08 February 2010
From
ESPN:
The World Cup final defeat of 1974 still provides a searing pain in the heart of Dutch football. It was the day that Rinus Michels' 'total football' philosophy, spearheaded by the talismanic Johann Cruyff, was defeated by a ruthless Germany team and the poaching instinct of the prolific Gerd Muller. "The best team never to win the World Cup" is a label often handed to that Netherlands side, but rather than inspiring future success, the defeat seemed to strike a blow to the Dutch psyche - the reverberations of which can still be seen today.
Dutch legend Ruud Gullit, who scored the opener in the 1988 European Championship final triumph against the USSR and also coined the phrase "sexy football", believes that to make an impact in South Africa, the Netherlands may have to sacrifice style for substance and abandon their traditional 'total football' approach. "I have my doubts about whether Holland can win it, simply because we need to play well in all the games," he said. "The opposition seem to have sussed us out at the last few tournaments, which makes it difficult to play our game, but I hope we will do well. There is a great possibility to get through our group but it's going to be hard. I always hope that, when we get through our group, we can win games ugly - that would be a turning point."
Bert van Marwijk is the man charged with leading the Netherlands to their first World Cup triumph this summer after taking over from Van Basten following another Dutch anti-climax at Euro 2008. Having masterminded a perfect qualifying campaign - the Dutch won all eight games, scoring 17 goals and conceding just three - expectation in the Netherlands has again reached fever pitch. "The Netherlands national team job is one of the hardest in football - everybody thinks they are a coach and everybody knows better than you. There is a lot of pressure to play football in a certain way and sometimes it's difficult to play that sort of football all the time and win."
Read the full article
here
ESPN Netherlands team page
05 February 2010
Dutch Utopia: American Artists in Holland, 1880-1914 looks at the work of a group of American artists who visited or settled in the Netherlands in the decades around 1900. The exhibition explores several themes, including the contrast of the simplicity of Dutch country life with the growing industrialization of America; the allure of Holland's quaint villages and seaside towns to artists; and the defining traits of "Dutchness," such as fields of brilliant tulips and pretty peasant girls in lace caps. The artists included in painted visions of Holland included William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, John Singer Sargent and Cincinnatians John Twachtman and Elizabeth Nourse.
In September 2010 this exhibition will travel to the
Singer Laren Museum in the Netherlands.
Source:
Cincinnati.com
04 February 2010
Anyone who has been to Holland knows it is the perfect place to just be amazed, just be relaxed and just be yourself! That’s why the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions (NBTC) is launching its newest marketing campaign on February 4th in North America: “Just be. In Holland.” to appeal to every type of traveler. Whether your style is classic or contemporary, Holland has something for everyone, from iconic Dutch canals and windmills to innovative design shops and cutting-edge fashion. To mark the launch of this new year-long campaign, NBTC will test potential travelers’ knowledge of Holland through a series of contests on
www.holland.com. A new contest will be posted every Thursday in February. Each correct online entry will be entered into a weekly drawing for a chance to win an incredible prize that highlights a different aspect of Holland’s unique style.
Just Be. In Holland
Source: The Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions
04 February 2010
An Amsterdam court said on Wednesday it will hear the case against right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims, rejecting his request to be judged in the Supreme Court. In its ruling, the court rejected an assertion from Wilders' laywer, who argued in January at the start of the trial the Supreme Court should hear the case because as a politician, Wilders has a certain protection under freedom of speech laws.
From
Reuters
03 February 2010
A Dutch court is ruling on whether to dismiss charges against anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders for allegedly inciting hate against Muslims. Wilders, one of the most popular politicians in the Netherlands, has called for a ban on the Quran, saying Islam is a violent religion and Muslim immigrants are destroying Dutch culture. Wilders says he is innocent and the case is an attack on his right to freedom of speech. He has asked the case be dismissed. Muslim groups say his rhetoric goes too far and amounts to inciting hatred against them. Freedom of religion and freedom from discrimination are guaranteed under Dutch law. If the court rules Wednesday the case should go to trial, it will also set a trial date and settle witness lists.
Associated Press / eTaiwan News
03 February 2010
From the
New York Times:
European governments kept up the pressure on Switzerland and its famed banking secrecy laws, with fresh reports from the Netherlands and Belgium raising the stakes in the battle to find tax evaders. The Dutch government released data late on Tuesday showing wealthy savers last year declared more than 2 billion euros (1.74 billion pounds) hidden in overseas bank accounts, with a third of the accounts in Switzerland. The report came just hours after the Netherlands confirmed it was seeking copies of stolen Swiss bank data on cross-border tax evaders that the German government is considering purchasing from an informant.
