Sometimes, the papers hit home and that's the case with de Volkskrant today. Half the front page is given over to a photograph that tells it all.

A young man stands balanced between parallel bars in a gym, but his head only just reaches above the apparatus. He has lost both his legs close to the groin and he's been fitted with artificial ones. For now, the prosthetic limbs only go down to where his knees would have been.

Ronald van Dort suffered horrific injuries after his vehicle hit a roadside bomb when he was serving in the Dutch mission in Afghanistan. He explains why he is determined to walk again: "I was one-metre-80. I want to be able to look my girlfriend in the eyes again."

The paper says 144 servicemen and women had to be brought back injured to the Netherlands. At the military rehabilitation centre in Doorn, 45 men and two women are learning what their bodies are still capable of. "They're young and strong," says a doctor.

Meanwhile, on its front page, De Telegraaf runs a photo of the first transport plane to bring military hardware back from Afghanistan. The Dutch mission ended in August. The paper says 450 vehicles and 2,000 shipping containers of equipment will be coming back over the next few months.

It's the economy, stupid
The meat in today's papers is still the economy. The eyes of the press are fixed on next week's Budget Day and the likelihood of years of cuts, as the process to form the next government coalition looks to be nearing its conclusion.

De Volkskrant covers an upbeat IMF report on the Dutch economy. The international body has been researching government debt around the world. It reckons the Netherlands is in such good (yes, that's right, good) economic shape that the country could go twice as much in the red without losing the confidence of the financial markets.

"It's how you look at it" says nrc.next questioning whether we need the 18 billion euros' worth of cuts set to be made by the expected new government. The economic picture has suddenly started to look a lot less gloomy: unemployment is going down, the budget deficit is set to be less than expected next year and low inflation will make wage restraint easier.

The paper thinks the fierce political debate over whether the forecast deep cuts are actually needed will only explode once the new government is in office. Besides, it explains, there are underlying chronic reasons why the country has to economise. These include the population's increasing life expectancy and mean that costs are growing faster than the economy. Radical reforms of the housing and jobs markets, and of pensions will have to be made in the long term.

Creative accountancy?
On its front page, Trouw reports on a row between the Netherlands' major cities and the outgoing government. The tiff, as one might expect, is about money. The cities are accusing the government of using creative accountancy to underestimate the cost of combatting unemployment amongst young people during the economic crisis.

Under new legislation, local authorities are obliged to support job seekers under 27, providing them with employment or training. The cities say the government has systematically underestimated the amount of money needed to fund the measure, landing the councils with a 386-million-euro shortfall.

The Hague councillor Henk Kool fumes: "Donner [outgoing Employment Minister Piet Hein Donner] can't saddle the cities with his own financial problems." MPs are demanding clarification from the minister.

Mobile phones unsafe?
Today's De Telegraaf says the Dutch intelligence service (AIVD) is warning that hackers may soon make the GSM network unsafe. The network is used by around 80 percent of the world's mobile telephones.

The hackers are close to being able to break into the GSM communication system. "Sometime soon, it will be possible to listen in to GSM traffic on a large scale," says the AIVD.

The consequences will be felt in many areas of life. The paper gives the example of internet banking which often relies on GSM messages for confirmation of transactions. The AIVD is advising Dutch ministries to look at ways of securing the use of mobile phones used by government officials.

New mayor for Maastricht
Finally, AD reports that Onno Hoes has officially been put forward for the post of Mayor of Maastricht. The 49-year-old member of the conservative VVD has, up to now, been better known as the husband of television presenter Albert Verlinde. The paper features a front-page photo of the two men smiling, kitted out in black bow ties.

It says Mr Hoes has served for 19 years in the provincial government of North Brabant which adjoins Limburg, whose provincial capital is Maastricht. The residents of both provinces are predominantly Roman Catholic. The paper points out that Mr Hoes is not Catholic, breaking a long tradition for mayors of Maastricht.