The Netherlands rises in WEF global ranking

09-09-2010

The Netherlands has risen from 10th to eighth place in the latest edition of the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness report. Holland was eighth in the 2008 rankings.

Army needs two years to recover from Afghanistan, says chief

09-09-2010

It will take the Dutch army two years to fully recover from the mission in Afghanistan commander Rob Bertholee says in Thursday's Volkskrant.

Amsterdam VVD leader opposes anti-Islam link-up

09-09-2010

Eric van der Burg, leader of the right-wing Liberal VVD in Amsterdam, is against his party forming a new government with Geert Wilders' anti-Islam PVV, local tv station AT5 reports.

Compensate clients for rip-off policies, watchdog tells banks

09-09-2010

The financial services authority AFM wants banks and insurance companies to compensate clients if it turns out that they have been sold products which are 'not in their interest', the Financieele Dagblad writes on Friday.

ABP, other big pension funds, warn of need to cut payouts

09-09-2010

A number of big Dutch pension funds, including civil service fund ABP and healthcare worker fund PGGM, fear they may have to cut payouts in 2012, the Financieele Dagblad reports, without quoting sources.

Third coalition failure will hurt next prime minister, says queen's rep

09-08-2010

A third failure in efforts to form a new government will hurt the the new prime minister, the queen's new negotiator Herman Tjeenk Willink warned on Tuesday.

Spending power under pressure

09-08-2010

Dutch workers are starting to feel the pinch in their pockets because inflation is outstripping pay rises, the national statistics office CBS said on Wednesday.

Corneille to be buried in same cemetery as Van Gogh

09-08-2010

Dutch avant-garde artist Corneille, who died last weekend in Paris, will be buried in the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise, the Volkskrant said on Wednesday.

Anne Frank tree parts to go to Jewish museums

09-08-2010

The owner of the horse chestnut tree written about by Anne Frank in her World War II diary wants to distribute some of the remains to Jewish museums in Berlin, New York, Tel Aviv and Amsterdam, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

Police 'spy' gets community service

09-08-2010

A former policeman who passed on information from Dutch police files to the Moroccan embassy has been sentenced to 240 hours community service by a court in The Hague.

Dutch tanker carrying pig manure explodes in Germany

09-08-2010

A Dutch tanker with 20 tonnes of pig manure on board has exploded in the German city of Cologne splattering a number of houses and cars, news agency ANP reports, quoting a German news site.

Arrests as European piracy network shut down

09-08-2010

Police in the Netherlands and 13 other European countries on Tuesday launched a series of raids against an online film pirating network, closing down 48 websites, according to media reports.

Right wing cabinet will raise speed limit to 130 kph

09-08-2010

A new right-wing government will raise the national speed limit to 130 kph, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday.

450 asylum seekers lose amnesty permits to fraud

09-08-2010

The immigration services has cancelled or withdrawn residency permits for 450 asylum seekers who made fraudulent applications under the 2007 amnesty, caretaker justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has told MPs.

Heritage groups protest at royals' plans to demolish farms

09-08-2010

Cultural heritage groups, including one which has queen Beatrix as its patron, have made formal protests about royal family plans to demolish two farms on their property in Wassenaar.