Old men - and not enough women - are appointed to the new Dutch cabinet. The Netherlands Antilles ceases to exist. Extreme weather ‘test’ causes delays on railways. The King of Rock and Soul dies at Schiphol airport. And a nine-year-old rescues her little cousin from abduction.

Old men and not enough women in Dutch cabinet
The formation of the new Dutch government is almost complete, according to the press. Trouw headlines with, “Rutte opts for loyalty and experience”. The paper says it is not surprising that the 43-year-old has chosen a number of older politicians, as he will need their experience; especially if the Christian Democrat party (CDA) backbenchers start rebelling over construction whereby the government is supported by the Freedom Party of Geert Wilders.

AD calls Mr Rutte’s team “the old men cabinet”. It prints pictures of six of the oldest members, grey haired, balding men in dark suits, their ages range from 59 to 61. The paper suggests that the incoming prime minister has applied the same criteria to his team as he did to his choice of car. Mr Rutte drives a ten-year-old Saab: plenty of reliability, but little sex appeal.

On it front page AD complains that there are only two women in the team so far. The paper quotes a number of top women in the conservative VVD and the CDA expressing their disappointment. One of the most prominent is European commissioner for the digital agenda Neelie Kroes (who at one point was tipped as a possible candidate for prime minister). She says, “Two out of ten is just old fashioned.” Former CDA minister Hanja Maij-Weggen snaps, “Don’t talk to me about quality. There are plenty of good women to be found.”

End of an era for Netherlands Antilles
It is the end of an era in Dutch post-colonial history. On Sunday 10-10-10, the Netherlands Antilles ceased to exist as a country. The five islands have split up: Curacao and St Maarten have become separate countries with special status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (as Aruba – once the sixth island of this now defunct country - did in 1986), while the smaller islands Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba have become Dutch municipalities.

On Curacao the transition of power was marked by a ceremony attended by the Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima. Trouw reports that the Antillean flag was lowered at midnight. Gerrit Schotte, the first prime minister of new country Curacao, asked permission from Prince Willem-Alexander to speak in Papiamento. He was given the thumbs up.

On St Maarten, Dutch caretaker Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin called on the new country not to forget its smaller neighbours. On Bonaire seven flags were raised, the Dutch flag plus the flags of each Antillean island. Queen Beatrix sent a telegram to all the islands wishing them “good fortune and prosperity”.

Extreme weather test causes delays on railways
It was exceptionally warm for October on Sunday, but not for Dutch railway companies NS (passenger service) and ProRail (infrastructure). As far as train services were concerned temperatures were ‘well below freezing’, there were ‘gale force winds’ and ‘deep snow’. Yes, Dutch railways were testing a special timetable for extreme weather yesterday. Staff even handed out traditional pea soup to slightly bewildered passengers in sunglasses and short sleeves, according to de Volkskrant.

The huge operation was hailed a success. Only one train service actually had a delay that wasn’t planned. Otherwise the test went smoothly. “The NS had to make sure trains were in the right place and there were enough staff to inform passengers,” said a spokesperson for ProRail.

Passengers had been warned in advance to expect delays and extra changeovers, as the faster Intercity and other long-distance trains were not running. Luckily the winter timetable computer system worked. What didn’t work were a number of information panels, while conductors had trouble using their own pocket computers, and the NS internet site broke down in the morning.

Only one in five passengers was not aware what was going on. For them it must have been very confusing because on the day, the NS tannoy information system announced to passengers that the delays were due to the extreme weather - not mentioning the fact that it was all part of an exercise. People could be forgiven for thinking the NS meant the unusually warm weather.

Soul star dies on his way to legendary concert
He was the star behind many other stars. US soul singer Solomon Burke died at the age of 70 yesterday after landing at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. He had flown from Los Angeles to perform at the Dutch capital’s pop temple Paradiso with rock band De Dijk on Tuesday. The band has just brought out a CD Hold on Tight on which the soul singer plays a major part.

De Volkskrant writes that in 1964 an American radio station named him the King of Rock and Soul - a title he liked. Trouw calls him a soul pioneer. He was one of the first people to mix rhythm and blues with gospel music. Leading the way for singers such as Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Al Green and Aretha Franklin. Many of his songs were more successful when covered by other artists, like Everybody Needs Somebody To Love as sung by the Blues Brothers.

The huge singer had a big following in the Netherlands. He performed at a number of festivals, including the North Sea Jazz Festival and Pinkpop, clad in a glittery suit, sitting centre stage on a throne-like chair. At Pinkpop he performed with Dutch artist Junkie XL. His performance with De Dijk on Tuesday had promised to be legendary. The sold-out concert will now go ahead as a tribute to the late King of Rock and Soul.

Narrow escape for little girl thanks to cousin
A brave nine-year-old saved her six-year-old cousin from being abducted at the weekend. De Telegraaf reports that Tessa - from the southern Dutch border town of Roosendaal - was walking the dog with her little cousin Zoe when the incident took place.

Tessa had been watching squirrels. When she turned around she saw the man heading off with Zoe. She started screaming and ran after them. Some 150 metres further on, the man let go of the little girl and made off. Zoe’s father said, “It’s the first and last time they’ll be allowed out together, for the time being.” The man was arrested shortly afterwards.