A new chair has been created for the prevention of terrorism. The Dutch National Anti-Terrorism Coordinator (NCTb) and Leiden University have taken the initiative to form such a chair to promote scientific research into the subject of counter terrorism.
The special chair is to contribute to improved analysis quality at the various government authorities concerned […]

The city council of Maastricht wants to set up an international association, where employees from abroad can meet each other. The initiative focuses not so much on staff from large companies, for whom a great deal has already been arranged, but on employees from institutions, including the Universiteit Maastricht’s research institutes, the Japanese private university […]

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has announced that it will release “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” for download-to-own the same day the DVD goes on sale in the Netherlands and the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.
Under the licensing agreement with Free Record Shop, the largest specialty retailer in the Netherlands, Warner Bros. will […]

The cabinet may decide today to admit more ‘knowledge migrants’ into the Netherlands. Economic Affairs Minister Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst has put forward specific proposals for removing obstacles to their admission, insiders said yesterday.
Universities and high-tech companies are complaining bitterly that they cannot get bright people and top talent to come from distant countries to the Netherlands […]

The threat of terrorism in the Netherlands increasingly comes from home-grown Islamist militants who could strike at any time without orders from abroad, the Dutch intelligence service said on Thursday.
The Netherlands, shaken by the violent murder of a filmmaker in 2004 seen as critical of Islam, still faces a substantial threat despite the sentencing of […]

Some time ago, a uniformed US Air Force officer from Nato headquarters arrived at Passion Chocolat, a tiny chocolatier in a suburban Brussels street, and threw staff into a panic by asking for 40 boxes of chocolate.
Their efforts to accommodate him were rewarded a few weeks later with a thank-you note - from the […]

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded a Rubicon subsidy to 32 promising young scientists. The researchers, who have only just received their doctorates, will receive a total of 1.1 million euros. This will cover the reimbursement of expenses for staying at a foreign institute for six months to two years. There is […]

If a mother wants to take up her job again within 10 weeks of childbirth leave, her working partner should be able to take the remaining days of leave off from his employer. A plea for this by a Lower House majority yesterday won the support of Social Affairs Minister Aart Jan de Geus.
De Geus […]

The number of people who work out at a gymnasium rose by 47 percent during the past year. The 1700 sports schools in the Netherlands enrolled 800,000 new members.
The Netherlands now has 2.5 million keep-fitters. This makes working out (cardio and power training) the most frequently practiced sport. In second place comes swimming, followed by […]

The conservatives (VVD) want the Netherlands to abrogate the Treaty of Malta, which regulates protection of buried archaeological treasure. The treaty drives up building companies’ costs, according to MP Annette Nijs. But she received no support in the Lower House.
Under the treaty, a project developer pays for archaeological research in the ground on which he […]

Dutch Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk has run into new problems with her tough deportation policy. This time, her decision to send 181 rejected asylum seekers back to their native Syria has met with fierce opposition in the Dutch parliament.
Many MPs are angry that confidential information about this group has ended up in Syrian hands, even […]

Most small and medium businesses (SME) in the Netherlands are pleased with their expat workers, but many bosses would gladly see an end to the Dutch work permit system, a new study by ING bank has found.
The ING report ‘Internationaliseringaperspectieven voor her MKB’ looks at the potential and lessons learned from internationalisation efforts within the […]

De Volkskrant daily newspaper today reports that Defence for Children International as well as over 100 children of asylum-seekers are about to bring a suit against the Dutch government. They believe that Holland is violating international treaties by imprisoning children before deporting them, and forcing children who were born and raised in The Netherlands to […]

Thalys rails wants in the near future to increase the number of high speed trains between Maastricht and Paris to seven per day. Since yesterday it is possible to buy a return ticket for the 3-hour long journey through the Dutch railways website for the cost of EUR 61, provided that the ticket is […]

The European Commission estimates more than ten million euros’ worth of counterfeit euro coins are in circulation,and the counterfeit coins are getting harder to differentiate from genuine currency.
On Monday, it was announced that over 100,000 counterfeit coins were taken out of circulation in the EU last year, 30 percent more than in 2004.
The most forged […]

Dutchman Johan Huibers is building a working replica of Noah’s Ark as a testament to his Christian faith.
The 47-year-old from Schagen, 45km (30 miles) north of Amsterdam, plans to set sail in September through the interior waters of the Netherlands.
Johan’s Ark is a fifth of the size of Noah’s and will carry farmyard animals. […]

Love and the search for a better quality of life are the main reasons most Europeans leave their home countries and move to another state, a European Union-sponsored study showed Tuesday.
The report said only 2 per cent of EU citizens chose to move to another European country. Of these, 30 per cent said they […]

The World Congress of Ergonomics brings ergonomists together from around the world every three years at a venue that enhances both the exchange of ideas and information and conviviality. The venue for the 16th World Congress on Ergonomics, 10-14 July 2006, is Maastricht, famous for its history and its summits. It dates from Roman times, […]

Pupils in the first classes of secondary education will from the next school year have one less week of lessons. The Lower House decided yesterday that the teaching time at secondary schools will be 39 weeks a year, compared with 40 at present.
Education Minister Maria van der Hoeven wanted to give schools the choice of […]

Social Affairs State Secretary Van Hoof wants to open the Dutch borders from 1 January 2007 for workers from the countries that joined the EU in 2004.
Van Hoof initially wanted to open the borders from 1 May 2006. By postponing this until January, he will have more time to prepare additional policy aimed at preventing […]

The Netherlands has risen to the top of the European traffic fine rankings as new legislation in Belgium cuts average penalties there.
The Netherlands’ southern neighbour used to have the toughest fines. Belgium is now ranked fourth, trailing the Netherlands, France and Luxembourg, news agency Belga reported on Tuesday.
The Flemish motorists association VAB said it […]

Kosovar Taida Pasic left for school as normal in the Dutch town of Winterswijk on Tuesday, the deadline set by Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk for her to leave the country voluntarily or be deported.
Earlier this month Verdonk confirmed her decision that Pasic, who entered the country on a tourist visa, cannot stay to finish […]

The weight-loss world is full of claims, rarely proved, that some pill or potion can help you “burn calories while you sleep.”
But a recent Dutch study reports that it can be done — simply by eating more lean protein.
Researchers report for the first time that consuming nearly a third of daily calories as […]

A Muslim woman who refuses to shake men’s hands for religious reasons cannot be barred from a Dutch teacher-training program.
The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission found Monday that the Regional Education Center in the city of Utrecht illegally “discriminated, indirectly, on the basis of religion,” when it rejected Fatima Amghar for its program.
Amghar, 20, said her […]

The European Commission today launched an internet discussion in 20 languages on the future of Europe. This discussion, which all citizens are invited to join, is part of the Commission’s “Plan D” for Dialogue, Debate and Democracy in response to a call by the European Council for a period of reflection following the negative votes […]

Dutch Finance State Secretary Joop Wijn is extending the return of VAT to tourists from outside the European Union who make purchases in the Netherlands.
Tourists from non-EU countries will be able to get VAT back at the border for purchases of above 50 euros. Currently, the threshold is at 136 euros. Wijn wants to improve […]

The Labour (PvdA) party in Rotterdam wants the city to have a serious Chinatown. Rotterdam must become “a bridge for Chinese trade and knowledge with the European hinterland”, local PvdA leader Peter van Heemst said yesterday on Radio 1.
The Westkruiskade in the centre of the city is already a small Chinatown. If Van Heemst has […]

When President Jacques Chirac stormed out of an EU summit last week, furious that a fellow Frenchman had spoken English, he may as well have been railing at the tide coming in, EU newcomer states say.
Whether France likes it or not, the dominance of the English language has grown and continues to grow in the […]

National police service (KLPD) is outfitting its mobile patrols with cameras to scan number plates of passing cars on motorways to check for violations.
Until now the police service used static cameras and officers checked number plates manually.
The first police car with the new ‘catchken’ system is scheduled to begin operating in September. A […]

New research suggests German and Dutch people have more in common than cold weather and a Germanic language - the northern neighbours are also the most intelligent people in Europe.
Both countries score 107 in the league table of European IQs drawn up by Professor Richard Lynn of the University of Ulster, the Times reported on […]