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© 2026 DailyDropNo. 11
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, THU., OCT. 15, 2026No. 11 · Morning, 6:00 a.m. CEST6 a.m. CEST
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Economy · CybersecurityPress ✓ 9 outlets · cause and damage not yet confirmed

Albert Heijn restarts its distribution centers, but full shelves are still a while away

After four days of disruption, the country’s largest supermarket chain restarted deliveries to its stores on Wednesday. Fresh products follow on Wednesday evening; the online store remains closed. What happened has not been confirmed.

Albert Heijn slowly came out of the disruption that began on Sunday on Wednesday. The company said that all distribution centers, the large warehouses from which the stores are supplied, were back in operation over the course of Wednesday (NOS, NU.nl, De Telegraaf, Trouw). According to De Telegraaf, the first deliveries of shelf-stable products to the stores had already resumed by then. Delivery of fresh products was to follow on Wednesday evening (AD, De Telegraaf). The app, website and delivery service stayed off, for the fourth day in a row (AD, de Volkskrant). According to the AD, online orders will be delivered at the earliest on Friday; that had already been postponed earlier. As reported earlier, the price screens in the stores did not work on Monday, and the online stores of Etos and Gall & Gall were also closed (NU.nl, De Telegraaf).

That does not mean the shelves are full yet, and recovery will not happen overnight. De Telegraaf cites the expectation that it will take ‘days’ more, and Parool wrote that Albert Heijn had not yet fully got going on Wednesday morning. NU.nl writes that it can take a week before they are full again; the NOS says in a headline that it can take weeks. Employees tried to hide the gaps on the shelves (Omroep Brabant). Customers went elsewhere: childcare workers did their own shopping (NU.nl), a customer called it ‘as busy as at Christmas’ at the competition (De Telegraaf), and Picnic, where the brother of the Ahold boss is in charge, got busier (AD). The AD reports that sales of emergency packs rose fivefold (one source). The food bank in Zwolle received extra food because of the disruption (RTV Oost, one source). On the stock market, the Ahold Delhaize share actually did well on Wednesday (De Telegraaf, one source).

Estimates of the cost differ, and none of them comes from the company: according to the AD at least 10 million euros (experts’ estimate), according to the FD ‘tens of millions per day’. The two figures do not match, so we do not add them up. The company still calls it a cybersecurity incident. Whether there was a break-in has not been confirmed, although NRC and the Volkskrant speak of a cyberattack and hackers in their headlines; that is their interpretation. According to the AD, Albert Heijn did not file a police report, and the police and the Public Prosecution Service invited Ahold Delhaize to do so after all (NOS, AD). Why that did not happen, we do not know. The Volkskrant asks whether the danger has really passed and quotes someone who says: ‘You want to smoke out the hackers.’ Whether that has succeeded, the company has not said. NU.nl and NRC see a warning in the empty shelves: according to NU.nl the Netherlands is vulnerable to cyber incidents, and according to NRC it affects the entire food chain.

Read the full story and DailyDrop’s take
By the numbers
4days in a row without app, website and delivery service (AD)
≥10 mlneuros in damage according to experts (AD); the FD cites ‘tens of millions per day’
5×sales of emergency packs rose fivefold (AD, one source)
Economy · TechnologyPress ✓ 9 outlets · amounts according to the AD

ASML cannot keep up with demand for its chip machines and raises its outlook

ASML, the Brabant company that makes the machines used to print chips, presented its third-quarter figures on Wednesday. The NOS calls them good and expects further growth. De Telegraaf and IEX write that the company is raising its outlook, partly thanks to the large investments in artificial intelligence. Demand is greater than ASML can deliver (AD, NU.nl, de Volkskrant, FD); Reuters reports that this will remain the case in 2027 and 2028. The company wants to increase production further (FD, Trouw); according to Trouw the world is crying out for chips and orders are lined up until 2030. Parool calls the profit figures ‘exceptionally good’, even on a global scale. The AD speaks of a record profit of nearly 5 billion euros; we did not find that amount, or the period it covers, at a second source.

At the same time, ASML opposes an American proposal to tighten the export rules for China further. It calls that ‘unbalanced’ (Omroep Brabant) and ‘not a good idea’ (De Telegraaf); the concern is that Chinese companies would then copy Western technology illegally faster (De Telegraaf). On the stock market, ASML and ASMI pulled the AEX up, which again went on a hunt for records (FD, De Telegraaf). We have not seen a closing level confirmed.

Read on
Word of the day
Export restrictionTrade

A rule that determines which technology a country may sell abroad. The U.S. wants to tighten it for chip machines going to China; we have not seen what exactly the proposal entails.

World · LawPress ✓ 6 outlets · the suspect disputes the allegation

In Germany the trial begins of Serhii K., the first suspect in the Nord Stream attack

On Wednesday the trial began before a German court of the Ukrainian Serhii K., the first suspect in the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline (NOS, de Volkskrant, De Telegraaf, NU.nl, Trouw, AD). The AD writes that the case is being heard in Hamburg. NU.nl calls him the possible mastermind behind the explosion; according to De Telegraaf he is washing his hands of it, claiming innocence. The NOS speaks of ‘sabotage of the century’ and answers six questions about the case. The AD relates that he was arrested during a vacation, after being caught by a speed camera.

The defense argues that it may not be a crime at all (Trouw). The AD sums up the core of the trial as the question: legitimate target or crime? Who ordered the attack has not been established in the reports, and how long the trial will last we have not seen. It is the first time a suspect in this attack appears before a court (de Volkskrant). That the defense argues this says nothing yet about the outcome: the court must assess whether the attack was legally a crime and whether the suspect was involved. What the prosecutor argues, we have not seen. A verdict is still far off, and until then he is considered innocent.

