In a biology class at a secondary school near Rotterdam, Gerrit the skeleton is not the only one with a permanent grin. The Groen van Prinsterer Lyceum, which first trialled happiness lessons a decade ago, teaches some of the least troubled teens in the world.  More >

In the age of climate change, Rotterdam has become the world’s most important testing ground for urban design.  More >

Angela Merkel may have closed the coffin lid on Emmanuel Macron’s EU reform plans, but it was Mark Rutte who dug the grave. Before the chancellor said France (and the rest of the eurozone) could forget any lingering hope that Germany will pursue a great leap forward in eurozone integration, the Dutch prime minister was leading the charge against exactly the same thing.  More >

Leonne Zeegers won a landmark court victory to identify as gender neutral. In a remarkable interview, the former athlete and nurse tells of her life ‘born in two sexes’  More >

Pete Hoekstra seemed a good choice for America’s ambassador to the Netherlands when President Donald Trump appointed him last year. Mr Hoekstra, a former congressman, was born in the Netherlands and grew up in Holland, a largely Dutch-American town in Michigan.  More >

There are a number of reasons for lawyers representing plaintiffs and defendants to believe that Dutch courts could become an ideal overseas venue to resolve class action disputes. But uncertainties still abound.  More >

Journalist Joris Luyendijk on why he left Britain and won't be going back any time soon.  More >

When the Dutch city of Leeuwarden commissioned 11 fountains by modern artists to celebrate being made European capital of culture 2018, it probably didn’t expect such stiff opposition. Internationally renowned sculptors – including the British artists Cornelia Parker and Lucy Orta – each designed a fountain for one of 11 cities in the province of Friesland. For the city of Workum, Parker took her inspiration from a pair of lions on a 17th-century coat of arms, designing two huge replicas, with water spouting from their claws.  More >

Houten near Utrecht is cycle heaven for a family of nomadic Brits, the Guardian writes.  More >

An increasing number of Dutch towns and cities use street sensors and big data to tackle societal problems. From smart lighting to artificial intelligence that spots violent behaviour in surveillance footage, smart technology is booming in the Netherlands  More >

Known as Leeuwarden, Ljouwert and Liwwadden, along with hundreds of variants over the centuries, 2018’s European Capital of Culture is the world’s undisputed capital of place names.  More >

Adrienne Cullen was at work in Amsterdam when the phone call came. It was her doctor, calling from his hospital in Utrecht. An Irishwoman in her 50s, she had been living in the Netherlands for several years.  More >

The funeral industry is catering for the growing number of people who want to deal with their mortal remains in an environmentally sound way.  More >

Simple solutions can make a big difference for blind travellers. The BBC shows what the Dutch do to help them.  More >

About 70 people are gathered in the cosy civic centre of Oude Pekela, one of the Netherlands’ poorest villages. When I ask them: 'Do you see Pekela mostly as a poor place, or a happy one?', no hands go up for 'poor'. Almost all are raised for 'happy'.  More >

Insulting a king used to be dangerous business, but in the Netherlands, it could soon be the legal equivalent of trash-talking an ambulance driver. Under Dutch law, insulting the monarch is a crime — though it is rarely prosecuted — punishable by up to five years in prison.  More >

A Dutch journalist has uncovered Royal Dutch Shell documents as old as 1988 that showed the oil company understood the gravity of climate change, the company’s large contribution to it and how hard it would be to stop it.  More >

On the first day of June in 2017, Dutch national television crews were at the ready when a moving truck pulled into the stately cobblestone courtyard of the parliament in The Hague. The truck’s load, a black grand piano, had been the subject of conversation for months.  More >

The fishermen of Urk know that Brexit is going to hurt, but they aren’t going to accept the pain without a fight. The Dutch coastal town is built on fish. Until 1939, and the construction of a dyke to the mainland, it was an island. Its inhabitants were so isolated from the rest of the country that in winter the sick had to be transported across the ice on sledges to reach the nearest hospital.  More >