There's no such thing as an unqualified success in Dick Schoof's coalition of the unwilling. The prime minister steers a €3.5bn aid package to Ukraine through parliament, but faces accusations of a stitch-up from Geert Wilders. Marjolein Faber's asylum plans are finally signed off in cabinet but are likely to meet stiff resistance in the Senate. Police investigate whether a devastating fire that destroyed some of the few historic buildings in Arnhem that survived the war was started deliberately. PSV suffer a historic drubbing in the Champions League in a bad werk for Dutch clubs, with the noble exception of AZ Alkmaar. And Utrecht's best known underwater doorbell goes online again for the breeding season. Fish doorbell: www.visdeurbel.nl

An €8 billion windfall turns out to be a poisoned chalice for the cabinet as the coalition parties start scrambling for a piece of the pie. The four parties can't agree on how to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is also the subject of Marjolein Faber's latest faux pas. More freelancers are going out of business and more couples are working part-time as changes to the tax system take effect. Schiedam is in shock as a 13-year-old boy is charged with stabbing another teenager to death. Go Ahead Eagles celebrate a historic win in the cup. And Dutch scientists fight back against a crayfish invasion by making the country even flatter.

The mission to realise the "strictest asylum policy ever" takes another twist as housing minister Mona Keijzer bans local councils from giving refugees priority housing while Marjolein Faber gives them a €30,000 incentive to do exactly that. Women's rights, higher education and Unicef are no longer relevant to the Dutch national interest, Reinette Klever declares as she slashes development aid funding. A cabinet crisis on Ukraine is averted when Geert Wilders waters down his opposition to sending more military aid. Two Dutch clubs claim big Italian scalps in the Champions League. And to the chagrin of the king, long queues are expected when 18 works by Rembrandt go on show as part of Amsterdam's 750th birthday celebrations.

As Karl Marx once observed, history repeats itself: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce, the third as Marjolein Faber's asylum policy. The cabinet is on the brink of collapse for the umpteenth time as Geert Wilders blames NSC for his favourite minister's failure to cut any ice with the Council of State. Gelderland province also hits a legal wall in its efforts to fire paintball pellets at wolves. The United Nations special rapporteur on Gaza is cancelled by self-proclaimed advocates of free speech for saying the wrong things about Israel. A new scheme allowing descendants of slavery to let go of their colonial family names without consulting a psychologist. And Feyenoord overcome the loss of their manager and their top goalscorer to notch up another famous win the Champions League.

The BBB is the latest coalition party to be plunged into crisis as an MP quits and the local party in its Overijssel heartland splits over "irreconcilable differences". The three face mask millionaires are told to pay back their ill-gotten gains in a judgment that is scathing of the health ministry's carefree attitude to spending public money. Brussels condemns the Dutch government's failure to tackle nitrogen pollution yet again, this time in the water supply. Marjolein Faber finally finds time to visit Ter Apel just as latest figures show asylum applications are coming down. And is the traditional Dutch dinner of meat, vegetables and potatoes being pushed to the back burner by spicy foreign dishes?

Another week, another round of infighting and backtracking in the coalition, this time over an eye-watering 0.4% increase in the rate of VAT. The Drents Museum is the reluctant star of an international heist drama stretching from Bucharest to Heerhugowaard. Calls for a fireworks ban grow louder following another rise in injuries and attacks on emergency service workers at New Year. Feyenoord fans are banned from Lille and spared the humiliation of watching their team go down 6-1. And we probe the mystery of the missing wolves.

A hazy cloud hangs over the cabinet after it loses another court case against its nitrogen reduction policy. Marjolein Faber's latest wheeze to send asylum seekers home is a one-way trip to Damascus, with compensation for going via Brussels. Shoplifters are getting away with theft and it's down to privacy laws, says a debt collection firm that was implicated in dodgy dealings with the police. More migration woes as muskrats and wolves are invade our borders and sheds. And Brian Priske oversees a Danish pasting for Bayern, but is it enough to save his job at Feyenoord?

Some people call it the most depressing day of the year: to others it's known as the return of parliament. Geert Wilders' coalition crisis roulette wheel lands on the spring budget cuts as he yet again vows not to budge an inch. The lawyer for drugs baron Ridouan Taghi is accused of abusing her privilege to run messages for her client in a case that has rocked the legal profession. Venezuela banishes Dutch diplomats in revenge for giving refuge to the opposition leader. The chair of the Elfstedentocht steering committee steps down after waiting for 20 years for Friesland to freeze over. And there's news of a nine-goal thriller in the KNVB Beker and double Dutch delight in the draughts world championship.

In keeping with tradition, 2025 kicked off with an explosive row about whether to ban fireworks. Pharmacists go on strike for more pay while they warn about a shortage of supplies. The wartime archives of suspected Nazi collaborators are opened up and immediately stir up a hornet's nest. Blades are sharpened in the world of figure skating as the leading Dutch pair are taken to court for not spending enough time in Eindhoven. And we announce the winner of the coveted 2024 Ophef of the Year award. Documentary on the collaborators archive: https://npo.nl/start/serie/nos-nationaal-oorlogsarchief-open/seizoen-25/nos-nationaal-oorlogsarchief-open

It's time once again for our annual round-up of the minor incidents that got everybody hot under the collar for five minutes on social media at some point this year. And what a bumper harvest it's been. Caroline van der Plas performed a hardboiled cunning stunt in front of Geert Wilders, a man called Willie fell foul of the regulations on phallic garden ornaments and Nicky Minaj was jailed for trying to take drugs out of the Netherlands. We'll also remind you of how Brussels tried to cancel a Dutch delicacy and why a group of pensioners revolted over a bingo booze ban. And don't forget to vote for your favourite so you can win a deluxe Dutch News mug and a coveted Zeesluis IJmuiden coaster. Vote here: https://forms.gle/42uSXMTDP9knBAFJ7