The Dutch Finance Ministry said a total of 2.15 billion euros was declared last year under a penalty-free amnesty for what it calls "zwartspaarders," or "black savers." The average declaration was around 260,000 euros, Deputy Finance Minister Jan Kees De Jager said in a letter to parliament late on Tuesday. The largest amount reaching 81 million euros and more than 300 declarations were for more than 1 million euros. Swiss banks held nearly 2,300 of the accounts, De Jager said, while banks in Belgium and Luxembourg held close to 4,000. The Finance Ministry also noted that the end of the penalty-free amnesty had not stopped people from confessing to hidden accounts. The ministry said despite the introduction of a 15 percent penalty from January 1, 34 more people had declared themselves so far this year.
Read the full article
here
02 February 2010
From
Expatica.com:
The Supreme Court of the Netherlands has ordered a retrial of the Hofstad Group suspects who were accused of preparing terror attacks, but acquitted in 2008. Members of the group had connections with the murderer of Dutch Islam critic and filmmaker Theo van Gogh. The public prosecutor had appealed against a verdict by a court in The Hague which had cleared the main suspect, Jason W. and six accomplices of being members of a terrorist and criminal organisation. The Hague court had argued that the suspects' organisation was too loosely structured to merit the conviction. In addition the court said there was not sufficient evidence that the suspects were inciting hatred. These arguments were thrown out on Tuesday by the Supreme Court.
The formal definition of a criminal terrorist organisation as used by the Hague court was too narrow, according to the Supreme Court. It was wrong to acquit the suspects only because their group did not meet the legal definition of what constitutes an organisation. The case has been referred to the Amsterdam court for a retrial.
Read the full article
here
01 February 2010
Iceland met with the U.K. and Netherlands to try to restore relations after President Olafur R. Grimsson blocked a bill that had set out to compensate the two countries for depositor losses. Iceland’s Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson met his Dutch counterpart Wouter Bos and U.K. Treasury Minister Paul Myners and “exchanged views on the Icesave issue. All sides will now consider the situation after this meeting, but at this stage no further discussions are scheduled,” Iceland’s Finance Ministry said in an e-mailed statement today. “The meeting isn’t defined as negotiations,” Einar Karl Haraldsson, Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir’s spokesman, said in a telephone interview. “I wouldn’t hold my breath.” Grimsson’s rejection of the bill means the legislation will be put to a March 6 referendum, which most polls show Icelanders will block. The bill’s suspension prompted Fitch Ratings to cut Iceland’s credit grade to junk and Standard & Poor’s has said it may do the same by the beginning of next month. Sigurdardottir has signaled her government wants to renegotiate the bill before it’s put to a vote, though her political adviser Hrannar Arnarsson said on Jan. 25 those plans may be dropped if they don’t produce results by the end of this week.
Read the full article at
Bloomberg
27 January 2010
From the
Seattle Post Intelligencer:
Amsterdam and the Bay Area might not have snow in common, but there are many other things that reminded me of San Francisco - small navigable streets, beautiful architecture and a history of tolerance. It made it easy to see why I felt at home so quickly. Alongside traditional Dutch restaurants were those offering the foods of the ethnic communities that contribute to the country's culinary traditions - Indonesian, Surinamese, Turkish and Moroccan. The traditional dishes may be almost medieval in composition, and the use of nutmeg, paprika and curry are reminders of Amsterdam's prominent position in the spice trade.
And, just as in San Francisco, diners in Amsterdam seem drawn to restaurants that are gezellig - cozy and sociable - feelings that are also reflected in their food. One of my favorite Dutch comfort dishes is stampot, a mash of potatoes and another vegetable. It's easy to eat when you're cold and tired, and works well with variations. Stampot is one of those dishes that every family serves and few make the same way. The most popular version uses curly kale, and while it's often eaten with sausage, vegetarian sausages, roasted vegetables or stews would make a fine substitute to keep this dish vegetarian. The Dutch are fond of spicy Dijon-like mustard, so I make my stampot with a heaping spoonful - or two - and top it with a dusting of nutmeg, another favorite Dutch spice.
I arrived in Amsterdam ready to be put off by the food, but I fell in love with the homey dishes and their simplicity. Plus, Amsterdam is stealthily turning into a food mecca, with restaurants that boast chefs who worked at Chez Panisse, and people who are reading Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma" and Jonathan Safran Foer's "Eating Animals." It may not be where San Francisco is now, but Holland is definitely buzzing, and not just from the coffee shops.
Read the full article
here (incl. recipes!)
