Dutch News

New climate change forecasts this week were the stuff of Dutch nightmares: if the Netherlands doesn't step up its efforts to cut emissions, it risks becoming a Mediterranean country. Even more urgently, the rising tide of coronavirus infections has raised the prospect of restrictions being imposed again. And there's still the question of when we'll have a new government as the coalition breaks its own record for the longest formation in history. Bad news too for Ronald Koeman, sacked after 21 months at Barcelona, and customers at Welkom Energie, the first Dutch casualty of the soaring gas prices. But at least there was a warm welcome for Freya the walrus, who joined a submarine crew for breakfast as part of her tour of the Dutch coast.

Sinterklaas ophef comes round earlier every year, but there's a twist this time around: it's not about Zwarte Piet. A critical review of the government's coronavirus strategy comes out just as cases soar again and ministers promise to repeat the same mistakes as last year. Infections are certainly moving much faster than efforts to compensate for the victims of the child benefit scandal, with MPs, judges, the ombudsman and the Council of Europe all criticising the handling of the affair. And Rotterdam moves another 40 centimetres away from sea level as the new highest building in the Netherlands tops out.

This week the coalition talks moved into an exciting new phase as the four parties from the last government finally agreed to make up the numbers. Also making up numbers was junior justice minister Ankie Broekers-Knol, who was rounded on by all sides after she suggested 100,000 Afghans could be on their way to the Netherlands. Other numbers causing concern are the coronavirus infections, which are rising again, and the figures on your next gas bill. Can Wopke Hoekstra come up with a tax-free solution to the energy crisis? Or will we spend a desolate winter watching Stef Blok tell us to cook one-pot dinners through till spring?

Six months after the election, the coalition merry-go-round comes full circle as the four parties from the last coalition agree to form the next one. A vegan restaurant in Utrecht becomes a cause célèbre for protesters against the coronavirus check pass. Mark Rutte gets some unwanted attention from the criminal underworld and a former councillor best known for his part in a penile pastry scandal. Supermarket chain Jumbo hopes its 'kletskassa's' can help to combat the epidemic of loneliness and atone for its in-store playlist. And former world champion Raymond van Barneveld is implicated in some sharp practice during a lockdown darts tournament.

The pandemic put paid to the usual Budget Day pageantry again, but the economic revival gave parties plenty of scope to embellish the balance sheet with extra cash for teachers, healthcare staff and new houses. The abolition of the 1.5 metre rule failed to bring a rapprochement with the hospitality sector over the compulsory corona check app. Leonardo di Caprio became the latest celebrity to sign up to the Dutch fake meat revolution. And as a hen changes sex in Zeeland, we ask if there's more chance of a rooster laying an egg than the coalition talks producing a new government.

D66 leader Sigrid Kaag will be spending more time with Johan Remkes after she resigned over the chaotic operation to evacuate Kabul. Remkes's task of forming a new coalition became more complicated as the ChristenUnie and Labour played significant parts in Kaag's downfall. The cabinet abolished the 1.5 metre society and set up the Corona Check Club, despite loud protestations from the hospitality industry. Max Verstappen proved a pain in the neck for Lewis Hamilton at Monza while taxi app service Über was left with a headache after a court ruled it had to treat its drivers as employees. And we bring you some fake bird news and the tragic tale of a disastrous date between pachyderms in Drenthe.

There are three levels of crisis in the Netherlands: moderate, severe and 'call Johan Remkes'. The self-styled Plumber of Groningen has given himself a month to unclog the blockage in the coalition negotiations, which has grown fatter this week following Sigrid Kaag's gossamer-veiled attack on Mark Rutte. Despite warnings from viral experts that coronavirus infections are set to rise as we move into autumn, Hugo de Jonge still plans to relax the pandemic restrictions later this month. There's plenty of sporting success to cheer as Max Verstappen triumphs at Zandvoort, the Paralympic team comes home with a sackload of gold medals and Memphis Depay bags five goals in two matches for Oranje. And the podcast's own four-legged mascot became an unlikely celebrity after his expensive tastes went viral on Twitter.

