Koji Watanabe / Getty Images
Members of the Netherlands team celebrate winning the World Baseball Classic Second Round Pool 1 game against Cuba at the Tokyo Dome on March 11, 2013 in Tokyo, Japan.
Robin Utrecht / AFP - Getty Images
Snow covered containers create a pattern in the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Jan. 15. Most of Holland is covered by a thick white layer after one night of snow.
Koen Van Weel / EPA
Members of the cavalry practice at the beach in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, on Sept. 17. The horses and riders are tested with gunfire, music and smoke in preparation for tomorrow's parade in The Hague, including the Queen in the Golden Carriage who will pronounce the Speech from the Throne, one of the main features of government policy for the coming parliamentary session.
Koen Van Weel / EPA
Members of the cavalry at the beach in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, Sept. 17.
Cavalry will participate in the Prinsjesdag (Prince's Day) ceremonies which is when the monarch of the Netherlands (Queen Beatrix) officially opens the new session of the Dutch Parliament and addresses a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Queen will ride in a golden carriage to the ceremonies and for the duration of the parade, the horse artillery will fire a salute every minute. The Queen's address is given every year on the third Tuesday in September.
Vincent Jannink / EPA
Citizens of the village of Marle cast their ballot in the living room of the Westhoff family in the Netherlands, Sept. 12. The Westhoffs' house has been home to the smallest polling station for Dutch general elections since 1948. View more photos from the Netherlands on PhotoBlog.
Catrinus Van Der Veen / EPA
The solar boat Antwerp Maritime Academy from Belgium passes the village Kimswerd during the Dong Energy Solar Challenge in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, July 13. During the fourth edition of the six-day solar-sailing race, boats will pass the province Friesland. The route of the race is the same as the well known ice-skating race past the eleven Frisian cities, the Elfstedentocht.
Catrinus Van Der Veen / AFP - Getty Images
A solar boat from Maasdijk (Netherlands) sails from Arum to Harlingen during the Dong Energy Solar Challenge held in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, on July 13. The solar boats have to pass a distance of 136 miles (220 kilometres) in six days.
Catrinus Van Der Veen / EPA
The solar boat Midnight Sun from Finland passes the village Kimswerd during the Dong Energy Solar Challenge in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, July 13.
The official website of the competition says, "the greatest challenge is to show that you do not need to live in a sun-drenched tropical country to be able to generate and apply solar power."
Participants include universities, schools and companies from all over the world to compete in the most innovative solar-boating race in the world. The course has been extented since its first debuted in 2006 as the boats have become faster. The competition wraps up on Saturday. Prizes will be given for best design, innovation, bad luck and fair play. More information about following the race can be found on their website.
Kim Ludbrook / EPA
A Netherlands national soccer team fan gets soaked with water in the fan zone in central Kharkiv, Ukraine, hours before the Netherlands' UEFA EURO 2012 Group B preliminary round against Germany, Wednesday.
Racist chants during a training session and a loss to Denmark last week have not dampened the spirits of Netherlands fans ahead of this afternoon's game against Germany. Defeating Germany is even more important now to keep the Dutch competitive in the tournament. For a preview of today's game, check out NBC Sports.
Jerry Lampen / EPA
The Netherlands national soccer team fans arrive at a metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine, to join fans in the fan zone hours before their UEFA EURO 2012 Group B preliminary round against Germany Wednesday.
Jerry Lampen / EPA
The Netherlands national soccer team fans arrive at a metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine, before their UEFA EURO 2012 Group B preliminary round against Germany on Wednesday.
Kim Ludbrook / EPA
The Netherlands national soccer team fans enjoy the atmosphere in the fan zone in central Kharkiv before their game against Germany.
Erik van't Woud / EPA
An ultra-efficient vehicle driven by a Spanish team drives the course of the Shell Eco-marathon in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on May 17. During the event students from all over Europe test their accumulated knowledge of energy-efficient driving with cars that can drive as far as possible on minimal fuel.
Erik Van't Woud / EPA
An Italian team works on their vehicle during the Shell Eco-marathon in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on May 17.
Jiri Buller / AP
A vehicle running on solar power races on day two of the Shell Eco-marathon Challenge in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on Thursday, May 17. Teams from universities all over Europe have brought their energy efficient cars to compete in the challenge.
