With a week to go until the local elections, we bring you up to speed on the soap opera that is Rotterdam’s campaign and explain how and where you can cast your vote. Elsewhere, was ING’s about-turn on its CEO’s pay rise a victory for people power, and did Unilever’s decision to close its London headquarters really have nothing to do with Brexit or the Dutch government’s abolition of dividend tax? There’s also the remarkable story of the Paralympic athlete who won two gold medals amid an ongoing 18-year battle against cancer. In the discussion we pick out our favourites from the growing crop of books about the Netherlands.

Top story

Rotterdam ‘left alliance’ folds amid outcry over Islamic party’s tweet

News

ING backtracks on plan to raise CEO’s salary by 50%

Unilever moves headquarters to Rotterdam

MPs back overhaul of ‘patronising’ integration exams

Rotterdam museum takes in kingfisher frozen in ice (AD, Dutch)

Sport

Bibian Mentel wins second Paralympic gold medals after 18 years of cancer treatment

Discussion: best books about the Netherlands

Official Dutch book week (Boekenweek) website

Why the Dutch are Different

Dealing with the Dutch

Stuff Dutch People Like

The Dutch and Their Bikes

Xenophobes’ Guide to the Dutch

James Kennedy: A Concise History of the Netherlands

Geert Mak: Amsterdam – A Brief Life of the City

Russell Shorto: Amsterdam – A History of the World’s Most Liberal City