radionetherlands.nl

Is it wet or dry in the Netherlands? One of the hundred questions in the exam for migrants from outside the European Union who want to settle in the Netherlands. From now on the exam is obligatory. Newcomers have to...

Bonaire, Saint Eustace and Saba, three small islands in the Caribbean, are to become part of the Netherlands. With this decision the dismantlement of the Netherlands Antilles as a single state within the kingdom of the...

Welcome to our compilation of antique and old-time radio sites. We hope you enjoy them and find it useful. Your feedback, comments and suggestions for sites are welcome. The Sites For more information: www...

In answer to the question “Does anyone know the exact difference between GMT and UTC?” here are a few facts concerning Greenwich Mean Time, Universal Time, and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Various...

Once upon a time, there was a construction cooperative in the small north Italian town of Correggio, not far from the larger cities of Modena and Parma. It specialised in building houses. One day, back in 1990, its...

The leader of the Malawi Congress Party, Malawi’s main opposition party, has rejected an appeal by senior party members to step down and accept Tuesday’s election results. John Tembo lost last week’s...

An annual report has revealed that the Royal Family spent nearly 119 million euros last year. Eighty million of that sum went to the maintenance of palaces and security. Some 1,5 million euros was used for state visits...

Speaking on the television programme Buitenhof, former prime minister Ruud Lubbers said that the failed attack on the royal family in Apeldoorn should not result in the end of the Queen’s Day celebrations. Mr...

The first case of swine flu has been confirmed by Dutch health authorities at a news conference. The case involves a three-year-old child who returned from Mexico on 27 April. Both the child and the parents are being...

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the most recent research on swine flu has shown that the virus is not caused by pigs. The disease is now being referred to as Mexican flu or “2009 H1N1 flu”...

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the most recent research on swine flu has shown that the virus is not caused by pigs. The disease is now being referred to as Mexican flu or “2009 H1N1 flu”...

Police in the northeastern Achterhoek region have begun using an unmanned miniature helicopter to track down the illegal cultivation of cannabis, which often takes place indoors. The so-called “canna...

Isolated Gaza, Canada’s remote Albert Bay and the story of an Australian who sometimes feels like a stranger in his own community – the theme chosen for 2009 by Global Perspective, a collaboration of...

Many Central Americans stop at nothing to reach the United States. In China, the global economic downturn is affecting the 200 million migrants who moved from the countryside to work in factories. Many of these migrants...

In the Sudanese capital Khartoum, crowds of demonstrators furious at the execution of nine men in the Darfur region have set shops and cars on fire in a local market. Police estimate that at least 5,000 people took to...

On International Roma Day, a number of European human rights organisations are warning that the economic crisis has left the Roma gypsies in Central Europe facing growing discrimination and violence. Anti-Roma...

Madagascar’s new President Andry Rajoelina, who seized power last month, says he plans to hold presidential elections in October 2010. Delegates attending a two-day conference in the capital Antananarivo agreed to...

The Freedom Party of populist right-wing leader Geert Wilders has climbed again in the polls, this time to a record of 32 seats in the 150-seat parliament. The Freedom Party is in first place and is now four seats ahead...

The Freedom Party of populist right-wing leader Geert Wilders has climbed again in the polls, this time to a record of 32 seats in the 150-seat parliament. The Freedom Party is in first place and is now four seats ahead...

Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who was barred from entering the United Kingdom a month ago, has become the subject of a political row in Denmark. The Danish People’s Party and the Conservative Party...

Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who was barred from entering the United Kingdom a month ago, has become the subject of a political row in Denmark. The Danish People’s Party and the Conservative Party...

The woman who tipped off Amsterdam police last Wednesday evening about an impending terrorist attack was aware of details about the Madrid bombings that had not been made public. Amsterdam’s Chief Police...

Seven people have been arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of planning a terror attack on an Ikea furniture store and a number of shops near the Ajax stadium in the capital Amsterdam. The arrests follow a telephone...

