News in Holland

• Foreign visitors spend €4bn on trips to the Netherlands
  

  Foreign tourists and business visitors spent €4bn on holidays in the Netherlands last year, the tourism board NBTC said on Tuesday, news agency Novum reports.

• Coalition process a farce, says D66 leader
  

  Attempts to form a new government in the Netherlands, three months after the general election, are turning into a farce, Alexander Pechtold, leader of the Liberal democratic party D66 told a parliamentary debate on Tuesday afternoon.

• Right-wing coalition back on the table as Wilders says 'I'm in'
  

  Anti-Islam party leader Geert Wilders wants to resume talks on forming a right-wing coalition with the VVD Liberals and Christian Democrats, Nos tv reports on Tuesday.

• Philips sells remaining NXP stake to its UK pension fund
  

  Philips has sold its remaining equity stake in chip maker NXP to its UK pension fund, the electronics giant announced on Tuesday.

• Second new nuclear power station plan launched
  

  The former shareholders of energy company Essent - a number of local and provincial councils - have told the environment ministry they are beginning procedures to build a new nuclear power station in the Netherlands, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Tuesday.

• Dutch World Cup host cities want guarantees on finances
  

  Councillors in the five Dutch candidate World Cup host cities are only willing to support the joint Dutch Belgian bid if the government gives a cast iron guarantee on costs, Nos tv reports.

• Few church abuse claims can be taken to court
  

  Most of the complaints about child abuse by Catholic officials made to the government committee investigating the scandal are too old to be prosecuted, the Nederlands Dagblad reports on Tuesday.

• Heavy rain leads to record jams
  

  Heavy rain led to traffic jams on the Dutch roads reaching 650 km on Tuesday morning - the highest total of the year so far.

• Employers more cautious about workforce
  

  Dutch employers are 'clearly more cautious' about employment prospects in the final three months of this year than they were in the third quarter, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, published on Tuesday.

• Clinics agree to 'white only' condition on sperm donation
  

  A Dutch neo nazi has been offering his sperm to sperm banks on the condition it only goes to a white couple, and at least two have agreed to his conditions, according to tv show Uitgesproken.

• Employers prefer native Dutch workers 'to avoid problems'
  

  Employers are more likely to choose an ethnic Dutch worker over someone with a minority background because they believe they are the safest choice and less likely to cause problems, the government's socio-cultural planning office SCP says in a new report.

• Wilders holds the key, says Liberal leader Rutte after meeting queen
  

  Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam PVV, holds the key to a new attempt to form a right-wing government, Liberal leader Mark Rutte said on Monday evening.

• Corneille, last of the Dutch Cobra founding artists, dies
  

  Dutch painter Corneille, one of the founders of the avant-garde Cobra movement, died on Sunday at the age of 88.

• Ab Klink quits parliament – resignation immediate
  

  Christian Democrat MP Ab Klink, whose opposition to an alliance with the anti-Islam PVV precipitated the collapse of talks on forming a right-wing government, has resigned as an MP.

• Former Rotterdam port boss denies being bribed
  

  The former head of the Rotterdam port authority on Monday denied in court that he had been bought by business man Joep van den Nieuwenhuyzen with a €1.2m bribe, the Financieele Dagblad reports.