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Security beefed up for gangland killing legal team after lawyer is murdered

Justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus is to meet public prosecution department officials and lawyers representatives on Thursday morning to discuss yesterday’s ‘unprecedented’ murder of a lawyer involved in a gangland killing case. Derk Wiersum, who was representing Nabil B, a key witness in the case against gangland boss Ridouan Taghi, was shot dead in Amsterdam on Wednesday morning outside his home. Last year Nabil B’s brother was also shot dead, in what is thought to have been a warning to Nabil... More >

Saturday will have the best of the weather

Saturday is set to be the best of the next few days, with sunshine nationwide and temperatures in the low 20s Celsius, the KNMI weather bureau said on Thursday. Thursday and Friday will be dry with sunny spells, and temperatures in the high teens, although it will be warmer in the south. The rain may move in again by Sunday however, and the rest of next week will be a mixture of sun, cloud and showers, with temperatures below 20... More >

The Hague gets tough on 'waste louts'

The Hague is going to stop collecting large items of waste left out illegally in the street in an effort to raise awareness, the Volkskrant reports. The move is part of a larger campaign to promote a cleaner, litter-free city which will start on Friday. The Hague is spending €7m a year on collecting pieces of furniture and other big, or small, items left around the underground waste containers which is against the rules and, if the culprit can be... More >

Rotterdam rules for wedding processions

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb is introducing new rules to cover motorised wedding processions in which a string of cars drive round the city hooting their horns, following the attack on a police officer at the end of last month. From January, everyone wishing to organise a car procession, a tradition within the Turkish community, will have to register their plans with the city council or face a fine. ‘Wedding processions which register may not drive around in a tight formation... More >

Consumer spending slows, jobless total up

Dutch consumer spending rose 1.7% in July, compared with the previous year, boosted by people buying furniture and other household goods, the national statistics agency CBS said on Thursday. Spending on services, such as rent, insurance and public transport was also up nearly 2% on 2018, the CBS said. Spending on services accounts for half the total bill. But the CBS expects spending figures for September to be down on July, as the jobless total creeps up slightly. The official... More >

2020 budget: Opposition hope for wins

The opposition parties are set to demand more money for education, higher profit taxes for multinationals and higher taxes for wealthy individuals in two days of debate on the government’s 2020 spending plans. The money, according to the alternative budget drawn up by GroenLinks, Labour and the Socialists, would go to boost salaries for teachers, healthcare workers, the police and legal aid lawyers. Money should also go to cutting the own risk element in healthcare, frozen this year at €385... More >

KLM ground crew to strike on Wednesday

KLM ground crew will stage their third strike on Wednesday afternoon, leading to both delays and cancellations. The strike will take place from 13.00 to 17.00 and KLM has scrapped 12 European flights as a precaution. Delays are also likely, the airline said. Talks last week between the unions and employers failed to reach an agreement. The union’s demands include an 4% pay rise per year, more full-time contracts and a more regular shift rota. KLM had offered a 6%... More >

Albert Heijn wins misleading product award

Chicken sold by supermarket chain Albert Heijn has won this year’s award for the most deceptive food marketing, in a contest organised by animal rights lobby group Wakker Dier. Albert Heijn, which was given the title in 2017 for falsely claiming its serrano ham came from free-range pigs, made the short list this year for saying chickens it sells ‘have more space’. Wakker Dier claims the supermarket, with 16 chickens to one square metre, is packing in the animals more... More >

Schiphol taxiway take-off incident probed

The Dutch safety board is investigating an incident earlier this month at Schiphol airport in which a pilot attempted to take off from a taxiway. The incident, reportedly involving a Transavia plane, happened after air traffic control had given the plane permission to take off. The pilot, however, took the aircraft to a taxiway and had already started the takeoff procedure when air traffic control intervened. Broadcaster NOS put a fragment of audio on line on Tuesday evening in which... More >

football prof Fernando Ricksen dies at 43

Former Dutch football international Fernando Ricksen has died at the age of 43 of motor neurone disease at a hospice in Glasgow. Ricksen told television show De Wereld Draait Door in 2013 that he had been diagnosed with the disease just a few months after retiring from the professional game. Since then he made many public appearances to speak about its impact and to campaign for funding. Ricksen, who played 12 times for Oranje, spent six years at Glasgow Rangers,... More >

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