The cabinet has adopted the recommendations made by former Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm to make the budget of the royal family more transparent. Under the new set-up, all expenses relating to Queen Beatrix’s...

The Turkish airliner that crashed at Schiphol last week had a faulty altimeter. That’s the conclusion of the preliminary findings of the investigation team that has been working to establish the cause of the...

According to a recent opinion poll, if parliamentary elections were held today, the Freedom Party (PVV) headed by right-wing populist leader Geert Wilders would become the largest party in the Netherlands. It would win...

According to a recent opinion poll, if parliamentary elections were held today, the Freedom Party (PVV) headed by right-wing populist leader Geert Wilders would become the largest party in the Netherlands. It would win...

The Dutch authorities are continuing their investigations into Wednesday’s plane crash at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. The wreckage of the Turkish Airlines Boeing will remain at its present location until...

Dutch Right-wing politician and controversial anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders has been refused entry to the United Kingdom despite being invited to visit by a member of the House of Lords, the British...

Rightwing populist Dutch MP Geert Wilders has enlisted one of the Netherlands’ top lawyers to fight his prosecution over inciting hatred and discrimination. The lawyer, Bram Moszkowicz, has confirmed he is taking...

Rightwing populist Dutch MP Geert Wilders has enlisted one of the Netherlands’ top lawyers to fight his prosecution over inciting hatred and discrimination. The lawyer, Bram Moszkowicz, has confirmed he is taking...

A Dutch current affairs programme that interviewed 2,600 people found that 80 percent have confidence in Queen Beatrix. She was awarded 7.5 points on a scale of 1 to 10. 80 percent also believe Crown Prince Willem...

Ramsey Nasr has been voted National Poet of the Netherlands. The winner of the internet vote was announced live on television on Wednesday evening. Mr Nasr follows in the footsteps of Driek van Wissen, Gerrit Komrij and...

Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin rejects demands by two parties to bar a radical Islamic preacher from speaking in the Netherlands. Mr Hirsch Ballin wrote to parliament on Thursday that the preacher, American...

fficial reactions to the news that Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party, can be prosecuted for discriminatory remarks in public are few and far between outside the Netherlands. Obviously the world’s press...

To underscore the commitment of the Netherlands to the management of the Antarctic region, Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima will spend three days next month in Antarctica. The royal couple will be...

The super volcano in Yellowstone Park, which includes parts of the states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, is making its presence felt. On New Year’s Day, the situation was so alarming that geologists called for an...

Israel has rejected a call by the European Union for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni does not want international observers to be stationed in the region once hostilities have...

Several thousand people gathered in Amsterdam’s Museum Square on Saturday to protest against the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. The demonstration also targetted the Dutch government; according to many...

The large-scale Israeli offensive in Gaza has sent Hamas leaders and operatives physically under the ground. They are nowhere to be seen. None of them have appeared in public or in the media apart from a recorded speech...

It is unclear who is in control in Guinea following the death of long-term president Lansana Conté aged 74. An army captain has announced on state radio that the constitution has been suspended, the government dismissed...

Andre Shepherd, 31, has become the first American soldier to seek asylum from the United States in Germany after deserting the US Army. He cited the atrocities and illegalities of the war in Iraq, as well as President...

After 52 years of secrecy, royal historian Cees Fasseur has been given sole access to the private archives of the Dutch royal family. In his book, Juliana & Bernhard. The story of a marriage, 1935-1956, he reveals...

A chic, high-tech suburb of Stockholm could hold part of the answer to reducing daily energy and waste consumption as part of the global battle to fight climate change. As EU countries lock horns over a deal to slash...

Rebels led by Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda are closing in on DR Congo’s eastern capital of Goma. According to eyewitnesses they have reached the outskirts of the city. “There is heavy, heavy fighting, you...

Dutch insurance giant Aegon is to receive three billion euros from a government emergency fund. The cash injection is considered necessary in order to strengthen the company’s core equity capital. At a press...

The international courts and tribunals in The Hague deal with some of the darkest pages of human history. Yet all too frequently the rights of the survivors of these mass atrocities – whether they be from the...

