The coalition talks wrap up in record time with Rob Jetten announcing plans for everyone to work longer and pay more for nursing care when they retire. In an early test of the coalition's discipline, Dilan Yesilgöz surprises finance minister Eelco Heinen by blurting his cabinet appointment into the first microphone that drifts her way. Local government taxes go up by 6.5%, with the steepest rises in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. An alleged double agent goes on trial accused of passing secrets to Moroccan intelligence for 30 years. And in sport, the Dutch skating team sharpen their blades for the Winter Olympics while PSV take another giant step to the Eredivisie title.

Rob Jetten takes a big step towards becoming the Netherlands' youngest ever prime minister as D66, VVD and CDA agree to form a minority cabinet. The chips are down for managers at ASML as the company announces 1,700 layoffs despite posting record profits. New commemorative panels at Margraten war cemetery only partly dispel the anger over the erasure of the Black Liberators, just as Donald Trump's crass outburst raises the hackles of Dutch Nato soldiers. The Netherlands is told to do more to protect Bonaire from climate change. And Dutch clubs round off a calamitous Champions League season with a pair of home defeats.

Chaotic scenes in The Hague as seven PVV MPs break away, leaving Geert Wilders's party with the same number of members as it had before (one). The cabinet is urged to save Dutch residents' DigiD data from the Trump Administration if the service is sold to the States. Experts warn thieves are targeting museums after an entire collection of antique silver disappears in Doesburg. Drug traffickers are abandoning cocaine, sometimes literally, as customs checks step up. In sport, Ajax win again in the Champions League, skaters dominate the Winter Olympics team and Botic van de Zandschulp earns a plum tie at the Australian Open.

The new coalition leaders signal a break from unstable political experiments by forming a minority government that depends on the support of parties they turned down as partners. Greenland breathes a sigh of relief as the Dutch dispatch a lone naval officer to defend it against the US army. Contrasting fortunes in Amsterdam as the AEX soars past 1,000 points while Ajax crash to their worst cup defeat in 99 years. And art experts find two huge Easter eggs concealed in one of the Mauritshuis's best known paintings.

2026 gets off to a hot and cold start with the most devastating New Year's Eve ever, culminating in the destruction of Amsterdam's Vondelkerk tower. Thousands of passengers are left in limbo as Schiphol airport battles with snowbound runways and a shortage of de-icing fluid. Talks to form a new government are given an added sense of urgency by events in Venezuela. The Giant is cut down to size by the Nuke in his quest to become the third Dutch darts world champion. And we announce the results of the 2025 Ophef of the Year Awards.

We round off the year with our traditional round-up of the most outrageous flash news stories of 2025, and this year has produced a bumper crop. The Rijksmuseum sparked protests with an intimate depiction of a scene from Greek mythology, a night shift worker caused alarming scenes in Spijkenisse, a fringe party campaign advert churned stomachs and Katwijk council's attempts to prevent New Year's Eve vandalism backfired spectacularly. Vote for your favourite from the shortlist on the form below and give yourself a chance to win a coveted Dutch News non-matching mug and coaster set – and don't forget that as a podcast patron, your vote counts double (or triple for Grachtengordel patrons).

Vote here: https://forms.gle/ZYhZc6VD38Je8X7o8

The coalition talks grind on as the three parties decamp to Prince Bernhard's former military lodge. Volodymyr Zelenskyy unveils plans in The Hague to rebuild Ukraine with the proceeds of frozen Russian assets. Commercial pilots in the skies over Curaçao play Russian roulette with the US Air Force as the Venezuelan crisis escalates. Robin van Persie is feeling the pressure as Feyenoord lose two crucial matches in a week. And Femke Halsema wants to tone down the Koningsdag revelry in the capital.

10 Dutch football clubs with really ridiculous names: https://www.dutchnews.nl/2015/10/10-dutch-football-clubs-with-really-ridiculous-names/

Sybrand Buma bows out as coalition negotiator, leaving behind an iconic photograph and a Herculean task to form a new government. His successor, Maastricht university professor Rianne Letschert, pays tribute to the Schoof cabinet when she almost steers off the road as she takes the call offering her the job. Ajax stop the rot with a dramatic late comeback in Azerbaijan. Dick Advocaat is declared safe from US aggression off the coast of Venezuela. And this year's top Google searches suggest that punctuality is becoming another endangered Dutch tradition.

The coalition talks hit an impasse as D66 and CDA's hopes of forming a government go up in smoke faster than an Ajax home match. Financial investigators uncover more evidence of Russian influence at the Netherlands' largest shipbuilder. AvroTros confirms it will boycott next year's Eurovision Song Contest in protest at Israel's participation. Utrecht waits for DNA test results after a suspected "problem wolf" is shot dead. And a kitten dies after contracting bird flu on a goat farm. Link to the NATO Summit documentary: https://youtu.be/cRa8zPS2zoo?si=616TRLrI9zwjwe4v

Like exhausted generals at the Somme, the VVD gear up for one last push to get their asylum bill through parliament before the new cabinet takes office. Drones from Russia - or possibly MediaMarkt - cause consternation in the skies and ground aircraft in Eindhoven. PSV are on cloud nine after thumping Liverpool in the Champions League, while Ajax look to another Cruyff to rescue them from the doldrums. Amsterdam introduces a licensing system for second home buyers, as first-timers benefit from an exodus of private landlords. And a chance discovery in Australia solved a 450-year-old maritime mystery.