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Dutch National Railways is introducing emergency plastic bags for passengers to urinate in as part of its first-aid provision on some commuter trains. Spokesman Jeroen von Geusau told the BBC "wee bags" would be installed on commuter trains without toilets. He said the bags were for use in emergencies such as power failures. "When you have to wait three or four hours on a train, then it is quite logical you have some people aboard who need to go to a restroom," he said. "It is like when a plane is circling above London for two hours." About 16% of...

For centuries, almost all carrots were yellow, white or purple. But in the 17th century, most of those crunchy vegetables turned orange. Why? It may have to do with Dutch politics. Next Nature explains: In the 17th century, Dutch growers cultivated orange carrots as a tribute to William of Orange – who led the the struggle for Dutch independence – and the color stuck. A thousand years of yellow, white and purple carrot history was wiped out in a generation.Although some scholars doubt if orange carrots even existed prior to the 16th century....

NORTH BRABANT, Netherlands, August 24, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Dutch priest is standing his ground after following directives from the country’s bishops that anyone who opts for euthanasia is not entitled to a church funeral, according to Radio Netherlands. Father Norbert van der Sluis, from the parish of Liempde in North Brabant, denied the Catholic rite of funeral to a man who ended his life through euthanasia, reports ANP. Van der Sluis said that he felt bound to uphold the rules which the Dutch bishops have agreed upon. “When it comes to euthanasia, my answer has to be no,” he...

UPDATE 1 — North Korea releases Dutch stamp dealer accused of subversive activities By BNO News PYONGYANG/UTRECHT (BNO NEWS) -- North Korea on Saturday released a Dutch stamp dealer after he was earlier accused of subversive activities during a business trip to the country, a family friend told Dutch media on Sunday. Willem van der Bijl, 59, who is the owner of a post stamp collection shop in the Dutch city of Utrecht, traveled to the Asian country in early July to buy North Korean stamps and paintings. He was scheduled to fly back to the Netherlands on July 30...

Missing Dutch tourist appears in North Korean newspaper By BNO News PYONGYANG (BNO NEWS) -- A Dutch tourist who has gone missing during a business trip to North Korea appeared in a state-run newspaper on Wednesday to praise the country's recent elections. Willem van der Bijl, 59, who is the owner of a post stamp collection shop in the Dutch city of Utrecht, traveled to the Asian country in early July to buy North Korean stamps and paintings. He was scheduled to fly back to the Netherlands on July 30 but never took the flight. A report from the state-run...

Dutch Jews are beginning to wonder what's coming next after the lower house of the Netherlands parliament voted Tuesday to approve a ban on ritual slaughter of animals for kosher and halal meat. The bill, sponsored by the country's Animal Rights Party, stipulates that livestock must be stunned before slaughter. In Jewish law, meat must by prepared through ritual slaughter before it can be declared kosher. Likewise, Islam requires similar procedures for halal meat but does not prohibit slaughter after stunning. A possible loophole in the new law – which has yet to pass the upper house of the parliament...

Okay. So it’s too late for some fried brains – but better late than never. From Reuters: Now, a Dutch commission has found that hashish and marijuana on sale in the Netherlands contain around 18 percent of THC, the main psychoactive substance, and advised the health minister that anything above 15 percent put drugs on a par with heroin or cocaine. “I've been very worried for years about the THC concentration, especially if it is so high. We will take a serious look at it," Health Minister Edith Schippers told public broadcaster NOS. “The addictive consequences are much stronger and...

The Dutch government says it will abandon the long-standing model of multiculturalism that has encouraged Muslim immigrants to create a parallel society within the Netherlands. A new integration bill which Dutch Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner presented to parliament on June 16, reads: "The government shares the social dissatisfaction over the multicultural society model and plans to shift priority to the values of the Dutch people. In the new integration system, the values of the Dutch society play a central role. With this change, the government steps away from the model of a multicultural society." The letter continues: "A more...

AMSTERDAM (AP) - The Dutch Catholic Church and the Salesian order are investigating revelations that a Salesian priest served on the board of a group that promotes pedophilia with the full knowledge of his boss. The order's top official in the Netherlands, Delegate Herman Spronck, confirmed in a statement that the priest - identified by RTL Nieuws as 73-year-old "Father Van B." - served on the board of "Martijn," a group that campaigns to end the Dutch ban on adult-child sex. The group is widely reviled but not outlawed. "Of course we reject this and distance ourselves from this personal...

