Dutch news in brief, 10 April 2006

MSN has 80pc share of Dutch market

There are almost 5.8 million active users of Microsoft’s instant messaging service MSN in the Netherlands, according to the Webwereld website. It is estimated 90 percent of young people under the age of 20 regularly use MSN. Half of the people aged 20 to 35 use it , as do 40 percent of those aged 35 to 49. Microsoft has a 50 percent share of the worldwide market for instant messaging, while it controls 80 percent of the market in the Netherlands. Webwereld estimates 50 million MSN chats take place in the Netherlands every day and 2,000 new users sign up to the service on a daily basis. Webwereld did not include use of MSN in the workplace in its study. It is estimated, however, that at least 10 percent of firms in the Netherlands allow their employees to use MSN. Some of the rival services include Skype and Yahoo! messenger.

Underwear runner fined

A 23-year-old resident of Amsterdam was fined EUR 110 at the weekend for running on the hard shoulder of the A2 motorway while dressed only in a sweater, gym shoes and underwear. The man, who was not carrying an identity card either, told police he ran over the hard shoulder at Ouder Amstel because there was no traffic coming at the time. His mother came to the police station to identify him.

Fatal fall was an accident

A man, 22, died as a result of an accidental fall from the 12th floor of a flat complex in Zeist on Friday night, a police spokesperson said on Monday. Two women and a man arrested shortly after the incident were released on Sunday evening. They had called the police after the victim had allegedly assaulted one of the women. When the police arrived, the man tried to escape by climbing down the drainpipe but he fell.

Match halted by attack on referee

An amateur football match between fifth-round clubs ZTS and AFC’34 in Zaandam was halted eight minutes before time on Saturday after the referee was struck in the back with a wrench. A 20-year-old player was arrested. The referee was attacked after he had shown the yellow card to eight ZTS players and sent off two of the team’s players. Suddenly, the attacker, who had been substituted at half time, ran on to the pitch and hit the referee. The home-side was losing 0-3 to Alkmaar’s AFC’34 at the time.

Albert Heijn withdraws make-up remover

Supermarket group Albert Heijn has withdrawn its own brand make-up remover (125 ml). Consumers who have already bought the product have been warned not to use it and to return it to an Albert Heijn store to get their money back. A solvent found its way into the make-up remover during the production process.

Subject: Dutch news