Two hand grenades found around the Grote Markt in Almere on Thursday were rendered harmless by explosives experts, police said. The popular district was evacuated at the start of the business day after the first grenade was found outside an ABN Amro bank branch on Koopmanstraat at about 8:30 a.m.
A second grenade was spotted just steps away from the bank, at the Saint-Tropez shisha lounge on the popular square. Emergency workers kept the area clear until 1:30 p.m., police said on Twitter.
The St Jansdal Hospital in Hardewijk plans to take over outpatient care in Lelystad, according to a message sent to the staff of the bankrupt MC IJsselmeer hospitals. St Jansdal confirms that there are plans, but that they are not 100 percent certain yet, NOS reports.
Despite public street lighting and illuminated advertising, many Dutch cities are getting darker, according to a study of the 54 largest cities in the Netherlands by Natuur- en Milieufederaties. The environmental federations call this a "turning point" for light pollution in the country. The Netherlands is one of the most illuminated countries in the world, AD reports.
A 72-year-old man from Dronten, who is currently in custody on suspicion of sexually abusing children in the Philippines over a webcam, was caught with a USB stick full of child pornography in his cell. The stick was found in his toiletry bag, was revealed during a pro-forma hearing against the man, ANP reports.
Suspect Hans V. was arrested in April and has since been in custody. In addition to online sexual abuse of children, he is also suspected of making and possessing child pornography.
Nearly 40 percent of Dutch employees live and work in the same municipality, according to figures for 2015 Statistics Netherlands published on Thursday. The average Dutch worker work 22.6 kilometers from their home. Workers in the big cities and people living on the outskirts of the Netherlands, such as on the Wadden Islands, in particular tend to live where they work, NU.nl reports.
An asylum seeker living in the Netherlands was convicted of the rape and attempted murder of a 17-year-old girl in Kampen, a panel of judges in Zwolle, Overijssel ruled on Thursday. The Sudanese-born man, Samuel T., was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the attack in the early morning hours of September 4, 2016. During the trial, T., 33, said he would accept any punishment and was not planning an appeal.
Police officers shot a disturbed man in Dronten on Monday morning. Officers responded to a report of someone walking about Saturnusweg waving a knife and fired on the suspect when he threatened the officers, according to the police.
The government should be more aggressive in seizing criminals' earnings. At this stage the Netherlands is only seizing about 1 percent of the estimated 9.3 billion euros earned every year through drug trafficking, arms trafficking and human trafficking.
Eleven people were injured in an accident involving three cars on Saturday. The accident happened around 5:55 p.m. on Elburgerweg in Dronten. The injured people were taken to a hospital.
Kids theme park Walibi Holland has added a new, rather controversial, product to the souvenir shops - Walibi condoms, with the park's slogan "Go hard" printed on the packaging.
The iron rod that punctured the floor of a train on the Hanze-route Sunday night, was placed there on purpose, confirmed both the police and NS. The NS suspected vandalism from the start, but the police did not immediately confirm that suspicion.
On the Hanze-route between Lelystad and Dronten a train was punctured by a heavy metal rod. The incident occurred near Lelystad just before 23:00, Sunday night. The driver and the 150 passengers were not hurt.
A warning went out in various refugee centers not to pick and eat mushrooms. This week, at least seven refugees were hospitalized after eating mushrooms.