25 January 2010
From
Forbes.com:
After months of plotting strategy to move into social media, MSNBC.com found the right man to help: 20-year-old Michael van Poppel, a Dutch media maven with a newsfeed on Twitter. Michael van Who? The choice isn't as odd as it seems. Three years ago, from an apartment in Tilburg, the Netherlands, Van Poppel launched a Twitter feed called "BreakingNews." Trawling the Web for arcane but reliable news sources, he aggregated them onto his feed, linking to breaking headlines in Europe and around the world. Twitter was but a year old and Van Poppel just 17 at the time, but the novel idea drew an overnight following. BreakingNews' first major scoop, to the astonishment of the European news establishment, was Van Poppel's acquisition of a videotape carrying a statement from Osama bin Laden. How did a Dutch teen with a Twitter feed get hold of a Bin Laden tape? "It came to me from a source within the U.S. government," is all Van Poppel will say. After selling the video to Reuters, Van Poppel was deluged by social media fans in other countries eager to lend a hand tweeting news. This crowdsourcing soon paid off. By August of last year, Van Poppel had amassed 1.5 million followers--and the interest of MSNBC.
"We bumped into his Twitter account and found that he was finding news faster than a lot of traditional sources," says Charlie Tillinghast, president of MSNBC.com Digital Network. Tillinghast's staff sent an IM written in Dutch to the 20-year-old news mogul, asking whether he'd be interested in a deal whereby MSNBC's digital division would manage the feed under MSNBC's moniker. In a package deal, MSNBC.com acquired the rights to manage Van Poppel's Twitter feed indefinitely and is paying him undisclosed fees to carry a separate headline service Van Poppel has launched, BNO News, for three years. Tillinghast now dedicates a full-time staff of three to the BreakingNews feed, aided by MSNBC.com reporters and editors in New York and Redmond, Wash.
Read the full article
here
20 January 2010
From
Times Online:
The Dutch far-right MP Geert Wilders was greeted with applause from the public gallery as he faced court for the first day of his landmark trial on charges of inciting racial hatred against Muslims. Mr Wilders, 46, sat impassively as his lawyer argued that the leader of the Freedom Party, which made big gains at last summer's European elections, had made his critical remarks about Islam in his role as an elected Member of Parliament. Bram Moszkowicz said that Mr Wilders had a mandate to speak out against what he saw as the Islamisation of the Netherlands and argued that he had not discriminated against a specific national group, saving his attacks for the ideology of political Islam.
Mr Wilders faces a 70-page charge sheet covering five counts of breaking Dutch law on incitement and discriminiation against Muslims in more than 100 public statements, for example by likenening the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and calling for an end to the "Islamic invasion." The alleged offences include Mr Wilders' film Fitna, which shows images of 9/11 and beheadings interspersed with verses from the Koran. It ends with a the controverisal Danish cartoon of the prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb as a turban. "Mr Wilders has always made his statements in his capacity as a public representative," Mr Moszkowicz said, arguing that the Amsterdam court was the wrong arena and that the Supreme Court in The Hague was the place to hear allegations of misconduct by an MP. But Birgit van Roessel, for the prosecution, countered that "expressing his opinion in the media or through other channels is not part of an MP's duties." She said that MPs only had immunity for what they said inside parliament. He faces a fine or the possbility of jail if convicted.
Read the full article
here
18 January 2010
From the
Washington Post:
Dutch adoption agencies and the government have sent a chartered plane to Haiti to airlift out around 100 children who were in the process of being adopted by parents here before an earthquake shattered the country last week. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ozlem Canel says the plane has set off from Amsterdam's airport with relief workers and supplies as well as adoption agency staff, immigration and consular officials. Canel says the children all were already very close to moving to their new parents in the Netherlands when the quake struck. They are staying in several Haitian children's homes.
Full article
here
15 January 2010
From the
Washington Post:
The Dutch government accepted with hindsight that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 required a more adequate legal mandate, the prime minister wrote in a letter to parliament on Wednesday. He was responding to a report challenging the legal grounds for the invasion. In the report the Dutch Committee of Inquiry on Iraq said the Dutch government had supported an invasion of Iraq that had no legal backing and did not fully inform parliament about its plans in the run-up to the conflict.
"Based on what we know now, the cabinet accepts that a more adequate legal mandate would have been necessary for such an action," Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende wrote in the letter to parliament. Balkenende had initially dismissed the committee's most critical conclusions on Tuesday, saying there were different opinions about the legal mandate for the invasion and that parliament could not be informed about some issues.
