Dutch diplomat Knippenberg roped in as consultant for ‘Charles & I’

October 8th, 2009 Italian Lamborghini cop car on display in HollandAMSTERDAM — The Dutch are about to learn how Italian police catch speeders. A Lamborghini police car with a top speed of 202 mph (325 kilometers per hour) was en route Thursday — presumably within the speed limits — from Italy to the eastern Dutch city of Ewijk to be the top attraction at a display of Dutch emergency services.

September 5th, 2009 Mom opposes Dutch girl's plan to sail the globeAMSTERDAM — The mother of Dutch teenager Laura Dekker says she is against her daughter's plan to try to sail solo around the world. Babs Muller is quoted in the Volkskrant daily as saying her 13-year-old daughter has the technical ability to complete the voyage but that the teenager is not yet grown-up enough.

August 28th, 2009 Dutch court takes custody of 13-year-old sailorUTRECHT, Netherlands — A Dutch court has put a 13-year-old girl under the temporary care of state authorities, delaying her hopes of becoming the youngest person to sail solo around the world. The court has ordered state child care authorities to take responsibility for Laura Dekker for two months while an independent child psychologist assesses her capacity to undertake the risky voyage.

July 23rd, 2009 Dutch return severed head of Ghana chiefTHE HAGUE, Netherlands — The descendants of an African chief who was hanged and decapitated by a Dutch general 171 years ago reluctantly accepted the return of his severed head Thursday, still angry even as the Dutch tried to right a historic wrong. The head of King Badu Bonsu II was discovered last year in a jar of formaldehyde gathering dust in the anatomical collection of the Leiden University Medical Center.

June 23rd, 2009 Obama, Dutch PM meet in Washington next monthWASHINGTON — The White House says President Barack Obama will be meeting next month with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (YAHN' PAY'-tehr BAHL'-keh-nehn-deh) to discuss bilateral relations and the Netherlands help with the U.S.-led effort to defeat Taliban and al-Qaida forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The White House said Tuesday that the July 14 meeting is designed to build upon the Netherlands significant contributions to the U.S.-directed NATO effort in Afghanistan and it's participation in the alliance training mission in Iraq.

May 1st, 2009 Armed robbers steal paintings from Dutch museumTHE HAGUE, Netherlands — Masked gunmen stole two paintings from a Dutch museum Friday, including a work by surrealist Salvador Dali, officials said. Police said several robbers threatened a guard at the Scheringa Museum for Realism in Spanbroek with a gun before making off with two paintings.

May 1st, 2009 AMSTERDAM - The driver of the car which sped into a crowd watching the Dutch Queen Beatrix, killing five bystanders, has died in a hospital, a TV report said Friday. Thursday's attack - which has stunned the Dutch nation - was captured on film, as the small black car burst through a barrier at high speed, hitting 17 people, killing three men and two women.

April 30th, 2009 AMSTERDAM - Four people were killed Thursday in an attack on the Dutch royal family during a public procession, police said. Film footage showed a small black car career through the crowds and crash into a monument next to an open-top bus carrying Queen Beatrix and other members of the royal family.

April 29th, 2009 LONDON - Actress Elizabeth Hurley will join hands with Prince Charles to launch a range of organic and low fat food. Hurley was inspired to go into the catering business last year after reading dietary advice for women hoping to avoid breast cancer.

April 15th, 2009 VIENNA - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stopped monitoring North Korea's nuclear facilities Wednesday, a diplomat in Vienna said one day after the country announced it would kick out the IAEA inspectors. IAEA inspectors have removed all seals that were in place to verify that North Korea's nuclear programme remains turned off, said the diplomat who did not want to be identified.

March 23rd, 2009 AMSTERDAM - Dutch ING Bank has asked its top 1,200 managers not to accept their bonuses for the year 2008. ING's Jan Hommen, who will formally be appointed as chief executive officer in April, was quoted in Dutch daily newspaper Volkskrant Monday as saying that many managers are prepared not to accept their bonus.

March 12th, 2009 BRASILIA - The Brazilian presidency got stuck in a diplomatic fumble Wednesday when it got wrong the name of Britain's Prince Charles in an official agenda. As the Prince of Wales started a five-day visit to the South American country, the first version of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's agenda mentioned a meeting with 'Charles Philip Arthur Chaves,' according to Brazilian news website G1.

March 4th, 2009 KATHMANDU - The entry of his old foe in the ring once again does not scare yesteryear's super criminal Charles Sobhraj, who says he is ready to take on Bollywood, with or without the diplomat-turned-consultant who has hounded him for years. 'It is just a gimmick,' said the 64-year-old's lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, dismissing reports that Bollywood filmmaker Prawaal Raman is signing up former Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg as a consultant for his upcoming film 'Charles and I', which is speculated to be based on the past life of Sobhraj.

January 25th, 2009 AMSTERDAM - Dutch banking and insurance group ING Monday announced it plans to cut 7,000 jobs and that its chief executive Michel Tilmant is to step down. ING, in a statement, said the job cuts should save 1 billion euros ($1.287 billion).

January 21st, 2009 OSLO - The Norwegian Foreign Ministry distanced itself Wednesday from an e-mail sent by a Norwegian diplomat comparing Israel's offensive in Gaza with events in World War II and the persecution of Jews. 'We have clearly stated that the content does not represent Norway's official view,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Haakon Svane told DPA.