Headscarf rule stays, Muslim school says
December 18, 2005 Leave a Comment
The Islamic College Amsterdam (ICA) announced on Thursday it will ignore the ruling that it cannot insist Muslim women wear a headscarf in order to work as a teacher.
The Equality Commission ruled in November that the ICA was wrong to deprive Samira Haddad, 32, of a teaching job because she refused to cover her head [...]
Netherlands celebrates Rembrandt’s 400th birthday
December 18, 2005 Leave a Comment
Year-long celebrations surrounding the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt van Rijn’s birth began in the Netherlands this week.
Queen Beatrix kicked off the festivities on Wednesday with her official launch of an art exhibition at the De Lakenhal Museum in Leiden, the 17th century master’s hometown.
The exhibit, titled Rembrandt’s Mother: Myth and Reality, has gathered works from [...]
Longer pregnancies produce more boys: study
December 18, 2005 Leave a Comment
Women who take more than a year to conceive are more likely to have a baby boy, according to scientists at the University of Maastricht. [continued...]
Integration of foreign students should be improved
December 18, 2005 Leave a Comment
More lectures in English by Studium Generale, sports activities during the weekends, the international dinners by Tafelstraat 13, and free entrance to the Bonnefanten museum. With these measures, Student Services is trying to improve the integration of foreign students. Student council members at Economics are also sounding the alarm [continued...]
Expatriate community: Italia, dolce patria mia… Maastricht in Italics
December 17, 2005 Leave a Comment
“We are foreigners in Italy and we are foreigners here in Maastricht”, these few words uttered by Carmelo Riggio, co-owner with his brother Bernardo of the Italian restaurant ‘Il Giardino’, simply explain the common feeling of Maastricht’s Italian community. [continued...]
Advice: Netherlands should boost influence on EU decisions
December 14, 2005 Leave a Comment
If the Netherlands wants to remove the lack of confidence among its population regarding Europe, it should not wage information campaigns, but actually exercise more influence on EU decisions. “Government and parliament can and must play a much more active role in EU legislation and regulation,” declares the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV).
The picture [...]
Dutch may regulate marijuana farming
December 14, 2005 Leave a Comment
A broad coalition of political parties unveiled a pilot program last week to regulate marijuana farming on the model of tobacco, which opponents say would be tantamount to legalizing growing the drug.
Under current Dutch policy, marijuana is illegal, but police don’t prosecute for possession of less than one ounce. Under the test program, [...]
Liege tops European crime league
December 12, 2005 Leave a Comment
The Belgian city of Liège is one of Europe’s most crime-hit cities, European Commission figures indicated on 8 December. Liège recorded the highest number of registered crimes per 1,000 residents in 2001, the EC comparative audit revealed.
The audit found that 256 crimes per 1,000 residents were recorded in Liège, placing the Wallonian city at the [...]
Netherlands to contribute towards education for all in Pakistan
December 12, 2005 Leave a Comment
Pakistan can count on the Netherlands’ support for basic education during the coming four years. For 2006 an amount of 35 million US dollars is available. This was announced by the Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation, Mrs. Agnes van Ardenne, at her meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz today. In Pakistan too, all children [...]
Students grants also for studying abroad in future
December 5, 2005 Leave a Comment
Students will in future be able to study abroad more easily with a Dutch grant. From 1 September 2007, they will be able to register directly with a foreign university.
Currently, students can at most do an internship or exchange project abroad while receiving study allowances from the Dutch state. They must then moreover first register [...]
The Mystery of Sinterklaas
December 5, 2005 2 Comments
Sinterklaas? The name may sound familiar but Sinterklaas is actually quite different from the commercial and jolly fat Santa Claus we all know. According to various internet sources[2] Sinterklaas might be related to Bishop Nicholas from Myra (in today’s Turkey), who originally lived in the fourth century. He was well known for his kindness, good heart and modesty and was later on proclaimed a saint. [continued...]
Is the Netherlands expat friendly?
December 1, 2005 Leave a Comment
Complaints by expats in the Netherlands are nothing new, but an internal survey by the International Organisations Staff Associations (IOSA-NL) set the cat among the pigeons recently.
One of the startling findings was that 70 percent of the expat staff of international organisations based here do not want to stay in the Netherlands.
The main [...]