In a precedent-setting trial, a court in the Dutch city of Leeuwarden has ruled that stealing virtual items is theft and sentenced two teenage boys to community service.  In September 2007, two teens, both aged 14 at...

After years of debate, Iraq has finally ended the uncertainty over its national flag. At least for now. Opponents of the present flag, especially the Kurds, are having to make do for the moment with a few minor changes...

The death penalty in Iraq was suspended after Saddam Hussein was deposed in 2003. But a year later it was reinstated by the interim government. Since that time, claims Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, hundreds of...

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko has dissolved parliament and called early parliamentary elections. The move follows his failure to form a new government after the ruling ‘orange’ coalition fell...

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko has dissolved parliament and called early parliamentary elections. The move follows his failure to form a new government after the ruling ‘orange’ coalition fell...

You’re fourteen, at school and you need to go for a pee. You leave your science lesson and rush to the toilet. Then you stop. You’re confused. In front of you are three separate toilets. One with a symbol...

The upcoming American presidential election is being watched closely by Europeans. US policy directly affects Europe, and many here wish they could also cast a ballot. Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s weekly podcast...

The Pakistani electoral commission has announced that the country is to hold presidential elections on 6 September. The elections follow the resignation of Pervez Musharraf this week, after nine years in power. He...

Ukraine has agreed to take part in a missile defence system designed by the United States to protect Western countries. The government in Kiev defended its decision for military co-operation with the West, saying Russia...

Ukraine has agreed to take part in a missile defence system designed by the United States to protect Western countries. The government in Kiev defended its decision for military co-operation with the West, saying Russia...

Human Rights Watch says the Dutch cameraman who was killed on Tuesday in Georgia died from injuries caused by a Russian cluster bomb. The human rights organisation says that Russia bombed at least two Georgian cities...

With just over a week to go before the start of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been forced to admit that some of its own officials cut a deal to let China continue to...

With just over a week to go before the start of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been forced to admit that some of its own officials cut a deal to let China continue to...

A Dutch athlete suspended in 1950 by the Dutch Athletics Union on the grounds that she was actually a man, has finally been vindicated thanks to DNA technology. The story of the downfall of Foekje Dillema – a...

Herzliya – Dutch Defence Minister Maxime Verhagen has announced that his government would back the deployment of Dutch troops to an international peace-keeping force in the Middle East following an Israeli...

Tropical storm Dolly has claimed 12 lives in Guatemala. Ten children and their parents died when mudslides triggered by heavy downpours buried their home. Mexico has issued a tropical storm warning for the Yucatán...

It seems the Belgian-Dutch banking group Fortis bit off more than it could chew with the takeover of ABN AMRO. Jean Paul Votron, the charismatic Belgian CEO of the company, made his apologies this week and resigned. The...

It seems the Belgian-Dutch banking group Fortis bit off more than it could chew with the takeover of ABN AMRO. Jean Paul Votron, the charismatic Belgian CEO of the company, made his apologies this week and resigned. The...

The Dutch writer Janwillem van de Wetering, famous for the Grijpstra & de Gier series of crime novels, has died at the age of 77. His crime novels featuring the detectives Grijpstra and De Gier were based on Mr Van...

The Netherlands has registered a protest with the Israeli authorities over the treatment of a Palestinian journalist. The Israeli ambassador has promised Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen that he will investigate the...

May 8, 1945: Berlin is divided into 4 sectors: the American, British, French in the West and the Soviet in the East. June 24, 1948 – May 12, 1949: Soviet blockade of Berlin’s western sectors. Summer 1952:...

Marie-Rose Neloum from Chad received an award on Thursday, the day before World Refugee Day, in a ceremony at Amsterdam’s Tropical Museum. The prize is named after Gerrit-Jan van Heuven Goedhart, a member of the...

A group called the Mothers of Srebrenica wants the United Nations to be tried for its failure to prevent the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. Today the group, which represents 6,000 relatives of the victims asked a civilian...

