When hundreds of rioters piled into Rotterdam centre on Friday night, attacking police, throwing bricks, setting off fireworks and rampaging through the streets, it was no small irony that they left a police car burning outside the Erasmushuis. More >

Drug gangs in the Netherlands have long since graduated from hashish to cocaine – and from dealing on the streets to a spree of contract killings. Police, lawyers, journalists: All are at risk of falling victim to the drug violence that has gripped the country. More >

It’s remarkable to think that just three weeks ago a cartoonist saw fit to depict Sigrid Kaag as a witch in heels flying a broomstick into the Twin Towers, clad in the grinning face of Mark Rutte. Already that sketch seems like a throwback to a different era – not just because of its crude sexist imagery, but because it was so quickly overtaken by events. If we really needed an inappropriate metaphor from the world of terrorism, a better... More >

n June 1940, a Dutch salesman, acting as a consul in Lithuania, issued Jewish refugees with pseudo visas to escape Europe. His remarkable story is only now being told. More >

Dutch politicians are considering plans to force hundreds of farmers to sell up and cut livestock numbers, to reduce damaging ammonia pollution. After the highest Dutch administrative court found in 2019 that the government was breaking EU law by not doing enough to reduce excess nitrogen in vulnerable natural areas, the country has been battling what it is calling a “nitrogen crisis”. More >

At some point in the last 400 years a painting restorer probably decided the Dutch vegetable seller was far too glum and should be smiling. Now it has been put right and she is once again enigmatic. More >

Five gunshots blasted like fireworks on a sunny evening, just behind Amsterdam’s busy Leidseplein. To the horror of the Netherlands, a cold-blooded shooting has left prominent Dutch crime journalist Peter R de Vries fighting for his life in hospital. More >

A unique ‘pig toilet’ and a diet of organic leftovers are part of former vet Kees Scheepens’ plans to put animal welfare and sustainability first More >

f you want to know how Sylvana Simons came to be the first Black woman in the Netherlands to head a political party elected to the House of Representatives, you’ll need to look back further than her glamorous 25-year career as a model, dancer, MTV host, television personality, and political activist. More >

The growth of Dutch parties with platforms built around minority rights, diversity, and anti-racism is linked to the failure of traditional parties to be truly inclusive. To attract more voters with a migration background, parties like GroenLinks not only have to be more responsive to the experiences and wishes of their voters, they also must change their political cultures. More >

In 2020, The Netherlands ordered all museums, theaters, and other cultural institutions to close their doors as part of their measures against the spread of Covid-19. Now, more than a year into the pandemic, their doors remain closed – even when a study has shown visiting museums at 30% capacity is one of the safest indoor activities. More >

Scheme involving ‘ bee hotels’ and ‘bee stops’ reaps rewards as census shows no strong decline in urban population. More >

Those trying to solve the current coronavirus pandemic cannot do so with a purely biomedical and technical strategy. Four Dutch historians make the case for a multidisciplinary approach, taking into account the social, cultural, economic and psychological dimensions of society. History serves as a toolbox in this aim, as we derive lessons and insights from the past which we can still use today to defeat the pandemic. More >

NPO documentary, with English subtitles, about the secretive trade in passports, and the role of a (former) Groningen University professor. More >

In China, scientists have turned vast swathes of arid land into a lush oasis. Now a team of maverick engineers want to do the same to the Sinai. More >