This week's @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast: we could have a new government by the end of February, but will the minority coalition get support from the opposition, and at what price? Meanwhile in Amsterdam, the AEX soars to new heights and Ajax plunge to new depths. soundcloud.com/dutchnewsnl/...

Four people injured after two explosions in the centre of Utrecht, causing buildings near the cathedral tower to catch fire. Cause unknown. nos.nl/liveblog/259...

Yesterday it was reported that the Dutch were sending troops as part of a Nato force to step up reconnaissance missions in Greenland. It now turns out they're sending troop. One naval officer. nos.nl/artikel/2598...

the Danube Institute is a nasty thing - a far right body paid by Orban to promote Orban; allied with Project 2025 and supporting people like Eric Zemmour and the AfD. It’s baffling and troubling that the NRC wouldn’t think this matters when publishing their views

If you're looking for a new TV drama packed with intrigue, high political stakes and unexpected twists, I warmly recommend the live stream of the Nexperia case from Amsterdam Court of Appeal's Enterprise Chamber: streams.nfgd.nl/ondernemings...

Rob Jetten is not exactly brimming with optimism about the prospects for a minority Dutch coalition. “We'll need to do our best to gain the trust of other parties,” he said on his way in to talks with five opposition groups to gauge their potential support. nos.nl/liveblog/259...

The fact that this is even necessary tells you what a precarious position Nato is in right now. www.politico.com/live-updates...

'“I’ve seen at close hand some of the mistakes prime ministers have made,” Zahawi explained. More than that, he’s been one of them.'

The first @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast of the year features plenty of soul-searching about fireworks, snow disruption and whether the next experiment in Dutch cabinet formation is any more likely to succeed than the last one. on.soundcloud.com/b9kKeh5Vvmee...

D66, CDA and VVD have announced they will form a three-party coalition that will be 10 seats short of a majority in the lower house and 16 seats short in the Senate. An unprecedented experiment to succeed the fractious Schoof cabinet, and founded on mutual antipathy. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/01/d66-...

Traveller's cheques.

The Netherlands will not publicly rebuke the US for breaching international law with its intervention in Venezuela. Foreign affairs minister David van Weel told MPs the "narcostate" was a threat to neighbouring countries. nos.nl/artikel/2597...

The wolves are getting their steps in … tracker records show a wolf that frequents the Veluwe nature reserve covered more than 2,500 kilometres in three months, averaging 30km a day. Let's just hope they don't work out how to claim travel expenses. nos.nl/artikel/2597...

Ever since a U.S. military cemetery in the southern Netherlands removed two displays recognizing Black troops who helped to liberate Europe from the Nazis, visitors have filled the guestbook with objections.

Schiphol departure boards are back up again, but all they're showing is a succession of giant clocks, which I imagine is exactly what you want to look at if you've been stuck in a slow moving queue for the last two hours.

More problems at Schiphol: after a week of delays and cancellations caused by snow, the airport is now hit by a power failure. But there's good news (cough): managers are promising a major review of the airport's procedures for dealing with severe winter weather. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/01/schi...

Sjaak Massop, 65, made the most of a rare opportunity to go cross-country skiing in the dunes of The Hague. "There's only a very thin covering on the ground so it's hard going," he said. "I keep fit cycling and rowing, and doing this when I can."

the Dutch parliament has been recalled to debate Venezuela. The US is threatening to invade Denmark. In the Netherlands snowstorms have brought trains, schools, businesses to a standstill. And where’s Geert (weather allowing)? He has the same commitment to helping his voters as Farage does

A couple who got AI to "write" their wedding vows have had their marriage annulled. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/01/dutc...

The short answer: we don't get serious bad weather often enough to justify investing in Scandinavian-style snow clearing measures, so it's more efficient to sit it out and whinge about the disruption. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/01/why-...

Good luck if you're flying out of the Netherlands today. No trains to the airport because of an IT failure at NS. If you do get there there's a good chance your flight has been cancelled. And you'll have to book your own hotel because the airlines can't cope. www.dutchnews.nl/2026/01/trai...

Look, I know a lot of stories of widows who've moved heaven and earth to keep the family business going after their partner dies unexpectedly. Who are we to judge just because the family business in this case is relentless grifting?

Russia put a $500,000 bounty on the head of Denys Kaputsin, leader of a pro-Ukrainian Russian unit. Ukrainian agents faked his death, collected Putin's reward money and then resurrected him for a press conference.

I was worried that Dick Schoof would offer empty reassurances to the Dutch Caribbean nations following the attack on Venezuela, but it seems I thought too highly of him.

I can't see how they can refuse him the Nobel Peace Prize after this.