A group called the Mothers of Srebrenica wants the United Nations to be tried for its failure to prevent the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. Today the group, which represents 6,000 relatives of the victims asked a civilian...

This week sees the beginning of Israel and Syria’s indirect peace talks in Turkey. The talks follow an eight year freeze but is Wednesday’s announcement too good to be true? The agreement in Lebanon ended 18...

The international curriculum that was originally developed for schools operated around the world by international oil giant Shell is now being used to teach children in Dutch primary schools. More than ten schools...

As the campaign for the Dutch elections gathers pace, few stories are more remarkable than that of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Coming to the Netherlands from Somalia, she attracted much attention with her passionate pleas for the...

Disappeared US teenager Natalee Holloway was taken to an Aruba beach by Joran van der Sloot and sold there to a Venezuelan man who ‘wanted a blonde girl’, Mr Van der Sloot told Fox News TV. In an interview...

Aad and Ron Dissel de Boo tell the story of how they once went to a conference in the USA to talk of their experiences in raising children. Before the spoke, a woman came up to them and told them forthrightly that she...

President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree formally recognising the independence of Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The recognition follows a unanimous vote in both houses of the...

Tokyo – Japan has rejoined the US-led war in Afghanistan. Japan’s navy will resume refueling United States vessels in the Indian Ocean next month. The mission was halted two months ago after the opposition...

Argentinian President Cristina Fernández is in Havana on a state visit to Cuba. This is the first time since 1986 that an Argentinian president has visited the island nation. Ms Fernández will meet her Cuban counterpart...

Thursday’s killing of a prominent investigative journalist in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo has once more raised concern and anger over the growing number of attacks on journalists in the country. Sunday...

Havana (19 December) – In Cuba, prominent dissident Oswaldo Payá has called for an amnesty for all political prisoners being held in the country. He also wants Cubans to be allowed to travel abroad and return home...

The Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry has announced that it has reached agreement with the Belarussian authorities with respect to children who suffer health problems stemming from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 23 years...

Thailand’s Supreme Court has decided to hear a case against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The former prime minister, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006, is accused of ordering a state bank to...

The radicalisation process of Muslims in the Netherlands has entered a new phase, according to the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD). The Service has signalled the rise of a professionally-organised...

Dutch Environment Minister Jacqueline Cramer says she may curb the supply of government subsidies to environmental organisations. She told the press on Saturday that she may even cut them off altogether. Ms Cramer was...

Moroccan-Dutch journalist Hassnae Bouazza is no stranger to controversy. Her newspaper columns provoke strong reactions. For Radio Books, she writes a gentle story about a young girl and her persistent but undesirable...

Anti-government protests in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik have ended in rioting. The police used pepper spray to disperse about 1,000 demonstrators who were massed outside the parliament building. Twenty protesters...

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (the environment organisation’s full title) is Greenpeace’s little activist brother. Paul Watson was the co-founder of Greenpeace America, but left in 1977 because he...

Death threats are just one of the reported consequences of the controversial step taken by a Dutch campaign group in publishing the names, addresses and – in some cases – photographs of paedophiles on the...

Caracas – Venezuela’s Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez has confirmed that the state oil company PDVSA now has oil contracts in euros as well as US dollars. On Thursday an oil trader revealed that the PDVSA...

A transsexual woman from the Utrecht district of Zuilen has moved house as a result of bullying by a group of about 30 young Moroccans. Earlier, two lesbian couples left Zuilen because they no longer felt safe there...

Is it wet or dry in the Netherlands? One of the hundred questions in the exam for migrants from outside the European Union who want to settle in the Netherlands. From now on the exam is obligatory. Newcomers have to...

Human Rights Watch says the cameraman who was killed on Tuesday in Georgia died from injuries caused by a Russian cluster bomb. The human rights organisation says that Russia bombed at least two Georgian cities with...

For the fifth year in a row the Dutch entry to the European Song Contest has failed to make it through to the final. Dutch trio The Toppers failed to make sufficient impact on viewers with their song Shine. As in...

