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working archive has been acquired by the Rijksmuseum and the Nederlands Fotomuseum, and includes unseen images in an unpublished photobook, Feest (“to party”), which provides insight into his approach
Continue reading...Category Archives: Netherlands
Dutch war museums tighten security after raids on Nazi items
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.
Continue reading...Covid in Europe: protests in Czech Republic, Ireland to toughen rules
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.
Continue reading...Dutch state broadcaster pulls logo from vans after attacks
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”.
Continue reading...Dutch government backs euthanasia for under-12s
Dutch heath minister says change is needed to help terminally ill children
The Dutch government will permit doctors to euthanise terminally ill children aged between one and 12 after months of debate within the ruling coalition.
The country’s health minister, Hugo de Jonge, said a change in regulations was necessary to help “a small group of terminally ill children who agonise with no hope, and unbearable suffering”.
Continue reading...Europe struggles to stem rapid resurgence of coronavirus
Concern in Germany and maximum alert in France, as other countries report record infection rates
Several mainland European countries have recorded their highest daily number of Covid-19 infections since widespread testing began, as governments struggle to stem a rapid resurgence of the virus that risks overwhelming some healthcare systems.
The figures came as the World Health Organization reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 338,779 in 24 hours. The previous record for new cases was 330,340 on 2 October.
Continue reading...‘I no longer participate’: Dutch celebrities rebel over Covid constraints
Rapper Famke Louise joined by Bizzy and others refusing to follow government advice
They are young, famous and refusing to abide by the coronavirus restrictions. A group of Dutch celebrities have triggered both a sizeable backlash and a national debate after breaking cover on social media with the hashtag #ikdoenietmeermee, (I no longer participate).
The central figure is the rapper and model Famke Louise, 21, who told her 1 million Instagram followers she was no longer willing to go along with the growing number of restrictions designed to slow the spread of the virus. “Only together can we regain control of the government,” she said. “I no longer participate. Free the people.”
Continue reading...As Covid cases rise again, how are countries in Europe reacting?
Tighter measures are being imposed, but they vary across the continent
Continue reading...First funeral held using ‘living coffin’ made of mushroom fibre
Netherlands-based startup company behind eco-friendly fungi mycelium casket
After months of testing, the first funeral has taken place in the Netherlands using a fast-composting “living coffin” made of mycelium, the mat of fibres that forms the underground part of fungi.
“I didn’t actually go, but I talked to a relative beforehand – it was a moving moment, we discussed the cycle of life,” Bob Hendrikx, the founder of Loop, the startup producing the Living Cocoon, told the Metro newspaper.
Continue reading...Treble Dutch: £13m old master painting stolen for a third time
Two Laughing Boys by Frans Hals seized in overnight raid at museum
It’s nothing to smile about for lovers of Dutch art. Police have reported that Two Laughing Boyswith a Mug of Beer, by the old master Frans Hals, has been stolen for a third time.
The Golden Age work, painted in 1626-7, was snatched from a small museum in the town of Leerdam, near the city of Utrecht, early on Wednesday morning.
Continue reading...Coronavirus in Europe: French and Dutch on alert over rise in cases
New infections back to nearly half their peak in the Netherlands as France reports ‘worrying increase’
New daily coronavirus infections in the Netherlands are back to roughly half their level at the peak of the pandemic, while France’s prime minister has said it is crucial for his country to avoid a new lockdown amid a “worrying increase” in cases.
Jaap van Dissel, the Netherlands’ chief epidemiologist, told the Dutch parliament on Tuesday that 4,036 new Covid-19 cases had been reported in the past week, an increase of 55% on the previous seven days. The figure translated to a daily average of more than 500, compared with nearly 1,200 at the peak of pandemic.
Continue reading...Netherlands police bust country’s largest cocaine lab at ex-riding stables
Police seize drugs valued at up to €6m and arrest at least 17 suspects at stables
At least 17 people are in custody in the Netherlands after police raided a former riding stables that had been transformed into the country’s largest ever illicit drugs “laundry” capable of producing up to 200kg of cocaine a day.
