DutchNews Podcast

The slow-moving budget car crash finally went over the cliff edge this week as the VVD revolted against a tax deal between D66, CDA and Pro. The conflict in Gaza stirs strong emotions at the Red Line protest and the commemoration of Kristallnacht. The threatened village of Moerdijk is offered a potential reprieve. More international students are coming to the Netherlands with a little help from Donald Trump. And a new generation comes of age in one of the most famous dynasties in Dutch sport.

Having spent months courting opposition votes for their budget plans, the parties in Rob Jetten's coalition decide to split up and look for their own majorities. The Council of State deepens finance minister Eelco Heinen's woes with a damning assessment of his income tax reforms. Human rights organisations are pulling back from the ICC under pressure from Donald Trump. The Dutch state adds a zero to the reward for Europe's most wanted drugs criminal, "Bolle Jos" Leijdekkers. And in sport, it's another tough night in the Champions League for Feyenoord and PSV.

An unholy trinity of Christians and nationalists emerges as the last great hope for the coalition parties to save their budget. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits The Hague to dine with the king and secure €1.7bn in new aid. Public broadcaster NPO completes a figure of eight of U-turns as it announces there will be no Dutch entry at next year’s Eurovision Song Contest because of objections to Israel’s participation. Four women go on trial accused of desecrating graves during a late-night séance. An entire railway station is moved 13 metres to make room for new tracks. And the first round of the Dutch Cup throws up a bunch of giantkillings, including a humbling in The Hague and three home defeats for Eredivisie clubs.

News that Rob Jetten is expecting a baby with his partner delights almost everybody, except the family values party SGP. The discovery of a woman's body in a suitcase in Amsterdam sparks fear, anger and a mass of unanswered questions. Prices of gas, train fares and health insurance are going up as winter approaches. And one of the great medieval philosophers tackles the elephant in the dining room in his top tips for raising children.

Pandemonium breaks out in the Dutch middle classes as hackers cancel the country's Albert Heijn bonus cards. Rob Jetten criticises Donald Trump's diesel deal and sanctions against the ICC. Thrillseeking Dutch auditors say the country's roads and railways need a €9.5 billion upgrade to prepare for war. The Senate votes to stop fining the immigration service for taking too long to process asylum claims. Allegations of intimidation and bullying surround one of the Netherlands' most successful cycling teams. And there is potentially life changing news for the nation's pandas, dolphins and seals.

Rob Jetten fetches the rusting polder model from the Catshuis loft and sits down with the trade unions to revive the budget talks. The IND is in a bind after European judges order it to take 140,000 Ukrainian asylum applications out of cold storage. The government wants to recruit a 130,000-strong Home Guard in case Russia or any of Dilan Yesilgöz's other enemies invade. The student debt mountain is shrinking but graduates are facing an interest rate hike. And do rabbits hold the key to solving the nitrogen crisis?

Eelco Heinen celebrates too soon after striking a budget deal with opposition parties that lasts for exactly as long as it takes them to read the small print. Amsterdam is shocked by the shooting of a prison warden on a bustling restaurant terrace. In less shocking news, Dutch data centres are accused of hiding their impact on the environment and energy supplies. Tom Berendsen tries to mend fences with Israel after diplomats are expelled from the occupied West Bank. And we speak to the organisation representing Dutch nationals abroad about the campaign to allow dual nationality.

In a week of fire and fury, Donald Trump turns up the heat on the ICC, David van Weel is grilled on misleading crime figures and the CDA's former golden boy gets his fingers burned at 35,000ft. PFAS chemicals are leaking into the water supply from farmers' fields and firefighters' hoses. The high point of Groningen and Drenthe's winning bid to host the World Cycling Championships is a massive heap of rubbish. And the Dutch are itching to get back on Hyves as the original social media network gets a retro reboot.

Prinsjesdag was a day of sound and fury, with saboteurs disrupting the railways, protesters spray-painting the Royal route, and a King's speech signifying nothing but political paralysis. Rob Jetten's calls to the opposition to overcome their differences and back his budget fall on deaf ears as the rival flanks tell him to pick a side. A silent vigil is held in Rotterdam for a man who died while being arrested by police who wrongly accused him of stealing a fatbike. A 1700-year-old fragment of The Odyssey turns up in Utrecht. And in sport, Jutta Leerdam is taking a break from speed skating to spend more time on Instagram.

Budget Day promises to be full of drama this year as rising inflation and living costs put further pressure on the coalition parties. Freight traffic on inland waterways dropped to its lowest level during the summer drought, raising the stakes on climate change. Education experts sound the alarm over plunging standards of literacy among Dutch teenagers. American commentators breathe a sigh of relief as Botic van de Zandschulp's heroic run in the US Open ends. And can flying cars that cost €100,000 per wheel really take off in the Netherlands?