Read the full article
here
12 January 2010
From the
Washington Post:
Miep Gies, the last survivor of those who risked death to hide Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis, died Jan. 11 in the Netherlands. Ms. Gies had suffered a fall on Christmas, and her Web site said she died after a brief illness. She was 100. Anne Frank was a teenager who died in a concentration camp after her family was betrayed to the Nazis. The diary she kept while in hiding in Amsterdam is among the best known literary works of the World War II period and is widely read around the world. Although controversy surrounds some aspects of the diary, Ms. Gies has been credited with preserving it and turning it over to Anne's father, Otto, after the war.
In an interview published online, Ms. Gies said she thought it was "perfectly natural" to have aided the Franks and several others who were hiding with them at Prinsengracht 263. We did our duty as human beings," she said. "Helping people in need."
From July 1942 until the August 1944 betrayal, the Franks and the others were hidden in sealed-off rooms of Otto Frank's company. In addition to working for the company, Opekta, Ms. Gies became a close friend of the family. Several people played a part in protecting the group. Ms. Gies bicycled all over Amsterdam to get vegetables and meat without raising suspicion. She was also credited with giving Anne books and newspapers. Miep Gies was born into a working-class family in Vienna in 1909. As a child, her name was Hermine Santruschitz. During the first World War, food was scarce, and it was later feared that she might die. At the age of 11, a Dutch workers' union helped bring her to the Netherlands to restore her health, and she made her home there. After completing high school, she began working as an office assistant. In her early 20s, she was hired by Otto Frank and put in charge of a complaint desk.
After the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, she recognized the danger to people to whom she was close. "We felt deep anxiety for our Jewish friends," she wrote, and told of "special pangs of regret for the Franks, with their two young children." She was summoned to the German consulate, where she was asked about her refusal to join a Nazi girls' group. A German official said she would have to return to Vienna unless she married a Dutch citizen. She and Jan Gies had been close since 1930, and in 1941, they married. She became a Dutch citizen. Miep was a nickname. Jan Gies, who was in the Dutch resistance, died in 1993. Ms. Gies is survived by a son and three grandchildren.
Read the full article
here
05 January 2010
From local TV channel
AT5:
Glad in de Stad (Slippery in the City. It adds that so far there have been no serious casualties)
03 January 2010
From the
New York Times:
With AIDS, malaria and other diseases costing millions of lives every year, worrying about the vision of people in the developing world may seem like an indulgence. But supplying glasses for the world’s poor may be one of the most valuable investments around. [...] Efforts are under way to find a means of distributing inexpensive glasses on a wide scale. One promising technology is self-adjustable spectacles, which let untrained wearers set the right focus themselves in less than a minute, greatly reducing the need for trained optometrists, who are rarely available in Africa and many parts of Asia. Though these adjustable glasses cannot yet help with conditions like astigmatism, at least 80 percent of refractive errors can be fixed. At least three organizations are now offering their own versions of low-cost adjustable spectacles. Two are relatively new groups based in the Netherlands that have received little international recognition. The third, based in England and championing a British invention called AdSpecs, has been attracting widespread media attention for more than a decade.
One of the Dutch groups, the Focus on Vision Foundation, says it can produce its Focusspec glasses for about $4 a pair. The group’s founders say the price will drop substantially once the glasses are being made in large volume. They plan to distribute about 30,000 pairs in early 2010, initially in Afghanistan, Ghana and Tanzania. The other Dutch offering, called U-Specs (universal spectacles), is being promoted by the VU University Medical Center and a charity called the D.O.B. Foundation. Both Dutch models are based on a design pioneered in the 1960s by Luis W. Alvarez, an American who won a Nobel Prize in physics. The design uses two lenses that slide across each other to alter their focus. U-Specs were initially developed in 2003 by Rob van der Heijde, a physicist at the VU University Amsterdam.
When it comes to choosing sides, many of the charitable groups involved say they are open to whatever glasses do the job. J. Kevin White, a former Marine who runs Global Vision 2020, a foundation that distributes adjustable glasses, said fluid-filled lenses generally offer better optical quality and correct a greater range of refractive error. The Alvarez designs, by contrast, are cheaper, smaller, better-looking and less likely to break.
Read the full article
here
30 December 2009
From the
New York Times:
The major international airport of the Netherlands will begin using full-body scanners on passengers flying to the United States to prevent a recurrence of the security breach that allowed a would-be bomber to smuggle explosives onto a flight to Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas Day, the Dutch authorities said Wednesday. The new measures were announced as the Dutch interior minister discussed the government’s early investigation into the thwarted bombing. At a news conference at The Hague in the Netherlands the interior minister, Guusje Ter Horst, characterized preparations for the attack as professional but its execution as amateurish, according to The Associated Press.
