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Former head of the German intelligence service BND, August Hanning, has been arrested on suspicion of espionage, gathering state secrets, and attempting treason, with evidence implicating that he has passed on secret information to foreign intelligence services. #spionage #DuitseInlichtingendienst #landverraad (translated)

Max von Kreyfelt criticized Cora van Nieuwenhuizen's transition from the ministry to Energy-Nederland. He wrote that Van Nieuwenhuizen was appointed as chair of the industry association on August 31, 2021, and that same day she resigned as a minister. She started working for the organization on October 1. According to Von Kreyfelt, Van Nieuwenhuizen had already informed Prime Minister Mark Rutte on July 23 that she would be nominated, but she remained a minister until the end of August. He wrote that Rutte later acknowledged that government officials had access to cabinet documents and could possibly gain information about the area of their future positions. On August 26, Rutte concluded, according to Von Kreyfelt, that the appointment did not go well with the ministry. Arrangements were made to transfer files that could affect her new position to a colleague if necessary. Von Kreyfelt also reported that Energy-Nederland praised her managerial experience in the Netherlands and Europe. He stated that the transition raised questions about the closeness of public positions and private interests, but wrote that the matter in itself did not prove corruption. He advocated for independent assessment of subsequent positions, more transparency regarding contacts, and a mandatory waiting period before former government officials began working in a sector organization. According to him, public experience should not automatically grant access to private influence. https://t.co/V2P6pFuNy1 #Energie #Overheid #Transitie (translated)

Researchers from the University of Warwick have found evidence for the first time of a 'second-generation planet' that formed from the scorching remnants of a dead star, challenging current knowledge about planet formation. #TweedeGeneratiePlaneet #Astronomie #WitteDwerg (translated)

The author wrote that two temporary reception locations for asylum seekers in Zwolle were given priority in the allocation of space on the electricity grid. According to the author, the city council stated that the societal interest weighed heavily enough to deviate from its own policy rules. The author stated that councilor Arjan Spaans thereby lost the trust of the people of Zwolle. According to the author, Spaans consistently prioritized the interests of the national asylum chain over the housing crisis and the overload of the electricity grid in Zwolle. The author felt that his loyalty did not lie with the local population and deemed him unsuitable for politics in Zwolle. #asielzoekers #Zwolle #woningnood (translated)

Claudia van Zanten referred to a report from Het Parool stating that the Israeli army questioned the interviews without providing evidence for it. According to Van Zanten, the interviews with 24 IDF soldiers were anonymous, it was not proven that the interviewees were actually soldiers, and their motives were unknown. She wrote that Het Parool should have critically evaluated the interviews themselves if it took journalistic codes seriously. Van Zanten stated that many media present opinions they agree with as facts, and as a result, facts no longer count. https://t.co/MWtPnSO57t #media #journalistiek #Israël (translated)

"Although the evidence is not definitive, it does warrant coordinated global action for a healthier digital world for young people," says lead researcher Ilona Kickbusch (Digital Transformations for Health Lab) in a accompanying press release. #SocialeMedia #Gezondheid #Jongeren (translated)

Max von Kreyfelt argued that the Netherlands should ask less about which ministers should resign and more about whether officials should be held accountable. According to him, a forced departure was often followed by a new position or severance pay, which meant that political responsibility could change into a career step. He cited Hugo de Jonge as an example. Von Kreyfelt stated that political incompetence or mistakes did not in themselves constitute a crime, but that willfully lying under oath, destroying documents, falsifying data, corruption, and deliberately acting unlawfully by officials should be independently investigated. A ministerial title should not provide protection against criminal investigation, according to him. He cited as examples the childcare benefits scandal, Groningen, and the COVID-19 period. He wrote that affected parents were treated as fraudsters and that after inquiries and promises in Groningen, accountability was lacking. He also stated that Rutte, De Jonge, and Grapperhaus had presented political choices during COVID as natural laws, dismissed criticism, and stretched fundamental rights. He emphasized that this did not mean they had committed criminal offenses; this should be investigated independently, according to him. Von Kreyfelt wrote that the Netherlands had had enough of inquiries and reports without consequences, while victims faded from view. Officials who broke the law and deliberately caused harm to society should be able to go to court just like other citizens, according to him. #rechtsstaat #politiek #verantwoordelijkheid (translated)

Dr. Sc. Ferdinand Meeus wrote that the climate editorial team of De Morgen had not understood the issue. He stated that during an ideal pre-industrial climate period, with zero CO₂ emissions, there was no ice on most glaciers. As evidence, he mentioned a spear point that was 6,000 years old, which scientists had found beneath a retreating glacier; according to Meeus, this discovery proved that there was no glacial ice there in the past. #klimaat #wetenschap #gletsjers (translated)

Forum for Democracy called the cabinet's response incomprehensible. The party referred to the question of why savers could supposedly build up assets more difficultly via Box 3 and wrote that the cabinet had cited the accelerated introduction of a capital gains tax as evidence that people would be able to invest better as a result. https://t.co/2koLz1sAzM #Box3 #Vermogensbelasting #Financiën (translated)

The Public Prosecution Service has decided not to conduct any further criminal investigation into the Gazan student from Maastricht, who posted a video on social media in which he appeared to cheer about the attacks of October 7, because there is no evidence of involvement in the attacks or other criminal offenses. #Israël #Hamas #UniversiteitMaastricht (translated)

