A specifically Dutch blunder from the IPCC and Geert Wilders is refused witnesses for his trial. Amsterdam police cruise the web for child abuse, a banker defends his bonus and Saint Barbara is invoked in Amsterdam.
This morning's nrc.next reports that Environment Minister Jacqueline Cramer is up in arms about yet another mistake made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Its report says that 55 percent of the Netherlands is under sea level, but the figure should be just 26 percent.
The government's own number-crunchers have told the minister that the IPCC made the mistake by simply adding the 29 percent of the country which is at risk of flooding by major rivers.
Ms Cramer is deeply unhappy about the blunder: "I frame policy in the light of science," she explains. "Trust in science and politics has taken a knock". However, she is still convinced that "the climate is changing, the earth is warming up and it is probably being caused by man".
Meanwhile, under a section called Climate Change, the Protestant daily Trouw tells us that government agencies yesterday discussed what should happen if the urban heartland of the Netherlands were to be hit by flooding.
The major industrialised area, which includes Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, is home to three million people and produces two-thirds of the country's gross domestic product. And, much of the area is metres below sea-level. Its 59 local authorities have now put together a joint action plan to deal with a flooding disaster.
In a related article, the paper points out that, despite these stark facts, the average Dutch resident is not all that bothered about global warming. On a list of people's top worries, climate change comes in tenth at best.
Wilders to get three witnesses
Today's papers report the latest twist in the trial of populist right-wing MP Geert Wilders on charges of insulting Muslims and incitement to religious hatred. The Freedom Party (PVV) leader wanted to call 18 witnesses to give evidence in his defence but, in a pre-trial session, the court has whittled the number down to just three.
The AD says the judge also ruled that their evidence will be heard by an examining magistrate in private and not in open court. The paper explains that the move is probably intended to stop Mr Wilders maximising publicity around the case.
He wanted to call witnesses to show that his negative comments, about for instance the Qur'an, were true. These included Mohammed Bouyeri, the militant Muslim who murdered Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh in 2004.
The judge however argued it was well known that some people use the Qur'an to justify violence and that evidence to prove the point was not needed. An angry Mr Wilders told journalists: "This court is obviously not interested in the truth". The trial proper, which will take around a week, will begin towards the end of this year.
Amsterdam tackles web child abusers
De Volkskrant says Amsterdam detectives are surfing the internet in search of men who parade as youngsters on chat sites to lure children step by step into sexual abuse. Officers will also be on the lookout for child pornography.
Police have already used an internet trap to trace a man in his 60s who posed as a teenager on a web site, complete with fake photo. The man made contact with a number of girls around 15 years of age and sent one of them a mobile phone to keep in contact with her.
Grooming youngsters in this way with the intention of luring them into sexual abuse has been a criminal offence since 1 January. An Amsterdam spokesman fills us in about the police operation: "Internet surveillance allows us to trace more offenders and learn more about how they operate".
Rich man didn't want the cash
De Telegraaf whips up the fury of its mass readership by reporting that the former boss of ABN AMRO bank, Rijkman (literally 'rich man') Groenink came clean to the De Wit Commission yesterday. The government panel is investigating the sale and fall of what was once the proud flagship of Dutch banking.
"I actually didn't want those millions" reads the provocative headline, referring to the massive 25-million-euro bonus Mr Groenink received when ABN AMRO was sold to an international consortium at the end of 2007. The paper points out that this is his first defence of the pay-off which led to popular fury after the bank had to be rescued with public money.
Despite apparently not really wanting the cash, the former banker told the commission that he had a right to it. He went on: "I accepted it, because it was not paid for by any of the ABN customers or shareholders for whom I had worked". Well, that's all right then.
Troubled metro link looks heavenwards
Finally, de Volkskrant informs us that the machines which are going to drill the tunnels for the new North-South metro line under the heart of historic Amsterdam are going to be blessed.
The rector of the imposing Saint Nicolas Church near the city's central station is to do the honours on 11 March. The protection of Saint Barbara, the patron of miners, will be invoked and her statue will be placed at the entrance to the tunnel.
The North-South Line has been plagued by problems. It is hugely over-budget and running years late, and historic Amsterdam houses have been damaged during the construction of some metro stations. The project has become a byword for failed large-scale projects.
The paper asks whether Amsterdam, after all its troubles with the North-South Line, has finally started looking for help from above. A tight-lipped project spokesman puts a brave face on it: "We don't need any extra help. This is purely a blessing for the safety of the people working underground." Let's hope he's right.
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