Episoder
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Amsterdam has been hardly out of the headlines this week, after trouble before, during and after a football match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, with politicians at home and abroad pouring oil on troubled waters. Oil giant Shell, meanwhile, won the return match in its ongoing legal battle with environmental campaign group Milieudefensie. Health insurers publish their premiums for next year with few surprises and, surprise surprise in Gelderland, there have been a lot more attacks by wolves this year. And with the international distance skating championships starting, we explain the wonderful world of the team pursuit, the allround and why Jetta Leerdam wears black.
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The minister for tax affairs becomes the first casualty of Dick Schoof's cabinet as Geert Wilders settles a score with NSC over the asylum law. A police report reveals how criminals have infiltrated the healthcare system with fake qualifications and bogus agencies. Parents are blocked from checking their children's homework online, while the axe hangs over household goods chain Blokker. And Abdi Nageeye retakes Manhattan for the Dutch by winning the New York Marathon.
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A frustrating week for asylum minister Marjolein Faber as all her hypothetical hard work on the government's emergency refugee law goes up in smoke. Geert Wilders rediscovers his appetite for bananas and democratic processes while Dick Schoof struggles to convince even himself that the "strictest asylum rules" ever will actually work. Meanwhile in overcrowded Ter Apel, the accommodation agency faces even bigger fines for packing refugees in like sardines. Analysts also criticise the government's efforts to meet climate change targets and build affordable housing. And in sport, Ajax get back to winning ways just as their former coach Erik ten Hag is told to pack his bags at Manchester United.
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Geert Wilders insists he doesn't have a banana for a backbone, but his flexibility may have saved Dick Schoof's bacon for now ahead of a crucial cabinet meeting to finalise the government's asylum policy. Marjolein Faber's talent for confecting word salads throws the coalition parties into a state of confusion, while Reinette Klever cleverly rebrands the Rwanda refugee scheme by substituting a neighbouring country with a similar name. Universities warn that plans to limit foreign students and English courses will damage their international status. And in sport, Ronald Koeman laments the tactical superiority of the Germans and the Dutch bullet train steamrollers the competition at the track cycling championships in Denmark.
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The signs are looking bad for Dick Schoof's cabinet as it hits the 100-day mark, and not just the ones that Marjolein Faber wants to hang in refugee centres. Geert Wilders goes on the offensive against Amsterdam's mayor Femke Halsema for her handling of a pro-Palestinian demonstration on October 7. Dutch universities do their bit for the government's plan to deter foreign students by plunging down the international league table. A mechanic sparks panic in a museum when he clears out a lift shaft. And the world of football mourns Johan Neeskens, whose penalty kick in the 1974 World Cup final was one of the iconic moments of Dutch sport.
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An unnamed "foreign power" hacked into the Dutch police database this week, with cybersecurity experts pointing the finger squarely at Russia. Mark Rutte declared his love for Brussels as he started work as the new boss of Nato with a pledge to bring Ukraine into the alliance. The first fine is handed down for street harassment since it was criminalised, although it's still less costly than firing up a wood burner on a still day in Amersfoort. And Feyenoord win in the Champions League thanks to two own goals, one more than Marjolein Faber managed on a fact-finding trip to Denmark.
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What started out as an asylum crisis became a fast-track route to disaster this week as Geert Wilders hinted he could torpedo the coalition if his plans are thwarted. Meanwhile in the North Sea, Russian marine research vessels turn out to be engaged in the kind of fishing expedition that involves mini submarines, radar and armed guards. Three wolf cubs are killed in a road collision as the debate rages about the animals' protected status. And Max Verstappen is tight-lipped about his prospects as the Formula One season enters its final closing stages.
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The horse-drawn carriages rattled through the streets of The Hague as usual, but in other ways it was a new-look Prinsjesdag. Finance minister Eelco Heinen warned that the days of "free money" were over as he delivered a stripped-down budget designed to balance the books. The budget debate revolved around Geert Wilders's favourite hobby-horse, immigration. Frans Timmermans and Dick Schoof clashed over blacked-out documents, Esther Ouwehand served up some spiced watermelon, while demolition specialist Wilders tried his hand at bridge-building. Elsewhere, Amsterdam is bubbling with new ideas to clean up its waterways while Germany steps up border controls with typically understated efficiency. A Dutch author makes it onto the Booker Prize shortlist for the first time. And PSV and Feyenoord suffered Champions League misery.
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It's been a rollercoaster year for NSC, but after realising that most rollercoaster rides end back down at the bottom, leader Pieter Omtzigt decides to take a break. As budget day draws near, BBB leader Caroline van der Plas threatening to quit after her own party's agriculture minister unveils plans to buy out farmers. In the most unsurprising news of the year so far, we tell you how much more you'll be paying for health insurance from January. Amsterdam has a whip-round for the world's biggest Dutch birthday party, while Groningen's plans to celebrate the end of gas drilling are undermined by bureaucracy. And the new owners of Scheveningen Pier explain how they aim to make it the pearl of the North Sea once more.
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Cabinet ministers returned from their summer break this week and got stuck into late-night budget talks. Pieter Omtzigt was accused of sabotaging his own plans to make government more accountable by setting up a "war room" with NSC's two senior ministers to renegotiate the budget. Omtzigt also voiced concern about the declining Dutch and European birth rates, in a speech that was definitely not dog-whistling to far-right Great Replacement theories but kept mentioning the number of babies in Africa. The right-wing cabinet cuts funding for "bed and board" accommodation for failed refugees and tells provincial governments to scrap their nitrogen reduction plans. And Ajax captain Steven Bergwijn is told his international career is over after accepting a €27 million carrot to play in Saudi Arabia.
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New prime minister Dick Schoof stepped up onto the world stage this week, calling in on Ursula von der Leyen before heading to the Nato summit in Washington. His meeting with fellow debutant Keir Starmer was overshadowed by Oranje's last-minute defeat to England in the semi-finals of Euro 2024 and a penalty decision that made Ronald Koeman see red. A local politician in Rotterdam has his house set on fire while another in Friesland is forced to move out of the area. And Schiphol airport is bracing itself for another summer of chaos and delays caused by a shortage of security staff.
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Dick Schoof's honeymoon period turns out to be even shorter than Joost Klein's Eurovision campaign as the new coalition's first debate descends into chaos and infighting. Mark Rutte headed off on his bike to Nato after getting to say his favourite word on television one last time. The impending change of government also caused anxiety at Keti Koti about the future of the proposed slavery museum. The Covid lockdowns turn out to have inspired a new enthusiasm for recreational walking. And at Euro 2024, the under-fire Dutch team step up a gear and now face Turkey in Berlin in the quarter-finals.
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Several opposition parties stayed away from this week's ministerial hearings, fearing it would become a political circus. It turned out to be a game of reverse charades in which Marjolein Faber and the other PVV candidates expended a huge amount of words in saying nothing. Mark Rutte headed off to his future workplace of Brussels for one last European leaders' summit before he takes the helm at Nato. A homeless man went viral after handing in a wallet containing €2000. Hugo de Jonge steered through a major rent control law in his last act as housing minister. And the Dutch football team will be hoping to stay away from home a bit longer after receiving a tongue-lashing from the media following their dramatic defeat to Austria.
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Exhausted and bedraggled after six months of bruising negotiations, the four parties in the new coalition this week hauled themselves over the start line. While the VVD filled the cabinet with heavyweight international statesmen and NSC appointed senior judges and diplomats, the PVV posted fans of Nazi "Umvolkung" theories. The breakthrough came just in time for Mark Rutte to take over the top job at Nato, having slipped a few sweeteners into Viktor Orbán's coffee. Nearly half of international residents in the Netherlands have experienced or witnessed discrimination, a survey for Dutch News shows. Oranje kick off their campaign with a thunderous strike of Wout Weghorst's boot, but the cricketers are out of the T20 World Cup following a Sri Lankan thrashing. And the flags are out in Scheveningen for the new herring season.
