Netherlands

The Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management has unveiled a car plan that aims to "give more space" to cars, mainly because they have become "cleaner, quieter and safer"

Children from poor families have a better chance of moving out of poverty if they catch up on language deficits, are well nourished and eat healthier food, said Office of Social and Cultural Planning

Dutch national railway posted operating losses for €304 million in 2022, despite revenue rising by over a third to 3 billion; the railway was plagued with performance issues: 8% trains were late and delays led to €5,4 million in refunds

Police arrested three men suspected of hacking computer systems of organizations, extorting their management and trading in stolen private data belonging to tens of millions of people causing millions of euros worth of damage

Smoking cannabis in public will be banned in Amsterdam's red-light district from mid-May, as part of a series of policies aimed at reducing nuisance for residents, with tightened rules on alcohol sales and earlier closing times for bars and brothels

The government needs to be more transparent about how the billions of euro in funds allocated to combating climate change will be used, states the Court of Auditors in a letter to the parliament

War in Ukraine and growing numbers of migrants coming to the Netherlands have increased the urgency to create new housing, the Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning wrote in an action plan sent to the House of Representatives

The government has earmarked €11 million for an 'action plan' against sexual harassment and violence, saying that 22% of women and 6% of men have been victims of sexual violence

In 2022, the Dutch population grew almost twice as fast as in the previous year, Statistics Netherlands reports; with birth and death rates remaining virtually unchanged, the population growth can be entirely attributed to foreign immigration

An extreme right-wing group calling itself White Lives Matter has claimed responsibility for projecting racist slogans on the Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam during the New Year festivities

Labour Party and GroenLinks withdrew some of their objections to the government's plans to reform the pension system, paving the way for the legislation to be passed in the Senate

The country is confident that it will meet the national gas storage targets set by the European Commission to ensure security of supply next winter