Dutch

The Netherlands has returned a 3,500-year-old Egyptian sculpture to Cairo after Dutch authorities concluded the antiquity had been looted, resurfacing at an art fair in Maastricht in 2022 before being seized. A joint investigation by Dutch police and the cultural heritage inspectorate determined in 2025 that the stone head, originally part of a block statue, had been plundered and unlawfully removed from Egypt, most likely amid the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring, before entering the international art market. Experts believe…

SCHIEDAM, Netherlands — Dutch police arrested two teenage boys as they investigated the death of a 60-year-old man following a suspected assault that may have begun with a dispute over snowballs, authorities said. Emergency services rushed to the scene in the city of Schiedam but were unable to resuscitate the man, who died Monday, police said. Investigators identified the teenagers through CCTV footage and took them into custody for questioning to determine what role they may have played in the incident. “A fight may have…

AMSTERDAM — A massive fire gutted one of Amsterdam’s best-known 19th-century churches during a New Year’s Eve marked by two fireworks deaths and what the Dutch police union called “unprecedented” violence against officers and emergency crews nationwide. The blaze broke out in the early hours at the Vondelkerk, a neo-Gothic landmark that has stood beside the city’s Vondelpark since 1872 and is a frequent stop for tourists. Amsterdam officials said the church’s 50-meter (164-foot) tower collapsed and the roof was badly…