Rubbish

Can it get any madder? The Netherlands is apparently importing millions of tons of foreign household waste because it is cheaper to burn it here than elsewhere. More >

Privacy

Good to see that the privacy watchdog CBP has our best interests at heart in its efforts to protect our personal details on the internet. More >

Last week, finance minister Wouter Bos announced that Schiphol airport was to stay entirely in state hands, ending a long hard-fought campaign both for and against privatisation. More >

Nationality

It’s official. Poles are the new Moroccans. We’ve had the ‘stealing our jobs’ the ‘gay-hating’ and the ‘criminal’ stories and now a majority of MPs want Poles to go through the same integration process as non-EU residents because they are worried about ghetto-forming and language difficulties. More >

Thriller

The whole performance around suspected Dutch ‘mafia’ boss Willem Holleeder is becoming increasingly like a tv thriller. Yesterday’s suspicious death of Bram Zeegers means a sixth man has been permanently removed from the scene. More >

Obstinate

The fact that Horst Köhler is the first German president to lay a wreath at the war memorial in Rotterdam to mark the German bombing of May 1940 was of less concern to Monday’s NRC Handelsblad than the character of the man himself. More >

Satisfaction

So it’s over – a six-month long battle resulting in the biggest takeover in financial services history and the break-up of the Netherlands biggest bank ABN Amro. More >

Dutch

They’re at it again – examining and arguing and generally fretting about their national identity. As a national obsession this pastime is never very far from the news pages and this weekend was no exception, with Ruud Lubbers wading in with his own bit of navel-gazing. More >

Headache

Well done health minister Ab Klink. Your latest plan is certainly guaranteed to solve some of the problems facing the Dutch health service by cutting down on red tape and bureaucracy and boosting efficiency. More >

Clinton

Several of today’s papers carry somewhat bewildered reports of Bill Clinton’s book signing performance in Rotterdam. More >

Unholy

An unholy alliance of Christian and socialist parties seem to be set on turning back the clock on the Netherlands’ vaguely liberalised shop opening hours. More >

Education

It’s like a recurring nightmare: problems with the educational system. Week in, week out, the papers carry stories about pupils with little grasp of the three ‘Rs’ (reading, writing and arithmetic), a poorly managed education system and big shortages in quality teaching staff. More >

Welcome

She’s back. Former Dutch MP and outspoken critic of Islam Ayaan Hirsi Ali returned secretly to the Netherlands yesterday from her year’s sojourn in the US amid the all-to familiar blare of controversy. More >

Stress

Teenagers have again been in the news this week – fortunately, not this time shock-horror reports of their drink and drugs usage or their lack of ambition at school. More >