As January stumbles, coughing and spluttering, into its last hours, we look back on a week bursting with apologies. Mark Rutte said sorry for the Dutch government’s involvement in the Holocaust, while Arie Slob said ‘sorry, there’s no more money’ to striking teachers. Two ministers were appointed to shake up the tax office, which is still apologising to parents over the child benefit scandal. National train operator NS, meanwhile, made no apology for its approval ratings, while the government thought twice about asking people stranded in Wuhan to pay for their emergency flights home. In our discussion we look at two contrasting approaches to drug policies by coalition parties and ask: can we mention the ‘e’ word this far out?

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Top story

Prime Minister apologises on Holocaust Memorial Day for not protecting Jews

News

Three people in Netherlands clear after being tested for corona virus

Teachers stage two-day strike as minister insists there is no more money

Two officials hired to sort out tax office in wake of child benefit scandal

Nearly nine in 10 passengers satisfied with train service

Sport

PSV winger Steven Bergwijn heading to Tottenham for €30m

Disgruntled fans hurl security fences at police in clashes at PSV’s stadium (1Limburg)

Britt Eerland and table tennis team miss out on Tokyo Olympics (Schiedam24.nl)

Discussion: Pre-election manifestos on drugs

Addiction experts back D66 plan to regulate hard drugs

Christian Union wants to aim for ‘drug-free’ society (Trouw)

D66 manifesto on hard drugs sparks unrest in coalition (NRC)