A third failure in efforts to form a new government will hurt the the new prime minister, the queen's new negotiator Herman Tjeenk Willink warned on Tuesday. More...

The financial services authority AFM wants banks and insurance companies to compensate clients if it turns out that they have been sold products which are 'not in their interest', the Financieele Dagblad writes on Friday. More...

A number of big Dutch pension funds, including civil service fund ABP and healthcare worker fund PGGM, fear they may have to cut payouts in 2012, the Financieele Dagblad reports, without quoting sources. More...

Amsterdam VVD leader opposes anti-Islam link-up
Eric van der Burg, leader of the right-wing Liberal VVD in Amsterdam is against his party forming a new government with Geert Wilders' anti-Islam PVV, local tv station AT5 reports. More...

Spending power under pressure
Dutch workers are starting to feel the pinch in their pockets because inflation is outstripping pay rises, the national statistics office CBS said on Wednesday. More...

Corneille to be buried in same cemetery as Van Gogh
Dutch avant-garde artist Corneille, who died last weekend in Paris, will be buried in the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise, the Volkskrant said on Wednesday. More...

Anne Frank tree parts to go to Jewish museums
The owner of the horse chestnut tree written about by Anne Frank in her World War II diary wants to distribute some of the remains to Jewish museums in Berlin, New York, Tel Aviv and Amsterdam, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday. More... comments (1)

Police 'spy' gets community service
A former policeman who passed on information from Dutch police files to the Moroccan embassy has been sentenced to 240 hours community service by a court in The Hague. More...

Dutch tanker carrying pig manure explodes in Germany
A Dutch tanker with 20 tonnes of pig manure on board has exploded in the German city of Cologne splattering a number of houses and cars, news agency ANP reports, quoting a German news site. More... comments (1)

Arrests as European piracy network shut down
Police in the Netherlands and 13 other European countries on Tuesday launched a series of raids against an online film pirating network, closing down 48 websites, according to media reports. More... comments (1)

Right wing cabinet will raise speed limit to 130 kph
A new right-wing government will raise the national speed limit to 130 kph, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday. More... comments (4)

450 asylum seekers lose amnesty permits to fraud
The immigration services has cancelled or withdrawn residency permits for 450 asylum seekers who made fraudulent applications under the 2007 amnesty, caretaker justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has told MPs. More...

Heritage groups protest at royals' plans to demolish farms
Cultural heritage groups, including one which has queen Beatrix as its patron, have made formal protests about royal family plans to demolish two farms on their property in Wassenaar. More... comments (3)

Psychiatric prisons want to relax rules on leave
The Netherlands' 12 psychiatric prison units - tbs clinics - are planning to give some prisoners leave after as little as 18 months of treatment, the AD reports on Wednesday, quoting confidential documents. More...

The Netherlands slips past Finland in European qualifier
Two early goals from Klaas Jan Huntelaar gave the Netherlands a 2-1 victory over Finland in their second European Cup qualifier on Tuesday night. More...

Queen ignores right-wing party wishes, appoints new negotiator
Queen Beatrix has ignored the wishes of the three right-wing party leaders and appointed Herman Tjeenk Willink, deputy president of the government's most senior advisory body the Council of State, to lead a 'short intermediate' round of coalition talks. More... comments (2)

Foreign visitors spend €4bn on trips to the Netherlands
Foreign tourists and business visitors spent €4bn on holidays in the Netherlands last year, the tourism board NBTC said on Tuesday, news agency Novum reports. More...

Coalition process a farce, says D66 leader
Attempts to form a new government in the Netherlands, three months after the general election, are turning into a farce, Alexander Pechtold, leader of the Liberal democratic party D66 told a parliamentary debate on Tuesday afternoon. More... comments (4)

Right-wing coalition back on the table as Wilders says 'I'm in'
Anti-Islam party leader Geert Wilders wants to resume talks on forming a right-wing coalition with the VVD Liberals and Christian Democrats, Nos tv reports on Tuesday. More... comments (10)

Philips sells remaining NXP stake to its UK pension fund
Philips has sold its remaining equity stake in chip maker NXP to its UK pension fund, the electronics giant announced on Tuesday. More...

Second new nuclear power station plan launched
The former shareholders of energy company Essent - a number of local and provincial councils - have told the environment ministry they are beginning procedures to build a new nuclear power station in the Netherlands, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Tuesday. More...

Dutch World Cup host cities want guarantees on finances
Councillors in the five Dutch candidate World Cup host cities are only willing to support the joint Dutch Belgian bid if the government gives a cast iron guarantee on costs, Nos tv reports. More...

Few church abuse claims can be taken to court
Most of the complaints about child abuse by Catholic officials made to the government committee investigating the scandal are too old to be prosecuted, the Nederlands Dagblad reports on Tuesday. More...

Heavy rain leads to record jams
Heavy rain led to traffic jams on the Dutch roads reaching 650 km on Tuesday morning - the highest total of the year so far. More...

Employers more cautious about workforce
Dutch employers are 'clearly more cautious' about employment prospects in the final three months of this year than they were in the third quarter, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, published on Tuesday. More...

Clinics agree to 'white only' condition on sperm donation
A Dutch neo nazi has been offering his sperm to sperm banks on the condition it only goes to a white couple, and at least two have agreed to his conditions, according to tv show Uitgesproken. More... comments (4)