Read on
World · UkrainePress ✓ 7 outlets · statements by Zelensky

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power after Russian attacks; Zelensky points to the U.S.

After new Russian attacks, more than 600,000 Ukrainians were without power, according to President Zelensky (NOS, Reuters). De Telegraaf reports that a heating plant in Kyiv was hit; according to the AD a large part of the city was without power. Zelensky says Western allies did not warn of the missile attack (De Telegraaf, Reuters), for the second night in a row, English-language media write. On an earlier missile attack on Kyiv, Reuters reports two dead (one source for that number).

SpaceX also restricted the use of Starlink, the satellite internet used by the Ukrainian army (De Telegraaf, de Volkskrant, NOS); Reuters writes that an adviser to Zelensky says so. The army is dismayed by it (de Volkskrant), and in the AD Ukraine calls the missing warning and the throttling of the internet ‘no coincidence’. Zelensky said it is ‘painful’ that Trump does not take his side (NU.nl, Trouw, Reuters). There is also criticism of Trump’s diesel deal with Russia, from Republicans (bnr.nl) and from Italian Prime Minister Meloni (Reuters, one source). NRC writes that the Ukrainian armed forces are seriously hampered, just as Trump is making deals with Putin, and De Telegraaf reports that Ukraine feels betrayed; D66 MP Paternotte calls the deal ‘wretched’ (one source). We have not seen a response from the White House or SpaceX.

Read on
World · Middle EastPress ✓ 8 outlets · damage and casualties partly unconfirmed

Houthis fire on Saudi Arabia, ships sink near the Strait of Hormuz. Gas price at highest level in years

The Houthis from Yemen carried out new attacks on Saudi Arabia (De Telegraaf, de Volkskrant, NU.nl, NOS, AD, Trouw, Reuters, AP). According to the Volkskrant it is revenge for a bombing of Sanaa. In Riyadh four people, including a child, were injured by debris from intercepted cruise missiles, according to De Telegraaf. A fire broke out at the headquarters of oil giant Aramco after a suspected attack (De Telegraaf); Reuters reports, based on sources, heavy damage and that the Houthis promise more attacks on Saudi airfields and oil installations. A Saudi tennis tournament was postponed and football matches were moved or canceled (NOS, NU.nl, AD, De Telegraaf). The AD writes that Trump promises a ‘very quick end’ to the war with Iran (one source).

In the Strait of Hormuz two ships sank in the past 24 hours, according to the NOS. Reports differ on one of them: De Telegraaf writes that a container ship hit a mine, Reuters speaks of a projectile. The gas price rose to the highest level in years (NOS, RTL); De Telegraaf calls it a record, after attacks on tankers and because of colder weather. According to Reuters, the IEA expects diesel to remain scarce until well into 2027, and De Telegraaf also writes that the shortage continues. The reports give no figures for the pump. On the financial markets, American inflation rose because of more expensive gasoline (AD, Reuters) and Wall Street closed lower (De Telegraaf, FD).

Read on
In brief
  • UWV stops an IT project after five years that cost 55 million eurosNOS · NU.nl · De Telegraaf
  • Cabinet wants a breeding ban for dolphins; the Dolfinarium must work toward the end of dolphins in captivityNOS · NU.nl · De Telegraaf
  • The Nedersaksenlijn goes ahead after all: the cabinet keeps its hands off the moneyRTL · RTV Noord · RTV Oost
  • Netflix cuts about 1,000 jobs, 6 percent of its staffNU.nl · AD · Tweakers · Reuters
  • Lufthansa takes a 44.9 percent stake in TAP; Air France-KLM misses outDe Telegraaf · FD · Reuters
  • Team sprinters world champions for the fourth time in a row, Wiebes takes gold in the scratch raceNOS · AD · NU.nl · De Telegraaf
  • OpenAI employee arrested for hidden recording device in a meeting roomNOS · NU.nl · AD · De Telegraaf
  • China and North Korea open a bridge over the border river after twelve years of delayNU.nl · Nieuwsblad · Reuters
Seven minutes every morning, one front page

Unverified — what we could not confirm

“Albert Heijn has been hacked.” The company speaks of a ‘cybersecurity incident’ and, according to the AD, did not file a police report. NRC and the Volkskrant speak of a cyberattack, but that is their interpretation. The AD reports that ‘wild stories’ about a hack are going around; we cannot verify them.
“American inflation is 3.7 percent.” We found that figure at one source (BeInCrypto). AD and Reuters only report that inflation accelerated in September because of more expensive gasoline, without the figure next to it.
“The Houthis built hypersonic missiles with the AI model Claude.” Only De Telegraaf headlines it that way. We found no second source and no response from Anthropic, and how the paper knows is not stated in the headline.
Glossary · dotted words — terms from economics, law, security and science, explained in the context of the story. The list grows every day.
INSIDEAlbert Heijn restarts its distribution centers, but full shelves are still a while awayEconomy · CybersecurityASML cannot keep up with demand for its chip machines and raises its outlookEconomy · TechnologyIn Germany the trial begins of Serhii K., the first suspect in the Nord Stream attackWorld · LawHundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power after Russian attacks; Zelensky points to the U.S.World · UkraineHouthis fire on Saudi Arabia, ships sink near the Strait of Hormuz. Gas price at highest level in yearsWorld · Middle East