We do our best to help you digest the alphabet soup that is the local election results, including the sad news that Jesus will not be setting Rotterdam's municipal tax rates for the next four years. The flu season kicks off just as the last coronavirus restrictions are lifted and Ernst Kuipers puts his faith in the common sense of the Dutch people. The Netherlands is struggling to meet its climate change targets or find an estimated €90 bn of assets held by sanctioned Russians. And Ajax extend a remarkable home record in Europe as they lose 1-0 to Benfica.

As war continues to rage in Ukraine, we focus this week on a campaign closer to home: the municipal elections on March 16. There's rage in The Hague too as foreign affairs minister Sigrid Kaag goes AWOL in faraway Maastricht. The government brings in measures to relieve the effect of the war on living costs, but not until July. Luckily it's wasting no time in taking down the coronavirus restrictions just as infections crank up in the wake of Carnaval. And we speak to Groningen-based journalist Andrii Degeler, who returned to his native Kharkhiv just as the Russian invasion began.

A massive upheaval of the European postwar order and the invasion of a sovereign state puts a damper on the Netherlands' coronavirus "freedom day". Politicians roundly condemn Vladimir Putin's incursion in Ukraine, but only after Mark Rutte makes time to chat about his car on a TV talk show. Three storms caused record amounts of damage to cars and buildings and left four people dead. A suspiciously named brand of gin triggers 'No Go' letters from Yoko Ono and an even more suspicious crowdfunding campaign. And we look back to the distant days of last week when the Dutch scooped a sackload of skating medals at the Winter Olympics. Terrible Maps map: https://twitter.com/TerribleMaps/status/1495793175054753792

Freedom Day is almost here, and what finer way to celebrate than by reviving the biggest superspreading events of the last two years: Carnaval in Brabant and reopening nightclubs? Confusion abounds at political party Volt as one of its MPs is suspended over allegations of inappropriate behaviour shortly after being the target of online abuse. Ireen Wüst brings down the curtain on her illustrious skating career as the Dutch team scoop up medals in Beijing. Storm Eunice brings chaos to the roads and rails, but at least traffic is flowing freely on a controversial bridge for squirrels in The Hague. And another EU-related storm – Brexit – has blown thousands of jobs across the North Sea, but not in the direction the Brexiteers were hoping for.

Following the cancellation of TV talent show The Voice, football club Ajax and the Dutch parliament are the latest institutions to face accusations of sexual harassment. The Dutch government brings forward plans to relax the pandemic measures and sketched out its strategy for 'living with the virus'. Energy prices drive inflation up to its highest level in 40 years, but are wages keeping pace? Also, we explain why Big Brother is watching you on discount store cameras and how a suspiciously named Swede caused ophef in the Dutch speed skating camp.

We sift through the wreckage of a week when Storm Corrie battered the coastline, a German cargo ship smashed up a wind farm and the cold case team investigating the betrayal of Anne Frank ran into strong headwinds. The government trashed its plans for a 2G coronavirus pass just as half a million vaccine certificates are destined for the shredder. And billionaire Jeff Bezos sparked uproar with plans to dismantle a Rotterdam landmark to make way his gargantuan new yacht. Further afield, the Dutch skating team sharpens its blades for the Winter Olympics in China and Henk Krol eyes up a transfer to pensioners' paradise Spain.

The Netherlands went into Schrödinger's Lockdown this week, as venues everywhere opened up until 10pm while their owners fumed about staying closed. A shadowy transaction at the Binnenhof caught the eye of Twitter observers, while in the debating chamber Ernst Kuipers raised eyebrows with his claims about 3G passes. Dubious claims also put paid to the career of a VVD political adviser after Geert Wilders dug up her well documented history as a member of a terrorist group. In other discrimination news, the tax office is found to have passed its blacklists of dual nationals around government departments like pepernoten at Sinterklaas. And Amsterdam's VU university is shocked to find that the Chinese government might have had an ulterior motive in sponsoring its human rights centre.

Any hopes of a fresh start to 2022 are well and truly cancelled. RTL pulls the plug on its most successful TV show, the Voice of Holland, as allegations emerge of widespread sexual abuse. The first parliamentary debate of the new cabinet term begins with angry exchanges as MPs round on Geert Wilders for his language towards Muslims and women. Budget institute Nibud calculates that everyone will be poorer this year, but the cabinet still wants to break the link between minimum wages and pensions. All this and record coronavirus infections too. Meanwhile, a cold case team claims to have solved one of the biggest mysteries of the Second World War: who told the Nazis where Anne Frank's family were hiding? #Netherlands #DutchNews #DN #Dutch #TheNetherlands #News #DutchPolitics #DutchCurrentEvents #Holland

A year after Mark Rutte's four-party coalition resigned in disgrace, a new cabinet of four parties, led by Mark Rutte, promises a fresh start and a "new elan". Within days two ministers have tested positive for coronavirus and the justice minister is under fire for not bothering to enforce the rules. Departing economic affairs minister Stef Blok drops a stink bomb in Groningen on his way out, revealing that gas production in the earthquake-ridden province will have to double. New housing minister Hugo de Jonge will need all his skills and more to tackle the shortage of affordable homes. And we reveal which minor ruckus has won the coveted title of Ophef of the Year 2021. Rita Verdonk's campaign video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXQAYlCoYDE&t=2s

Special guest and celebrity roof gardener Molly Quell joins us for the traditional celebration of online outrage, political chicanery and flash-in-the-pan fame that is the DutchNews ophef awards. We have 11 instantly forgettable scandals for you to choose from, but in true Dutch fashion only four of them actually count. Look back in astonishment at a year of ministerial mishaps, penis-shaped cakes, QR codes for dead dictators, unlikely online matchmakers and abstinent Euro-rockers. And don't forget to vote for your favourite via the link below. You could even win a coveted DutchNews ophef mug! Vote here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd1XwbqQfUb_hZWGc5b_D0w9kd8l3uOXjD473u7A9EA8THK7Q/viewform