A Nepalese journalist who wrote about women’s rights has been killed. About 15 men entered the home of 24-year-old Uma Singh and stabbed her to death. The murder was committed in the town of Sarlahi, 90 kilometres...

Hundreds of eurocrats and journalists have jeered and applauded an explosive artwork that features masturbating Italian footballers, Romanian vampires and striking Frenchmen. There were calls to pull down the giant...

Reactions to the anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders and his right-wing Freedom Party indicate how polarised Dutch society has become in recent years. An anti-racism organisation called Nederland Bekent Kleur (Look at...

Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were two of the greatest painters of the late 19th century. Now the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has organised an exhibition about the brief but intense collaboration between the two...

Mr Li is the embodiment of today’s fastest growing world power: China. He strikes oil deals, builds hospitals and motorways, sells merchandise, takes over companies and lays oil pipelines. In the series...

Karachi – In Pakistan thousands of people have demonstrated against the anti-Qur’an film by MP Geert Wilders and Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. The protest in Karachi was organised by a...

Bucharest – NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has welcomed the announcement that Albania and Croatia have been invited to join the alliance. At the start of the second day of the NATO summit in the...

The ambassadors of 26 Islamic countries want the Netherlands to investigate whether the film Fitna made by Dutch right-wing populist MP Geert Wilders can be banned. They asked Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen whether it...

The ambassadors of 26 Islamic countries want the Netherlands to investigate whether the film Fitna made by Dutch right-wing populist MP Geert Wilders can be banned. They asked Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen whether it...

There has been no trouble in response to the release of Fitna, the film by right-wing populist politician Geert Wilders on what he sees as the dangers of Islam. According to the Dutch Interior Ministry’s crisis...

Geert Wilders‘ anti-Islam movie has gone online. The film, titled Fitna or ‘Ordeal’ or ‘Strife’ in Arabic, shows verses of the Qur’an alternating with graphic scenes of recent acts of...

Forty dead. That’s the official death toll of demonstrations and protests late last month in Cameroon. But human rights organisations say the number of people killed and injured was much, much higher. They accuse...

The administration of US President George Bush has been accused of undermining the global fight against Aids. The US is investing billions of dollars in Aids-prevention campaigns in countries with a high prevalence...

Zimbabwe’s central bank took hundreds of millions of euros from private bank accounts, including 300,000 euros from a bank account belonging to Hivos, a Dutch development organisation. Corina Straatsma, director...

Amsterdam – Around 1300 people attended a demonstration against racism and discrimination in the centre of Amsterdam today, considerably less than the expected turnout of 5000. The organisers wanted to protest...

Paris – During a meeting in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has told Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende that he will support the Netherlands if it comes under attack because of the anti-Qur’an...

Islamabad – Pakistan has summoned the Dutch ambassador because of Geert Wilders’ anti-Qur’an film Fitna. A spokesperson for the Pakistani authorities calls the Dutch Freedom Party leader “biased...

The Hague – The website for the anti-Qur’an film Fitna by Geert Wilders is online under the name fitnathemovie. There is little to see at the moment: only the cover of the Qur’an with the text...

Since the publication of her diary in 1947, Anne Frank has become a Dutch icon, beloved around the world. Now her story has been made into a Spanish musical. And it’s caused quite a controversy. The musical is...

Turkish theologians have nearly finished a project that could revolutionize Islam. For the past three years, they’ve been re-interpreting the hadith. These are traditionally regarded as the sayings of the prophet...

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende says he’s “gravely concerned” about the consequences of the yet-to-be-broadcast anti-Qur’an film being produced by right wing politician Geert Wilders...

The Hague – The anti-Koran film planned by Dutch MP Geert Wilders has led to several threats against his life. This was confirmed by a representative of the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism...

The Hague – The anti-Koran film planned by Dutch MP Geert Wilders has led to several threats against his life. This was confirmed by a representative of the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism...

Euranet. That is the name of the new radio and internet project that will commence broadcasting on 31 March 2008. It is a consortium of sixteen radio stations from thirteen countries. The group includes international...

