David Levitz

Dutch Daily Briefing · Episodes

Albert Heijn Restocks, Police Want a Complaint, and Your IND Permit

Albert Heijn's distribution centres are running again, and police and prosecutors are publicly urging its parent company to report the cyberattack. A new law also ends IND late-decision payouts for skilled migrants, students and family members, and ASML says it can't build chip machines fast enough. Also today: unrest over a bonfire in Amsterdam-Noord, a US-requested server seizure, the plan to phase out dolphins at the Dolfinarium, a White House loan to the Van Gogh Museum, the fight over the real Limburgse vlaai, and what's on in Amsterdam this weekend.

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Thursday, 15 October 2026 · 15 min

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  • Albert Heijn: shelves refilling, police want a complaint: All distribution centres are running again, but online ordering, the app and customer service remain down with no return date. (NU.nl, NOS)
  • ASML’s record quarter: The chip-machine maker made nearly €5 billion net profit on €11.7 billion sales, with customers already ordering for 2029. (DutchNews.nl, NOS)
  • IND payouts end for skilled migrants, students and families: A planned law means late IND decisions on regular residence permits will no longer earn applicants daily court-ordered penalty payments. (DutchNews.nl)
  • Riot police in Floradorp over a bonfire: Residents in Amsterdam-Noord threw stones and fireworks at firefighters after Mayor Halsema rejected their New Year’s bonfire plan; three were arrested. (NOS, NU.nl)
  • Starter loans running dry: Advisers say rising house prices mean first-time buyers now need €30,000–40,000 loans, and Goes has already exhausted its 2026 budget. (NU.nl)
  • Amsterdam police seize a server for the U.S.: The server belongs to Italian activist collective Autistici/Inventati, which Washington designated a terrorist organisation in August. (NL Times, Het Parool)
  • A breeding ban for dolphins: The cabinet wants it within two years to phase out captive dolphins, while the 22 in Harderwijk live out their lives. (DutchNews.nl, NU.nl)
  • The White House lends Amsterdam a Whistler: Whistler’s ‘Nocturne’ joins ‘Whistler’s Mother’ in the Van Gogh Museum’s 100-work show, the first Whistler retrospective in the Netherlands. (NL Times)
  • Limburg defends the real vlaai: The province is paying up to €100,000 for a bakers’ campaign explaining the vlaai’s EU-protected status and baking rules. (NU.nl)

What’s on in Amsterdam (Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October 2026)

  • Fanfare Ciocărlia: This Roma brass band from northeastern Romania has played dance-ready ‘Ottoman funk’ since the late nineties; no Dutch needed. (Saturday 17 October, 19:30, Melkweg, Leidsebuurt (Centrum))
  • Mo Gilligan: The Mo You Know World Tour: BAFTA-winning British comedian Mo Gilligan brings his biggest world tour yet to Amsterdam for an English-language show. (Friday 16 October, 20:00–21:30, Conference Theater Amsterdam, Houthavens (Westerpark))
  • Martine Gutierrez: Wunderkind: American artist Martine Gutierrez shows performative self-portraits beside childhood toys at a canal-house photography museum. (Through Sunday 18 October, Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, Grachtengordel (Centrum))
  • TCS Amsterdam Marathon: Runners from over 130 countries take part on Sunday, and spectators can cheer along the Amstel or in Vondelpark. (Saturday 17 October, 09:00–21:00 (Amsterdam City Walk); Sunday 18 October, 09:00–17:00 (races), Olympic Stadium Amsterdam, Zuid, with the course passing the Rijksmuseum, Vondelpark and the Amstel)
  • The Art of Drinks: Winemakers, brewers and distillers offer tastings alongside talks on sake, mezcal and whisky, then Disco Bingo and a silent disco. (Saturday 17 October, 15:00–22:00, De Kromhouthal, Amsterdam-Noord)

More on in Amsterdam

  • Ólafur Arnalds - Falling Apart Together: Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds plays a hybrid concert blending neoclassical and electronic music. (Thu 15 Oct, At various times, The Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam)
  • The art of swimming: The rotating artists’ group PhArt shows assemblages, drawings, paintings and spatial works inspired by Franz Kafka. (12:00 - 18:00, NDSM Fuse, opening)
  • Silent Flood: This documentary follows a closed, Amish-like religious community on Ukraine’s Dniester river during Russia’s invasion, without showing combat. (At various times, De Balie)

Also in the news

  • Auditors: €9.5bn needed to make roads and railways war-ready (DutchNews.nl)
  • UWV scraps €55m IT project after five years: The benefits agency is dropping a job-matching system for employers and jobseekers because it didn’t meet expectations. (NU.nl, NOS)
  • Women in post-WWII internment camps suffered severe sexual violence: NIOD found testimonies showing guards raped, tortured and humiliated thousands of Dutch women held as suspected collaborators. (NOS)
  • ‘Bullet Train’ wins seventh team-sprint world title; Wiebes takes scratch gold again: Van den Berg, Lavreysen and Hoogland beat Australia in Shanghai, while Wiebes won her third straight scratch world title. (NOS)