musiclover

The Orthodox Jewish community of Amsterdam reinstated its chief rabbi, Aryeh Ralbag, on Thursday after briefly suspending him last month for having co-signed a statement in which homosexuality was described as an inclination from which one can be “healed.” More >

The Orthodox Jewish community of Amsterdam suspended its US-born chief rabbi on Tuesday for cosigning a declaration which said homosexuality was a “treatable” inclination.

Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that he found it “scandalous that a chief rabbi cannot state the Torah viewpoint for his community without being penalized.”

Dutch financial services group ING (ING.AS) cut a target for its bank unit and said another would take longer to achieve than expected due to bank taxes and higher capital requirements, which could also delay the repayment of remaining state aid it owes. More >

Amsterdam police say they arrested 14 protestors during an operation to remove some of the tents belonging to the Occupy Beursplein movement.

On Tuesday, the Amsterdam authorities told the Occupy activists that they had until Thursday morning to give 75 percent of the Beursplein back to ‘ordinary Amsterdammers’ and improve the fire safety, sanitary and hygiene measures throughout the rest of the protest camp.

Experts have reclassified a painting as a Rembrandt after years of attributing it to one of the Dutch master’s students.

Ernst van de Wetering of the Rembrandt Research Project said Friday that X-ray analysis of “Bearded Old Man” has revealed outlines of a self-portrait of Rembrandt as a young man underneath. More >

Around a hundred wineries from eleven countries-Argentina, Australia, Chile, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa and Uruguay, will be presenting their wines at the event which has now closed its registration- a testimonial to the quality of participation and not to sell as much space for the event by the organisers as they can. More >

Amsterdam packs a no nonsense solid cultural punch, loaded with 50-plus museums ranging from world-famous collections to lesser-known hidden treasures.

The first-time I visited, I wanted to take in some of the most famous such as Rijksmuseum, Hermitage, Stedelijk and Van Gogh, but it was the simple, almost austere Anne Frank House that provided the most moving experience for me, given the heartbreaking circumstances of this young girl who died at 15 after writing her famous diary.