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After months of slow progress, the formation of the next government hits warp speed as the new asylum minister resigns before he can be appointed. An early setback for the cabinet's immigration policy as the European Court of Justice says two Iraqi refugees who adopt Dutch values have the right to stay. Six men involved in the murder of the journalist Peter R de Vries are jailed for up to 28 years. The Princess Maxima cancer hospital fields brickbats from the scientific community after sponsoring a paper that links vaccines to Covid deaths. And striker Joshua Zirkzee runs away from Disney World to join Ronald Koeman's footballing circus at Euro 2024.
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The European election campaign didn't quite catch fire, but things warmed up in the final days with the PVV and GroenLinks-PvdA running neck-and-neck in the polls. We ask what the outcome means for the new coalition, the pro-European opposition parties and the trivial business of the future of the EU. The coalition talks go from gridlock to quagmire as the parties reportedly row over the distribution of cabinet posts. A Dutch tourist with a marker pen earns himself a heavy fine and the wrath of the Italian nation by scrawling on a historic ruin. Campsites are evacuated as river levels surge following the floods in Germany. Lieke Martens calls time on her illustrious international career and the Dutch men's cricketers start their T20 World Cup campaign with a win.
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The six-month quest for a new prime minister ended this week when former spy chief Dick Schoof accepted his own Mission Impossible: keeping the new right-wing cabinet afloat. Good news for his predecessor, Mark Rutte, who can now concentrate on collecting the last stamps he needs to become boss of Nato. We look ahead to next week's European elections, which have been beset by allegations of Russian influence and Danish disenfranchisement. Women have become more independent in the last 50 years, but teenagers are still feeling the after-effects of the pandemic. And a Dutch Lego superfan is told to take his custom-made train sets apart or pay the price.
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Polish podcaster Patryk Kulpok joins us this week to chew over the progress of the incoming government and the coalition deal. Which opposition leader did Geert Wilders reprimand for sniping from the sidelines? Why did Pieter Omtzigt end up arguing with Rob Jetten about the price of Ilse de Lange concert tickets? And will we have a new prime minister before our neighbours across the North Sea? In other news, the VVD face being homeless after the European elections after getting into bed with the PVV. Dutch women are celebrating in judo and football, while Ajax's men get a new Italian boss. And universities will be able to turn away foreign students and lecturers under a plan masterminded by distinguished Princeton academic turned education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf.
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It was a week when a small European country finally got tough on foreigners who stir up trouble and harass its citizens. But most of the Netherlands was horrified by the expulsion of Joost Klein from the Eurovision Song Contest and rang out church bells in solidarity. Meanwhile in The Hague, a coalition of right-wing parties finally produced a programme for government, promising stringent new rules on asylum, fewer international students and a return to 130 km/h speed limits. Climate experts urge the country to prepare for droughts and flooding, just as the government abandons its green energy commitments. Pro-Palestinian protesters continue to occupy university buildings across the Netherlands. And Ajax appoint a 35-year-old Italian to lead them back to the promised land of the Champions League.
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As the coalition talks stall, Geert Wilders delivers on his promise to put the Dutch first by slinking off to Budapest to give a speech in English about African migrants. Security is stepped up for the Remembrance Day ceremony, with numbers limited for the first time, amid fears it could be disrupted by protesters. Mark Rutte books a cheap flight to Turkey to collect one of the last stamps he needs to become secretary-general of Nato. Dutch consumers are cooling on the idea of installing solar panels and heat pumps, while sustainable investment funds turn out to be fuelled by dirty energy. Oranje's all-time top goalscorer Robin van Persie warms up for his first coaching job at Heerenveen. And Joost Klein heads for Sweden with 20 suitcases of Eurovision kit, 10 of them for his shoulder pads.
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