An 84-year-old woman hit her 82-year-old neighbour on the head with an axe on Wednesday morning.
Neighbourly squabbles are usually petty affairs, like asking the musically challenged child next door to practise their instrument a little quieter.
But forget the squeaking violin — this Dutch neighbour in Hellevoetsluis in South Holland took things to a new level, sending her victim to hospital.
A neighbourhood scandal
It’s not clear why (or exactly how) an axe was involved in the alleged scuffle.
But the axe-wielder called Dutch emergency line 112 herself following the incident. She was joined by local residents, who found the elderly victim lying in the street.
Bram, however, still craved more security and harboured the dream of buying the house back. Last year, he seriously looked into it. He had the house appraised and found out it was worth €255,000.
Helaas, that was too much. It looked like his home-owning goals would remain a dream — that is, until last May, when he found out about his late-landlord’s generous gift.
Now, after paying €75,000 inheritance tax — instead of the hundreds of thousands needed to buy it — he gets to watch his children grow up in a home he owns. And it’s all thanks to a woman he had only met once, he tells RTL.
Well, that certainly is a change from the usual Dutch landlord. 🫣
There’s more: Bram might not even be the only lucky one. Apparently, he has been getting calls from other ex-tenants of the rather mysterious Limburg landlord.
All we know about her is that she owned approximately sixteen properties, acquired throughout a lifetime of work in the produce and gardening business.
Having no close family, she made the selfless decision to change some of her tenants’ lives upon her death. Kudos to her!
What do you think of this landlord’s decision? Leave your thoughts on this story in the comments below.
We all know someone who has tried their luck at the self-scan, but one thief decided to scan a singular €0.35 tub of vanilla custard when attempting to steal €1193 worth of groceries at an Albert Heijn in Maarssen last Sunday.
According to NU.nl, the 23-year-old man scanned all of his items at the self-scan checkout but deleted the products before scanning a €0.35 custard dessert instead — that sounds like a great bonus.
Caught in the act
The police certainly thought so, too. The thrifty thief did not get away with his insane korting and was caught in the act after staff in Albert Heijn alerted police to his suspicious scanning.
The police at least saw some humour in the situation, creating an Instagram story of the receipts with the caption “This was his bonus”, referring to the thief’s failed attempt.
Among the items the man attempted to steal were salami, bread, cheese, various shampoos and over 40 other cosmetic products — not a great look if you ask us.
No haul, not even a pudding
The products were returned to the shelves and the man, who has no residence or address, was brought away by police.
Albert Heijn has also filed a report of shoplifting, meaning he will more than likely have to face a judge.
The Netherlands is known for innovative trailblazing, but this time, it might have gone too far. Experts are angry after a Dutch judge used ChatGPT as a source of information for a ruling this summer.
The Gelderland judge asked the AI chatbot a (surprisingly basic) question before including the answer as part of his verdict.
This is the first time ChatGPT has been used in this way in Dutch court, and shocked cyber specialists hope it’s the last, AD reports.
What happened?
The case involved two squabbling neighbours. One added an extra floor to his home, and the other feared this would make his solar panels less efficient. 🤺
Resolving this squabble required some stats — and ChatGPT’s the thing for that.
At least, that’s what the judge thought as he asked the chatbot to determine the average life span of solar panels and the current average price per kilowatt hour of electricity.
The verdict itself reads, “The subdistrict court judge estimates, partly based on ChatGPT, the average lifespan of solar panels from 2009 at 25 to 30 years; that is why this lifespan is set here at 27.5 years”.
The court is keen to emphasise that this did not have a major influence on the outcome of the case. Instead, ChatGPT’s answer was just a guideline to help reach a decision.
“Ridiculous”, “unacceptable”, “so much ignorance”
However, openly using and presenting ChatGPT’s answers as part of a ruling is sparking outrage among experts.
“It is indefensible that a subdistrict court judge bases a compensation award partly on a language computer,” AI specialist Henk van Ess tells AD.
A bus driver who was fired after being headbutted and hit by a colleague has been found to be fairly dismissed in court.
The fight, which came after an argument about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was caught on cameras in the transportation company’s break room.
The verbal confrontation lasted several minutes before the physical altercation broke out between the two men.
The man reportedly fought back after being headbutted and punched, but the judge ruled that “violence between colleagues is unacceptable” and upheld the decision.
Lost on all counts
The man’s employer, Arriva, a public transport company in the Netherlands, wanted to get rid of him. They argued that aggression creates a bad working environment, especially in public transport.
The driver attempted to keep his job, but the sub-district court upheld the decision.
The driver, who was employed at Arriva since April 2023, also demanded €12,000 in severance pay, but only received €309.16 in allowances that were still owed to him.
The two parties were also ordered to pay each other’s legal costs. The employee was ordered to pay €808, whilst Arriva had to pay €678.
On Thursday, a livestream from a seal shelter near Groningen suddenly went viral on X, attracting thousands of views and donations from one country in particular.
Japanese X account @hokahoka_times posted a snippet of the Pieterburen Seal Centre’s 24-hour livestream, inviting followers to tune in.
And the Japanese certainly did. The post was viewed over 19 million times, earning the centre’s livestream ten times the number of views it normally attracts in a day.
The attention surge was so huge that, initially, the centre’s employees feared a cyber-attack, reports NOS.
