28 January

A cold, misty and rime-ridden morning in the Netherlands. The blanket of cloud that was threatening us from the east for days has finally come across and covered us. Temperatures barely above freezing - if at all.

Information continues to emerge about the man, arrested on suspicion of murdering two babies and a nursery helper in Dendermonde (Belgium) on Friday. Newspaper reports suggest he suffers from severe mental health problems, for which he previously sought help - but did not get. According to his lawyer, the man realises he has done something terrible, but is not showing remorse. Yet.

The economic downturn has had its impact on the Dutch banks as much as on the British (and American) ones. After one bail-out at the end of 2008, the Finance Minister recently ordered another bucketful of Euros to be emptied into the trough of one bank - 27 billion Euros to be precise ($35bn). Consent from parliament isn't required, because the deal is going through at any rate. Still leaves us with the problem that credit is impossible to get hold of, in spite of all those billions. This is also the case in the UK and the US, and on last reading British PM Gordon Brown was getting rather hot under the collar over this. But then, we all know that banks are more concerned with maintaining their profits and dividends than actually doing their job.