The Netherlands

Public health institute RIVM reported 5,360 new coronavirus infections in the 24 hours to Saturday morning, down over 700 on...

Several small care organisations in Twente forced their vulnerable clients – often troubled youngsters or people with psychological or addiction...

Transport company workers in Roosendaal, in Noord Brabant, have found 750 kilos of cocaine hidden between other goods on an...

Last year’s crime figures have been strongly influenced by the coronavirus pandemic, with fewer home break-ins and more online criminality,...

The Dutch cabinet has resigned in the wake of the childcare benefit scandal in which thousands of parents were wrongly...

Dutch far right leader Geert Wilders has failed to declare a donation of some €175,000 which was given to his...

The resignation of the entire Dutch cabinet on Friday formed a dramatic conclusion to the tax office benefits scandal, but...

There were mixed feelings amongst the families who have been driven to financial despair by the unjust actions of the...

PM Mark Rutte will stay on in caretaker capacity until general elections scheduled for 17 MarchThe 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 […]

The cabinet has resigned because of the government’s failings to deal properly with the childcare benefit scandal and to make...

The Dutch government has resigned in the wake of the childcare benefit scandal after an official report said ministers, civil...

Coalition at risk amid fallout from tax authorities wrongly ‘hunting down’ thousands of familiesThe Dutch government will decide on Friday whether to step down over an escalating scandal in which tax officials wrongly accused thousands of parents of fraud, plunging many families into debt by ordering them to repay childcare allowances.The opposition […]

Project using large beasts to help restore woodland offers unprecedented job opportunityCan you handle a beast as heavy as a small car, that can hurdle high fences from a standing start, and is a peaceful bulldozer for biodiversity?If you’re not intimidated by the weightiest wild land mammal in Europe, you could become Britain’s first ever bison ranger. […]

German chancellor says infections may rise 10-fold by Easter if virus’s spread is not haltedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageGermany’s tough anti-Covid measures are likely to last a further eight to 10 weeks, Angela Merkel has warned, while the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has extended the Netherlands’ national […]

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 […]

Personal imports of meat and dairy products into EU banned since Brexit transition endedDutch 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 […]

Proposals would allow only Dutch residents to enter city’s 166 marijuana-selling coffee shopsNon-residents 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, […]

Shoppers tell of shock at unexpected bills for VAT or customs declarations as some retailers stop shipping to continentCustomers in Europe buying products ranging from furniture to pet food from UK companies are receiving unexpected bills for VAT and customs declarations or finding household names have stopped shipping to the continent, as post-Brexit […]

Move should ease frustrations over low supplies of Pfizer vaccine and EU’s longer authorisation process Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe European Medicines Agency has approved the Moderna vaccine, making it the second coronavirus shot to be cleared for general use across the EU, as tensions continued to rise over the slow […]

Rules vary from country to country but many European nations face severe restrictionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAfter 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 […]

Thirteen people barred since Brexit because UK no longer exempt from EU Covid-related travel restrictions Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMore 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 […]

Drug supply experiment falters as Netherlands plan for greenhouses stirs anxiety among local residentsA Dutch trial of state-regulated cannabis cultivation farms to supply coffee shops risks being derailed by an outbreak of nimbyism after locals protested about the location of one of the new facilities.The plans to take over greenhouses on the outskirts of […]

Trial finds reduced lung function and heart changes in young people who exercised near SchipholFor seven months in 2018, a lorry trailer was parked near a runway at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. It housed exercise bikes and air pollution measurement equipment. Twenty-one healthy young people took turns to visit the trailer for pedalling sessions. Air was […]

Dutch authorities left 10-year-old without legal protection by registering him as ‘nationality unknown’The Netherlands violated a child’s rights by failing to acknowledge that he was stateless and eligible for international protection, a UN committee has found, urging the country to change its legislation.In its first ever decision on the right of […]

British double agent who betrayed hundreds of western spies to the Soviet Union, where he lived after escaping from jailGeorge Blake, who has died aged 98, was the most notorious Soviet agent inside Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Interned by the Nazis in the Netherlands, recruited by MI6, then by the KGB after he was captured during the […]

Kim Logchies-Prins tells how employees gathered around canvas, sold for £1.5m, to give thanksThe 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, […]

Britons trying to move to mainland Europe – and Europeans trying to do the opposite – tell their talesWith a week to go before the Brexit transition period finishes on 31 December, people wanting to relocate to either the UK or the EU before freedom of movement ends are coming to terms with the possibility their plans will be scuppered by travel bans, […]

This blog is now closed. We’ve launched a new blog at the link below: Coronavirus news – live 11.37pm GMT We’ve launched a new blog at the link below – head there for the latest: Related: Coronavirus live news: Biden receives vaccine as global death toll passes 1.7m 11.37pm GMT 11.07pm GMT The UK’s Foreign Office said on Monday it is advising […]

WHO tells members to step up efforts to stop spread as Israel turns away UK passport holdersCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEU ambassadors are to hold a crisis meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss travel restrictions on the UK as multiple countries began closing their doors to travellers from Britain after the discovery of […]

Public prosecutor states Victor Gevers did access US president’s site but as ethical hacker faces no chargesDutch 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 […]