Sigrid Kaag is dispatched to Paramaribo as the cabinet's efforts to apologise for the Dutch slave trade fly into a whirlwind of recriminations. Back home, Wopke Hoekstra is shocked – shocked! – by a report exposing institutional racism at the foreign affairs ministry. Dutch Moroccan footballers, meanwhile, have no regrets as they eclipse Louis van Gaal's Oranje at the World Cup. Gas supplies look set to last the winter but you'll need to hire a Chern medal-winning mathematician to work out your bill. And after the disappointment of Qatar, Barney and his fellow darts players sharpen their arrows for the world championships at Ally Pally.

The cabinet makes a sorry spectacle of itself this week as its attempts to apologise for slavery come apart at the seams. Rabobank, a co-operative bank set up to lend to farmers, is suspected of getting its hands dirty with money laundering, financing terrorism and rigging bond deals. As the economy cools, Dutch households turn down the thermostat and tighten their belts in anticipation of a 4% drop in spending power. And we reveal the nation's Top 10 Dutch internet searches, a list dominated by war, murder, sex offenders and the British royal family.

A week totally devoid of plot twists includes another farmers' protest, a pre-nuptial agreement between GroenLinks and PvdA, and a warning from the AIVD that Russia and China might be spying on us. There's a double dose of ophef as sports minister Conny Helder leaves parliament early to fly to Qatar, then says 'never mind' to the desert state's human rights record. As Oranje sleepwalk into the World Cup knockout rounds, Morocco's historic win against Belgium triggers fireworks before bedtime. A leak ruins Rob Jetten's nuclear celebration cake, and we tell you why Thierry Baudet won't be getting a copy of his own book for Christmas.

Inflation is a growing problem, and not just for the Oranje fan who was kicked out of a Qatari stadium this week for accessorising his rainbow armband with a pair of false breasts. Brussels tells finance minister Sigrid Kaag to redo her budget arithmetic as fears of a recession deepen. The Dutch government makes farmers an offer they can't refuse to settle the nitrogen crisis. The Bible Belt becomes the unlikely last bastion of blacking up in the name of Catholicism, while arsonists in Brabant attack a farm that was getting ready to accommodate asylum seekers. And as the KNVB ties itself in knots over FIFA's armband ban, will a Frisian skyscraper in goal lift Louis van Gaal's side to new heights? Wolf video: https://nos.nl/artikel/2453549-spelende-drentse-wolvenwelpen-voor-het-eerst-te-zien-op-beeld

Eight years after the shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine, three men are given life sentences for the murder of the 298 passengers and crew. The reality of the ongoing war was brought home for Wopke Hoekstra, who had to take shelter from Russian missiles on a visit to Kyiv. The war is also set to push the Netherlands into a recession by the end of the year, but economists are hopeful of a recovery in the spring. Even football can't provide light relief as the World Cup kicks off in Qatar amid a chorus of disapproval, while Feyenoord fans disgrace themselves yet again in Europe. And while one Mondrian painting turns heads in the art world with its €50m price tag, another turns out to have been hanging the wrong way up for 77 years.

Mark Rutte took a flight out of Egypt this week to fend off a mutiny in his party on asylum. It's not just the wolves that are feasting in Gelderland as a restaurant in Nijmegen is named the best place in the world for plant-based cuisine. The government still can't decide on a new pension scheme, and you'll have to wait longer to claim it anyway after the retirement age goes up again. Louis van Gaal unveils his squad for the World Cup in Qatar, while the cricket team upsets the odds to beat South Africa in the T20 World Cup.

Early November is traditionally a fruitful time for conspiracy theorists, as Guy Fawkes, David Icke and Rian van Rijbroek will testify. The RIVM admits it mixed up its numbers on nitrogen pollution just as the Council of State tells the government to redo its homework on building permits. Dutch railway operator NS cuts services and raises ticket prices, but insist it's still the only company fit to run the train network. Thousands of Ukrainian refugees settle in and successfully find jobs after the government decides not to treat them like refugees. And will rainbow-coloured wolves soon be roaming the Hoge Veluwe?

This week, we look at two instances of climate activism in the Netherlands and ask why the superglue does not seem to work. Asylum minister Eric van der Burg's troubles continue as local councils give him yet another ultimatum about sorting out the mess of where refugees should sleep. House prices are falling and interest rates are up so no hope of much helpful happening on the housing market. Dutch cricketers at the World Cup in Australia have not yet managed a win in the Super12 but are urging the big test nations to spend more time warming up in the Netherlands. The NS public book price is first delayed and then cancelled after voter fraud and animal welfare groups have accused rangers at the Hoge Veluwe national park of taming a wolf to show they are a threat to humans after all.

Wopke Hoekstra says Netherlands needs a 'constructive' relationship with gas-rich Qatar as he rejects parliament's calls to boycott the upcoming World Cup. Let's hope the relationship is constructed more carefully than the stadiums for the tournament, which cost the lives of thousands of migrant workers. Asylum minister Erik van der Burg is caught between a rock and a hard place after a court orders him to improve conditions for refugees, but his own VVD party and local councils won't give ground. After a two-day nationwide search, police find the bodies of a disabled 10-year-old girl and her care worker who went missing. And we report on the conclusion of a long-running court case involving a load of hot air, some ruffled feathers and a ballooning compensation bill.

Inflation will stay high until next year, house prices are cooling and there's a wave of bankruptcies on the way. 2023 looks like a good year to hide under the bedsheets, which might have inspired one prisoner this week to execute a traditional-style escape. The Groningen gas inquiry continues, but not even the collective force of a thousand earthquakes can jog Mark Rutte's active memory. And Amsterdam orders the closure of another 'dark store' that prides itself in delivering to your door faster than Napoli can score against Ajax.