
Unilever is to cut 340 jobs by merging its Dutch and Belgian operations, the food-to-detergents manufacturing company said on Thursday afternoon. More...

Auditor to report on public broadcasters
MPs have asked the national audit office to launch an investigation into the functioning of the public broadcasting (PO) system. The probe will focus on financing, in particular the relationship between advertising income and government funding.

MPs to visit Guantanamo Bay camp
Members of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee are to visit the US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay in October at the invitation of the US ambassador to the Netherlands, ANP reports. More...

Inflation falls to 1.7% in June
Inflation fell slightly to 1.7% in June, largely due to lower petrol prices, says national statistics office CBS. In European terms, the Dutch inflation rate was 1.8% in June, down from 2% in May and just under the European average of 1.9%.

Shell celebrates 100 year merger
Dutch-British oil company Shell celebrated its 100th birthday yesterday with the publication of four books covering the history of the company since Koninklijke Olie merged with Shell Transport and Trading in 1907. More...

MPs start summer recess with barbecue
The formal political year came to an end yesterday as MPs took part in their traditional summer barbecue ahead of the parliamentary recess which runs until September 4. More...

Over-55s not in demand
Less than 10% of employers are keen to take on staff aged over 55 while only 12% try to keep older workers until they reach the age of 65, according to research by the demographics institute NIDI. More...

Notaries no longer have to be Dutch
MPs on Thursday agreed to scrap the requirement that notaries need to have Dutch nationality. The European Commission had threatened to fine the Netherlands if it did not open the profession up to non-Dutch nationals on the ground that this goes against to single market principles. comments (1)

Poultry ordered indoors as bird flu spreads
Dutch commercial poultry keepers have been ordered to keep their birds indoors after a dangerous strain of bird flu was found in three dead swans in northern France. More...

Consortium gets ABN bid extension
The consortium of three banks which wants to take over ABN Amro has been given an extension to the period by which it must make a formal offer. More...

Thursday 05 July 2007

The power of dance
Club-goers could soon be powering disco lights by their movements on the dance floor. Rotterdam firm Sustainable Dance Club and students from Delft University of Technology are developing a special dance floor which harnesses the energy produced by dancing and turns it into electricity. The prototype should be ready at the end of this year.

Traffic jams up 17% in first six months
Traffic jams in the first half of this year were 17.3% up on a year earlier says the traffic information service VID. More...

High city house prices hit labour market
Rising house prices are making it increasingly difficult for first-time buyers, especially in the major cities, and this is starting to have a negative effect on the labour market in these areas, warns estate agents association (NVM). More...

Police helpless as murder victim screams
Two police officers spent 30 minutes outside a house in Pernis as a 28-year-old man screamed for help because they had been told to wait for back-up, the public prosecution department said on Thursday. More... comments (5)

Transport privatisation vote Thursday
Ministers still have to tackle the thorny issue of contracting out public transport services in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague, junior transport minister Tineke Huizinga said on Thursday. More...

PM welcomes football World Cup plan
Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and sports minister Jet Bussemaker are 'very enthusiastic' about plans to organise the 2018 football World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium. More...

Dutch rail performance 'improving'
An increasing number of people are using trains and the railway service is improving, transport minister Camiel Eurlings said on Thursday. Passenger numbers are up between 3% and 4% and 87% of trains now arrive on time, Eurlings said during a debate on public transport.

Poker craze attracts students
Almost 60% of students at MBO and HBO colleges play poker and of these almost 90% play for money, according to research by addiction monitor Novadic-Kentron. More...

Greenpeace dumps coal outside Nuon HQ
Twenty tons of coal was dumped in front of the headquarters of energy concern Nuon in Amsterdam on Thursday morning by activists from the environmental organisation Greenpeace. More... comments (1)

No more prosecutions over Schiphol fire
The public prosecution department has decided not to take action against civil servants, council officials and prison staff involved in the fire at Schiphol deportation centre in 2005 in which 11 people were killed. More...

