Prime Minister Mark Rutte made a number of thinly veiled insults aimed at Amsterdam while speaking on television program Buitenhof on Sunday. While speaking about the climate agreement, which the government and business community signed in December, Rutte mentioned the "Amsterdam elite" and later also the "white wine sipping elite", Het Parool reports.
Politics
Jan 14 '19 09:15
Ruling party VVD is putting a brake on the climate measures in the climate agreement, which was signed in December. Party leader Klaas Dijkhoff does not want "ordinary people" to carry the bill for the climate measures. "It is not my agreement", VVD leader Klaas Dijkhoff said in an interview with the Telegraaf on Saturday. "I'm not going to do it."
Jan 10 '19 15:15
The appeal in the hate speech case against PVV leader Geert Wilders will continue. The court in The Hague saw no reason to declare the Public Prosecutor inadmissible, as Wilders had requested. The court will, however, allow the defense to call former Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten, former head of the Public Prosecution Service Herman Bolhaar and a number of senior officials to testify as witnesses, NOS reports.
Jan 10 '19 10:00
The European Union placed two Iranians and Iran's military intelligence service on the European terrorism list after it was revealed that Iran was likely responsible for two murders in the Netherlands, NU.nl reports.
Jan 10 '19 08:07
A group of around 10 protesters gathered at the Iranian embassy in The Hague on Wednesday. A number of them climbed over the embassy's fence. Others pelted the building with objects. The police arrested four of the demonstrators, the Volkskrant reports.
The protesters were shouting slogans like "Iran regime terrorist", according to the newspaper.
Jan 9 '19 15:20
The Netherlands and seven other EU countries will take in refugees who are currently stuck on a ship belonging to rescue organization Sea-Watch, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta announced in a press conference on Wednesday. The ship has been hovering off the coast of Malta for some time, because it was not allowed to moor anywhere, NU.nl reports.
Jan 9 '19 09:29
LGBTQ interest group COC is organizing a "Celebration of Love" in Amsterdam on Wednesday in response to the Dutch translation of the so-called Nashville declaration, which was signed by hundreds of Dutch pastors and other orthodox Christians. Mayor Femke Halsema will speak at the event, AT5 reports.
Jan 8 '19 16:00
The Public Prosecution Service will assess whether the controversial Nashville declaration is punishable, the Prosecutor announced after a commotion arose about a Dutch translation of the anti-LGBTQ text that has now been signed by hundreds of pastors and other orthodox Christians in the Netherlands. How long this assessment will take, is not yet clear, AD reports.
Jan 8 '19 14:09
Iran is almost certainly behind the assassination of two persons of Iranian descent in the Netherlands, Ministers Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs and Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs wrote in a letter to parliament on Tuesday.
Jan 8 '19 08:07
Children's Ombudsman Margrite Kalverboer is urgently calling on the government to bring Dutch children still in Syria back to the Netherlands. "There has been talk for almost a year, but not much has happened. The children are a year older and live under poor conditions. That is bad for their development", she said in a letter to Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security, RTL Nieuws reports.
Jan 7 '19 13:10
SGP leader Kees van der Staaij is sticking to the Nashville declaration, which he and hundreds of pastors of the Dutch Protestant Church signed, even after a storm of criticism. The declaration explicitly rejects homosexuality and transgender people, and suggests sexual orientation and gender are things people can be "cured" of. It also stresses that marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman.
Jan 7 '19 09:00
Amnesty International and Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland are both concerned about the fate of Bahraini asylum seeker Ali Mohammed Al-Showaikh. The Netherlands deported him to the Gulf nation of Bahrain in October and he was arrested upon arrival, RTL Nieuws reports.
According to the human rights organizations, there are strong indications that Al-Showaikh was abused or even tortured, and that he was forced to sign a confession.
Jan 3 '19 23:18
Transportation in the Netherlands is 35 percent higher than average prices in the E.U., making it the most expensive in the European Union. The analysis was produced by RTL Nieuws using figures from E.U. data agency Eurostat.
The cost analysis includes public transportation, taxis, and even airline tickets. When it comes to public transit, TU Delft transportation policy professor Bert van Wee said the price difference is effectively tied to government subsidization of the service.
Jan 2 '19 18:16
Wednesday marks the final day of the Dutch F-16 fighter jet missions targeting IS. The Netherlands announced the decision on Monday, saying the six F-16s and two spare units need to be "available for various rapidly deployable units and NATO."
Jan 2 '19 15:11
In a short New Year's address, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema praised the hopeful feeling around the city's future. She said the city wants more people to be able to access Amsterdam's growing prosperity through policy that addresses poverty, disenfranchisement, and crime.
Jan 1 '19 13:35
Dozens of new laws, rules, and regulations went into effect in the Netherlands at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday. Among them, a cut to the 30-percent ruling, new income tax credits, mortgage caps, a sales tax increase, expanded childcare subsides, and more rights for cities to seize homes related to the illegal drugs trade.
Dec 28 '18 17:00
The Dutch government is implementing a number of law changes on January 1st. Below find a summary of changes made in the category Entrepreneurs.
The 30% ruling for expats to shelter some of their pay as income tax-free is now available for a five year period instead of eight years.
Dutch companies can now settle international trade disputes in English or Dutch at the Netherlands Commercial Court.
Employees will now get one week of paid leave if their wife or girlfriend gives birth. Longer unpaid leave will be available starting in 2020.
Dec 28 '18 17:00
The Dutch government is implementing a number of law changes on January 1st. Below find a summary of changes made in the category Family.
The government set aside 248 million euros to increase childcare allowance next year. More information about what percentage of your child's childcare costs you can have compensated, can be found here.
Dec 28 '18 17:00
The Dutch government is implementing a number of law changes on January 1st. Below find a summary of changes made in the category Health, Care, and Sport
The deductible for health insurance remains €385 in 2019.
Dec 28 '18 17:00
The Dutch government is implementing a number of law changes on January 1st. Below find a summary of changes made in the category Elderly.
The state pension is increasing next year. Pensioners can calculate how much pension they will receive next year on this site.
Dec 28 '18 17:00
The Dutch government is implementing a number of law changes on January 1st. Below find a summary of changes made in the category Law, Safety and Defense.
Dec 28 '18 17:00
The Dutch government is implementing a number of law changes on January 1st. Below find a summary of changes made in the category Housing and Living Environment.
Home rents will increase by no more than 4.1 percent to 5.6 percent from July 1st next year. More information can be found here.
Dec 28 '18 13:25
A Dutch-flagged ship that rescued 32 migrants from a sinking boat near Libya is still looking for a harbor where the migrants may enter and be processed as possible refugees. The Dutch Justice and Security ministry is trying to help find a port for Sea-Watch 3, part of the German organization Sea-Watch.
But Sea-Watch claims that the Netherlands was one of the countries refusing to allow the ship to enter.
Dec 27 '18 10:34
Drivers in the Netherlands were neither imagining things nor embellishing in 2018 when they complained about travel times. Dutch highways were far more clogged in 2018 than a year earlier, with traffic jams up nearly 20 percent.
The heavy traffic had an impact on rush hour, but also outside of the daily busy periods, travellers association ANWB revealed on Thursday. The organization made their calculations based on both the frequency and duration of traffic jams.