Frank Van Beek / EPA
Melanie Schultz van Haegen-Maas Geesteranus, Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Enviroment, drives Wubbo Ockels Superbus in Valkenburg, The Netherlands on 15 May 2012 after the RWD, the institution that provides the registration of motor vehicles, provided the registration for the bus. The Superbus project aims to develop high speed coaches capable of speeds of up to 250 kilometres per hour (160 mph) together with the supporting infrastructure including special highway lanes constructed separately next to the nation's highways.
Frank Van Beek / EPA
Melanie Schultz van Haegen-Maas Geesteranus (L), Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Enviroment and Dutch physicist Wubbo Ockels (R) sit inside Ockels' Superbus in Valkenburg.
Frank Van Beek / EPA
Melanie Schultz van Haegen-Maas Geesteranus, Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Enviroment places a license plate on Wubbo Ockels' Superbus in Valkenburg.
According to the project's web site, the bus is electrically powered and weighs 20,000 lbs.
Michael Kooren / Reuters
A mosaic made up of thousands of portraits of people who completed the Elfstedentocht eleven cities tour is seen on the Elfstedenbrug (Eleven City Bridge), in Lekkum on Wednesday.
Catrinus Van Der Veen / EPA
Dutch army is deployed on the alternative route of the Eleven Cities Tour (Elfstedentocht) to prepare the alternative route over the Hegemer lake in Woudsend on Wednesday. The Eleven Cities Tour, at almost 200 km, is the world's largest speed skating competition and leisure skating tour, and is held in the province of Friesland, Netherlands only when the ice along the entire course is 15 cm thick.
Peter Dejong / AP
Skaters ride a stretch of the 11 Cities Tour itinerary as they pass through the village of Hindeloopen, northern Netherlands, on Wednesday.
Paul Raats / AFP - Getty Images
The Dutch army is deployed on the alternative route of the Eleven Cities Tour (Elfstedentocht) to make the alternative route over the Hegemer lake in Woudsend, Netherlands, free from snow.
Catrinus Van Der Veen / EPA
A worker wearing skates measures, by means of radar beam, the thickness of the ice at a canal in Balk, a village in the route of the Eleven Cities Tour.
Thousands of men and women have been preparing feverishly for the race: to participate, one must be a member of the Elfstedentocht association, and out of more than 30,000 members, only about 16,000 skaters are allowed to compete.
They set off from Leeuwarden in staggered batches of several hundred skaters, the first ones at 5.00 a.m. in the winter dark, while the last lot bring up the rear at about 10 a.m.
Read more in the full story from Reuters.
Catrinus Van Der Veen / AFP - Getty Images
People skate on ice near Lytse Wielen, in the north of the Netherlands, on Jan. 31, 2012. Weather forecasters predict a week with winter snow and temperatures around freezing.
While much of western Europe is experiencing cold temperatures the real extremes are further east, where dozens of people have died of hypothermia in recent days. See more images from the European winter on PhotoBlog.
Patrick Semansky / AP
Winter has arrived in the Northern hemisphere. Take in the sights from North America, Europe and Asia.
Robin Utrecht / AFP - Getty Images
Dutch Queen Beatrix meets Oman's Sultan Qaboos at the city gate in Muscat, Oman on Jan. 10, 2012.
I'd like to think she's saying "Well, you should see my palace."
Marco De Swart / EPA
A view of downtown Dordrecht as the high water level in the Netherlands city reached its peak at 03:00 am CET on Jan. 6, 2012. The northern Dutch provinces were hit by strong winds and heavy rainfall in the last several days.
Marco De Swart / AFP - Getty Images
Water laps around a window in Dordrecht on Jan. 6, 2012. The authorities ordered the evacuation of about 800 people living in the north of the country fearing heavy rains could cause a dike to collapse, police said.
Koen Van Weel / EPA
Sandbags near a leaking dike at Eemskanaal (a canal) in Woltersum, Groningen, on Jan. 6, 2012.
The Associated Press reports from THE HAGUE, Netherlands:
Police and military personnel began evacuating 800 people from four villages in the low-lying northern Netherlands on Friday amid fears of a dike break following days of drenching rains.
Authorities said that a section of the dike along a major canal could give way and submerge hundreds of hectares (acres) of land under up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) of water.
"The chance is small" the dike will break, said Yvonne van Mastrigt, chairman of the regional policy team that ordered the evacuation. "But in the interests of security of people and livestock I must take this decision." Continue reading.
See more pictures in Thursday's report on PhotoBlog: Floodwaters rise as Dutch watch and wait
E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS