NL Times

A total of 79 schools in the Netherlands were awarded the predicate 'excellent school' on Monday, bringing the total number of excellent schools in the country up to 191. The predicate is awarded to schools who distinguish themselves in a specific area, like being very innovative or helping children who need extra attention in a special way, NOS reports.

Vaccinate Dutch kids against more diseases: experts

Jan 21 '19 15:40

Health

The Netherlands' national vaccination program works - some 450 children's lives are saved through it every year - but it is too limited. The Dutch government must include more infectious diseases in the national vaccination program, multiple vaccination experts said in advise to the Tweede Kamer, AD reports.

Aussie cops find liquid XTC in champagne bottles from Netherlands

Jan 21 '19 14:50

The Australian border police in Sydney discovered a number of champagne bottles that didn't contain champagne, but liquid ecstasy. Most of these bottles were shipped to Australia from Belgium, but a number also came from the Netherlands, France and Germany, the Australian Border Force [ABF] said in a statement.

Armenian family to be deported, despite political uproar

Jan 21 '19 13:14

Politics

The deportation of an Armenian family, including three kids aged 8, 5 and 3 years, will happen as scheduled on Monday, despite political talks about easing the children's pardon for asylum kids who are rooted in the Netherlands. Emergency procedures to keep the family in the Netherlands were all rejected, the family's lawyer confirmed to RTL Nieuws.

Dutch coalition losing favor with 18 weeks to Senate elections

Jan 21 '19 13:10

Politics

With the Senate elections in the Netherlands less than 60 days away, the Rutte III coalition is losing favor among voters. According to the latest poll by Maurice de Hond, three of the four coalition parties would lose a significant number of seats if the parliamentary elections were held today. All in all, the coalition would lose about a third of their parliamentary seats.

Clear skies made the Super Blood Wolf Moon visible across most of The Netherlands, 21 Jan 2019

Photos: 'Super Blood Wolf Moon' clearly visible across most of NL

Jan 21 '19 12:20

Clear skies meant that those who managed to get up early enough got a clear view of the Super Blood Wolf Moon in most of the Netherlands early on Monday morning. The moonlight started changing color around 3:36 a.m., and the total eclipse started around 5:41 a.m., reaching its peak at 6:12 a.m.

Snow plows clear Schiphol's runways, 12 Dec 2017

Snow expected to bring flight cancellations, busy rush hour on Tuesday

Jan 21 '19 11:30

Business Nature

The Netherlands is expected to get its first proper snowfall of this winter on Tuesday. This could cause cancellations for flights from, to or through Amsterdam, KLM warns. Heavy traffic is also expected during rush hour on Tuesday morning and evening, NU.nl reports.

Skaters take to the ice in the Onlanden nature reserve in Drenthe, at the Groningen border. 20 January 2019

Season's first skating marathon on natural ice in Haaksbergen tonight

Jan 21 '19 10:40

Nature Sports

This winter's first skating marathon on natural ice will happen in Haaksbergen on Monday night. The ice on skating club IJSCH's rink was between 4 and 5 centimeters thick on Monday morning, thick enough for a marathon, national skating union KNSB announced on Twitter.

The marathon will start at 7:00 p.m. for women and 8:00 p.m. for men. Last year Simon Schouten and Manon Kamminga won the season's first skating marathon on natural ice, NU.nl reports.

Protest against the deportation of Armenian kids Howick and Lili, 12 Aug 2017

Children's pardon causing conflict in Dutch government

Jan 21 '19 09:51

Politics

On Saturday coalition party CDA announced that the party wants to extend the children's pardon, joining the D66 and ChristenUnie who have been calling for this for some time. The VVD is now the only one of the four coalition parties who wants to stick to the agreement made in the Rutte III coalition agreement, which states that the previous government's children's pardon will remain unchanged, the Volkskrant reports.

Rowboat capsizes in Wageningen; search for rowers halted

Jan 21 '19 08:52

Emergency services responded en masse to the marina at the Nederrijn in Wageningen on Sunday after two reports of a rowboat capsizing. Rescue workers searched for possibly missing rowers in the water for hours, but found nothing, De Gelderlander reports.

Boy, 14, stabbed in face at Brabant asylum center

Jan 21 '19 08:20

Crime Top Stories

A 14-year-old boy was injured in a stabbing incident in the asylum center on Kievitsblekweg in Oisterwijk, Noord-Brabant, on Sunday. He was taken to hospital. The perpetrator, another boy, can't be found and has therefore not been arrested yet, NU.nl reports.

The two boys got into a fight at around 2:30 p.m. The victim was stabbed in the face. The police are investigating and already spoke to multiple witnesses.