Turns out, the extraordinary traffic was simply due to a wave of Japanese viewers tuning in to watch the seals, leaving behind a trail of comments, questions, and donations.
In what @hokahoka_times called “kind-hearted cyberterrorism from Japan”, viewers smashed the shelter’s donation button, buying the seals thousands of €5 portions of fish.
This resulted in the shelter making the same amount that it would usually earn within a month in just 24 hours.
The extra income came at a critical time. With no government subsidies and languishing summer visits, the centre was struggling to attract funds, says communications manager Marco Boshoven to RTL.
A lucky encounter with some lucky seals
But why did the centre go viral in Japan of all places?
Aside from being gorgeously rotund, the Pieterburen seals are actually very lucky — and not just because of all the fish they’ve been gifted.
Apparently, in Japan, upright-swimming seals are thought to resemble floating tea leaves, a symbol of good luck.
This explains the seals’ unusual popularity with the Japanese — together with their cuteness, of course!
What is cuter, Pieterburen seals or everyone buying them dinner from across the world? Tell us in the comments below.
A man from Den Bosch will spend up to 18 months in prison after promising two underage girls a free horse if they sent him nude photos.
The 13-year-old and 14-year-old girls independently posted ads on Dutch classified advertising site Marktplaats looking for a horse to borrow.
In October 2023, the 33-year-old man responded to the ads offering a free horse if they sent nude photos and a video of themselves first.
“All my daughter had to do to get the horse was send 15 photos and 1 video of how he asked,” said one of the fathers in court.
One of the girls agreed, and the man then suggested he could take photos and videos of her in a remote place.
Parents take action
Luckily, the parents of both girls stepped in before the transaction was complete. In one case, the father of one of the girls used an old phone number to contact the man.
“That guy started messaging me, and the same week, he wanted to see nude photos. I had to walk around naked like a dog and such,” said the father, according to the court transcript.
The local police were called, and the suspect was arrested near Oisterwijk station, where he was planning on meeting one of the victims.
Previous offender
The man claimed in court that his behaviour was because of excessive alcohol use. Yet, the man was convicted of similar crimes just one year earlier and was still on probation.
Experts warned that without treatment, the chance of repetition is high.
The man has been sentenced to 18 months of prison, of which he will serve a minimum of 8 months. His previous crime sentence was also increased by 16 weeks.
Additionally, he will be treated for alcohol addiction and sexually transgressive behaviour. Finally, his activities on social media will be monitored in the future.
Back in their glory days, the Dutch were busy going around the globe, stealing spices and resources, and creating outposts so they could steal more spices and resources more easily (true efficiency).
As part of their globe-trotting adventures, the Dutch found themselves on the island of Manhattan. There, they initially established a fort called Amsterdam to defend their fur trade business in the area and secure a strategic position at the mouth of the Hudson River.
The area around the fort eventually developed into a settlement called New Amsterdam, which served as the predecessor to modern-day New York.
Historical background
In the 17th century, European powers tried to colonise as much of North America as possible. The Dutch first explored the area back at the beginning of the century. On a boat of the Dutch East India Company servicing Prince Maurice of Nassau, an explorer named Henry Hudson explored the area in search of things to loot.
He did not find spices, but he found something just as fun — beavers. Ah yes, back in the day, beavers, specifically their pelts, were very valuable in Europe. Beavers were also expert dam builders, which the Dutch were interested in.
The Dutch were really into the beavers’ anal glands. Not for perverted things, mind you. The anal glands secreted castoreum, which they used to create perfumes. A bit counter-intuitive, but oh well.
The settlement received municipal rights from its home country in 1653, becoming a full-fledged city. It developed akin to all colonial cities back then — a church was built, fortified walls were designed, houses and windmills constructed, you name it.
The town even welcomed Jewish refugees, one of them being the first Jew to own property in North America.
Another interesting fact about the city is that it was extensively documented compared to other settlements in the New World. The Castello Plan captured a detailed layout of the city in cartography.
The plan showcases the city in all of its detail. By cross-referencing with archival information from the time, it’s even possible to determine who lived in each house.
The Castello Plan — the area where New Amsterdam used to be and where the financial district in Manhattan is nowadays. Image: John Wolcott Adams/Wikimedia Commons/Public domain
However, as geopolitics went back then, New Amsterdam did not stay Dutch for long.
The English takeover
In 1664, England and the Dutch Republic were at peace. That did not stop a couple of English frigates from entering the port of New Amsterdam and demanding the surrender of the city and the broader New Netherland province.
That also kickstarted the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch capitulated, and New Amsterdam got renamed New York in 1665, after the Duke of York.
During the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1673, the Dutch managed to occupy the city again and renamed it New Orange.
However, with the Treaty of Westminster in 1674, the Dutch returned the city to the Brits, who renamed it New York. The Dutch got Suriname in return, which was of great strategic and resource importance back in the day.
Dutch legacy in New York
Not much is left of New Amsterdam besides archaeological remains. The last house from New Amsterdam that survived in New York was unfortunately destroyed in the mid-19th century. However, the city’s cultural legacy has survived through the form of neo-colonial Dutch architecture.
Example of neo-revival Dutch architecture in New York. Image: Decumanus/Wikimedia Commons/CC3.0
Another clear legacy from New Amsterdam is the street layout, which has remained mostly intact in today’s Manhattan.
Have you noticed the resemblance between Dutch and local New York architecture? Tell us in the comments below!
