Holland

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Spiders to Intentionally Run Wild at Museum

Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum is letting its creepy-crawlies have free reign over venue during exhibit

(Newser) - At one of Europe's most famous museums, life is definitely imitating art until early next year. "The museum is teeming with animals this season!" promises Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum in its promotion for "Clara and Crawly Creatures," its new exhibit focusing on insects and other creeping...

Dutch Royals Won't Use Controversial Golden Coach

At least for the time being, due to its ties to Netherlands' colonial past, slave trade

(Newser) - On Thursday the Dutch king ruled out using, for now at least, the royal family's "Golden Carriage." One side of the carriage bears a painting that critics say glorifies the Netherlands' colonial past, including its role in the global slave trade. The announcement was an acknowledgement of...

This Airport's Secret Weapon Against Bird Strikes? Pigs

Officials hope the pigs will eat enough sugar beet near Amsterdam's Schiphol hub to fend off geese

(Newser) - No one wants their plane to fly into a flock of birds during takeoff, and at one of the Netherlands' busiest hubs, they've come up with a most creative approach to try to prevent such an event. A six-week project has been launched that has stuck pigs on a...

Protest on COVID Restrictions Turns City Into 'War Zone'

Police fire on demonstrators in Dutch city of Rotterdam; 2 rioters hospitalized

(Newser) - Police opened fire on protesters in rioting that erupted in downtown Rotterdam around a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions late Friday night, with the Dutch city's mayor calling it "an orgy of violence." Police said two rioters were hospitalized after being hit by bullets, and investigations were underway...

Mafia Boss Look-Alike Seized at Gunpoint, Thrown in Prison

Attorney blames Italian authorities for mix-up in the Hague

(Newser) - An Englishman who traveled to the Netherlands to take in a Formula One race got more excitement than he bargained for when he was mistaken for an Italian Mafia boss, wanted for more than 50 murders. The 54-year-old, identified by his attorney as Mark L., was seized at gunpoint by...

How a Blogger's Death Led to a Criminal Phone Company
Why Drug Traffickers Ran
Their Own Phone Company
longform
Nov 17, 2019 2:40 PM CST

Why Drug Traffickers Ran Their Own Phone Company

It's all tied to the murder of Dutch crime blogger Martin Kok

(Newser) - A Dutch crime blogger got into his Volkswagen Polo one night in 2016 and boom, he was shot dead—a crime that led authorities to a phone company allegedly run by violent criminals, Joseph Cox writes at Vice . Why a phone company? That's what makes it interesting. As for...

Holland Doesn't Want to Be Called Holland Anymore

In rebranding move, Holland will now be known just as the Netherlands

(Newser) - If you're used to smoothly switching back and forth between "Holland" and "the Netherlands" when speaking about the land of windmills, tulips, and Gouda, train your tongue now for a more minimalist approach. That's because the Dutch government has decided to ditch the first name and...

Why Dutch Parents Leave Their Children in the Woods

It's called 'dropping,' and there's a philosophy behind it

(Newser) - The Dutch call it "dropping": Parents drive their children to a remote location at night, drop them off, and say good luck. The tweens (and occasionally teens) have to navigate woods and dark roads and make it back to summer camp alone. Parents might follow but won't guide,...

This Country Is First to Completely Ban Hells Angels

Netherlands prosecutors have been trying for more than a decade to get rid of the biker gang

(Newser) - You probably won't see as many Harleys cruising around Holland anymore. The BBC reports that a court in the city of Utrecht has banned all Hells Angels, not just its local chapters, declaring in its Wednesday ruling that the violence brought about by the bikers "is often so...

DNA Tests Reveal What This Doctor Really Did

Jan Karbaat fathered 49 children through his clients

(Newser) - Say your mother's fertility doctor was Jan Karbaat? Then you may have a lot of new half-siblings—and a father who apparently broke the law. Turns out the Dutch doctor betrayed his clients by impregnating them with his own sperm and fathering at least 49 children, the BBC reports....

