The conviction of Dutch Nazi Heinrich Boere by a German court is the only story that is covered by all the Dutch dailies. Speculation about the next government coalition is rife and there are honours for a Dutch swimmer.

Dutch war criminal Heinrich Boere was given a life sentence by a court in the German city of Aachen yesterday. NRC Handelsblad reports that Boere joined the SS after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands and later volunteered for the Feldmeijer Sonderkommando, an elite SS murder and retribution squad. Boere, now 88, murdered three people in cold blood in 1944. He was convicted by a Dutch court after the war but fled to Germany in 1954.

AD writes that Boere murdered three unarmed Dutch nationals in revenge for resistance attacks on German troops. In his defence, the unrepentant former Nazi told the court, "I was only following orders". The judges rejected Boere's defence as he "freely joined the SS and the Sonderkommando".

The son of one of his victims told Trouw: "Finally, justice has been done. I hope Boere lives for a long, long time. Why did the victims' families have to wait for justice for such a long time?"

Feverish speculation over Dutch government coalition
NRC Handelsblad and its sister paper nrc.next both report on the new game taking the political and chattering classes by storm, "coalition speculation all the rage in The Hague," write both papers, adding, "well before the elections, 'who's got a majority' is the game to play".

"Believe it or not, 'Purple Plus' is suddenly an option," headlines NRC Handelsblad. Many Dutch coalition governments are referred to by the parties' colours and the Labour/D66/VVD government that ruled between 1994 and 2002 was known as the Purple Coalition.

The paper tells us that 'Purple Plus' refers to the Labour/D66/VVD grouping but with an added dash of green, courtesy of the GreenLeft party.

There is still a long way to go before the election and the coalition negotiations will certainly be torturous. Everyone will be playing coalition speculation before long.

Fire service announces reorganisation
AD reports that the Dutch fire service is planning a major reorganisation and is launching a major prevention campaign today. According to the paper, the fire service will visit almost every Dutch household to assess fire risks and give advice and "free smoke alarms will be handed out by some municipal fire departments".

The reorganisation plans, under the motto 'the fire service of the future' will be presented later today. There are also plans to hold talks with the government and furniture manufacturers in order to increase the amount of fire-resistant furniture available in the Netherlands.

Ricardo Weewer of the Dutch Fire Service Association tells the paper, "it's standard practice in England and the US to manufacture fire-resistant furniture but here in the Netherlands, sofas and beds are just bonfires waiting to ignite".

Fury over 100 euro bills
De Telegraaf reports that Dutch businesses have responded furiously to the European Commission's recommendation that businesses accept notes worth 100, 200 and even 500 euros. Earlier this week, the EU's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn called on businesses to accept all euro bills, regardless of denomination, and to stop refusing one and two-euro cent coins. According to Brussels, "All euro notes are legal tender and cannot be refused".

AD writes that the chair of the Association of Dutch Petrol Stations called Mr Rehn's recommendation "lunacy", and the Netherlands' Supermarket Association told the paper: "We're going to ignore it".

It's common practice in the Netherlands for businesses to refuse high denomination euro notes and one and two-euro cent coins, but businesses in other eurozone countries accept all denominations.

AD writes that the chair of the Small Business Association says the recommendation is ridiculous, "no one wants to start fiddling about with all those tiny coins again and if people start paying with 100 and 200 euro notes, well, the Netherlands will be a far more dangerous place".

And the swimmer of the decade is...
Trouw reports that Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn has been declared 'best female swimmer of the decade' by the International Swimming Federation, FINA. De Bruijn, who has now retired, won four Olympic gold medals, two silvers, two bronzes and five world titles. The Dutch champion, nicknamed Madam Butterfly by FINA, told the paper, "I had no idea, what an honour".

Under the headline, "Diva of the Decade," De Telegraaf writes that the jury, consisting of more than 200 national swimming federations and a panel of experts, said, "no one comes close to De Bruijn". According to FINA, "her achievements heralded a new era in swimming".