International

If the majority in the European Parliament get their way, EU member states who have so far made no moves to resettle refugees would be rewarded for their lack of effort. These member states will receive a bonus of €2000 over and above the fixed sum of €4000 per resettled person which Brussels in already pays. "This creates the impression that we have to bribe member states to get them to take in refugees," says SP European Parliamentary group chair Dennis de Jong.

President Obama has saved it: his plan for health care insurance for all Americans has passed in the House of Representaatives. The more than forty million Americans who currently have no form of insurance to cover the costs of health care will now be helped. The United States has thus become a more civilised country. And that's worth a message of congratulations to all those people who have worked for decades to achieve this, as well as to President Obama and the Democratic Party.