"Israel puts journalists down in Gaza as Hamas fighters, but provides no evidence," headlined @NOS in August 2025. Israel did provide evidence, but it was generally not shared with the news consumer. Will @NOS also do this with this new video from @IDF? 1/5 https://t.co/D2q7VKVzvf #Israël #Gaza #journalistiek (translated)

We have known Rutte for a long time as a pathological liar, but now the rest of the world is getting to know him as such! He was made to look ridiculous by the Prime Minister of Lithuania, because there is absolutely NO EVIDENCE of a Russian threat! Who would have thought that? 😅 Rutte was a JOKER! #Rutte #Politiek #Leugens (translated)

Letschert in a tight spot! The Jewish and Israeli students in Maastricht are stating it clearly. They are no longer carried away by the dialogue merry-go-round of the D66 Minister of Education, after spending years in her merry-go-round when she led the university. Result: an antisemitic climate and the import of hate rallies. Letschert's reward: the plush of The Hague. Read the letter below. Support these brave students who let their voice, and only their voice, be heard. Who do not bow to the established order and do not allow themselves to be exploited and misled by them. Bravo! To the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, IJAR Maastricht has learned that Minister of Education Rianne Letschert intends to organize a meeting about Jewish students, following the recent developments at Maastricht University. As the representative organization of Jewish and Israeli students at Maastricht University, we have received no formal invitation from the minister or her ministry. Nor have we been informed about the purpose, the mandate, the intended participants, or the measures that may be considered. If the subject concerns the position and experiences of Jewish and Israeli students at Maastricht University, consultations should begin with the organization that represents these students and within the university environment where the relevant events take place. During Ms. Letschert's previous term at Maastricht University, Jewish and Israeli students and their representatives spoke with her and other members of the university administration on numerous occasions. They repeatedly expressed concerns about safety, intimidation, the campus climate, institutional decisions, and the implications of those decisions for Jewish and Israeli students. From those discussions, it appeared that consultations were taking place, but in our experience, they did not lead to measures that corresponded to the issues raised. Clear lines of accountability were also not established for what followed. This history means that the mere fact that there is again a meeting cannot be considered an achievement in itself. Other Jewish organizations and individuals elsewhere in the Netherlands may have legitimate perspectives on broader issues concerning Jewish life, antisemitism, or national policy. However, they do not represent the Jewish and Israeli students at Maastricht University and cannot replace the representative organization of the students whose campus, lecture halls, and daily living environment are directly at stake. A meeting held elsewhere, with discussion partners who do not represent these students, can be viewed as discussions with Jewish organizations, but cannot reasonably be presented as a consultation with the representative organization of Jewish and Israeli students studying at Maastricht University. For that reason, we believe that if the minister wishes to address what is happening at Maastricht University, she should come to Maastricht and engage directly in conversation with the representative organization of Jewish and Israeli students here. The location is important, as responsibility must be aligned with where the issue occurs and not be disconnected from it: the issues being discussed involve this university, the decisions being made here, and the students who experience the consequences of those decisions. Thus, consultations regarding Maastricht should take place in Maastricht and begin with those who are institutionally responsible for representing the involved students. Before such a meeting takes place, we also demand clarity about what the minister aims to achieve with it. We expect to know what questions are being investigated, what decisions or measures remain open, what responsibility the ministry will take on itself, what responsibility it expects from Maastricht University, what concrete follow-up steps are foreseen, and how the outcomes of the meeting will be recorded and communicated. Without that information, participation threatens to serve mainly as proof that consultations have taken place, rather than as a means by which those consultations can actually have an impact. Our concern, therefore, is not about whether there will be a meeting, but about the relationship between consultation and responsibility. We have previously participated in discussions, we have laid out the problems before, and our presence has previously shown that a dialogue existed. What too often has remained unclear, however, is who was responsible for acting on what was raised during those discussions and what actually changed as a result of those discussions. A representative consultation should not end once the participants leave the room, but should record who is responsible for the issues raised, what actions follow from that, and how those actions will be assessed. We remain willing to engage seriously with the minister in Maastricht. However, that consultation must take place with the representative organization of the Jewish and Israeli students whose situation is at stake, with a clear purpose, with well-defined responsibilities, and with an explicit connection between listening and acting. Anything less than that threatens only to reproduce the form of consultation, while the substance — and the responsibility for it — remains unresolved. Signed, The Board of IJAR Maastricht *link to the original letter in the tweet below #antisemitisme #onderwijs #studentenrechten (translated)

How can this happen again?! Rutte, NATO, Western intelligence services, etc.: "Russia can attack us at any moment!" Prime Minister of Lithuania: "I asked [Rutte] if there is evidence, real evidence, that Russia is planning something? But there is actually nothing." https://t.co/1soHusA36A #Rusland #Oorlog #Veiligheid (translated)

Rutte was made a fool of by the Lithuanian prime minister: "I asked the secretary-general [Mark Rutte]: 'Is there any evidence – real evidence from intelligence services, something concrete – that Russia is preparing for anything?' And there actually isn't." In other words: most of the hysteria of the type "Oh dear! The Russians are coming!" is fabricated and unfounded. #Rutte #Rusland #Litouwen (translated)