Politics

Two aldermen in The Hague are suspected of bribery and corruption, the Public Prosecutor said in a statement. Their homes and offices in the city hall were raided on Tuesday by officers from the Rijksrecherche, an investigative department that handles investigations into government members and government services.

PVV Senator Marjolein Faber is under fire over a tweet in which she suggested that the media deliberately withheld the "North African" ethnicity of a man suspected of stabbing three people at a Groningen terrace last week. Days after two of the three victims refuted this claim, describing the suspect as having pale skin and gray hair, the populist politician's tweet is still online.

Coalition parties CDA and D66 are flabbergasted by the fact that the government's China Strategy does not mention anything about the poor human rights situation in China. Opposition parties are also critical. The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, will debate the strategy, in which the government explained its policy towards China, with Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs on Monday, NOS reports.

As the industry is failing to reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles ending up in the trash and littering the streets and nature, State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven of Infrastructure and Water Management has decided to move up her decision on introducing a deposit on small plastic bottles. 

Throngs of schoolchildren and adults are expected to walk out of their classrooms, jobs and daily routines to instead take to the streets of The Hague to demand that the Dutch government and other world leaders take more action against global warming. They join a global movement of young people demanding that their world be protected against the climate crisis. 

Parties in the Tweede Kamer are doubtful about whether the Dutch State's purchase of 750 million euros in Air France-KLM shares is having the promised effect. Coalition party D66 and opposition parties PvdA and PVV, among others, want Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra to show how the government's purchase of these shares improved KLM's position in the airline combination, NOS reports. 

The Netherlands and Iraq are looking into whether jihadists who fought for terrorist organizations like ISIS can be tried in the Middle Eastern country. Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs is advocating for a separate international tribunal to try foreign rebel fighters in the Syrian civil war, NRC reports.

The VVD expelled parliamentarian Wybren van Haga on Tuesday. According to party leader Klaas Dijkhoff, he cannot remain in the party now that he is again under fire over his activities as a property manager and landlord, NOS reports.

Five persons recently officially regained their Dutch nationality, according to a decision published in the Staatscourant on Monday. These persons' Dutch nationality was previously revoked because they joined terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq, NOS reports.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Security could not confirm to NU.nl that the five persons involved are or were indeed jihadists. 

The parliamentary debate on the national budget on Thursday was apparently not exciting enough to keep the attention of all those present. Ministers Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security and Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management were caught watching football while Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke.

Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security is looking for more money to push into the fight against organized crime, he said on Thursday morning, one day after defense attorney Derk Wiersum was assassinated outside of his Amsterdam Home. "If we really want to achieve success over organized crime, we have to take an extra step", Grapperhaus said, Het Parool reports. "More than we have done so far, also if it means extra resources."