A round up of the best stories about the Netherlands and all things Dutch from leading international publications
The market square roars with activity as Bart Leget, a 54-year-old Dutch police officer, strides from stall to stall. He is all smiles, grasping the hands of passersby and shaking them vigorously. Elderly men pause on their mobility scooters to exchange warm words and light banter. More >
Boss Paul Polman needs some cheering news next week to wash away the bad taste left by aborted Rotterdam move. More >
After 20 years, squatters occupying the Amsterdamse Droogdok Maatschappij former shipyard have been ordered to leave. Photographer Sanne Derks met members of the community, who say moving elsewhere is impossible. More >
This simple change in the way you get out of your car can save lives — of cyclists, drivers and passengers. Here’s how to do it, and why it’s so effective. More >
The Hague brands itself as the 'City of Peace and Justice', but this week the stately seat of the Dutch government also revealed a darker side with the exposure of four alleged Russian spies. More >
Doris, 90, is prodding at a colourful image of a beach ball projected on to the table in front of her. She sends it wheeling off towards Don, who sweeps at it, bouncing it back. William taps at the image while Cathy watches intently, occasionally reaching out a hand. Doris giggles, Don grins, Cathy smiles gently. William is concentrating hard More >
Corporate responsibility and sustainability are high on the agenda at most Dutch companies, but fair trade software can’t seem to get its foot in the door in the Netherlands. More >
The rousing recent listing of Dutch payments company Adyen ADYEN 2.60% NV is offering investors hope that Europe’s tech scene is finally fertile enough to generate a stream of successful startups. Adyen, which handles payment-processing for blue chips including Netflix Inc., Facebook Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc., has sparked excitement following its initial public offering in June—one of Europe’s largest this year. Its shares are up 156% since the IPO, valuing the company at more than $25 billion. More >
It’s a common misconception that cannabis is legal in the Netherlands. Should you visit one of Amsterdam’s famous coffee shops, you can purchase a joint without worrying about legal consequences. But that same coffee shop bought that same cannabis from, effectively, a criminal. More >
The first thing the Nazis took from Freddie Oversteegen was her bed. Her mother, Trijn, a communist bringing up her children independently in the Dutch city of Haarlem, sheltered Jews, dissidents and gay people as they fled Germany in the 1930s. Oversteegen, who was seven when Adolf Hitler came to power, bunked in with her big sister Truus to make room. More >
Europe’s largest port, Rotterdam, is counting down to Brexit. “In about 200 days’ time, if nothing else happens… we will need to supervise all the goods coming in and out of the UK market,” says Roel van ’t Veld, Brexit coordinator at the Dutch customs authority. More >
A decade after the historic centre of Rotterdam was largely destroyed by bombing during the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, the city set about building a replacement. More >
As the dust settles at the National Museum of Brazil after its devastating fire last week, Samuel Franco Arce is gearing up to help. Arce has twice rescued his own small museum in Guatemala from floods and storms, and has just completed a Dutch leadership course to teach others this unusual form of emergency aid. More >
An unkempt stretch of tall grass, wildflowers and weeds in front of a train station doesn't look like much — but it may be crucial to solving one of the world's biggest environmental puzzles. While scientists around the globe have been sounding alarm bells over the decline of bees and pollinators crucial to the growth of crops, the diversity of wild bee and honeybee species in the Dutch capital has increased by 45 percent since 2000. More >
It’s not yet 8.30am, but the Royal Van Lent Shipyard is a hive of activity. Carpenters are carefully laying teak decking, engineers are threading a nest of cables through a boat skeleton, and someone is wondering whether paying €1,250 per bottle of Cristal champagne is excessive for a boat's christening. More >
Reactions from Pakistanis living in the Netherlands to Geert Wilders' anit-muslim cartoon competition in the Guardian. More >
In January a young Dutch woman drank poison supplied by a doctor and lay down to die. Euthanasia is legal in Holland, so hers was a death sanctioned by the state. But Aurelia Brouwers was not terminally ill - she was allowed to end her life on account of her psychiatric illness. More >
Writer Joost de Vries deplores his adopted city's uncreation in the Guardian More >
When I visited the dark web for the first time some years ago — for a story I was working on, not to treat myself to some crack cocaine — I remember users constantly reassuring each other how truly anonymous it was. 'The FBI does not have a prayer of a chance of finding out who is who,' was how someone put it in one of Bitcoin‘s forums in June 2013. More >
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has partnered with footwear and apparel brand Vans for a collaborative collection based on Vincent van Gogh’s iconic paintings. Drawing from his famed Almond Tree, Sunflowers, and Skull paintings, the collection includes sneakers in Vans’ classic silhouettes as well as shirts, bomber jackets, hats, and a backpack. More >
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