Although Dutch officials said they would deploy the scanners “immediately,” a spokesman for the country’s counterterrorism office said only 7 of the airport’s 15 full-body scanners were currently ready for use. The rest would be deployed within three weeks after receiving software upgrades. Ms. Ter Horst said the United States originally had not wanted Amsterdam to use the full-body scanners, which look through people’s clothes and show the outlines of the body, because of privacy concerns. But she said there is now agreement with Washington that “all possible measures will be used on flights to the U.S.”
Read the full article
here
28 December 2009
From the
New York Daily News:
First came a popping noise. Then, Dutch filmmaker Jasper Schuringa saw smoke rising from several seats away inside Northwest Flight 253. In a flash, Schuringa climbed over the seats and pounced on a terrorist, who was in flames and trying to blow up the plane over Detroit. "I didn't think," Schuringa said Saturday. "I just went over there to try to save the plane."
"When I saw the suspect, that he was getting on fire, I freaked," Schuringa said. "Without any hesitation, I just jumped over all the seats." Chaos erupted as the flying Dutchman grabbed the fiery suspect and frantically searched him for explosives. "I took some kind of object that was already melting and smoking out of him," Schuringa said. "He put something on fire that was hidden in his pants." Schuringa said a liquidy substance dripped onto the floor, causing two pillows to go up in flames. Nearby passengers screamed and scattered as crew members rushed to retrieve fire extinguishers. "It went very quick," Schuringa said. "We were all just reacting to the fire. Everyone was panicking."
"I grabbed the suspect out of the seat because if he was wearing any more explosives, it would be very dangerous," Schuringa said. "We took him to first class ... stripped him and contained him to make sure he had no more weapons, no more bombs." Schuringa said that throughout the terrifying plane ordeal, Abdulmutallab appeared to be "in a trance." "He was staring into nothing," Schuringa said. "The whole plane was screaming, but the suspect, he didn't say a word." When Schuringa rose to leave the jet, his fellow passengers broke out in applause. Still, Schuringa said he was not the only one who deserved credit for saving the jet. "A lot of people were trying to help," said Schuringa, who was flying to the U.S. for a vacation in Miami. "We had very brave flight attendants. They're also heroes."
Read the full article
here
28 December 2009
From
WFAA:
Authorities on three continents have launched investigations after an attempted terror attack was foiled on a flight into the U.S. on Friday. A Nigerian national is in custody in the U.S. He claims ties to extremists, but officials believe he was acting alone. The man is hospitalized, being treated for burns after an attempt to ignite an explosive device. His plan was disrupted by passengers and crew on the flight into the city of Detroit. Security at Nigerian airports has worried U.S. authorities for years. What's less clear is whether Amsterdam's security also dropped the ball; that's where the Northwest Airlines flight originated.
Read the full article
here
Airports step up security (Straits Times)
Airports stepped up security on Saturday in the wake of an attempt to blow up a US airliner on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, authorities said. 'The extra measures will apply throughout the world on all flights to the United States for an unlimited duration,' the office of the Dutch national coordinator against terrorism (NCTB) said. The NCTB said in a statement that US authorities had asked airlines to take extra security measures. 'It will involve, for example, frisking passengers and extra checks on hand baggage,' NCTB spokesman Judith Sluiter told AFP. The extra measures came into force on Saturday morning in the Netherlands, which received a formal request from the US authorities during the night, she said. In London a British Airways spokesman said, 'The United States government has revised its security arrangements for all passengers travelling into the US. 'This includes additional screening of all US-bound passengers and hand luggage before they board their flights. This applies to all carriers. Passengers travelling to the US will only be allowed to carry one item of hand luggage.
Read the full article
here
Suspect charged with attempting to destroy Northwest Airlines jetliner (The Examiner)
A suspect in the attempted bombing of a US jetliner has been charged with “attempting to destroy a Northwest Airlines aircraft,” the US Department of Justice announced Saturday. The suspect, identified as 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was taken into custody by US Customs and Border Patrol officers upon arrival of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 at Wayne County Airport in Detroit on Friday. The Nigerian suspect boarded the flight in Amsterdam on Thursday and reportedly had an explosive device attached to his body. As the flight approached Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport, Abdulmutallab “set off the device, which resulted in a fire and what appears to have been an explosion,” said the Justice Department.
Read the full article
here
25 December 2009
The Dutch capital has launched what it hopes will be a new Christmas tradition by holding it's first yuletide canal parade. On Christmas Eve, 17 festively decorated passenger boats sailed through the canals of Amsterdam. Many of the city's bridges were full of spectators who turned out to see the spectacle. One of the boats featured a folk choir singing Christmas classics. The organiser's say they were pleased with the event and look forward to making it a permanent fixture of Christmas Eve in Amsterdam.
