Breda

In the first six months of 2018 traffic congestion on Dutch roads increased by approximately 20 percent compared to the same period last year, the ANWB announced. In the months of March April and May there were a lot more traffic jams and rush hour records were broken time and again, RTL Nieuws reports.

The increased traffic was particularly noticeable at the biggest bottlenecks on the Dutch road network, especially on the A4 from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, the A20 from Hoek van Holland to Gouda, and the A27 from Utrecht to Breda.

The chance that the Vuelta a España will start in Utrecht in 2020 increased considerably on Monday. The Provincial States made a contribution of 2.1 million euros available for the organization involved in being the cycling event's starting point, NU.nl reports.

A sport plane crashed in the vicinity of Breda airport on Thursday morning. The pilot, the only person in the plane, was killed, the police report.

The plane crashed around 11:00 a.m. in a meadow next to the A58, near the small airport in Bosschenhoofd, according to RTL Nieuws. The aircraft went up in flames after the crash.

How the accident happened is not yet clear. The police and Dutch Safety Board are investigating.

A 16-year-old girl was injured in a stabbing on school grounds on Terheijdenseweg in Breda on Friday morning. The victim was taken to hospital with injuries to her neck, NU.nl reports.

The girl is conscious and in a stable condition, the police said. She is believed to be a pupil of the school - Radius College, according to Omroep Brabant.

An 18-year-old man fled from the scene. He has pale skin and blue eyes, is about 1.7 meters tall and wore a black t-shirt, black trousers, and glasses, according to a description spread on citizens notification system Burgernet. 

The police evacuated Breda Central Station due to a bomb threat on Tuesday evening. The station was evacuated around 7:00 p.m. Shortly after 9:00 p.m. the police announced that no explosives were found and the station was released.

While the police investigated, bus and train traffic around the station on Gravinnen van Nassauboulevard was halted. Passengers were seen waiting around the stations while police officers combed the area, according to newspaper AD.

A 35-year-old man from Sint Willebrord was arrested for the second time last month for involvement in the assassination of Peter van der Linde in Breda last year. Suspect David J. was arrested in an undercover operation, sources confirmed to ANP.

While abroad, J. told undercover police officers things about the murder that resulted in his arrest, according to the news wire. What he said, is not clear. The Public Prosecutor refused to comment.

Last week J.'s pre-trail detention was extended until his first public hearing in June.

A man shot and killed in Breda last Sunday, was killed in a rip-deal, Breda mayor Paul Depla confirmed on television program NieuwLicht. The victim was identified as 26-year-ld Kaan Safranti, Omroep Brabant reports.

A rip-deal is a criminal transaction, usually a drug deal, in which one party tries to make off with both the product and the money. Depla also said that the man was shot in the head. 

A court in London sentenced Dutch man Aweys S. to eight years in prison for terrorism. He was found guilty of preparing for acts of terrorism and planning to join terrorist organization ISIS in Syria, British newspapers Mail Online and Mirror report.

An accident involving a public bus and a cyclist in Breda on Tuesday morning left the cyclist seriously injured. The victim was rushed to hospital by ambulance. A bus passenger sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene, Omroep Brabant reports.

The accident happened at the crossing of Ettensebaan and Zuilenstraat. The bus is still standing on the bus lane, but traffic can pass it. The police are investigating.

Fourteen lifelike and very expensive sex dolls that were stolen from exclusive sex shop Mytenga in Breda last year, were returned to the store on Tuesday. Owner Niels van der Voort is very happy to have them back, but they were quite damaged, he said to Omroep Brabant.

The Koninklijke Marechaussee is calling for more supervision and security at small airports in the Netherlands, Trouw reports. The lack of supervision at the 11 smaller airports in the country makes them vulnerable to drug- and human trafficking, according to the newspaper.

The Koninklijke Marechaussee is a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military and is responsible for airport security.