Service Started at This Church 5 Weeks Ago. It's Still Going On

Dutch Protestant church is trying to protect Armenian refugee family from being deported

(Newser) - A Netherlands church service that started before Halloween is still going on—all to keep police away from a family of Armenian refugees who have sought sanctuary there. Sasun and Anousche Tamrazyan and their three children, ages 14, 19, and 21, recently lost an appeal to stay in the country...

Cops Find Evidence of Money Laundering in Most Obvious Place

Suspect busted after authorities in Amsterdam find $400K in cash crammed into washing machine

(Newser) - Maybe someone figured that a washing machine would be the last literal place that cops would check when sussing out a money-laundering scheme, but that someone may have placed the wrong bet. The AP and CNN report a 24-year-old man has been arrested in the Netherlands after police descended on...

Rembrandt Masterpiece to Get Unusual Restoration

Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum says years-long effort will be public

(Newser) - Conservators repairing a masterpiece of the Dutch Golden Age will have the added pressure of crowds watching their every move. Beginning in July, Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum will display the restoration of Rembrandt van Rijn's 1642 masterpiece "The Night Watch" from within a specially designed glass chamber in its...

Officials Let Woman, 29, Kill Herself With Poison

Aurelia Brouwers applied for legal euthanasia in the Netherlands

(Newser) - Aurelia Brouwers tried to kill herself many times, and ultimately succeeded—with the government's help. The 29-year-old Dutch woman won the right to die after squeaking through an approval process that usually denies psychiatric cases, the BBC reports. "When I was 12, I suffered from depression," she...

Populist Dutch Lawmaker Guilty of Hate Speech

Geert Wilders convicted for inciting discrimination

(Newser) - A populist and anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker was found guilty Friday of insulting and inciting discrimination against Moroccans, a conviction that Geert Wilders slammed as a "shameful" attack on free speech and an attempt to "neutralize" him. Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said the court wouldn't impose a sentence because...

Easter Islanders Not as Isolated as Thought

Genetic data suggests travel to and from South America 20-plus generations ago

(Newser) - Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is such a remote speck of rock in the Pacific Ocean that it has been nicknamed "navel of the world." Yet a review of genetic data of 27 natives suggests the islanders made contact with outsiders hundreds of years before the first Europeans...

Putin's Daughter 'Flees' $3M Pad in Holland

Maria Putin was told that 'it's time you leave'

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin's daughter may be persona non grata in Holland, and you can imagine why. Maria Putin, 29, hasn't been seen around her posh riverside flat in a town outside of Amsterdam since Malaysia Flight 17 went down in Ukraine, with 193 Dutch people among the victims, the...

Dementia Patients Have Their Own Village

Dutch establishment lets dementia patients live normally

(Newser) - Imagine suffering from dementia while living a relatively normal life—cooking, cleaning, and going about your business. Well, elderly people in mental decline are experiencing just that at a so-called village in the town of Weesp, in Holland, reports Gizmodo . Called Dementia Village , it allows residents to go about their...

Dutch Judge: Pot Tourism Ban Goes Live on Tuesday

Coffee shop owners plan to appeal

(Newser) - Sorry, tourists, but it looks like the Netherlands is remaining firm on a ban that will prevent foreigners from buying pot in its famous cannabis cafes. A judge upheld the new law, due to go into effect in three southern provinces on May 1 and throughout the country by the...

Dutch Teen Sails 'Round the World

Laura Dekker completes voyage in Caribbean

(Newser) - Dutch teenager Laura Dekker sailed into the Caribbean harbor of St. Maarten to a cheering crowd today after circumnavigating the globe, the Telegraph reports. Controversies surround the 16-year-old sailor, who fled Holland in 2010 when officials tried to stop her voyage. Dekker claims to be the youngest round-the-world sailor, but...

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