News from Monday 15 March 2010

Dutch Farc girl is alive and well: father

The Dutch student who joined the Colombian guerrilla movement Farc in 2002 is alive and well, her father told De Pers newspaper on Monday. ...more

AFM report on Zalm too limited: reviewer

The AFM financial service regulator's report into Gerrit Zalm's role in the downfall of DSB Bank last year did not take his other expertise into account, professor Michiel Scheltema, told MPs on Monday....more

Pharming shares fall on share issue news

Shares in biotechnology company Pharming fell as much as 20% in Amsterdam on Monday after the company said it wanted to expand its share capital. ...more

Exports get off to good start in January

Dutch industrial exports rose 11% in January 2010, compared with a year ago, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday....more

Lottery told to stop health insurance promotion

The postcode lottery organisation has been told to stop offering participants reductions on their health insurance by health minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin, Nos tv reports on Monday....more

Cohen gone, who will be Amsterdam mayor?

The names of home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst and integration minister Eberhard van der Laan are among the most often mentioned as possible candidates to succeed Job Cohen as Amsterdam mayor. ...more
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Rabobank stops Bizner internet bank

Rabobank is to stop its Bizner internet banking unit, set up in 2007 for small and medium-sized firms. ...more

Stop evicting illegal families, Holland told

The Netherlands is continuing to break EU conventions by leaving families with children whose requests for asylum have been rejected to fend for themselves on the streets, the Volkskrant reports on Monday. ...more
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Premiership race heats up as Ajax beats PSV

The race for the Dutch premier league title heated up at the weekend as number three Ajax thrashed number two PSV Eindhoven 4-1. ...more

TV show brooch sold for €120,000

A gold, glass and enamel brooch by French master René Lalique has become the most expensive item ever to turn up on tv show Tussen Kunst & Kitsch, a Dutch version of the BBC's Antiques Roadshow....more

Paedophile party disbands

The pro-paedophile political party PNVD has disbanded after failing to find enough supporters to enable it to take part in the June general election, news agency Novum reports. ...more
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Machine lease sector turnover plummets

Companies which lease essential equipment such as cranes, computers, lorries and industrial machinery have been hard hit by the recession, with the value of new contracts signed down 28% at €4.5bn last year, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Monday. ...more

Cohen factor puts Labour in first place

The Labour party has overtaken the Christian Democrats and Geert Wilders' anti-Islam PVV in the latest Maurice de Hond opinion poll. ...more

Male visitor sought in missing girl case

The disappearance of 12-year-old Mille Boele from Dordrecht is looking increasingly like an abduction, the Telegraaf reports on Monday. ...more

News from Saturday 13 March 2010

Wilders is bad for the Netherlands: employers

Anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders is seriously damaging the Netherlands' reputation as a world economy, Bernard Wientjes, head of the country's biggest employers organisation VNO-NCW says in an interview with Saturday's Volkskrant. ...more
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Cohen tops polls as people's favourite

Former Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen is by far the people's favourite choice for prime minister, according to two opinion polls carried out shortly after he announced his candidacy for Labour party leader. ...more
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News from Friday 12 March 2010

Labour remains biggest party in Rotterdam

The Labour party is still the biggest party in Rotterdam and the gap between it and local populist party Leefbaar Rotterdam has increased to 754 votes, election officials said on Friday following a vote recount. ...more

Dutch skier dies in avalanche

A 33-year-old Dutch man caught up an an avalanche in a Austrian ski resort on Thursday has died of his injuries, the Telegraaf reports on Friday....more

Girl on video is not missing Millie

Police have issued a nationwide alert for a 12-year-old girl, missing from her home in Dordrecht since early Wednesday evening. ...more

Financial crisis costs local councils cash

Local councils had a combined shortfall in their budgets of €1.8bn last year because of the financial crisis, according to research by the local authorities' association VNG. ...more

Labour leader Bos quits, Cohen steps up

Wouter Bos is standing down as leader of the Labour party, leaving Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen as his apparent heir. ...more
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Thin year for Ballast Nedam

Construction company Ballast Nedam booked operating profit of € 17m in 2009, down from €42m the previous year, as the effect of the recession continued to bite. ...more

Vopak meets target, boosts capacity

Tank storage group Vopak reported turnover up 8% in 2009 at just over €1bn as its worldwide capacity grew to over 28 million cubic meters. ...more

Minister 'concerned' about cleaners' strike

Social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner is to ask cleaning sector unions and employers for an update on the long-running pay dispute in the sector and says he is 'concerned' about the vulnerability of contract cleaners, news agency ANP reports. ...more
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Cartel fines not tax deductible: court

Dutch companies which have been fined for anti-competitive practices may not deduct those fines against tax, a special court in Amsterdam which deals with taxation issues ruled on Thursday....more

Former Fortis bosses in court in May, June

Former Fortis CEO Jean-Paul Votron is set to appear in court in May in connection with a damages claim brought by former Fortis investors, the Volkskrant reports on Friday. ...more
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Dogs produce 145 million kilos of waste

The Netherlands' 1.8 million dogs produce an annual mountain of faeces weighing 145 million kgs, according to research by Esccap, a lobby group of European vets specialising in pets. ...more
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Nationwide alert for missing 12-year-old girl

Police have issued a nationwide alert for a 12-year-old girl, missing from her home in Dordrecht since early Wednesday evening. ...more
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Spending power reduced less than forecast

The average household's spending power will not go down as much as forecast this year and in 2011, according to confidential new estimates from the government's economic policy analysts, quoted in Friday's Telegraaf....more
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Rotterdam local election votes recounted

City council officials have finished recounting the 220,000 plus votes cast in last week's local election in an effort to end rumours of miscounting and irregularities. ...more

Hockey team fails to make World Cup final

The Dutch men's hockey team failed to make the final of the World Cup in New Delhi on Thursday, losing 2-1 to Australia in the semis....more

News from Thursday 11 March 2010

D66 founder Hans van Mierlo dies

Hans van Mierlo, the man seen as the founding father of the Liberal democratic party D66, has died at the age of 78. ...more
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Eurlings to leave politics to 'have a family'

Transport minister Camiel Eurlings is to leave politics after the next general election in order to focus on his family....more
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