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Dirk Kloosterboer

In 2014, there will still be elections for the district councils, but the districts will have fewer powers, AT5 reported last week. In the Parool, spokesman Paul Slettenhaar of the districts declined to comment on the plans, but he did confirm that districts will have limited policy-making powers in the future.

If companies would pay proper taxes, there would be no need bo cut health care, education and other public services, the International Socialists argue. On Friday 5 October, they organise a protest at the Amstelgebouw.

Shoe stores in Amsterdam will launch a pilot where customers will be asked if they want a plastic bag, rather than giving one automatically. Alderman Maarten van Poelgeest is not satisfied with the efforts of the retail sector to reduce the number of plastic bags.

Nationally, the social-democrat PvdA did much better last Wednesday than in 2010, but in Amsterdam growth was small. A plausible explanation is the Cohen effect: in 2010, many Amsterdammers voted Job Cohen; as a result, there was little room for improvement for the PvdA this year. An analysis confirms that the PvdA did indeed perform relatively well in Amsterdam in 2010, at the expense of smaller parties GL, D66, PvdD and SP.