From
Radio Netherlands
Video of the parade at
AT5.nl (in Dutch)
23 December 2009
Dutch police have shot dead four reindeer that escaped from a Christmas sleigh display, fearing they might run into traffic and cause accidents. Police spokesman Dirk Neef in the northern Dutch province of Drenthe says animal experts attempted capturing the fourth reindeer Tuesday by stunning it with tranquilizer darts, but that proved impossible. Three of the animals were shot and killed hours after their escape on Saturday.
Read the full article at
Fox News
Shop Only in Holland
» Amsterdam: Where art meets wine
If the thought of traipsing past the Rembrandts and Vermeers at the Rijksmuseum doesn’t inspire you, perhaps the lure of wine tasting will. At Amsterdam’s Art Vine, you can soak up some culture while sipping a glass of well-selected wine. A gallery in the center of the canal belt, Art Vine pairs specific wines with paintings on display, aiming to enhance the experiences of both the art and the wine through a sensory juxtaposition. Through Feb. 28, the gallery (Keizersgracht 471; 31-20-420-5010; artvine.nl) is showing “La Joie de Peindre” (“The Joy of Painting), which focuses on the work of Erik Renssen, a figurative painter inspired by Picasso, Modigliani and Morandi. His work, which include portraits, nudes and still lifes, lend themselves well to the concept of wine pairings.
Read the full article at the
New York Times
» Dutch "Winter in Wartime" headed for U.S. theaters
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired U.S. rights to the Dutch film
Winter in Wartime from High Point Films. The drama looks at the Dutch resistance during World War II from the perspective of a 13-year-old. Directed by Martin Koolhoven, "Winter" is the Netherlands' entry for the best foreign-language Oscar.
From
Reuters
» McDonald's in a pickle over cheese slice firing
A Dutch branch of McDonald's was wrong to fire a worker for giving a colleague an extra piece of cheese on a hamburger, a court ruled on Tuesday. "The dismissal was too severe a measure," the district court in Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands said in a written judgment. "It is just a slice of cheese." A written warning would have been a more appropriate punishment, said the court, which ordered McDonald's to pay the worker the salary for the remaining five months of her contract - a total of 4,265.47 euros (6,006.69 dollars). The worker was fired at a McDonald's branch in the northern town of Lemmer in March last year for giving a colleague on a break a more expensive cheese burger instead of the hamburger she had paid for.
Read the full article at
AFP
» GM to keep Saab alive via Spyker
General Motors on Tuesday reached a deal to sell its Saab operations to supercar maker Spyker Cars, keeping the Swedish brand alive. Under the binding deal, GM gets $74 million in cash and $326 million in preferred shares of Saab, which will represent less than 1% of the voting rights, according to Netherlands-based Spyker. "We are very much looking forward to being part of the next chapter in Saab's illustrious history. Saab is an iconic brand that we are honored to shepherd," Spyker CEO Victor Muller said in a statement. Saab has about 3,400 employees worldwide and has 218 U.S. Saab dealerships. Saab will continue to honor warranties in the U.S. Spyker plans to change its name to Saab Spyker Automobiles. The acquisition will mean more than a name change for Spyker, which isn't profitable and only made 21 of its cars that sell for more than $200,000 during the first half of 2009.
Read the full article at the
Detroit Free Press
» Dutch billionaire could save Saab
Dutch billionaire businessman Marcel Boekhoorn has upped his investment in Saab suitor Spyker Cars of the Netherlands, trade union newspaper Dagens Arbete reports. The 50-year-old investment mogul is reported to have replaced the Antonovs, a Russian father and son banking duo whose major stake in Spyker represented a stumbling block to the deal for Saab owner General Motors. Negotiations between Spyker and Saab owner General Motors (GM) are now in their final stages, with the Dutch company having offered about $500 million for Saab, its third bid for the Swedish automaker.
Read the full article at
The Local
» Amsterdam councillor seeks stricter brothel rules
Amsterdam's deputy mayor proposed new measures Tuesday to help tackle forced prostitution, including restricting opening hours for brothels and raising the minimum age for prostitutes to 23 from 18. Lodewijk Asscher, who faces re-election in March, said prostitution should be banned between 4 and 8 a.m. to complement existing efforts to fight crime, exploitation and human trafficking in Amsterdam's 800-year-old red light district. "Only the biggest creeps and boozers are walking around at those hours," he said on Dutch radio. "Women really dread working then and sometimes the most vulnerable are used." But the local union for prostitutes said it was against Asscher's proposal because the early morning hours are among the most lucrative for many women. "This is not a good idea, this is the time when the prostitutes can make the most money," said Metje Blaak, a spokeswoman for the Rode Draad union for prostitutes. She said that raising the minimum legal age would lead more girls into underground, illegal brothels.