"We all recognise an act of war when we see one". Same goes for moonshine propaganda from those who lack the expertise to produce the real hard stuff such as "Nato provoked the war in Ukraine" or "German civilisation was under threat from a Jewish Bolshevist plot in the 1930s."

If only Yaxley-Lennon had any friends in the Netherlands, even just one, who could have corrected his notions about who lets off fireworks at New Year before he verbally soiled himself.

It's the annual @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social round-up of the most outrageous flash news stories of the year and 2025 produced a bumper crop, from controversial contraceptives at the Rijksmuseum to Katwijk council shooting itself in the foot with an anti-vandalism drive. on.soundcloud.com/rXDepIs1kCQr...

I'm not going to miss the NYE fireworks bonanza at all. A friend of mine was in Poland this year: there were a few fireworks but it was mostly people dancing in the streets. Seems like a lot more fun. Maybe some of the money saved on emergency callouts could be spent on dance classes.

The Vondelkerk church tower in Amsterdam was destroyed by fire in the early hours of New Year's Day. www.nu.nl/jaarwisselin...

"After the arrival of the news of the assassination of my friend, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, I gave up going to Kiel for the regatta week and went back home, since I intended to go to Vienna for his funeral." Kaiser Wilhelm II in his memoirs, describing how 1914 didn't quite go to plan.

One of the most joyous things about living in the Netherlands is seeing people get excited when the temperature drops below freezing. www.dutchnews.nl/2025/12/two-...

It takes a special kind of genius to try to weaponise a scandal about an obscenely rich multiple sex offender only to have it blow up in your face. When Marjorie Taylor Greene is claiming the moral high ground, it's a sure sign you've lost the plot. edition.cnn.com/2025/12/24/p...

A feast of micro-outrages, social media meltdowns and petty political skirmishes: it's time for the annual @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast Ophef of the Year Awards. Patrons can listen now, everyone else has to wait until next year. www.patreon.com/posts/ophef-...

We're joined by @mollyquell.bsky.social for the last @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast of the year to discuss Zelenskyy's visit to The Hague. Plus the latest on the coalition talks, danger in the skies over Curaçao and Van Persie under fire at Feyenoord. on.soundcloud.com/3288iLTl9diI...

My piece for The New World on the Margraten cemetery controversy. www.thenewworld.co.uk/gordon-darro...

Youll soon be able to go from Amsterdam to Berlin by train for €10 (if you book well ahead and travel light). British people: drop a comment saying how far nine pounds takes you on the railways. www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...

"Bram leerde Nederland kennen als een dichtbevolkt land met licht ontvlambare mensen."

This week's @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast: a minority cabinet looms, China outs a bunch of Dutch spies, the top Google searches reinforce the Netherlands' obsession with being on time, and Dick Advocaat is declared safe from US warships. on.soundcloud.com/MsPYo8Gokmsf...

Released emails show the American Battle Monuments Commission removed panels on the Black Liberators from Margraten cemetery to comply with Trump's anti-DEI directives, despite earlier denials. www.dutchnews.nl/2025/12/that...

Dear Canadians, We heard the news about your ambassador and wanted to let you know our thoughts are with you at this difficult time. With deepest sympathy, The Netherlands

Nearly 20 years after being founded, the far-right Party for Freedom has no members, no party infrastructure and no public meetings or conferences. Its candidate lists are scribbled down by Geert Wilders on a beermat; its MPs’ jobs depend on his benificence. www.dutchnews.nl/2025/12/pvv-...

The blindingly obvious point that this op-ed somehow contrives to miss is that in all those movies and War Picture Library comics we gobbled up as kids in the 1970s and 1980s, THE NAZIS WERE THE BAD GUYS.

Is D66 leader Rob Jetten playing the long game? Question marks were raised when he agreed to a lone CDA moderator for the first round of coalition talks, but here comes the payoff: he gets to pick a progressive academic, Rianne Letschert, to lead the crucial second phase. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

Ik zou zo graag het zelfvertrouwen willen van Caroline van der Plas die zich uitspreekt tegen een minderheidskabinet terwijl haar partij in een rompkabinet van 26 zetels zit.

The Dutch coalition talks risk running running aground as the channel towards a cabinet grows narrower (no, I'm not convinced the metaphor stretches either). wordsforpress.wordpress.com/2025/12/08/t...

Disappointed he isn't getting the FIFA Prize for Literature as well for his letters to Jeffrey Epstein.

This week's @dutchnewsnl.bsky.social podcast: impasse in the coalition talks, shipbuilder Damen is immersed in Russian influence, Ajax's firework bandits give the crisis club yet another headache, and a wolf is shot dead in Utrecht, but is it the one they meant to hit? soundcloud.com/dutchnewsnl/...

Op 1:13 rinkelt ineens een telefoon #Wilders nos.nl/l/2593191