Last week's earthquake in Haiti still dominates the Dutch dailies but a few other stories have managed to make their way on to the front pages, including an announcement by KLM that overweight people will be forced to purchase two tickets in future, plus a prediction that is sure to warm the hearts of the skating-obsessed Dutch: temperatures are set to fall below zero later this week and the skating season will start all over again. Hurrah!

Wilders' trial opens
However, the domestic story dominating the papers is the start of Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders' trial on charges of inciting racial hatred and discrimination. NRC.next writes that although the trial against the right-wing politician kicks off today, it is only a procedural session and most of the news is expected to occur outside the Amsterdam court, where Freedom Party supporters are protesting against what they see as attacks on freedom of speech.

NRC Handelsblad opens its coverage with "the Qur’an and Mein Kampf in the same breath, is that allowed"? The paper presents a six-point guide to the trial and whether or not Mr Wilders' inflammatory statements are actually illegal. NRC Handelsblad points out that freedom of expression is "a characteristic of democracy," and includes opinions that are
"disturbing, shocking or hurtful".

"Wilders counting on acquittal," headlines the Protestant Trouw, noting that judges are not expected to rule on the case until "the end of the year". The paper writes that prosecutors are in a difficult position as the public prosecution office had earlier ruled there was no case for Mr Wilders to answer. The far-right politician says he’s facing "a political trial".

Pension fund poker
De Telegraaf writes that the Dutch are right to be seriously concerned about their pensions as "pension fund managers have taken far too many risks over the last few years".

Under the heading, "Gambling with pension money," the paper's financial section reports that the Frijns Commission, tasked with investigating 36 pension companies, severely criticised pension fund managers for making risky investments and not knowing enough about the markets they were investing in.

Mr Frijns wrote, "People believe their pensions are secure but I'm afraid that is not true," adding, "They are right to be concerned".

Today’s de Volkskrant opens its coverage with the alarming headline, "20 billion lost through risky investing". According to the left-wing paper, the Frijns Commission says the losses are "shocking" and managers failed to assess the risks and made "vague agreements with asset managers".

Lights out in the Red Light district
An Amsterdam councillor launched another new plan to clean up the Red Light district on Tuesday and several papers have gleefully seize on the story - sex and prostitution stories are sure-fire hits with the public and it gives editors an opportunity to run a photo of a half-naked woman.

AD reports that Councillor Lodewijk Asscher has called for the minimum age for prostitutes to be raised from 18 to 23 and wants working girls' ‘windows’ to close down between 4 and 8 a.m. Mr Asscher has also proposed requiring all prostitutes to register with the chamber of commerce and undergo mandatory health checks.

Mr Asscher says his plans will help stop forced prostitution, human trafficking and the nightly violence and disorder in the Red Light district. The proposals have raised a storm of protest, but AD interviews one prostitute who says she wouldn't dream of working nights in the Red Light district as "it's far too dangerous".

Several owners of prostitution rooms - the famed ‘windows’ where women stand or sit to attract clients - have dismissed the proposals as an "election stunt," and the owner of eight such ‘windows’ tells AD, "Raising the minimum age won't stop forced prostitution if it's only done in the Netherlands".

Mr Asscher responds quickly responded to the criticism, "It's a huge problem and I'd like to see it tackled on an international scale. However, just because other countries are not tackling forced prostitution does not mean that Amsterdam can sit back and do nothing".

Dutch railway company blamed for travel chaos
"NS failed on all fronts," screams De Telegraaf on its front page, claiming that the travel chaos during the recent bitterly cold weather was partially due to incompetence inexperience on the part of senior managers at the country’s main passenger railway company NS.

The company had laid the blame for the endless delays and cancellations on ProRail, the company that owns and maintains the actual infrastructure, but the populist paper says NS’ own logistics failed completely and its information system was woefully inadequate. I spent several freezing hours waiting for a train and for once, I agree with De Telegraaf.

Queen's Day costs too steep for Zeeland
"Queen’s Day too expensive for Zeeland," writes AD on its front page. The paper says that the royal family's visit to two towns in the southern coastal province to celebrate Queen’s Day "is too heavy a burden". According to sources within the Zeeland police department, the royal visit is causing huge problems.

Last year's Queen's Day (30 April each year) ended in tragedy when a mentally unstable man attacked the royal family. Security measures have been stepped up in the wake of the attack but the authorities in the southern province cannot supply enough officers to protect the queen, nor can it afford to pay them.

AD says the Zeeland authorities have already allocated some 400,000 euros for security on Queen's Day. It's a huge sum of money that could perhaps be better spent elsewhere, Haiti for example.