This week’s round-up of some of stories making news in the Netherlands begins with a recent two-day state visit to the Netherlands by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which was the first visit to the Netherlands by a Russian leader in more than a century.
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Many newspapers however voiced displeasure with the royal welcome and unqualified praise the Russian president received here, noting Putin’s reluctance to address Russia’s poor record on human rights and democracy. “He came, he saw and he listened to all the compliments with a loving smile,” De Volkskrant commented sarcastically.
A fire that broke out in a makeshift detention center for illegal aliens at Schipol airport killed 11 detainees. The Algemeen Dagblad reported that the detention center lacked proper safety requirements. Two of the detention centers were built without having the proper building permits. Peter R. de Vries, a crime investigator with a popular television show, launched his own political party, the PRDV, which are his initials and also stands for ‘Party for Justice, Action and Progress’. De Vries’ 55-point political program calls for legalizing soft drugs, free public transport and more direct democracy. De Vries said the current Dutch political system is rife with “favoritism, hypocrisy, opportunism and only the appearance of democracy.” Meanwhile, the county observed the one-year anniversary of the death of Theo van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker murdered in Amsterdam by a Muslim fundamentalist. Many newspapers sounded a triumphant note, however, including the De Telegraaf, which wrote: “After Van Gogh’s murder, our country didn’t fall apart, as feared, into us-and-them camps.” Elsewhere, NS train service was delayed for hours when train passengers noticed two bearded men, wearing white caps and long robes, acting suspiciously in the train’s toilet. Fearing that the men were terrorists, passengers called the police, who detained the men. The two men were later released without charge. Meanwhile, De Volkskrant reported that the so-called ‘brains’ – educated Muslim extremists in a suspected Dutch terrorist cell called the ‘Hofstad group’ – and ‘losers’ . petty Moroccan street thieves . are apparently now working together. Police in Rotterdam said some of petty Moroccan thieves and drug dealers have spoken of “dying for Jihad” and some of them gave money to a terrorist group that planned to attack an El Al jet.
A group of young Dutch computer hackers was arrested in Tilburg on suspicion of stealing the data of 1.5 million personal computers for the Russian Internet mafia. The teenagers also tried to hack into a large computer network used by Dutch companies, government departments and universities. More new businesses were started in the Netherlands in 2004 than ever before: 75,000 new firms in 2004, compared to 54,000 in 2003. Most are one-person businesses. And more Dutch women are now starting their own companies: one-third in 2004, compared to one-quarter in 1999. Meanwhile, Quote magazine published a list of the 500 richest people in the Netherlands. The country now has 20 billionaires, compared to only 15 last year. The average assets of a person on the Quote 500 list was 220 million euros.
A recently published report on thesocialeffects of divorce found that children of divorced parents are twice as likely to get divorced themselves in adulthood. Divorce rates among Dutch children of divorced parents is 40 percent, compared to less than 20 percent for children whose parents are not divorced. There were 34,000 divorces in the Netherlands in 2004. In Almere, a conflict has erupted between a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant and a group of elderly people. McDonald’s management wants the elderly to eat elsewhere, unless they stop blocking the aisles with their wheelchairs and walkers. MacDonald’s management also complained that the old people were often too loud. McDonald’s asked the elderly group to move to the back of the restaurant, but one old lady complained that moving from the front window would mean she “would no longer be able to watch the brides coming out of the town hall” across the square. And finally, this year’s ‘Public Prize’ for the best Dutch book was awarded to the New Bible Translation. Although the Bible didn’t formally qualify for the competition, because it isn’t a Dutch book, a huge email write-in campaign resulted in the Bible winning 70 percent of the 92,000 votes cast.
– Compiled by David McMullin
This week’s round-up of some of stories making news in the Netherlands begins with a recent two-day state visit to the Netherlands by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which was the first visit to the Netherlands by a Russian leader in more than a century. Many newspapers however voiced displeasure with the royal welcome and unqualified praise the Russian president received here, noting Putin’s reluctance to address Russia’s poor record on human rights and democracy. “He came, he saw and he listened to all the compliments with a loving smile,” De Volkskrant commented sarcastically.
A fire that broke out in a makeshift detention center for illegal aliens at Schipol airport killed 11 detainees. The Algemeen Dagblad reported that the detention center lacked proper safety requirements. Two of the detention centers were built without having the proper building permits. Peter R. de Vries, a crime investigator with a popular television show, launched his own political party, the PRDV, which are his initials and also stands for ‘Party for Justice, Action and Progress’. De Vries’ 55-point political program calls for legalizing soft drugs, free public transport and more direct democracy. De Vries said the current Dutch political system is rife with “favoritism, hypocrisy, opportunism and only the appearance of democracy.” Meanwhile, the county observed the one-year anniversary of the death of Theo van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker murdered in Amsterdam by a Muslim fundamentalist. Many newspapers sounded a triumphant note, however, including the De Telegraaf, which wrote: “After Van Gogh’s murder, our country didn’t fall apart, as feared, into us-and-them camps.” Elsewhere, NS train service was delayed for hours when train passengers noticed two bearded men, wearing white caps and long robes, acting suspiciously in the train’s toilet. Fearing that the men were terrorists, passengers called the police, who detained the men. The two men were later released without charge. Meanwhile, De Volkskrant reported that the so-called ‘brains’ – educated Muslim extremists in a suspected Dutch terrorist cell called the ‘Hofstad group’ – and ‘losers’ . petty Moroccan street thieves . are apparently now working together. Police in Rotterdam said some of petty Moroccan thieves and drug dealers have spoken of “dying for Jihad” and some of them gave money to a terrorist group that planned to attack an El Al jet.
A group of young Dutch computer hackers was arrested in Tilburg on suspicion of stealing the data of 1.5 million personal computers for the Russian Internet mafia. The teenagers also tried to hack into a large computer network used by Dutch companies, government departments and universities. More new businesses were started in the Netherlands in 2004 than ever before: 75,000 new firms in 2004, compared to 54,000 in 2003. Most are one-person businesses. And more Dutch women are now starting their own companies: one-third in 2004, compared to one-quarter in 1999. Meanwhile, Quote magazine published a list of the 500 richest people in the Netherlands. The country now has 20 billionaires, compared to only 15 last year. The average assets of a person on the Quote 500 list was 220 million euros.
A recently published report on thesocialeffects of divorce found that children of divorced parents are twice as likely to get divorced themselves in adulthood. Divorce rates among Dutch children of divorced parents is 40 percent, compared to less than 20 percent for children whose parents are not divorced. There were 34,000 divorces in the Netherlands in 2004. In Almere, a conflict has erupted between a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant and a group of elderly people. McDonald’s management wants the elderly to eat elsewhere, unless they stop blocking the aisles with their wheelchairs and walkers. MacDonald’s management also complained that the old people were often too loud. McDonald’s asked the elderly group to move to the back of the restaurant, but one old lady complained that moving from the front window would mean she “would no longer be able to watch the brides coming out of the town hall” across the square. And finally, this year’s ‘Public Prize’ for the best Dutch book was awarded to the New Bible Translation. Although the Bible didn’t formally qualify for the competition, because it isn’t a Dutch book, a huge email write-in campaign resulted in the Bible winning 70 percent of the 92,000 votes cast.
– Compiled by David McMullin
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