Thirteen of those detained were Colombian nationals, police said on Tuesday. Three Dutch citizens – including the 64-year-old owner of the stables, in the northern village of Nijeveen – and one Turkish suspect were also arrested.
Continue reading...Holocaust survivor launches legal claim against German railway
Salo Muller secured €50m from Dutch railway for transporting people to Nazi camps
A Holocaust survivor who successfully campaigned for the Dutch railway to pay compensation for transporting people to the Nazi concentration camps has tabled a legal claim against the German state over the wartime role of the Deutsche Reichsbahn.
Salo Muller, 84, whose parents were taken by rail from Amsterdam to the Dutch transit camp Westerbork, and on to their deaths at Auschwitz, is demanding an apology and financial recompense for about 500 Dutch survivors and about 5,500 next of kin.
Continue reading...Dutch city redraws its layout to prepare for global heating effects
Measures include replacing 10% of Arnhem’s asphalt with grass to better cope with heat
The Dutch city of Arnhem is digging up asphalt roads and creating shady areas around busy shopping districts after concluding that the consequences of global heating are unavoidable.
Under a 10-year plan for the city unveiled on Wednesday, a new layout is proposed to better prepare residents for extreme weather conditions such as downpours, droughts and intense heatwaves.
Continue reading...EU leaders go into extra time as tempers fray at coronavirus summit
Proposals on the size and terms of a recovery fund have led to splits between member states
Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron said they are willing to walk away from a summit of EU leaders, as they arrived at the third day of a long and acrimonious debate on the terms of a €750bn (£682bn) pandemic recovery fund.
With the EU split between northern and southern member states as well as eastern and western, France’s president and the German chancellor both indicated their patience was waning despite the need to respond to the economic recession facing the bloc.
Continue reading...EU leaders in bitter clash over Covid-19 recovery package
Orbán accuses Netherlands’ Rutte of ‘communist’ tactics on tense third day of talks
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, accused his Dutch counterpart of using the same methods as his country’s former communist leaders on Sunday, as EU leaders publicly clashed during tense and acrimonious negotiations over the terms of a proposed €1.8tn budget and recovery package for the bloc.
A third difficult day of a summit of the EU’s 27 heads of state and government – the first in person for five months – saw movement towards agreement as talks stretched deep into the night, but laid bare the deep splits between north and south, and east and west.
Continue reading...EU talks to rescue €750bn recovery package stall amid heated debate
Claim of miserliness as second day sees negotiations split over size of fund and seven-year budget
European Union leaders were locked in intense negotiations on Saturday evening in an attempt to save a summit on the terms of a €750bn (£682bn) pandemic recovery fund from an acrimonious end as the debate over the bloc’s financial future became “heated”.
A second day of talks in Brussels saw Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, publicly accuse the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden of being “misers” while the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, claimed the Dutch were trying to rewrite the EU’s rules.
Continue reading...Dutch arrests after discovery of ‘torture chamber’ in sea containers
Police raids offer chilling insight into increasingly violent criminal underworld
Dutch police have arrested six men after discovering sea containers that had been converted into a makeshift prison and sound-proofed “torture chamber” complete with a dentist’s chair, tools including pliers and scalpels and handcuffs, a high-ranking officer announced.
Authorities said police conducted the raid before the converted containers could be used and alerted potential victims, who went into hiding.
Continue reading...France bans Dutch bike TV ad for creating ‘climate of fear’ about cars
Ad for VanMoof bike unfairly discredits automobile industry, says watchdog
A TV commercial for a Dutch-made bicycle has been banned by France’s advertising watchdog for creating a “climate of fear” about cars.
Despite being aired on Dutch and German television, the Autorité de régulation professionnelle de la publicité (ARPP) said the ad for the VanMoof bike unfairly discredited the automobile industry.
Continue reading...Dutch football captains lead boycott of TV show over racist remarks
Virgil van Dijk and Sari van Veenendaal hit out at pundit and say ‘enough is enough’
The captains of the Dutch men’s, women’s and youth national football teams are boycotting a leading sports TV programme over the racist comments of a longstanding pundit, warning: “Enough is enough.”
The Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk, and the Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal have led the way after years of the behaviour of Johan Derksen on the Veronica Inside show being explained away as straight-talking humour.
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