The Amsterdam Herald

Linesman who died after being attacked at amateur game may have had medical condition

Photo by Thomas

A forensic report has cast doubt over the cause of death of a football linesman who was beaten and kicked at an amateur game.

Richard Nieuwenhuizen, 41, died in hospital a day after he was set upon by a group of teenagers in Almere, Flevoland. Six youths and a 50-year-old man are due to appear at a court hearing next week accused of being involved in his death.

But a report commissioned by one of the suspects’ defence lawyers has found that Mr Nieuwenhuizen’s death may have been due to a pre-existing condition.

Read more: Linesman who died after being attacked at amateur game may have had medical condition

Johan Cruyff's childhood home in Amsterdam goes up for sale

Photo by Daniel Julià Lundgren

The house where footballing legend Johan Cruyff lived as a child is being put up for sale, prompting calls for it to be turned into a museum.

The property at Akkerstraat 32, on the corner with Tuinbouwstraat, doubled as his father’s vegetable shop when the young Johan lived there in the 1950s.

The house is a few streets away from Ajax’s former De Meer stadium, where Cruyff would go on to make his name with the great European Cup-winning side of the early 1970s.

Read more: Johan Cruyff's childhood home in Amsterdam goes up for sale

Dutch processed meat to contain 10 per cent less salt after new standards agreed

Photo by Meg Williams

Dutch meat will contain around 10 per cent less salt in two years’ time after producers agreed a new set of standards with supermarkets.

The Dutch Meat Manufacturers’ Association (VNV) said a deal had been reached following talks with retailers, although it still needs to be approved by members.

Health minister Edith Schippers had threatened to impose legal standards if the industry failed to reduce the salt and fat content of its products voluntarily.

Read more: Dutch processed meat to contain 10 per cent less salt after new standards agreed

Police resume digging at campsite where Polish woman's body was found last year

Photo by Bas Bogers

Police have carried out further investigations at a campsite where the body of a missing Polish woman was found buried last year.

Paulina Starcewska had been missing for 10 years until her remains were dug up at Het Rietveen campsite in Landsmeer, near Amsterdam, following a tip-off from England.

The site of her grave was revealed when police questioned a Polish couple over a domestic disturbance outside their home in Dudley, near Birmingham, last May.

Read more: Police resume digging at campsite where Polish woman's body was found last year

Deal struck in Maastricht that could let tourists back into cannabis cafes

Photo by Shirley de Jong

Maastricht’s mayor Onno Hoes has reached a compromise with the city council that could see foreigners allowed back into coffeeshops.

The deal is aimed at ending a long-running dispute in the city over the regulation of the cannabis cafes which has led to a series of police raids over the last two weeks.

Two weeks ago coffeeshop owners said they would no longer turn away Belgian and German visitors in an explicit challenge to Hoes’s policy of only allowing Dutch residents in.

Read more: Deal struck in Maastricht that could let tourists back into cannabis cafes

Doctor files police complaint over claims asylum seeker was assaulted in custody

Photo by Indigo Jones

A doctor has filed an official complaint over the treatment of an asylum seeker who went on hunger strike last week while detained in custody.

Elcke Bonsen claimed the man from Guinea, known as Bah, had suffered head injuries, including a bruise to his forehead cut to his right cheek, while detained in Vught.

Bonsen said the injuries could not have been self-inflicted because Bah is in an isolation cell, where sharp objects are not allowed. The Dutch justice ministry did not respond to the allegation but has strongly denied previous claims of mistreatment.

Read more: Doctor files police complaint over claims asylum seeker was assaulted in custody

Fears grow for missing ex-volleyball star Ingrid Visser in Spain

Photo from Facebook appeal page

The family of Dutch volleyball star Ingrid Visser are growing increasingly concerned after she and her partner went missing while on holiday in Spain.

The 35-year-old checked into a hotel with Lodewijk Severein, the former Dutch volleyball team manager, in Murcia in the south-eastern corner of the country on Monday afternoon.

The couple were last seen leaving the hotel on Tuesday morning for an appointment, but have not made contact with their families since.

Read more: Fears grow for missing ex-volleyball star Ingrid Visser in Spain

Anouk: 'Don't send amateurs to compete in Eurovision'

Photo by Sebastiaan ter Burg

After finishing a creditable ninth in the Eurovision Song Contest, Anouk has called on Dutch broadcasters to continue using professional musicians in the competition.

The 38-year-old was the first Dutch act to reach the final in nine years and secured the best finishing position since 1999 with her song Birds.

In previous years the TROS broadcasting service, which has the rights to show Eurovision, selected the entry through a domestic song contest.

Read more: Anouk: 'Don't send amateurs to compete in Eurovision'

Bodies found in drainage pipe believed to be missing brothers Ruben and Julian

Photo by Amber Alert Nederland

Police believe that two bodies found in a canal near Zeist are the remains of two young brothers who have not been seen since their father’s suicide two weeks ago.

Formal identification could take days, but police said items found with the bodies, such as clothing, connect them with the missing boys Ruben, 9, and Julian, aged 7.

A massive search spanning a 180-kilometre stretch of the country was launched after their father, Jeroen Denis, was found dead in Het Doornse Gat, Utrecht province, on May 7. He had taken his own life.

Read more: Bodies found in drainage pipe believed to be missing brothers Ruben and Julian

How asylum seekers and Bulgarian fraudsters threatened to tear Rutte's coalition apart

By Nicola Chadwick (@amsternic)

Normally a two-week recess in the Dutch Parliament would mean all is quiet in The Hague. But Mark Rutte’s cabinet has once again found itself between a rock and a hard place.

The marriage of convenience between the Liberals (VVD) and the Labour Party (PvdA) has narrowly scraped over one hurdle only to be greeted by the next. So far, the coalition partners have agreed to disagree and support each other through thick and thin. But how long can they keep it up?

Labour leader Diederik Samsom was forced to defend the coalition’s position on criminalising illegal immigrants at party meetings across the country while he personally disagreed with the measure; VVD Deputy Finance Minister Frans Weekers has had to explain to parliament why he was unaware about a huge Bulgarian fraud scam. Both have survived so far, but neither case does anything to restore waning public confidence in government.

Read more: How asylum seekers and Bulgarian fraudsters threatened to tear Rutte's coalition apart