Essent allocates €15m for energy saving
Holland’s biggest energy concern Essent and its local and provincial government shareholders have allocated €15m to an energy-saving programme. The campaign will run to 2008 and is aimed at households, institutions and the commercial users.

DSM buys Swiss cosmetics maker
DSM is buying Swiss company Pentapharm which makes products for the cosmetics industry. Financial details were not disclosed. Pentapharm books annual sales of around €40m. More...

Akzo Nobel expands in Russia
Chemicals group Akzo Nobel has invested €13m in a powder paint factory close to Moscow. It has also expanded its Russian sales outlets. Akzo Nobel considers the country a strong growth market.

Marel ups Stork stake to almost 20%
LME, the consortium led by Icelandic food systems maker Marel, has upped its stake in Dutch engineering group Stork to almost 20%, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Thursday. More...

Krajicek's Wimbledon dream over
Michaëlla Krajicek's successful Wimbledon run ended on Wednesday evening with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 quarter final defeat by French player Marion Bartoli. More...

Child at-risk analysis under fire
Plans to draw up a risk analysis for every child born in the Netherlands came under fire in parliament on Wednesday night, with MPs expressing concern about defining risks and about excessive government interference in family life. More...

Air pollution norms stretched: Volkskrant
Official limits on permitted volumes of air pollution have been stretched by the environment and transport ministries under pressure from the construction sector, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday. More...

Wednesday 04 July 2007

Eight arrests connected with Heineken kidnap
Police in Spain and the Netherlands have arrested eight people in connection with laundering of ransom money paid to free beer magnate Freddie Heineken 24 years ago. More...

Bankruptcies fall by 17%
The number of bankruptcies has fallen 17% to 3,965 in the first half of this year according to figures published today by Graydon Nederland. The company expects the total number of firms going out of business to be 8,000 in 2007.

Cancer researchers win European award
Two Dutch cancer researchers are to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Switzerland on Thursday. More...

Kruidvat recalls dangerous game
Drugstore chain Kruidvat has warned customers not to use a wooden magnetic fishing game and to return it to the store, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday. More...

Congolese family first beneficiary of amnesty
A Congolese family who have been in the Netherlands fighting for refugee status since 1993 have become the first to benefit for the amnesty for long-term asylum seekers. More...

Holidays by plane more popular
The Dutch spent almost €13bn on holidays last year, says national statistics office CBS. Last year 37% traveled to their holiday destination by plane, compared with 30% in 2002. Some 14% of short breaks also involved a plane journey.

Watchdog boss writes poetry
Arthur Docters van Leeuwen, who is to quit as head of the financial sector watchdog AFM soon, is hoping to complete his doctorate in the 'institutionalisation of organisations' later this year. More...

Cabinet goes on with redundancy reforms
The cabinet is to press ahead with plans to reform Dutch redundancy law, with or without union support, home affairs minister Piet Hein Donner told MPs on Tuesday evening. More...

Deal or no Deal boosts Endemol earnings
Television production company Endemol booked net profits of €22.5m in the first three months of this year. There are no previous year's figures for comparison. More...

Dutch among richest Europeans
The Dutch are the third richest people in Europe, according to national statistics office CBS. More... comments (1)

Amsterdam transport hit by lightning
Part of Amsterdam's public transport network was out of action on Wednesday morning after being hit by lightning. While tram services were restored quickly, some metro routes were still out of action by 11am.

Confusion on energy grid split-up
The controversial splitting up of Dutch energy concerns into separate companies for the production of gas and electricity and its transport is to go ahead but it remains unclear when the split must be completed. More...

'Shareholders want Spyker bourse exit'
Majority shareholders in luxury sportscar maker Spyker want to remove the company from the Amsterdam stock exchanges, sources told newspaper De Pers on Wednesday. More...

Safety check on summer jobs
Some 600 firms will be subject to investigation by the labour inspectorate this summer to see if they are treating young temporary workers properly. More...