Scientists were stunned this week when a stingray at Harderwijk's Dolfinarium gave birth seven years after its last sexual encounter, but it will take an even bigger miracle to form a new Dutch government by Christmas. With the coalition talks deadlocked, Mark Rutte and Sigrid Kaag have bowed to the inevitable and called in 'Mister Stikstof' Johan Remkes to fix the crisis. Elsewhere there is concern about the decision to abandon the 1.5 metre rule on university campuses, a mudfight over the Tweede Kamer's new decor and a row about MPs sitting in the caretaker government. And after a 36-year absence, the Dutch Grand Prix rolls into the Zandvoort dunes and kicks up a sandstorm of ophef.

It's the last podcast before the summer holiday, but there's little respite in prospect for thousands of people in Limburg hit by unprecedented flooding in the Maas valley. The chances of anyone going abroad are diminishing fast as the surge in coronavirus cases turn the Netherlands red on the EU's travel map. The country is shocked by the murder of investigative journalist Peter R de Vries in broad daylight in Amsterdam. Mark Rutte apologises after clashing with reporters over the failures of the government's coronavirus strategy. And justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus unveils plans to make doxing a criminal offence.

Alarming news dominates this week's podcast as journalist Peter R de Vries is shot in the street and coronavirus infections spread like wildfire through the country's nightspots. Was De Vries targeted for his investigations into the Netherlands' drug gangs? And what measures will the government bring back to save everyone from long Cov- sorry, from having to cancel their holidays? MPs say goodbye to the Binnenhof for the last time before a renovation that's expected to last five years, so it might be finished before the next coalition is formed. A Dutch referee will need to be checking his carpets for Lego bricks after the Euro 2020 semi-final. And we tell you why the retired queen's bodyguard was court martialled for 'not paying attention' at Castle Drakensteyn

After Oranje checked out early from Euro 2020, the state broadcaster brought further shame on the nation by posting the wrong lyrics to the German national anthem. Fans looking to drown their sorrows had to move fast to beat the ban on cut-price alcohol promotions from July 1. Elsewhere it was a week of success in Dutch sport, with Max Verstappen and Mathieu van der Poel scoring victories on four wheels and two. In other motoring news, Sigrid Kaag got tied up in CGI seatbelts in a classic example of the Streisand effect. Farmers and fishermen caused a stink as 185 million kilos of manure went missing and the government secretly issued too many pulse fishing permits. And Amsterdam's mayor commemorated Keti Koti by apologising for the city's role in the slave trade.

Coronavirus infections are receding, Janssen vaccines are being snapped up like hot cakes and football fans are looking forward to watching Oranje on the big screen again. But will the Delta variant spoil everyone's party this summer? As the coalition talks get stuck in the mud, Mark Rutte gets stuck into Victor Orbán over Hungary's law banning the 'promotion' of homosexuality. And we explain how modern technology has cast fresh light on Rembrandt's Night Watch. - Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/DutchNewsNL - Ophef: King Willem-Alexander shaking hands - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0AjCc02cM4&feature=youtu.be - Complete Night Watch - https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/stories/operation-night-watch

Face masks are on the way out and tourists are on the way back as the end of the pandemic looms into view. But after 50 years of milking British stag parties, Amsterdam is looking to lure a different class of post-corona visitor. In other bad taste news, streets around the country are turning orange as the Dutch make a bright start to Euro 2020. Pieter Omtzigt splits with the CDA after his memo saying he has lost trust in the party is leaked to the media. And there's evidence that wolves are not such a menace to sheep as farmers feared, but they do make better jumpers. - Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/DutchNewsNL - Princess Amalia's handwritten letter to prime minister Rutte - https://twitter.com/RickEversRoyal/status/1403336150790643716 - Camiel Eurlings speech, CDA Congress 2010 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkUfHeZCqkM&t=94s - Complete 2010 CDA Congress (8 hours) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iI9hdHki2I&t=5135s - Anne Holligan’s Oranje Street video - https://twitter.com/annaholligan/st

The government is looking to speed up the end of lockdown as coronavirus infection rates hurtle downwards, but at the Binnnehof everything's grinding to a halt. Wopke and Mark can't manage to split up Jesse and Lilianne, Sigrid doesn't want to share with Gert-Jan and Pieter has served up a giant can of worms. Elsewhere, four men go on trial accused of murdering all 298 people on board flight MH17 seven years ago. The Dutch football team get ready to kick off at Euro 2020, Russia kicks off about Ukraine's shirts and two supermarket chains get into an off-the-pitch scuffle about orange tat. And we tell you how a pair of WhatsApp con artists got their fingers burned when they went back for a second bite.

