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/status/1405431496870174724 - King visiting Oranje Street - Koninklijk Huis (@koninklijkhuis) • Instagram-foto's en -video's - King supporting Oranje - https://twitter.com/palpeet/status/1404179234025844737