Category Archives: Netherlands

Dutch government resigns over child benefits scandal

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PM Mark Rutte will stay on in caretaker capacity until general elections scheduled for 17 March

The Dutch government has resigned amid an escalating scandal over child benefits in which more than 20,000 families were wrongly accused of fraud by the tax authority.

The move came less than a month before parliament was due to break up ahead of general elections scheduled for 17 March. Prime minister Mark Rutte’s cabinet is to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new coalition is formed after that vote.

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‘Welcome to Brexit’: Dutch officials seize ham sandwiches from British drivers – video

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Dutch TV news has aired footage of customs officers confiscating ham sandwiches from drivers arriving by ferry from the UK under post-Brexit rules banning personal imports of meat and dairy products into the EU.

Shown on the current affairs programme EenVandaag, officials wearing hi-vis jackets explained to startled car and lorry drivers at the Hook of Holland ferry terminal that since Brexit, “you are no longer allowed to bring certain foods to Europe ...” A bemused driver with several sandwiches wrapped in tin foil asked if he could surrender the meat and keep the bread. One customs officer replied: “No, everything will be confiscated. Welcome to Brexit, sir, I’m sorry.”

The ban came into force on New Year’s Day as the Brexit transition period came to an end, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) saying travellers should “use, consume, or dispose of” prohibited items at or before the border

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Dutch officials seize ham sandwiches from British drivers

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Personal imports of meat and dairy products banned from EU since Brexit transition ended

Dutch TV news has aired footage of customs officers confiscating ham sandwiches from drivers arriving by ferry from the UK under post-Brexit rules banning personal imports of meat and dairy products into the EU.

Officials wearing high-visibility jackets are shown explaining to startled car and lorry drivers at the Hook of Holland ferry terminal that since Brexit, “you are no longer allowed to bring certain foods to Europe, like meat, fruit, vegetables, fish, that kind of stuff.”

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Foreigners face ban from Amsterdam’s cannabis cafes

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Proposals would allow only Dutch residents to enter city’s 166 marijuana-selling coffee shops

Foreigners face being banned from Amsterdam’s cannabis coffee shops as part of wide-ranging plans to discourage organised crime and cut back on drugs tourism that have drawn mixed reactions from residents and business owners.

Backed by police and prosecutors, the city’s mayor, Femke Halsema, has tabled proposals allowing only Dutch residents to enter its 166 marijuana-selling coffee shops, with the measure likely to come into force sometime next year.

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As parts of UK enter third Covid lockdown, how does rest of Europe compare?

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Rules vary from country to country but many European nations face severe restrictions

After a brief and partial relaxation of the rules over Christmas and New Year, many continental European countries have returned to the tough anti-Covid regimes that were imposed this autumn – with some tightening measures further.

According to the latest update from the World Health Organization, in the final week of 2020 the UK had a 14-day new-case notification rate of 720 for every 100,000 people, more than double that in France, Germany, Italy and Spain but lower than the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

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Netherlands and Germany refuse entry to UK nationals for non-essential travel

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Thirteen people barred since Brexit because UK no longer exempt from EU Covid-related travel restrictions

More than a dozen UK nationals have been refused entry to the Netherlands since 1 January because Britain is no longer exempt from Covid-related restrictions on non-essential travel from outside the EU since it left the bloc.

A Dutch border force spokesman confirmed on Monday that up to 13 British citizens had been turned away at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport since Friday because their trips were not necessary and third-country coronavirus regulations now applied.

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Amsterdam gallery owner recalls how sale of Banksy work saved staff jobs

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Kim Logchies-Prins tells how employees gathered around canvas, sold for £1.5m, to give thanks

The owner of an art museum in Amsterdam who sold a prized Banksy painting for £1.5m to avoid laying off staff during the coronavirus pandemic has told how her employees gathered around the canvas to give thanks.

Kim Logchies-Prins, co-founder with her husband, Lionel, of the Moco museum of modern, contemporary and street art, said she joined 20 of the office staff to pay respects and say goodbye to Banksy’s Monkey Poison, following its sale to an anonymous US buyer at an auction in New York.

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Coronavirus live news: Boris Johnson to hold crisis meeting as India joins countries banning flights from UK

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India joins France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Bulgaria in flight bans over new strain; US aid bill should have votes to pass

That’s all from me, Caroline Davies. Thank you for your time. Handing over now to my colleague Aamna Mohdin.

The chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, Ken Marsh, has said there is “no way” officers will be knocking on the doors of “normal” households in London to check coronavirus restrictions were being followed now the city is in Tier 4.

“We won’t be knocking on people’s doors at all, unless there is a large group and noise, ie a party or something like that.

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Multiple European countries ban travel from UK over new Covid strain

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WHO tells members to redouble efforts to stop spread as Israel turns away UK passport holders

European countries have begun to close their doors to travellers from the UK after the discovery of a fast-spreading strain of Covid-19 in England.

As the World Health Organization called on its members in Europe to step up measures, countries including France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands announced bans on travel from the UK.