Dutch forces in Afghanistan have been accused of exposing their detainees to torture and flouting international obligations. Amnesty International says troops from NATO’s ISAF mission in the country are handing...

“In the case of the most serious crimes, you have a means to take the accused and try them before an international court if states fail to take the necessary action. I think that was something to fight for, there...

Former Israeli secret service chief Efraim Halevy has shocked the Israeli political establishment by arguing that Israel should enter talks with Hamas. Not because he likes the movement but because he thinks it is in...

N’Djamena – Chadian rebels and army are fighting for a second day running in the capital N’Djamena. Army chief of Staff General Daoud Soumain was killed in the fighting. The rebels have surrounded the...

He had billed it as “the most interesting and revealing crime show” of his career and it was sold to US networks before it was broadcast on Dutch television. In a gripping two-hour whodunit, crime reporter...

He is one of the best-known Dutch politicians. His views about Islam have offended Muslims and non-Muslims alike, within the Netherlands and around the world. He’s the most famous bleach-blond since Marilyn Monroe...

He is one of the best-known Dutch politicians. His views about Islam have offended Muslims and non-Muslims alike, within the Netherlands and around the world. He’s the most famous bleach-blond since Marilyn Monroe...

New York – The United Nations estimates that at least 700,000 Gaza residents, about half the area’s population, have crossed the border into Egypt to stock up on supplies. Palestinian militants set off...

New York – The United Nations estimates that at least 700,000 Gaza residents, about half the area’s population, have crossed the border into Egypt to stock up on supplies. Palestinian militants set off...

He is one of the best-known Dutch politicians. His views about Islam have offended Muslims and non-Muslims alike, in the Netherlands and around the world. He’s the most famous bleach-blond since Marilyn Monroe...

He is one of the best-known Dutch politicians. His views about Islam have offended Muslims and non-Muslims alike, in the Netherlands and around the world. He’s the most famous bleach-blond since Marilyn Monroe...

Everyone living in the Netherlands has to learn Dutch. This is the message of a publicity campaign the Dutch government is about to launch urging foreigners to take their own responsibility. The move comes amid growing...

Kabul – Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority reports that more than 320 people have died so far this month in a cold spell in the country’s western region. Tens of thousands of...

Amsterdam’s famous – or infamous – Red Light District looks likely to become slightly less ‘blue’ in the near future if the Dutch capital’s municipal authorities get their way. The...

Far-right groups are calling for a ban on the building of new mosques as part of a new campaign to stop the spread of radical Islam in Europe. Belgium’s far-right Vlaams Belang party teamed up with radical groups...

After years of debate, Iraq has finally ended the uncertainty over its national flag. At least for now. Opponents of the present flag, especially the Kurds, are having to make do for the moment with a few minor changes...

After years of debate, Iraq has finally ended the uncertainty over its national flag. At least for now. Opponents of the present flag, especially the Kurds, are having to make do for the moment with a few minor changes...

Reactions to the anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders and his right-wing Freedom Party indicate how polarised Dutch society has become in recent years. An anti-racism organisation called Nederland Bekent Kleur (Look at...

People with guts go against the flow; defy accepted notions and conventions. Radio Netherlands Worldwide presents a series of portraits of people who this year proved they had guts. They could be a politician, an...

Washington (20 December) – A delegation representing the Lakota Indians, who live in five Midwestern US states, has declared independence. The delegation delivered a message to the US State Department earlier this...

Batten down the hatches, lock the doors: anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders wants to make a film! It’s bound to feature the Qur’an in ways that few Muslims would approve of, to put it mildly. But, as...

Reactions to the anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders and his right-wing Freedom Party indicate how polarised Dutch society has become in recent years. An anti-racism organisation called Nederland Bekent Kleur (Look at...

24-year-old Sahar Noor speaks English with a Dutch accent. But actually she came here at the age of 11 with her parent; her family was fleeing the civil war in Afghanistan.  Now she’s a journalist and a student...