Full article at the
New York Times
» Heineken, Dos Equis brew a $7.6 billion deal
Heineken announced plans Monday to buy the beer operations of Mexico's Fomento Económico Mexicano (Femsa) for about $7.6 billion, as the Dutch brewer moves to expand its operations in the Western Hemisphere. The deal will give Heineken, which brews Amstel and other beers, control of Femsa's key export brands, including Dos Equis, Tecate and Sol. "The acquisition strengthens considerably our position within the global beer market," Jean-François van Boxmeer, chairman and chief executive of Heineken, said in a statement. "[It] expands our portfolio of leading international brands and enhances our leading position in the U.S. import market." Under the terms of the deal, Femsa will gain a 20% economic interest in the Heineken Group, and will have the right to appoint two non-executive representatives to Heineken's board.
Full article at
CNN
» Dutch say failed plane bomber acted alone
The Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas acted alone and probably smuggled the explosives from Nigeria, the Dutch public prosecutor said on Tuesday. The prosecutor's office said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab did not have an accomplice at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, as some other passengers on the flight had alleged. Abdulmutallab, 23, the son of a prominent banker, flew from Lagos to Amsterdam on a KLM flight, arriving on Christmas Day. Prosecutors said the seats from that plane are still being examined for traces of explosives. In Amsterdam, Abdulmutallab went through a profile interview and a security check before waiting at the gate for his flight. Some of the passengers on the plane had said they saw him accompanied at the gate in Amsterdam by an older, well-dressed Indian or Pakistani man. But the review of more than 200 hours of video showed no one with him, the officials said.
Read the full article at
Reuters
» Chávez accuses Netherlands of plotting aggression with the U.S.
President Hugo Chávez is zeroing in on a nation he claims is a new enemy of his government: the Netherlands. Mr. Chávez accused the Netherlands of plotting “military aggression” against Venezuela with the United States from Aruba and Curaçao in the Dutch Antilles, islands from which American military personnel operate antidrug flights in the Caribbean. A spokesman from the Dutch Embassy in Caracas did not respond to a request for comment.
From the
New York Times
» Dutch launch probe into attempted bribe
Dutch Olympic and speedskating authorities will investigate claims by a Polish speedskater that she was offered nearly $75,000 for her starting spot in the 5,000-meter race at the 2006 Turin Olympics. The allegation by Katarzyna Wojcicka was first aired Sunday night on Dutch national broadcaster NOS. Wojcicka told NOS she was offered the money to withdraw so that Dutch skater Gretha Smit could compete. She said she turned it down.
Full article at
ESPN
» NZ, Netherlands protest start of whaling season
New Zealand Australia and the Netherlands have issued a joint statement, calling for "responsible behaviour" as Japan begins its whaling season in Antarctica. The joint communique said the three nations remained "resolute in our opposition to the so-called scientific whaling" but condemned "dangerous or violent activities" by whalers and protesters. "The Southern Ocean is a remote and inhospitable region where the risk of adverse incidents is high and the capacity for rescue or assistance is low. Our Governments jointly call upon all parties to exercise restraint and to ensure that safety at sea is the highest priority," the communique said.
The statement, issued by Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully, said the three countries would be using diplomacy and the International Whaling Commission to fight for whale conservation.The Japanese whaling fleet has recently left Japan for the Southern Ocean while the protest group, the Sea Shepherd, set sail in the Steve Irwin from Australia yesterday.
New Zealand Herald
» Sapling from Anne Frank tree planted in Amsterdam
The ancient chestnut tree that cheered up Jewish teenager Anne Frank as she hid from the Nazis is dying, but thanks to a planting campaign now under way its descendants will live on around the globe. Amsterdam city councilwoman Marijke Vos on Friday planted the first of 150 saplings from the tree that will go into the Amsterdamse Bos park. Vos said the tree was "a symbol of hope and freedom that we can share by planting seedlings all over the world." Other saplings have gone to several of the 200 schools around the world that are named for Frank. Last month, 11 sites were selected in the U.S. to eventually receive saplings, including the White House and the Sept. 11 memorial in New York.
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Associated Press
» Netherlands navy captures pirates off Oman
The Dutch navy arrested 13 pirates south of Oman in the Arabian Gulf on Wednesday. The pirates had attempted to hijack a merchant ship, but failed and fled. The crew of HM Evertsen spotted the men and captured them. They are being held aboard the Dutch frigate. It is not clear where and when the prisoners, whose nationality has not been disclosed, will be charged. Large quantities of arms and munitions were found on the pirate ships, as well as two Tanzanian fishermen. When interrogated they turned out to have been taken hostage a couple of months ago.