Mark Rutte and Hugo de Jonge joined the 10 million people to be vaccinated this week, just as museums, restaurants and the Droomvlucht ride at the Efteling reopened for business. The Janss— pardon, Johnson & Johnson vaccine was taken out of circulation over concerns about blood clots, while controversy raged about the face mask deal that netted CDA protégé Sywert van Lienden €9 million. Wopke Hoekstra spent the week tilting at windmills as he failed to prise apart the two left-wing parties in the coalition talks. And a poor result for the football team was offset by historic triumphs in cricket and rugby.

A mass coronavirus experiment, outrage over drugs tourists and pariah status for Belarus: this year's Eurovision Song Contest really had it all. Museums, bars and restaurants are set to open sooner now that coronavirus is on the wane, even in Rotterdam. In a landmark judgment, global super-polluter Shell is told it has an obligation under human rights law to stop climate change. While the coalition talks grind on at glacial speed, one cabinet minister signs off work with exhaustion, raising concern about politicians' workloads. And Amsterdam steps up its efforts to ban drugs tourists from the city, surprising some visitors who were unaware there was any other reason to be there. - Twitter thread with photos of the new temporary Tweede Kamer Building - https://twitter.com/TvanGroningen/status/1397893602634866688 - Video of Italian guitarist "snorting coke" - https://twitter.com/Agronveliu97/status/1396238279754887168 - Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/DutchNewsNL

At long last coronavirus infections have started to fall, but not soon enough to make this year's Eurovision Song Contest an even more tasteless experience than usual. Also falling rapidly is Forum voor Democratie's seat count as three MPs defect in the wake of the latest row and the Brabant coalition collapses. A village north of Amsterdam has its quiet afternoon rudely interrupted by a scene straight out of a heist movie. And we have the inside scoop on how our very own Molly Quell's horticultural mix-up ripped through social media like Japanese knotweed. - Dinge-A-Dong, Dutch Eurovision entry 1975 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI78Bqp6z6g - Molly’s plant gate thread - https://unrollthread.com/t/1394561601970266116/ - Jemini – Cry Baby, UK Eurovision entry 2003 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAJ62IG3gBo

The podcast team look forward to the mouthwatering prospect of bitterballen for breakfast as step two of lifting the coronavirus restrictions looms into view. One thing falling even faster than the infection numbers is Forum voor Democratie's seat count as the party splits faster than a uranium atom on steroids. Riots break out in Doetinchem as Go Ahead Eagles pip De Graafschaap in the battle to get out of the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. Afghan interpreters come under the spotlight as the VVD fights its own asylum policy, while an avian refugee turns heads in Zeeland. And we investigate how the Dutch became Europe's biggest fans of fake meat.

For the second year in a row the May 4 and May 5 ceremonies took place without an audience. Actor André van Duin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the event with moving speeches about rebuilding after the war, while conspiracy theorists marked it with a tasteless poster about coronavirus rules. The Netherlands' largest online retailer bol.com was reeled in by an online phishing scam that cost it €750,000. Bees, cows and jackals all feature in our round-up of animal news. And after the weekend celebrations at the ArenA, we ask if you're more likely to catch a nasty disease from a pigeon or an Ajax supporter. - Marco van Basten pannenkoek moment: https://youtu.be/Bq3u7GHZLbA?t=56 - André van Duin on Dam Square: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiNeH1b58Lk - Angela Merkel May 5 speech: https://youtu.be/VPDY2ilNih0?t=380

Sighs of relief alternated with sharp intakes of breath this week as the coronavirus rules were relaxed just as the number of patients in hospital reached a four-month high. Minutes of cabinet meetings confirmed that ministers tried to stonewall MPs' efforts to expose the child benefits scandal. Another critical report shed a light on the culture of bullying and abuse in the world of gymnastics. And a Dutchman's dream of starting a new life in Belarus was scuppered when he was caught trying to cross the border from Lithuania on his bike.