Thousands of Feyenoord fans are gathered in Rotterdam to celebrate their team's victory in the Eredivisie. With about an hour to go before the team is set to appear to their fans, the police are already calling on people to stop coming to the city center - all locations are full. "Celebrate at home or elsewhere", the police said on Twitter.
The Coolsingel and surrounding areas can hold 140 thousand people in total.
A total of 76 people were arrested in Rotterdam after Feyenoord beat Heracles Almelo 3-1 on Sunday and thereby became the national champions for the first time in 18 years. According to the police, there were "no major incidents'' during the celebrations. Feyenoord will be officially congratulated and honored in a ceremony on Coolsingel around noon on Monday.
A "small group of rioters" caused major disruptions in Rotterdam after Feyenoord's shocking 3-0 defeat by Excelsior on Sunday, the police said in a statement. Some 100 people were detained for crimes including challenging the police, throwing fireworks and stones, insulting police officers and not following the police's instructions.
The city of Rotterdam's data protection and information security is so poorly organized that Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb may be in danger, the Rotterdam Court of Auditors concludes in a report that the Volkskrant managed to get hold of. The report states that the mayor is at "real risk of physical danger", the newspaper reports.
For example, attackers could relatively easily get access to Aboutaleb's secret agenda or email to get information on where to attack.
Criminals increasingly approach Rotterdam port workers to perform odd jobs, such as approaching custom workers about not checking certain containers or asking other port employees to point pick-up-men to containers containing drugs, police chief of Zeehaven Jan Janse said to the Telegraaf. About one in seven Rotterdam port employees have been approached by a criminal at least once, the newspaper reports.
On Sunday night the police removed large posters showing Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan from the facade of a building in Rotterdam. A police spokespersons stated that the posters were removed at the request of Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb after information was received that public order may be compromised, NU.nl reports.
A Dutch-Turkish protest planned in Rotterdam on Friday afternoon is canceled, the organizers announced on Facebook. They can't guarantee the safety of the participants and therefore feel it's better not to go through with it, AD reports.
The protest, "Solidarity for Turks", was to advocate for freedom of expression for Dutch-Turks in the Netherlands and against police violence during previous protests at the Turkish consulate this past weekend. Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb gave permission for the protesters to march from Central Station to Schouwburgplein between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
The Netherlands will not apologize to Turkey for the actions taken in Rotterdam on Saturday around the arrival of Turkish Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Mark Rutte said to Het Parool on Wednesday. "The actions taken on Saturday were firm and respectful."
Dutch-Turks who oppose Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan are worried about reprisals in the Netherlands. This is because Turkish media sources are portraying them as complicit in the diplomatic fallout between Turkey and the Netherlands over the weekend, Trouw reports.
Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb was very concerned that protests around the Turkish consulate in his city this weekend would devolve into a shooting. He therefore deployed special, armed officers to intervene if the situation got out of hand, Aboutaleb said to Nieuwsuur. "In order to be sure that if it came to an encounter, we would have the upper hand."
The four largest cities in the Netherlands, united under G4, want the Dutch government to invest 35 billion euros into sustainability and infrastructure in the Randstad. The G4's plans span 15 years in which time some 1 million "green" homes will be built and accessibility to the city regions will be greatly improved, Het Parool reports.
The Mayors of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht met with Prime Minister Mark Rutte a few weeks ago to present their plan, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb confirmed to the newspaper.
Both intelligence service AIVD and the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security Dick Schoof contacted Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb prior to Sinterklaas' arrival in Maassluis on Saturday to warn him about possible clashes between anti-blackface Zwarte Piet activists, right-wing protesters and hooligans, the mayor said in a debate with his city council on Thursday, NOS reports.
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb, the police and the Public Prosecutor in the city are concerned about the increasing cocaine trafficing through the port of Rotterdam and the consequences it will have on the city's residents, the Telegraaf reports.
"There is so much money involved in the smuggling of cocaine that the crime that goes along with it is huge", Public Prosecutor spokesperson Jeichien de Graaff said to the Telegraaf. "We see it here in the region but also in other cities."
Thousands of people took part in an 8 km march through Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon. They were demonstrating for a diverse Netherlands united as one, along with new movement Ieder1
Turkish consul-general Sadin Ayyildiz cancelled a meeting scheduled with Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb for today, a spokesperson for Aboutaleb confirmed to the Telegraaf. The mayor wanted to discuss tensions in the Turkish community and a controversial letter sent to mayors in the Rotterdam region
The police in Amsterdam and Rotterdam are on high alert following a failed coup attempt in Turkey on Friday night. The mayors of the two large Dutch cities hope to prevent tensions in Turkey spilling over into their communities.
Turkish-Dutch who openly support Fethullah Gulen received serious threats after a failed attempted coup in Turkey last week, the Volkskrant reports based on conversations with threatened Gulen supporters.
326 protesting Feyenoord fans suffered an "unlawful infringement on their fundamental rights" when they were arrested on February 21st, National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen and Rotterdam Ombudsman Anne Mieke Zwaneveld conclude in their report on the mass arrests titled No Winners
Thirteen PvdA mayors called on their colleague Ahmed Aboutaleb to run for PvdA leadership. "The party needs you", the mayors wrote in an open letter addressed to the Rotterdam Mayor in the Volkskrant on Saturday.
Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb will not be running for the position of leader of the PvdA in the elections coming up in March next year. "I am not participating in the party leader elections and the PvdA organizes the elections to come to a party leader. I think that says a lot right?"
Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem thinks that Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb should immediately present himself as candidate for leadership of the PvdA, he said to RTL Z. Last week the Rotterdam mayor said that he would run, but only if current leader Diederik Samsom does not.
A massive 100 thousand people climbed The Stairway on Stationplein in Rotterdam since mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb opened it a week and a half ago,
More than half of all the Islamic institutions and businesses in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond region faced discrimination last year and in the first three months of this. In the same period more than 700 Muslims in the region also reported being threatened or unfair treatment because of their religion, according to a study by umbrella organization SPIOR
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb is opening The Stairway on Stationplein on Monday. The Stairway is a 29 meter high scaffolding installation containing 180 steps that lead to the roof of the Groot Handelsgebouw, which was turned into a temporary lookout.