It has been an unusually violent week for Amsterdam’s western Slotervaart district. Cars were torched and youths clashed with police on several consecutive nights after a 22-year-old ethnic Moroccan was shot dead...

The Mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, wants to ban pimping in the city’s red light district and other areas where prostitutes work. He says the ban is needed to prevent exploitation and human trafficking, and sees it...

The Mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, wants to ban pimping in the city’s red light district and other areas where prostitutes work. He says the ban is needed to prevent exploitation and human trafficking, and sees it...

The Dutch conservative opposition VVD party has expelled Rita Verdonk from its parliamentary party. This week, in De Telegraaf newspaper, the former minister of Immigration and Integration overstepped the mark by...

Noura sits in the back seat of the taxi. When she sees an expensive car with a Saudi or Kuwaiti licence plate driving past, she immediately switches on the Bluetooth function of her mobile phone. Then she sits...

Noura sits in the back seat of the taxi. When she sees an expensive car with a Saudi or Kuwaiti licence plate driving past, she immediately switches on the Bluetooth function of her mobile phone. Then she sits...

For a moment it seemed that the borders of the Kingdom of the Netherlands were in danger. Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez allegedly wanted to annex the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, according to the weekend...

The Bishop of Breda, Tiny Muskens, wants people to start calling God Allah. He says the Netherlands should look to Indonesia, where the Christian churches already pray to Allah. It is also common in the Arab world:...

The leader of the Netherlands‘ right-wing Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, has called for a ban on the sale and distribution of the Qur’an. He would also outlaw the book’s use in the mosque and at home. Mr...

The leader of the Netherlands‘ right-wing Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, has called for a ban on the sale and distribution of the Qur’an. He would also outlaw the book’s use in the mosque and at home. Mr...

Once again, a critic of Islam has been placed under heavy security in the Netherlands. Ehsan Jami, a local council member for the Dutch Labour Party and a former Muslim, has been afforded extra protection since Monday...

Violence against homosexuals in Amsterdam seems to be on the increase. There are no hard figures but the number of reports is certainly rising. The perpetrators are mainly youths with a Moroccan background. But Arab...

Author Harry Mulisch celebrates his 80th birthday on 29 July. For many years, the creator of novels like The Assault, The Discovery of Heaven and The Stone Bridal Bed has been seen as one of the great figures of Dutch...

Eight years ago, David Smolin and his wife adopted  two girls from India. The information that the Smolins received from the adoption agency in India said that the girls had been given up by their widowed mother, that...

Just like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, a politician has appeared in Germany who is warning against “a tsunami of Islamisation.” His name is Udo Ulfkotte, a former journalist who has often made...

Radio Netherlands broadcasts to Asia, the Far East and the Pacific region via shortwave (SW) and the World Radio Network. We are also on air continuously via satellite (Thaicom 5 and Optus B3 for Australia and New...

There’s an immediate similarity between Germany’s former Nazi regime and Afghanistan’s former rulers, the Taliban. That, at least, is according to the United States ambassador to the Netherlands, who...

The people of Western Sahara have lived in exile for 32 years, ever since Morocco occupied their country. But in the refugee camps, the literacy rate among them has soared, and many have become highly educated. The only...

European Jazz From the great stages of Europe, Radio Netherlands Worldwide brings you this year’s European Jazz Stage with host Daniel Frankl. Heard on stations all over the world, the Euro Hit 40 is...

Newly sworn Labour Party MP Khadiya Arib says she intends to keep her seat on a council that advises the Moroccan King. The commission is charged with guarding and strengthening the Moroccan identity of Moroccans living...

Newly sworn Labour Party MP Khadiya Arib says she intends to keep her seat on a council that advises the Moroccan King. The commission is charged with guarding and strengthening the Moroccan identity of Moroccans living...

After months of negotiations, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is taking charge of his fourth cabinet, but who’s in and who’s out? Prime Minister and Cabinet Office: Christian Democrats (CDA): Jan...

In Paris, about 60 countries have signed an international convention protecting people from forced disappearance. Family members of the victims, with support from France and Argentina, had been struggling for over a...