Smoking in coffee shops will be allowed
Health minister Ab Klink announced late last night in parliament that coffee shops, where cannabis can be sold legally, will not be threatened by the smoking ban which takes effect on July 1 2008, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday. More... comments (6)

'Fifth' Heineken kidnapper arrested
Spanish police have arrested a man suspected of laundering part of the ransom paid for beer magnate Freddy Heineken who was kidnapped in 1983. Police think money was used by Rob G. to buy premises in the red light districts of Amsterdam and Alkmaar. More...

Tuesday 03 July 2007

'Amnesty data not hunt for illegals'
The amnesty for long-term asylum seekers is not an excuse to round up illegal immigrants or a magic potion against illegality, junior justice minister Nebahat Albayrak told MPs on Tuesday. The minister was responding to the refusal of a number of local councils to hand over details about people who fail to qualify for the amnesty because of the deportation risk.

Holiday jobs popular with pupils
Almost 75% of older school pupils and students will have some sort of holiday job this summer, but their pay expectations may well be unrealistic, according to research by trade union federation FNV. More...

Getronics in exclusive takeover talks
Getronics is in exclusive takeover talks with an un-named US company, the Dutch IT firm announced on Tuesday. Further information will be made public at the presentation of its first-half figures on August 29. More...

University and artist send a kiss in space
Delft University of Technology and artist Riek Verschoor are joining forces to send a giant kiss into space. The kiss will be painted on special foil and attached to the side of the Delfi-C3 satellite which will be blasted into space in September.

Focus on delinquents' parents say MPs
MPs from all parties are calling on the government to focus on the parents of juvenile deliquents in an effort to stop street corner crime. More...

Wages up by 1.7% this year
Wages under collective labour agreements (CAO) have risen 1.7% this year according to a report sent to MPs by social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner on Tuesday. The interim figures are based on an overview of 122 collective labour agreements.

Dutch have lowest EU unemployment
The Netherlands again has fewer unemployed people than any other EU country, according to the latest figures from Eurostat published on Tuesday. More...

Bikes beat public transport
Just over half the Dutch population is dissatisfied with public transport, according to a report published by the transport ministry on Tuesday. Some 51% said that travelling by public transport is expensive, slow and inflexible. More...

Bot misses out on top job
Former foreign affairs minister Ben Bot has not been given the job of high commissioner for national minorities at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, according to ANP news agency. More...

Defence unions attack spending cuts
Defence unions have attacked ministry plans to cut spending, despite assurances there will be no compulsory redundancies. 'The minister has totally lost his way,' an FNV spokesman told today's Volkskrant. More...

Single households continue to rise
Some 20% of the Dutch population will live alone in 2050, compared with 15% today, says national statistics office CBS. The number of households will fall from 2.5 million now to 2.4 million by 2050, it says.

Océ books sharply higher Q2 earnings
Printer and photocopier maker Océ booked a 60% increase in second quarter operating profit, the company said on Tuesday. Traditionally the first of the big bourse-listed firms to report its Q2 earnings, Océ said operating profit rose from €18m to almost €29m. More...

Iceland's Marel works on Stork counter-bid
Icelandic food group Marel is working on a counter-bid for the entire Stork group, well-informed sources have told the Financieele Dagblad. The paper says Marel, which has increased its stake in Stork to 17%, is working in a consortium with private equity to take over the Dutch engineering group. More...

Defence minister sorry for Uruzgan statement
Defence minister Eimert van Middelkoop apologised to MPs on Monday evening for his premature comments about extending the Dutch mission in Afghanistan, saying 'all options are still open'. More...

Zumo rape accuser gets asylum in Holland
The Netherlands has given a five-year residency permit to the woman who last year accused former South African vice president Jacob Zuma of rape. The woman, Fezeka Kuzwayo, and her mother came to the Netherlands last year, after high level political talks, sources told the Volkskrant. More... comments (1)

Krajicek reaches Wimbledon quarter finals
Michaëlla Krajicek has reached the quarter finals of the Wimbledon tennis tournament after beating US player Laura Granville 6-3 6-4. The 18-year-old, half-sister of former Wimbledon champion Richard, will take on either Serbia's Jelena Kankovic or France's Marion Bartoli on Wednesday. Jankovic is third in the world rankings. More...

