Ede

Police in the Netherlands issued an Amber Alert for a missing boy from Ede. The boy's mother, Rowena van der V., absconded with the 14-month-old child at about 10 a.m. on Friday.

The two were last seen in Ede, Gelderland, and then in the city of Utrecht police said. They departed "from Ede for an unknown destination," authorities said.

Very few details about either the young boy or his mother were released. The child has blond hair, and was born on Sept. 8, 2018. Both he and Van der V., 26, were wearing the photos seen in the security camera image above.

Nitrous oxide will become a controlled substance under the Opium Act in the Netherlands to curb the growing use of the chemical compound more commonly known as laughing gas. The substance will be added to the "List II" classification under the law, alongside drugs like hashish, diazepam, lorazepam and butabarbital, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport said in a statement.

Last year more Dutch were dissatisfied with the homes they live in than the years before, Statistics Netherlands said on Friday. Especially tenants were less happy with their homes, but homeowners were also more dissatisfied. Though the vast majority of Dutch are happy with the home they live in. 

A number of families in Ede, along with volunteer organization Malkander, offered 24 lonely people a spot at their Christmas dinner table on Tuesday. The goal was to make sure that people who are usually alone on Christmas could still have a fun day, NOS reports.

This initiative was started by Daan Overeem and his wife Marilu Kessele last year. "There are all sorts of initiatives just before Christmas, but on the days itself it's quiet. We just want people who feel lonely to have a great day, because the Christmas days can be most painful", Overeem said to NOS.

A woman found dead in a ditch in Leiden two weeks ago was identified as a 44-year-old woman from Epe. She had been missing for some time, the Public Prosecutor said on Tuesday. She was identified based on a DNA investigation, the Prosecutor said.

Technical school ROVC on Galvanistraat in Ede burned almost completely to the ground overnight. The fire department had the fire under control at 3:45 a.m. "Extinguishing it will take well into the morning", a spokesperson for the police said to NU.nl.

"Large parts of the building are no longer accessible due to the fire and there is considerable damage", the spokesperson said. The fire was first reported to the authorities around 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday. At that time there was no one in the building, according to the police spokesperson.

A total of 78 municipalities in the Netherlands are implementing firework-free zones over New Year's this year, AD reports based on a survey of 300 municipalities. These zones are areas within municipalities in which no fireworks may be lit. They're usually located around hospitals, animal shelters or childcare facilities.

There are only three new names on the list of municipalities implementing firework-free zones this year - Ede, Terneuzen and Weesp. The other 75 municipalities also implemented firework-free zones last year.

A 21-year-old man from Ede was sentenced to six years in prison and institutionalized psychiatric treatment for strangling 19-year-old Willianne van Stempvoort to death in their hometown in November last year. The sentence is equal to what the Public Prosecutor demanded, NOS reports.

The Public Prosecutor demanded six years in prison and institutionalized psychiatric treatment against 21-year-old Thomas B. in the court in Arnhem on Wednesday. He is suspected of murdering 19-year-old Willianne van Stempvoort in Ede in November last year.

Residents of the medium-sized Gelderland city of Ede are the happiest in the Netherlands, according to the Atlas for Municipalities. Alphen aan den Rijn and Amstelveen follow in second and third place. People in Rotterdam are the most unhappy in the country, closely followed by Amsterdam, the Volkskrant reports.

The Christian party leader debate in Ede on Thursday evening was guarded by heavily armed police officers due to a "threat". The debate in the CineMec finished without incident, AD reports.

Several police units responded to the CineMec on Thursday night. Heavily armed officers stood in front of the building, two riot police vans were on site and policemen with machine guns and bulletproof vests were on the building's roof, according to the newspaper.