In Paris, about 60 countries have signed an international convention protecting people from forced disappearance. Family members of the victims, with support from France and Argentina, had been struggling for over a...

The violin is the instrument par excellence for approximating the human voice. And nobody can do it better than the Indian violinist Kala Ramnath, a gifted performer of North Indian ragas. She can make her instrument...

More handy – and more available – than a Dutch residence permit – The Low Sky is one of a handful of invaluable guides if you’re a newcomer to the Netherlands or simply a Netherphile. It’s...

Almost five years to the day, a battle took place in the town of Tarin Kowt in Southern Afghanistan. In less than three weeks, the successful outcome of the battle in the capital of Uruzgan province led to the fall of...

Mohammed Bouyeri, the man who murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh almost exactly two years ago is serving a life prison sentence, but now questions are being asked about whether the sermon of a Muslim cleric played a...

Mohammed Bouyeri, the man who murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh almost exactly two years ago is serving a life prison sentence, but now questions are being asked about whether the sermon of a Muslim cleric played a...

Bonaire, Saint Eustace and Saba, three small islands in the Caribbean, are to become part of the Netherlands. With this decision the dismantlement of the Netherlands Antilles as a single state within the kingdom of the...

Salman Rushdie is arguably one of the world’s best-known novelists – and was also, for a time, one of the most hated. Back in the late 1980s, his book The Satanic Verses offended Muslims around the world;...

Controversial politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali looks set to leave the Netherlands. The conservative member of parliament will announce later this week that she is to move to the United States where – according to Dutch...

A new report advising the Dutch government to take a softer line on Islam has been met with a wave of criticism. One of its fiercest critics is politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who regularly speaks out against the treatment...

The Dutch authorities must work to establish good relations with the political aspects of Islam. That is the conclusion of a report by the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR). The report, which was...

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is on a State Visit to Argentina from 30 March to 1 April, accompanied by her son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, and his Argentinian-born wife, Princess Maxima. However, just before...

Is it wet or dry in the Netherlands? One of the hundred questions in the exam for migrants from outside the European Union who want to settle in the Netherlands. From now on the exam is obligatory. Newcomers have to...

North Korea refuses to return to negotiation table Revised Patriot Act approved Kofi Annan presents UN reform plans Bombs explode at Hindu site in India Labour and Socialist parties win municipal Dutch elections...

Hundreds of thousands of children are being forced into slavery throughout the world. Children are being sold or trafficked for labour or sexual exploitation in Asia, Africa and Latin America. One country though...

Three elderly Dutch ladies are perched neatly on a sofa in a perfectly neat Dutch living room. Carved wooden clocks tick on the wall and coffee cups and plates of cinnamon cookies sit on side tables. They pass from hand...

Many European countries have started investigations into allegations that CIA aeroplanes, with terrorist detainees as passengers, have been landing at European airports. The story began with disclosures by the...

Ten years and more after conflict fragmented the former Yugoslavia, many thousands of people from the region are still missing. Gradually they are being accounted for, as scientists with the International Commission on...

Ten years and more after conflict fragmented the former Yugoslavia, many thousands of people from the region are still missing. Gradually they are being accounted for, as scientists with the International Commission on...

They’re young, they’re bright and well educated, they speak English and many have experience in bringing down dictators without using violence. Recently, a group of young activists from Eastern Europe and...

The parliament of Kuwait voted this week to give the country’s women full suffrage, meaning they will be able to vote and stand for election. The decision marks the end of a long battle for female voting rights in...

In April 1782, the top story in Dutch newspapers was the decision to officially recognize the United States of America as a sovereign republic. Months of relentless perseverance had finally paid off for John Adams...

These days many of us depend on computers for much of our work and social contact. But would you be willing to wear a computer round the clock if it could enhance your abilities? The potential is there and several...

During the night of 28 March this year, a new website was launched in Ukraine by campaigners calling for the country to become a true democracy. This year’s presidential elections could have proved to be the ideal...