A private treatment centre for young computer-game addicts has opened in Amsterdam, a last refuge for desperate parents who are willing to pay big money to wean their children off their virtual addiction. The clinic also treats alcoholics, drug addicts and bulimics.
Patriotism appears to have played no small part in Dutch gay men’s selection of their World Cup ”first 11” based on looks and sex appeal, as revealed by a survey conducted by a gay newspaper. Dutch squad members Robin van Persie, John Heitinga and Jan Kromkamp all make the team.
An addiction centre is opening Europe’s first detox clinic for video game addicts, offering in-house treatment for people who can’t leave their joysticks alone. Video games may look innocent, but they can be as addictive as gambling or drugs — and just as hard to kick, says Keith Bakker, director of the centre.
Municipal officials have for the second time levied a dog tax on the Bruintjes family in the Dutch town of Oldenzaal for their barking doorbell, the family said on Thursday. The Bruintjes have chosen a ring for their computer-controlled doorbell that mimicks their dead German shepherd.
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/ 27 February 2006
Dutch banks said on Monday they are to take urgent measures to end a spate of thefts from automatic telling machines (ATMs) by criminals blowing them up with gas. The ATMs are to be protected by the relatively simple measure of adding a ventilation grill to money machines thought likely to be targets.
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/ 23 February 2006
Police in the eastern Dutch city of Nijmegen have booked a man for his smelly feet, the Telegraaf newspaper reported on Thursday. The 56-year-old turned up at a shelter for the homeless in the city near the German border and took his shoes off before putting his feet up.
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/ 9 February 2006
A crane driver in the northern Dutch town of Drachten has been summarily sacked for sending his twin brother to work in his place, the daily Telegraaf reported on Thursday. The ruse went undetected for years at the company Sterk Heiwerken, where the unnamed crane driver had worked since the mid-1990s.
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/ 21 January 2006
The annual cannabis growers’ bonanza in The Netherlands, the HighLife hemp fair, which is under way until Sunday, has come up in the world since it started nine years ago. More than 20 000 visitors from Europe and North America are expected to travel to Amsterdam for the annual event.
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/ 22 December 2005
A deeply pious Dutch businessman is well on his way to completing a faithful reconstruction of Noah’s Ark in scaled down form on the basis of biblical texts, the Volkskrant newspaper reported on Thursday. Johan Huibers (47) plans to take his 70m vessel on a tour of the Dutch waterways once it is complete.
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/ 23 September 2005
A portrait long considered to be by one of Rembrandt’s students, has been unveiled in Amsterdam as a work by the old master himself. Portrait of an Elderly Woman in a White Bonnet went on display at the Rembrandt House museum on Thursday after three years of painstaking restoration — including the removal of a fur collar probably added in the 18th century.
Three airlines blacklisted by Belgium because of safety concerns will still be allowed to fly to neighbouring Netherlands without restrictions, the Transport Ministry said on Tuesday. Air Memphis of Egypt, Cargo Freighters of Rwanda and Air Limited of Ghana are authorised to land in The Netherlands but will be under increased surveillance.
Arsenal won the preseason Amsterdam Tournament after substitute Fredrik Ljungberg scored two second-half goals to help beat FC Porto 2-1 on Sunday. Boca Juniors beat Ajax 1-0, with the goal coming from Jose Calvo. The win gave Arsenal nine points, followed by Porto with six.
A Dutch court on Tuesday handed down a life sentence against Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan Islamic radical who was convicted of killing Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, and ruled the murder was a terrorist act. Van Gogh was well known for his scathing criticism of Islam and the multicultural society.
Sudan has dropped charges against two European medical aid workers accused of spreading false information in a report alleging widespread rape in the troubled province of Darfur, the organisation which issued the report said on Monday.
The Dutch voted on Wednesday in their first national referendum, choosing whether to accept a proposed European Union Constitution. Polls indicated The Netherlands could join France in rejecting the historic document, which will leave Europe’s leaders without a clear back-up plan for the charter.
Even for his fellow lawyers, a Dutch law-school graduate may have gone a bit too far in expressing a desire to strike it rich. Reinder Eekhof recently wrote in an e-mail that he had ”finally finished this stupid education”, and was ”now looking for someone crazy enough to dump a suitcase full of money in my lap every month”.
A Dutch cafeteria owner used piping hot French fries to fend off a gun-wielding would-be robber, police in the southern city of Helmond said on Friday. Fries, or frites, are a national snack in The Netherlands and Belgium, where they are deep-fried in oil and then salted and eaten with mayonnaise and chopped onions.
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/ 18 February 2005
A Dutch man has been arrested on charges of murdering his mother, police said on Friday, and media reports said he flayed her and cloaked himself her skin during celebrations of a popular festival. The 42-year-old man was detained in the early hours of February 5 after police received reports that a man was causing a disturbance.
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/ 17 January 2005
Diggers are ripping apart ceilings that obscured a dazzling glass roof and beautiful mosaics hidden beneath modern floorboards. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, famed for its collection of Rembrandts and Vermeers, is opening its buildings to the public in the middle of a renovation. Visitors attending the weekly tour have to wear a yellow hard hat.
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/ 22 October 2004
Amsterdam’s luxurious Amstel hotel — a favorite with visiting rock stars and dignitaries — was evacuated after a dangerous bacteria was detected in the water, the hotel said Friday. A routine health inspection on Thursday uncovered the bacteria that causes legionnaires’ disease, the hotel said in a statement.
A 113-year-old Dutch woman became the oldest registered living person when the previous title holder died in Puerto Rico. Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, known as ”Henny”, assumed the title when Ramona Trinidad Iglesias Jordan died on Saturday of pneumonia at age 114, the Los Angeles Gerontology Research Group confirmed.
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/ 18 February 2004
The United States and most European countries will not appear at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to press their arguments regarding the legality of the Israeli barrier in the Palestinian territories, a diplomat said on Wednesday. Thirteen countries will participate when the United Nations court convenes on Monday.
Final results in the Dutch general election shows that the far-right party of murdered populist Pim Fortuyn had made a sensational showing on their electoral debut, coming from nowhere to take 26 seats on an anti-immigration ticket.
A pair of thieves equipped with just a ladder, a large piece of cloth and a rope managed to break into Amsterdam’s famous Van Gogh museum yesterday and make off with two multi-million-rand canvases by the artist.