Friday 15 January 2021
The pesky little ‘korenwolf’, or wild hamster, has finally hit the headlines again after years of silence. Builders everywhere must have prayed that the rodent, a protected species, had actually died out. More >
News editors used to give new reporters one piece of advice: ‘Always remember, all politicians are liars and cheats.’ This cynical caveat should have been in most journalists’ minds during the past two weeks when politicians wrestled with two major scandals: the report on a fire in a Schiphol cell complex which killed 11 refugees and Amsterdam’s role in allowing a ship to dump toxic waste in Ivory Coast which killed seven people. More >
The main reason for the unbelievably complicated and bureaucratic way of paying for healthcare in Holland is an obsession with solidarity between the sick and the healthy. And an insistence that everyone should basically pay the same. More >
It is probably quite easy to resign as a minister when you know there is an election nine weeks away anyway. Justice minister Piet Hein Donner, facing his third sticky patch as a minister, and planning minister Sybilla Dekker, were very quick to hand in their resignations yesterday after publication of the damning Schiphol fire report. More >
Budget day yesterday was bit like the Dutch Sinterklaas celebration: lots of present-giving accompanied by a sermon-like poem explaining why you deserve a new pair of socks. More >
With the latest polls putting the Christian Democrats just one seat behind Labour, prime minister Jan Pieter Balkenende must be a happy man today. More >
The Amsterdam district of Bos and Lommer is famous for its poor housing, high unemployment levels and large ethnic minority population. So it was with great pomp and circumstance that the council unveiled its sparkly new shopping centre and housing complex last year. More >
Holland’s newest civil service trade union, the AVV, is taking pension fund giant ABP to court, arguing that it discriminates against younger staff. The case revolves around the thorny topic of early retirement. More >
Once the perogative of Don Quixote, it is now the pastime of Dutch politicians. Especially when Islam is the subject of discussion. In an interview with Vrij Nederland today justice minister Piet Hein Donner says that Sharia law could be introduced in the Netherlands if there was a two-thirds majority in favour. Because that is how democracy works, said the deeply religious minister. More >
For years governments have been trying to get more students – and girls in particular – to take up science at university. But judging by today’s OECD figures, their efforts are having little effect. More >
Dutch politicians and media are still falling over themselves to express their shock and outrage at being ‘lied to’ following Bush’s admission that the Americans had indeed kept terrorist suspects locked up in secret detention centres outside the US. More >
It is not often that one feels sympathy for the Dutch energy companies – what with their never-ending cries of ‘unfair’ and ‘help, the Europeans are coming (to take us over)’ while they knock up profits that would have many companies in the real world laughing all the way to the Bahamas (Nuon reported last month that its net income for the first six months was up 70%…). More >
It looks very much as if the forthcoming debate on the Schiphol detention centre fire is going to get nasty. Various newspapers this morning said the cabinet totally disagrees with the preliminary report’s findings which claims all sorts of fire regulations were broken at the centre where 11 people last year. More >
