Unrest in Russia, disillusionment over Afghanistan and a widening gap between graduates and the less learned feature in today’s Dutch dailies. Meanwhile, TV presenters resort to cannibalism and Dutch sports stars shine but not too brightly.

“We’re not cattle!” is the front-page headline in nrc.next. The paper leads with the protests in Russia and reports that “the Kremlin is panicking” now that “angry Russians who earn a decent salary are also taking to the streets”.

Sister paper NRC Handelsblad reckons “ordinary Russians have woken up and are caught between hope and cynicism”. It reports that “Russians who never stirred before are demanding new elections” but “their battle is only beginning”. The paper goes on to warn that “a clash is inevitable”.

Russia rises up
De Volkskrant reports that the authorities are hitting back, as pro-Putin demonstrators brandish banners that state “In Putin we trust!” and deliver dubious slogans like “Support Putin! He’s a real man”. The paper thinks one thing is sure “the powers that be in Russia are trying to nip every thought of change in the bud”.

But AD has more bad news for the Russian authorities, announcing that “a billionaire challenges weakened Putin in battle for the presidency”. The paper quotes new challenger Michail Prochorov as saying “this is the most important decision of my life”. There’s certainly plenty at stake.

Afghanistan: was it worth it?
Afghanistan is back in focus in today’s papers, in light of a government evaluation of the Dutch mission to the Afghan province of Uruzgan that ended in 2010. De Volkskrant asks the question “was Uruzgan worth all the sacrifices?” Those sacrifices included 25 deaths among Dutch soldiers and two billion euros of taxpayers’ money.

Trouw reports that “doubts remain about the usefulness of the Uruzgan mission.” It quotes a military representative who insists that progress was made but concedes “We Dutch have paid an exceptionally high price.”

De Volkskrant reveals that the Afghans are issuing their own vote of no confidence in the country. It reports that “Afghans have little faith in the future [...] Many fear a civil war and almost everyone has an escape plan.” It says that every month thousands try to flee to neighbouring Iran but most are arrested and sent back by the Iranian police.

Poor education = poor health prospects
De Volkskrant leads with the news that while the prospects of leading a healthy life well into old age continue to improve for the better educated members of society, “the less well-educated are becoming increasingly unhealthy”. For example, women in the lowest education category start to develop health problems at the age of 52, 20 years earlier than women who have graduated from higher education.

The difference has risen by four years over the past decade and the causes of a quarter of the health problems are clear: unhealthy eating, smoking, alcohol consumption and lack of exercise.

De Volkskrant talks to the Chairman of the Council for Public Health and Health Care, who wants the government to intervene by making unhealthy food more expensive and developing a preventive health policy: “Patronising? We are talking about people’s health here!”

The paper features a photo of a “food strip” in an outlying area of Amsterdam, populated by a range of fastfood chains. The paper describes it as “a runway for the hungry” and all those who cannot resist “the seductive foursome: fast, cheap, fatty and salty”.

We can only guess what the food experts will make of AD’s report that a major potato chip company has recruited legions of grannies to promote their deep-fried delights by attaching a billboard on wheels to their motorised wheelchairs.

Fine young cannibals
The showbiz reporters at AD and De Telegraaf treat us to the news that BNN, broadcaster to the young and hip, is about to court controversy with cannibalism. The public broadcasting organisation is claiming that for their new series Guinea Pigs, presenters Dennis Storm and Valerio Zena had a little chunk of flesh removed from flank and buttock with the aim of answering the burning question “what does human flesh taste like?”

The revelation that “the two young men consumed the pieces of meat last Sunday with a good glass of wine” has De Telegraaf up in arms: “this is too sick for words if it’s true”. It reports that the announcement has been met with “disbelief and horror” but can’t help wondering whether the general public isn’t “being taken for a ride in the quest for viewing figures”.

Just to be sure, it consults medical and legal experts on the acceptability of the stunt. The doctors reckon “it goes against professional ethics to carry out such a senseless operation.” The legal expert warns that “cannibalism is not illegal but removing flesh from a healthy body without medical necessity is.”

But let’s get back to the alleged point of the whole dubious exercise: what does human flesh taste like? Presenter Dennis confides in AD “anyone who thinks it tastes like chicken is very much mistaken”.

Dutch sports stars shine but not too brightly
The awards for the Dutch sports personalities of the year were handed out last night. Swimmer Ranomi Kromowidjojo took home the trophy for best sportswoman and gymnast Epke Zonderland became sportsman of the year.

But there’s an air of disappointment surrounding this year’s sporting gala. As AD points out “it says something about Dutch sporting achievements in 2011. Swimmer Ranomi Kromowidjojo and gymnast Epke Zonderland both failed to become individual world champions this year. Even more worryingly, Zonderland [...] has not yet qualified for the 2012 Olympics, though he had been regarded as one of the Netherlands' big medal hopes.”

Strangely, almost all of the papers focus on the individual prizes, when the year’s real champions were the winners of the Team of the Year award: the men who unexpectedly claimed the baseball world title for the Netherlands. Only de Volkskrant emphasises that it was their night, with the headline “Baseball players dominate sports gala”. It declares proudly that “2011 will above all be remembered as the year of the men who knew how to wield a bat”.