Monday 02 July 2007

Zoo not prosecuted over gorilla escape
Rotterdam’s Blijdorp zoo will not face legal action for the escape of gorilla Bokito in May, the city’s public prosecution (OM) department said on Monday. More...

TNT takes stake in German rival
TNT Post has taken a 25% interest in German postal delivery firm Nordwest-Mail. The deal gives TNT access to 400,000 households in the Bremen area. Financial details were not disclosed.

Aid minister looks for millennium ideas
Anyone who comes up with a good idea to help achieve the United Nations’ millennium goals for development will be eligible for financial support from a new fund set up by aid minister Bert Koenders. More...

Newspaper group merger called off
The planned merger between newspaper groups PCM and NDC-VBK will not go ahead, both sides said in a statement on Monday. Differing management agendas and less-than-expected economic benefits were given as the reasons for the breakdown of talks. PCM was in the hands of UK venture capital group Apax until earlier this year.

MPs oppose parliamentary spending cuts
MPs will today debate plans to cut spending on parliament by €1m next year and almost €2m by 2011. The second chamber costs some €115m a year to run. More...

MP calls for breathalysers for under 16s
Christian Democrat MP Mirjam Sterk has launched a campaign to introduce breathalyser tests for children under the age of 16 if police suspect them of drinking too much. More...

MPs call for action on spending power
The cabinet must take steps to shore up the spending power of people on the lowest incomes, Christian Democrat and Labour MPs say in today’s AD newspaper. More...

Cabinet to decide on Afghan mission
The cabinet is to investigate whether it is possible and desirable for the Netherlands to continue its military mission in Afghanistan after the current two-year mandate expires in August 2008. More...

Netherlands slips on single market rules
The Netherlands is slipping further down the rankings of countries that have implemented EU guidelines on a free single European market, according to statistics published today by the European commissioner for internal markets Charlie McCreevy. More...

Peter Gabriel stranded on A27
Musician Peter Gabriel's tour bus was stranded on the A27 close to Lexmond on Sunday after the engine of the British double decker burst into flames. The local bus firm provided Gabriel and his entourage with a replacement bus to their next date in Belgium.

Burglar leaves ID card
A burglar was so shocked after being spotted when he broke into a student house in Tilburg that he left his wallet containing his ID card behind, police said on Saturday. The burglar ran off after being surprised by a 19-year-old student. Police are now trying to track him down.

Iceland's Marel ups stake in Stork
Icelandic industrial group Marel has increased its stake in Dutch engineering group Stork to 16.9% followig the takeover bid by UK venture capital group Candover. More...

French firm to take over Connexxion
Dutch regional public transport company Connexxion is to be bought by French firm Transdev. Transdev, in a consortium with the Dutch local authorities bank BNG, is to pay an estimated €400m for 66% of the state-owned company, the Financieele Dagblad said on Saturday. More...

Fewer young people smoke
The number of 10 to 19 year olds who say they have smoked has fallen by eight percentage points to 42% over the last 10 years, according to TNS Nipo research commissioned by anti-smoking lobby Stivoro. More...

Questions over location for high speed train terminal
Transport minister Camiel Eurlings said on Friday evening that he has serious questions about the apparent decision to build the terminal for the high speed train link to Brussels at a new station in Amsterdam's Zuidas business park rather than the city's central station. More...

National history museum goes to Arnhem
Arnhem has been chosen for the location of the new national history museum. More...

Cabinet wants troops to stay in Uruzgan
The cabinet has the 'intention' to keep Dutch troops in Afghanistan past the current August 2008 deadline, defence minister Eimert Middelkoop said on Friday evening. More...