“We Rotterdammers use Dutch as our common language,” according to the Rotterdam Code published by the local authority earlier this year. The Christian Democrat Party (CDA) is part of the coalition on the city council that sanctioned the code. Therefore, the decision by CDA candidate Yiu Cheung to print posters in Chinese only has raised […]

The government launched its national terrorism information campaign on Monday.
The campaign is entitled ‘Nederland tegen terrorisme’ (Netherlands against terrorism) and will seek the assistance of the public to minimise the chance of a terrorist attack in the Netherlands.
Adverts will be run on television and on radio later this year and a leaflet will be […]

The student pack for the Dutch integration course for immigrants overseas goes on sale in bookshops on Tuesday.
Many people wishing to come to the Netherlands, particularly those from developing countries, are obliged from 15 March to sit an integration exam in their home country.
The student pack costs EUR 64 and can also be […]

The Dutch justice minister, a dour Calvinist named Piet Hein Donner, has astonished his countrymen by fighting a “rap duel” with the mayor of Maastricht over drug laws.
Those pushing for the liberalisation of laws on the growth and sale of cannabis have been rallying around a record by an established band featuring guest vocals by […]

The Universiteit Maastricht may become a completely English-spoken university in the long term. This is one of the ideas of the Executive Board, laid down in the ‘Taalbeleid’ (Language Policy) note that has been submitted to the university council. For the short term, the plans are more definite: in three years’ time the UM will […]

According to the experts, the www.studiekeuze123.nl website that was officially launched last week, is first and foremost “a good start”. They want more ‘objective data’, but also more elaborate search options, preferably also in English.
State Secretary Rutte opened the site during an international symposium about ranking in higher education at the University of Leiden. The […]

Film director Eddy Terstall is to make a film on homosexuality among Islam leaders in the 15th and 16th centuries. The film is based on the novel ‘Male Harem’ (Mannenharem) by Vinco David.
David’s novel is a historically based tale about male harems kept by various Islamic Mogul Emperors in India in the 15th and 16th […]

Loe Gossieau belongs to a group of enthusiastic runners who gathers three times a week on a track off a small historical hill overlooking Maastricht. Loe, who works for the local government, usually runs a circuit of about 15 kilometres Saint Peter’s Mount (St.Pietersberg in Dutch), on a natural area covered with grass and trees and inhabited by a number of horses and small flocks of sheep.
[continued…]

Belgium and the Netherlands agreed on Monday to carry out joint investigations into drug smuggling from South America and Eastern Europe.

The Dutch come second only to the Luxembourgers in the EU when it comes to knowledge of foreign languages.

At the local council elections on 7 March, 11.8 million people are entitled to vote. The number from immigrant backgrounds is a record at 2.2 million, the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) reported yesterday.

The Netherlands goes to the polls on 7 March 2006. Many, though not all, expats have a vote.

The police say two demonstrations against the Danish cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed have went off peacefully, but this appears to be a very optimistic interpretation. Both got out of hand.
At a demonstration on Amsterdam’s Dam Square on Saturday, police arrested four youths, aged 14 to 20. “They were deliberately out for a confrontation. Actually […]

The Netherlands comes fourth in anew list of globalization rankings to be published later this month by a research center of the University of Maastricht, Dutch daily “De Volkskrant” reported on Friday.
The research by International Center for Integrated assessment and Sustainable development(ICIS) puts Switzerland at the top of the list, followed […]

Maastricht Carnival song 2006: My bike

Refrain:
What a misery, such a bad luck
My brand new bike is gone
It wasn’t nicked, it wasn’t stolen
But the municipality has taken my bike away
Is that good? Is that nice?
What am I to do without a bike?
Oh dear, I have such grief
Can someone tell me where my bicycle is?

[continued…]

Population growth in the Netherlands is at a 100-year low due to increasing emigration combined with low immigration and a low birth rate.
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) published a report on Friday showing 121,000 emigrated from the Netherlands in 2005. This was 11,000 higher than the year before.
The CBS said there were more emigrants than immigrants in […]

The US Senate confirmed billionaire Roland E. Arnall as Ambassador to the Netherlands on Wednesday evening.
Arnall was nominated to replace Clifford Sobel in The Hague six months ago. The confirmation process dragged on for months due to allegations Arnall’s Ameriquest Mortgage Co. was involved in unfair lending practices.
The deadlock was finally ended when […]

The international jury of the 49th annual World Press Photo contest selected a color image of the Canadian photographer Finbarr O’Reilly of Reuters as World Press Photo of the Year 2005. The picture shows the emaciated fingers of a one-year-old child pressed against the lips of his mother at an emergency feeding clinic in Niger. […]

About 50 young Muslims gathered in the Dutch city of Maastricht for an ad-hoc demonstration against the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. No permit had been sought for the rally. The police and Mayor Gerd Leers held talks with the demonstrators on Friday afternoon (10 Feb).
Source: Expatica Netherlands
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In 1940, the Nazis obtained hundreds of 17th-century paintings owned by a dealer who had fled the Netherlands. Now his heirs have reclaimed the masterpieces from the Dutch government.

Maastricht is one step closer to establishing its University Medical Centre. A decision has been taken about the final management model, and the proposed agreement will now be submitted to various representative bodies. Maastricht UMC+ is expected to become operational on 1 January 2008.
Its aim is to establish intensive and close collaboration between University […]

AUT University’s Faculty of Business in Auckland, New Zealand, has signed an agreement to pursue joint research with Maastricht University Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. AUT’s Faculty of Business and Maastricht University’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration will exchange academic staff and doctoral students in the Visiting Research Fellowship Scheme, starting this year. […]

Noord-Brabant Governor Maij-Weggen believes foreigners should be treated with greater friendliness and hospitality. She fears damage to business if foreigners do not feel welcome in the province.
In the opinion page of local newspaper Brabants Dagblad, Maij-Weggen notes there are over 1,000 foreign companies in Noord-Brabant, providing a combined total of over 80,000 jobs. The companies […]

The Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Siggi Weidemann reports on 267 missing artworks that have been found in The Netherlands. The works—predominantly German, Dutch, and Italian Old Masters—come from the private collection of the Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker.
Goudstikker, who died in exile in England in 1940, was forced to leave behind his 1,113 treasures, which were […]

A new budget airline will start operating at the Liège-Bierset Airport in April. The airline, Ireland’s Aer Arann, will offer flights to London Luton and Birmingham in the UK and Lorient in France. Aer Arann is already active in the UK and Ireland. It offers one continental destination from the UK, namely Lorient in Bretagne […]