A man and a 4-year-old boy were killed in a fire in an apartment building in Arnhem early on New Year's morning. A woman and girl were seriously injured, the Gelderland police said on Twitter on Wednesday morning.
The fire started in the entrance hall of the building on Gelderseplein at around 1:00 a.m. The two adults and two children were found in the elevator. Whether it involves a family, is not yet clear.
The murder of 12-year-ld Bekiro by his father in Arnhem in December last year could not have been prevented, the municipality of Arnhem and municipal mental health institution Pro Persona said after independent investigation into the event, Omroep Gelderland reports.
Five veterans of the Second World War were refused entry to the Airborne memorial in Arnhem on Friday night. Arnhem mayor Ahmed Marcouch called their refusal "extremely painful". On Sunday he offered them apologies and a gift. "Unfortunately, this went wrong. We should do better next time", the mayor said, RTL Nieuws reports.
A 40-year-old man in Arnhem was arrested on Saturday in connection with the fatal stabbing of his 12-year-old son, Bekiro. Police responded to the scene Saturday morning to find the distraught father, and promptly took him into custody. He was later transported to the Scheveningen prison hospital facility, according to newspaper Gelderlander.
The man's 15-year-old son fled the house, according to local media reports. The boys' mother reportedly lives in Germany.
31 mayors of larger Dutch cities are calling on the Senate not to remove the appointment of mayors from the Dutch constitution, and to keep the procedure as is. Removing the appointment procedure from the constitution is the first step in enabling an elected mayor. The mayors are worried that this will result in them losing their connecting role as "father or mother for all residents, businesses and institutions", they wrote in an open letter to the Senate, the Volkskrant reports.
The authorities in Arnhem has been intensively monitoring a group of about 25 radicalized Muslims for some time, mayor Ahmed Marcouch said. The seven men arrested last week on suspicion of planning a major terrorist attack in the Netherlands, belonged to this group, De Gelderlander reports.
"Amsterdam is crying for its beloved mayor and all of the Netherlands is grieving", Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Facebook in reaction to the death of Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan. He passed away on Thursday at the age of 62. The Dutch King and Queen, numerous politicians, the Amsterdam police, and Amsterdam's football team Ajax all responded to news of his death with shock and sadness.
The Dutch government is against a parliamentary proposal to only allow police officers in videos and photos if their faces and other identifying features have been blurred out. Minister Stef Blok of Security and Justice called the proposal "undesirable" and "unnecessary" in a letter to the Tweede Kamer on Thursday, NU.nl reports.
The PVV is demonstrating in Arnhem on Wednesday afternoon against the city's decision to appoint Ahmed Marcouch as mayor. Marcouch is not surprised by the opposition from the PVV, but does regret the fact that PVV leader Geert Wilders is using racial hatred to deny Arnhem its choice in leader, he said to newspaper AD.
Former PvdA parliamentarian Ahmed Marcouch will be the new mayor of Arnhem. The intention is that he will take office on September 1st. The former MP will be succeeding Herman Kaiser, who stepped down on June 1st, NOS reports.
PvdA parliamentarian Ahmed Marcouch wants to make sexual harassment on the street a punishable offense. If he has his way, anyone who cat calls, whistles, chases or in anyway sexually harasses another person on the street, will spend up to three months in jail or pay a hefty fine, ANP reports.
Amsterdam city councilor Samira Bouchiti (VVD) heard "dozens" of accounts of kids being physically assaulted during Koran lessons while she was giving guest lectures at schools in the city. "They're about teachers who strike. Sometimes even with a stick, hits on the fingertips, slaps, ear pulling. It is structural and apparently suits the way in which lessons is given", she said, according to newspaper AD. She raised the issue with the Amsterdam city council and asked the college of mayor and aldermen to investigate.
The D66 and PvdA wants to make it possible for everyone to have a dual nationality in a legislative proposal the two parties submitted on Friday, RTL Nieuws reports.
Currently, if you want to become Dutch you have to give up your other nationality, if that is possible. It also means that Dutch living abroad lose their Dutch nationality if they adopt the nationality of the country they live in.
Dutch parliament wants Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice to find ways to protect police officers better against people filming them during the course of their duties and then posting the videos online. Officers and their families are often harassed after the publication of such videos, PvdA parliamentarian Ahmed Marcouch said to NU.nl and the Telegraaf.
The Amsterdam police are looking for a man in his 40's who recently attacked and knocked to the ground the 80-year-old muaddin in the Al Ummah Mosque on August Allebeplein in Amsterdam, Het Parool reports.
Amsterdam politicians are calling for more and better trained police on the streets after four fatal shootings in the city in a week's time
While the Public Prosecutor promises to carefully examine and assess "all charges of discrimination" in its own guidelines, the reality is that about three-quarters of such charges don't even make it to the Public Prosecutor, RTL Nieuws reports based on its own investigation.
The PvdA thinks that the Dutch government is too invisible in handling tensions in the Turkish community in the Netherlands, according to a letter by PvdA parliamentarian and integration spokesperson Ahmed Marcouch. He thinks a stronger approach is needed to quell the unrest.
Right-wing neighborhood watch group Soldiers of Odin (SOO) announced on Facebook that the turned a criminal asylum seeker over to the police in Groningen on Sunday. The police responded to a report and found a beaten up man at the scene. So far no arrests were made.
Reports that Salafist Muslims may be buying the former ROC school in Rotterdam, has parliamentarians outraged. Numerous parliamentarians are demanding a quick explanation on exactly what is going on wit the sale of the 7 thousand square-meter educational institute.
Dutch parliamentarians are shocked by the critical report on detective skills and capabilities in the police, which was presented to them on Thursday. They call for immediate action to rectify the problem
The number of newcomers in the Netherlands that successfully complete the integration program and pass the exam is "alarmingly" low, Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs wrote to Parliament on Wednesday. He launched an investigation into why the program is doing so poorly
Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan did not intend his remark that Amsterdam residents are too "nice" to let mass sexual assaults happen in the city to be a relativism. The nuance of his statement was lost in the reports about it, he said to the municipal council in a committee meeting on Tuesday
PvdA parliamentarian Ahmed Marcouch wants asylum seekers to visit the Resistance museum, feminist magazine Opzij and gay interest group COC so that they can experience Dutch norms and values first hand. He also wants them to get Dutch language lessons as soon as they arrive in the country.
