The main news on the front page of today’s edition of the populist newspaper De Telegraaf is the cabinet’s expected decision to close a nuclear research reactor in the town of Petten. The Petten reactor is mainly used for the production of radioactive isotopes for the treatment of cancer patients, and meets 30 percent of global demand.

According to De Telegraaf, the cabinet is fed up with the continuing technical problems and malfunctions of the 40-year-old high-flux reactor. The cabinet is expected to announce the facility’s closure tomorrow and issue a licence to the facility’s owner, the Nuclear Research & Consultancy Group, for the construction of a brand-new state-of-the-art reactor. The dismantling of the old facility and the construction of a new one will involve at least 300 million euros.

The ageing Petten reactor has been a thorn in the side of Health Minister Ab Klink for a long time. In each of a series major technical malfunctions which occurred in the past few years, isotope production had to be shut down completely. When this happens, six similar nuclear facilities elsewhere in the world take over from Petten, but the concomitant logistical problems time and again endanger the lives of thousands of patients. De Telegraaf writes that the cabinet has already initiated international consultations about the intended closure of Petten.

Translation of Bible opening sentence incorrect
Trouw reports that the “Opening sentence of the bible is incorrect” and a “New interpretation of original Hebrew Genesis text negates God as the creator”. According to Professor Ellen van Wolde, God did not create heaven and earth, He separated them.

Professor Van Wolde, an Old Testament scholar and member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, says the standard interpretation of the opening sentence of the bible is no longer acceptable: “The traditional image of God the Creator is untenable. God did not create.”

The professor, who will present her thesis in an oration at the Radboud University in Nijmegen on Friday, re-analysed the original Hebrew text and placed it in the context of the Bible as a whole and of other creation stories from Mesapotamia. She eventually concluded that the Hebrew verb bara does not mean to create but to spatially separate.

The Radboud University says the new interpretation is ‘No less than a disruption of the story of the creation as we know it’. Professor Van Wolde says she understands that her findings, which are soon to be published in a leading scientific magazine, will be devastating to traditional believers.

No more affirmative action for migrant children
Today’s AD writes that Deputy Education Minister Marja Bijleveldt has decided that migrant children will no longer receive preferential treatment in secondary school exams. They will no longer automatically be granted extra points because they have been living in the Netherlands for a relatively short time.

The deputy minister’s decision comes after questions in parliament about a report in AD which showed that migrant children are allowed to make more mistakes in their tests when they have been living in the Netherlands for no longer than six years and Dutch is not their native language.

Ms Van Bijsterveldt says the measure will only affect between 200 and 300 students in secondary education. This group will continue to be allowed the use of a dictionary, and will be granted a little more time to finish their test. These are essentially the same exceptions made for Dutch students suffering from dyslexia.

Parliament critical about costs of monarchy
Today parliament discusses the General Affairs budget which includes the costs of the royal family. nrc.next reports about the growing criticism in parliament about the royal budget which was about 119 million euros in 2008.

Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders says: “If everybody has got to tighten their belts, why not the royal family?” And it appears the entire opposition as well as coalition partner PvdA (Labour Party) agree with him. The Green Left party and the Democrat party D66 argue that the royals should start paying taxes, while the Socialist Party wants to freeze their allowances.

Also, in the past few weeks there has been growing criticism about the way Crown Prince Willem Alexander has handled the problems concerning the construction of a holiday home on the coast of Mozambique. Following a number of disputes between locals and construction companies, MPs wonder whether, and if so to what extent, the project will benefit the local population. Junior coalition partner, Christian Union, wants Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende to investigate the project, which is to become part of an ecological holiday resort.

During today’s debate MPs are also expected to ask questions about Princess Christina, Queen Beatrix’ sister, who transferred her money to an off-shore tax haven via foundations which used the queen’s Noordeinde palace in The Hague as a mail box.

Diplomatic incident after arrest of Dutch MPs in Pakistan
AD has on its front page a photograph of two Dutch military police officers who were arrested in Islamabad for the illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives.

The two officers were arrested near the official residence of the Pakistani president. According to AD, the incident has sparked a diplomatic row between the Netherlands and Pakistan. The two MPs were driving a dark blue vehicle without diplomatic license plates in a high-security zone about one kilometre from the residence of President Asif Ali Zardari.

Local media say their vehicle was stopped because the occupants were behaving suspiciously. Police officers discovered two pistols, four clips, four hand grenades and six bulletproof vests in the boot of the car. The two occupants identified themselves as employees of the Dutch embassy, but did not have a license for their weapons. They did show local police officers a document in which the Dutch government asks the local authorities to allow its diplomats to carry arms.