Following the Christmas Day attempt to bring down Northwest flight 253, Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has decided to introduce body scans at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport for passengers on all US flights as soon as possible.

De Telegraaf cites the minister as saying that the explosives on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s body “would probably have been picked up by a body scan”. Up to now the use of scans was limited due to privacy. In 2008, the European Commission decided against introducing scans. But privacy is now no longer a problem.

AD explains that with new software a diagram of the body is shown rather than a naked body. The software indicates any deviant shapes or high concentrations of a substance. Surprisingly US Justice Secretary Janet Napolitano did not give a green light for scanning passengers, in spite of her "warm feelings" for the technology.

Tests at Schiphol Airport in recent weeks have produced positive results. Twelve out of the 15 scanners at the airport have been installed with the new technology. Scanning takes 3 seconds and within 15 seconds the result is on the screen. A spokesperson for Schiphol says, "Experts say body scans make travelling safer…A safer and more pleasant airport. That way we keep a high standard and remain attractive as an airport." The airport denies rumours that it has shares in the company that makes the technology.

Nrc.next reports that, according to experts, sniffer dogs are the best detector of explosives, because they always give off fumes.

Recommendations to bring down infant mortality
De Volkskrant has got its hand on the confidential findings of a study group on infant mortality in the Netherlands. The group is due to make its recommendations to Health Minister Ab Klink next week. The Netherlands has one of Europe’s highest rates of infant mortality with 1 in every 100 babies dying just before, during or just after the birth.

The revelations that infant mortality rates were so high originally met with disbelief. But, once it was established that it was not a matter of how the statistics were interpreted, the health minister asked a group of gynaecologists and midwives to look into the reasons why so many babies were dying at birth.

Did it have something to do with women having babies at an older age, smoking, lack of cooperation, the late introduction of echos at 20 weeks? Or was it the unique Dutch system which enables women to have home births? Or a combination of all these things.

The group established that there is no evidence that home births are to blame. It did find that death rates were 25 percent higher at night, when gynaecologists and other specialist staff had gone home. It also discovered that high risk groups were non-western women or women with a low social-economic position. A separate programme has been recommended for this group. Another finding was that the presence of an “experienced woman” reduced the likelihood of complications.

The recommendations, which will probably cost hundreds of millions of euros, should reduce deaths by half within five years.

The group wants pregnant women in emergency situations to be seen by a midwife or gynaecologist within 15 minutes. This means hospitals should have medical teams at the ready around the clock. In addition, women in labour should not be left alone as happens now, and they should have a case manager as poor communication is one of the reasons for the high death rate. Good old fashioned home visits should be reintroduced to establish mental or psycho-social problems. And pregnant women should be better informed about the risks of childbirth.

Pensions at 65 for low incomes
After failing to come up with a solution to prevent the pension age increasing to 67, unions and employers’ organisations have managed to come together to define what hard work is.

Many of the papers report that the social partners, as the two organisations are known in the Netherlands, have recommended to Employment Minister Piet Hein Donner that anyone with a low annual income under 35,000 euros should be allowed to stop working at 65. That way just about everyone with a heavy-duty job is included.

Trouw, however, points out that ironically street bricklayers, who lay the characteristic red brick roads in the Netherlands and who have become symbolic of the discussion on hard work, would earn too much if you include the bonuses they receive.

The cabinet had asked the unions and employers’ organisation to come up with a formula to decide which jobs are hard work. Earlier the government decided anyone in these jobs should not have to do the work for more than 30 years and should be retrained to do lighter work. NRC Handelsblad reports that this is not an alternative as the FNV federation of unions has not yet formally discussed this plan.

However, according to Trouw, Minister Donner actually wanted the social partners to come up with ways to keep people healthy enough to work until the age of 67. AD reports that the minister and his deputy Jette Klijnsma immediately dismissed the low-income definition.

According to De Volkskrant, the reason for this is that it wouldn’t achieve the 4-billion-euro cuts the government is aiming for.

Was 2009 annus horribilis for the royal family?
Many of the papers carry of photograph of Queen Beatrix and  Agriculture Minister Gerda Verburg around the table with a goat farming family after half of their livestock had been slaughtered to prevent the spread of Q-fever. In AD farmer Knoops called the surprise visit “very nice”.

However, this is virtually the only positive comment about the royal family. In response to the queen’s criticism of virtual contacts in her Christmas Day speech, Nrc.next points out that many of her contemporaries depend on the internet to maintain their social network.

Criticism of the royal family in De Telegraaf is cutting. The mass circulation paper lists the year’s public relations blunders and asks "will the royal family learn from this annus horribilis?".

The royal family was the subject of parliamentary debate on several occasions. For instance when it was revealed that the queen’s sister was using a royal palace as an address in a construction to avoid paying tax. Prince Willem-Alexander’s holiday homes in Argentina and Mozambique led to more questions in the house.  And during the budget debate, the costs of the royal family, in particularly with regard to flying in government planes, were discussed.

But it is not all bad. The lowest point for the royal family was the Queen’s Day attack in Apeldoorn on 30 April. The visibly shaken monarch addressed the public in a televised speech later in the day. The paper points out the it is at times like this that the Orange family is symbolic of what brings the Dutch together as a nation.

The paper concludes that, all in all, the events of 2009 will encourage the queen to stay on to "finish the job". Not least with parliamentary elections due in 2011, as she wouldn’t want to miss a possible political landslide.

Authorities brace themselves for New Year’s Eve
As everyone gears up to the New Year’s Eve celebrations, many of the papers focus on the downside. A photo of a 10-year-old boy with a glass eye is printed on the front page of Trouw. AD reports that the authorities are calling on the public to help them arrest trouble-makers and shows two lads who got hurt making DIY fireworks after watching a film on YouTube.

De Volkskrant calls the event a crisis rather than a party and reports that vandals will be watched by Ministry of Defence spy planes in the eastern city of Nijmegen and a number of provincial towns.

Nrc.next calls for reflection as New Year’s Eve celebrations seem to have turned into a mini civil war. So whatever your plans are this year, be careful.