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Trump’s Twitter account was hacked, Dutch ministry confirms

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Public prosecutor states Victor Gevers did access US president’s site but as ethical hacker faces no charges

Dutch prosecutors have confirmed that Donald Trump’s Twitter account was hacked in October despite denials from Washington and the company, but said the “ethical hacker” would not face charges.

The hacker, named as Victor Gevers, broke into Trump’s account @realDonaldTrump on 16 October by guessing the US president’s password, Dutch media reports said.

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Italy likely to follow Germany with Covid Christmas lockdown

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Netherlands also set to announce more restrictions amid mounting fears of surge in infections

Italy and the Netherlands are set to impose tough new anti-coronavirus measures before the holidays as Germany, already facing a hard Christmas lockdown, warned its restrictions were unlikely to ease early in the new year.

Italian media reported that the government could place the whole country under so-called “red-zone” lockdown from Christmas Eve until at least 2 January amid mounting fears of a possible surge in infections over the festive period.

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Sudanese singer faces deportation from Netherlands despite safety fears

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Rejection of Mohamed al-Tayeb’s asylum case comes amid changes to immigration policy critics say are an attempt to placate far right

A Sudanese singer whose television appearance on The Voice brought him threats from security officers is facing deportation from the Netherlands, where he has lived for two years.

Mohamed al-Tayeb, 30, who appeared on the Arabic version of the show in 2015, has been told his request for asylum had been rejected. The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) said it did not believe he would be harmed if he returned to Sudan, following the ousting of Omar al-Bashir last year, but critics accuse the Dutch government of playing politics over anti-immigrant rhetoric.

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Violent extremism linked to failure of migrants to integrate, EU says

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Reference to Islam removed from EU governments’ declaration after disagreements

The rise of violent extremism in Europe has been linked to the failure of migrants to integrate, in a hard-debated joint declaration by EU governments on the recent terror attacks.

The statement by EU home affairs ministers was described by Horst Seehofer, Germany’s interior minister, as a “great sign of solidarity” when delivered on Friday but it had been heavily watered down from a controversial initial draft.

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Dutch police arrest man over Saudi embassy shooting

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No injuries after shots fired at building in The Hague day after attack on WW1 event in Jeddah

Dutch police have arrested a man after multiple shots were fired at the Saudi embassy in The Hague, causing damage but no injuries.

The incident occurred the day after a bomb exploded at a first world war commemoration attended by foreign diplomats in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

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Whale sculpture stops train in Rotterdam crashing into water – video

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A metro train that overran the stop blocks at a station outside Rotterdam has been left balancing 10 metres above ground on the plastic tail of a whale sculpture. The metro driver was reportedly able to free himself from the train without injury after the incident shortly after midnight on Monday morning. There were no passengers onboard

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Whale sculpture stops Dutch train crashing into water

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Metro train overran stop, coming to halt 10 metres above ground on huge plastic tail

A metro train that overran the stop blocks at a station outside Rotterdam has been left balancing 10 metres above ground on the plastic tail of a whale sculpture.

The metro driver was reportedly able to free himself from the train without injury after the incident shortly after midnight on Monday morning. There were no passengers onboard.

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Ed van der Elsken’s crazy world – in pictures

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Recognised as one of the most influential photographers of the last century for his raw street-style images of daily life, Ed van der Elsken’s working archive has been acquired by the Rijksmuseum and the Nederlands Fotomuseum, and includes unseen images in an unpublished photobook, Feest (“to party”), which provides insight into his approach

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Dutch war museums tighten security after raids on Nazi items

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SS uniforms, firearms, parachutes among Nazi memorabilia targeted in apparent thefts to order

War museums across the Netherlands are scrambling to tighten their security after raids by highly organised thieves targeting memorabilia linked to Adolf Hitler’s Waffen-SS and other parts of the Nazi regime.

Amid huge global demand for second world war memorabilia, museums in Ossendrecht, in north Brabant, and in Beek, Limburg, have been ransacked in recent days and months.

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Covid in Europe: protests in Czech Republic, Ireland to toughen rules

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Switzerland makes masks mandatory as continent struggles to contain infections

Police fought anti-mask protesters in the Czech Republic, Ireland prepared to announce tough new restrictions and Switzerland made masks mandatory indoors as European governments struggled to contain continuing record Covid case numbers.

As Italy on Sunday reported 11,705 new infections over the past 24 hours, its largest ever figure, and France on Saturday set a new high of 32,427 cases, police in Prague’s historic tourist district fired teargas and water cannon after demonstrations against strict anti-coronavirus restrictions turned violent.

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Dutch state broadcaster pulls logo from vans after attacks

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NOS takes unprecedented step amid far-right risk, saying ‘journalism is under attack’

The Dutch state broadcaster has removed its logo from outside broadcast vans as politicians complained of a steep rise in threats and the national counter-terrorism agency warned of a heightened risk of far-right violence in the Netherlands.

The broadcaster, NOS, said it had been forced to take the unprecedented step because “almost daily, journalists and technicians on the road to report are confronted with verbal abuse, garbage is thrown, vans are blocked [and] people bang on their sides or urinate on them”.

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