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Radio Netherlands
» Karadzic challenges war crimes court's legitimacy
Radovan Karadzic has filed a motion challenging the legitimacy of the U.N. war crimes tribunal prosecuting him for allegedly masterminding Serb atrocities throughout the Bosnian war. Karadzic claims the Security Council overstepped its powers when it created the court in 1993. Prosecutors have not yet responded to the former Bosnian Serb leader's motion, which was released Monday. Karadzic is also protesting that he does not have enough time to prepare his defense.
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Associated Press
» Dutch drivers to pay car tax by kilometer
The Dutch government has approved a bill to impose a tax on drivers for every kilometer they are on the road, which it says will reduce traffic jams, fatal accidents and carbon emissions. Beginning in 2012, drivers of an average passenger car will pay euro0.03 per 1 kilometer (7 US cents per mile). But annual road taxes and purchase tax for new cars will be abolished, reducing the cost of a new car by 25 percent. The government says nearly six out of 10 drivers will benefit under the system, which shifts the tax burden to people who drive the most and at peak hours. Congestion is expected to be halved and carbon emissions cut 10 percent.
More at the
Boston Globe
» Dutch arrest Somali terror suspect wanted by US
Dutch prosecutors said Tuesday they have arrested a 43-year-old Somali man wanted by U.S. authorities for allegedly financing Islamic extremist terrorists. Prosecutors said in a statement the man lived in Minneapolis before leaving the United States in November 2008; he arrived in the Netherlands about one month later. The identity of the man, who was arrested Sunday at an asylum seeker's center in Dronten about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of Amsterdam, was not released in line with Dutch privacy laws. The statement by the national prosecutors office said American authorities asked for the man's arrest and have sought his extradition. The Dutch statement says U.S. prosecutors suspect the man arrested Sunday of bankrolling the purchase of weapons for Islamic extremists and helping other Somalis travel to Somalia in 2007 and 2008.
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Associated Press
» Jailbroken iPhones taken hostage by Dutch hacker
So a strange development took place on Sunday–a Dutch hacker is currently holding what amounts to several jailbreaked Apple iPhones. When you jailbreak an Apple iPhone, you force the resetting of a password that controls remote access to the general password coded in at the factory level. Now, if you’re smart, you’ll quickly change that password to something you know well. But a lot of people either got lazy or busy or just plain forgot, because they left their iPhones in the original password setting. And that’s where the Dutch hacker swung in. He changed the passwords, effectively locking people out of their own phones until they pay him a ransom of five euros via PayPal. Meanwhile, Apple considers jailbroken phones to have voided their warranties, so it’s pretty much either pay off the hacker or lose your phone until he’s arrested and forced to confess.
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Gadget Review
» Belgium to rent Dutch jail cells
Tight on space in its jails, Belgium will start renting 500 cells at Tilburg prison in neighbouring Netherlands. The agreement will make up for the shortage of cells across Belgium and send roughly 500 prisoners away for three years. Belgium will pay 30m euros (£26.8m) a year for sending its detainees across the border. No prisoners who are "an escape risk or a risk to society" will be sent to Tilburg, Dutch officials said. "The Netherlands is putting the prison and its personnel at Belgium's disposal for placing at least 500 detainees over a period of three years," the Dutch justice ministry said.
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BBC News
» Dutch augmented reality firm Layar raises $1 million
Dutch augmented reality company Layar is about to close “more than $1 million” in its latest, undisclosed round of funding, according to Venturebeat.com. The company, which launched its product in April this year, has created technology using a phone’s GPS, compass, and accelerometer to display images and other data on top of a mobile phone screen. To use the application, currently available on Android devices, the iPhone, and as of Wednesday, Symbian Nokia phones, users point their phone at an object which appears on the device’s screen with information—or what the company calls “content layers” displayed on top of it. The layers, the equivalent of pages in a web browser, are created by developers, and so far, the company’s website says there are around 178 of them. The layers range from real estate ones, like Trulia, which will allows a user to point to a house and pull up information, to one for the London Underground and another for Wikipedia.
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Moconews.com
» Home sick: Another case where work incentives matter
Although the recent health care debate has featured a number of comparisons of Europe and the United States, little has been said about sick leave. Economic research has shown that workers in the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway often stay home sick. Incentives, and not the flu, seem to be the explanation. Europeans are healthier than Americans by just about every measure. Thus it may come as a surprise that our poor health does not keep us Americansaway from work more often than European workers. Economists have been aware of these differences for a while now, and have understood them to be the result of incentives. Quite simply, the financial penalty for work absence in the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway was quite small (as compared to the U.S. and other European countries), and the labor market responded by keeping workers home “sick” more often.
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New York Times