It’s amazing some of the things you can learn from Twitter. This headline showed up, I clicked the link, and I learned that kosher and halal aren’t just about a religious figure blessing the food. It’s about taking a sharp knife and slashing open an animal’s veins and then watching it die while spurting blood everywhere. NOTE: the following is what passes for “fair and balanced” reporting in Europe: "AMSTERDAM – One of Europe’s first countries to allow Jews to practice their religion openly may soon pass a law banning centuries-old Jewish and Muslim traditions on the ritual slaughter of...

Dutch marines have killed two suspected Somali pirates and captured 16 others, the Dutch defence ministry says. The alleged pirates were captured in an operation to free a hijacked Iranian fishing boat off the coast of Somalia. The marines came under fire when they approached the fishing boat, the ministry said. The suspected pirates are being questioned on board a Dutch warship which is taking part in a Nato anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. Ten suspected pirates were caught as they tried to escape in a high-speed vessel and six were detained on the fishing boat. It is...

230 child victims of abuse and arrested 184 suspects, boylover.net, based in Amsterdam, had up to 70,000 members

FOX and Friends discusses the suggestion by a Dutch bishop that Christians start calling God 'Allah'.

Libyan state TV has aired footage of three detained Dutch marines who were captured along with their helicopter by forces loyal to leader Moammar Kadafi near the Kadafi-stronghold of Sirte on Sunday as they reportedly were carrying out a mission to evacuate two Europeans. The Dutch Defense Ministry insists the crew was simpy carrying out a "consular evacuation" -- a claim that Libya seems to find dubious. On Friday, Libya's Al-Jamahiriyah TV broadcast a video report showing the helicopter crew of three, including one woman, sitting in a room.

Talks are under way to free a Dutch helicopter crew captured in Libya trying to evacuate foreign citizens, the Netherlands' defence ministry says. The three marines landed their Lynx near the port of Sirte on Sunday, flying in from the Dutch warship Tromp, which is anchored off the Libyan coast. "Intensive negotiations" were under way, a ministry spokesman said. The ministry was in contact with the marines who were "doing well under the circumstances", he added. "We hope they will be released as quickly as possible," Otte Beeksma told the Associated Press news agency. Asked if the Dutch government considered...

It has been argued that Ronald Reagan was a myth himself, a construct of his own and other people's imaginings, rather than an extraordinary American about whom some untruths are told... in private a person of no ego and little charisma, in public a statesman of formidable purpose. 1. He was a bad actor... 2. He was but a movie-set soldier in World War II. It's true that Reagan spent virtually all the war years flying a desk at the First Motion Picture Unit, USAAF, in Culver City. But that hardly means he did not passionately want to fight for...

The Netherlands accused Iran yesterday of not meeting normal standards of civilised behaviour for not allowing relatives to bury a Dutch-Iranian woman executed last month, and recalled its ambassador to Iran. Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said the Dutch ambassador to Tehran was being recalled in protest at the case of 45-year-old Zahra Bahrami, who Iran said it hanged in Tehran on January 29 for drug smuggling. Instead of the normal procedure of handing over the body to family members for burial, Bahrami’s remains were taken 400km from Tehran and interred with no relatives present.

A Somali who attacked the home of a Danish cartoonist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad has been jailed for nine years by a Danish court. Mohamed Geele, 29, was convicted on Thursday of attempted murder and terrorism after his attack last year on Kurt Westergaard, 75. Mr Westergaard avoided injury by sheltering in a panic room ....[SNIP]............ Living in the city of Aalborg, he was involved in a youth club, where he became a role model for others, former club worker Nuuradiin Hussein said. "He was one of my favourite boys at the club," said Mr Hussein, now a social...

The Dutch government has frozen all contacts with Iran in protest over the hanging of a Dutch-Iranian woman. The Dutch foreign ministry said it was "shocked, shattered by this act by a barbaric regime". Sahra Bahrami, aged 46, was hanged for drug smuggling early on Saturday, Iranian officials said. Her family accuses Tehran of fabricating the case against her after she was detained for taking part in anti-government protests in 2009.

Last year, I attended the Dutch trial of the century: that of Geert Wilders, leader of the third-largest party in the Dutch parliament. Sparking the charges against Wilders were about 50 statements that he had made about Islam. Three of the most widely circulated, from newspaper columns that Wilders wrote, will give an idea of the rest: “The heart of the problem is the fascist nature of Islam, the sick ideology of Allah and Mohammed as laid down in the Islamic Mein Kampf: the Koran”; “We have a huge problem with Muslims which crosses boundaries in every field, and we...