Slick roads in Amsterdam Oost before the morning rush hour, 21 Jan 2019

Freezing night triggers slick road warning

Jan 21 '19 07:57

Nature Top Stories

Motorists in the Netherlands are warned to be careful of slick roads when commuting to work on Monday morning. Meteorological institute KNMI issued a code yellow warning for the entire country. "All traffic participants can be hindered. Adjust your driving behavior. Follow weather reports and warnings", KNMI warns.

Temperatures dropped to between -5 degrees along the coast and -10 degrees inland overnight, freezing wet areas on the roads. The iciness should melt away by 11:00 a.m., according to the meteorological institute.

Police searching the Zuider IJdijk after a body was found there in a suitcase on 19 Jan 2019

Human remains found in suitcase next to Amsterdam canal

Jan 21 '19 07:42

Crime Top Stories

Human remains were found in a suitcase along the banks of the Zuider IJdijk in Amsterdam on Saturday morning. The victim has not yet been identified. On Sunday the police searched in and around the canal. "It's a crime scene. We want to investigate if we find something that is interesting to our investigation", a police spokesperson said to Het Parool.

More purchasing power for most Dutch households, despite higher bills

Jan 19 '19 08:00

Most Dutch households will have a bit more to spend this year than in 2018, despite higher energy bills, higher health insurance premiums and higher VAT, according to budget institute Nibud's latest purchasing power calculations. Most households will have between a few euros and 131 euros extra left over each month, NU.nl reports.

ING slashes bonuses after money laundering settlement

Jan 18 '19 16:40

ING employees can look forward to "significantly" lower bonuses this year, even though the bank is doing well with more clients and turnover. The bonuses will be lower due to a settlement of 775 million euros the bank had to pay last year for failing to monitor money laundering, NOS reports.

Gavel with lady justice in the background

Suspect regrets fatal Diemen fire

Jan 18 '19 16:00

Gilermo I., the prime suspect of a fatal fire in a Diemen apartment in July 2017, expressed regret for what happened at the start of his trial on Friday. "I find it horrible what happened. But I can not turn back time", he said, RTL Nieuws reports.

Amsterdam to cut 95% of carbon emissions by 2050

Jan 18 '19 15:10

The municipality of Amsterdam aims to reduce its CO2 emissions by 55 percent in 2030 and 95 percent in 2050, when compared to the emission levels in 1990. The city also aims to be completely off natural gas by 2040. To help achieve this goal, Amsterdam is pushing 150 million euros into a Climate Fund for the period 2019 to 2025, the city announced in a press release.

Lunar Eclipse: Netherlands could see full “Super Blood Wolf Moon” on Monday

Jan 18 '19 14:29

As Earth’s orbit crosses directly between the Sun and Moon on Monday morning, a total lunar eclipse should be fully visible in The Netherlands. Clear skies are predicted for most of the country from midday Sunday all the way up to about noon on Monday.

If the clouds cooperate, the full eclipse will begin at 5:41 a.m. and maximum coverage will occur at 6:12 a.m. The full eclipse will end about a half-hour later.

Widening A1 highway between Apeldoorn & Almelo to take 10 years

Jan 18 '19 13:30

Next month Rijkswaterstaat will start widening the A1 highway between Apeldoorn and the Azelo junction near Almelo. The 65 kilometer stretch of highway will be widened almost everywhere. This major job is expected to take 10 years to complete and cost around 400 million euros, NU.nl reports.

The A1 is one of the two main road links from the Randstad to the North and East European hinterland.

ProRail to press charges against trucker in Leeuwarden train crash

Jan 18 '19 12:40

ProRail is pressing charges against a man who parked his semi-trailer truck on a level crossing in Leeuwarden last week Friday, after which an Arriva train collided with it, NOS reports.

Six people sustained minor injuries in the accident, including the train driver and the truck driver. The accident also disrupted train traffic and resulted in the entire level crossing installation needing to be replaced.

Body found after fire in Hillegom homes

Jan 18 '19 11:50

Emergency services found the body of an as yet unidentified person after a large fire in three homes in Hillegom on Thursday. The police are working on identifying the victim, NU.nl reports.

Man fleeing cops crashes into his house, dies

Jan 18 '19 11:00

A 50-year-old man died in the Friesland village of Nieuwhorne on Thursday after he crashed into the wall of his own farmhouse while trying to flee from the police. The police responded to the farm after a report of someone trying to take their own life, NOS reports.

Taxi driver turns self in after hitting 9-year-old girl in Amsterdam

Jan 18 '19 10:10