DutchNews Podcast

We sift through the wreckage of a week when Storm Corrie battered the coastline, a German cargo ship smashed up a wind farm and the cold case team investigating the betrayal of Anne Frank ran into strong headwinds. The government trashed its plans for a 2G coronavirus pass just as half a million vaccine certificates are destined for the shredder. And billionaire Jeff Bezos sparked uproar with plans to dismantle a Rotterdam landmark to make way his gargantuan new yacht. Further afield, the Dutch skating team sharpens its blades for the Winter Olympics in China and Henk Krol eyes up a transfer to pensioners' paradise Spain.

The Netherlands went into Schrödinger's Lockdown this week, as venues everywhere opened up until 10pm while their owners fumed about staying closed. A shadowy transaction at the Binnenhof caught the eye of Twitter observers, while in the debating chamber Ernst Kuipers raised eyebrows with his claims about 3G passes. Dubious claims also put paid to the career of a VVD political adviser after Geert Wilders dug up her well documented history as a member of a terrorist group. In other discrimination news, the tax office is found to have passed its blacklists of dual nationals around government departments like pepernoten at Sinterklaas. And Amsterdam's VU university is shocked to find that the Chinese government might have had an ulterior motive in sponsoring its human rights centre.

Any hopes of a fresh start to 2022 are well and truly cancelled. RTL pulls the plug on its most successful TV show, the Voice of Holland, as allegations emerge of widespread sexual abuse. The first parliamentary debate of the new cabinet term begins with angry exchanges as MPs round on Geert Wilders for his language towards Muslims and women. Budget institute Nibud calculates that everyone will be poorer this year, but the cabinet still wants to break the link between minimum wages and pensions. All this and record coronavirus infections too. Meanwhile, a cold case team claims to have solved one of the biggest mysteries of the Second World War: who told the Nazis where Anne Frank's family were hiding? #Netherlands #DutchNews #DN #Dutch #TheNetherlands #News #DutchPolitics #DutchCurrentEvents #Holland

A year after Mark Rutte's four-party coalition resigned in disgrace, a new cabinet of four parties, led by Mark Rutte, promises a fresh start and a "new elan". Within days two ministers have tested positive for coronavirus and the justice minister is under fire for not bothering to enforce the rules. Departing economic affairs minister Stef Blok drops a stink bomb in Groningen on his way out, revealing that gas production in the earthquake-ridden province will have to double. New housing minister Hugo de Jonge will need all his skills and more to tackle the shortage of affordable homes. And we reveal which minor ruckus has won the coveted title of Ophef of the Year 2021. Rita Verdonk's campaign video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXQAYlCoYDE&t=2s

Special guest and celebrity roof gardener Molly Quell joins us for the traditional celebration of online outrage, political chicanery and flash-in-the-pan fame that is the DutchNews ophef awards. We have 11 instantly forgettable scandals for you to choose from, but in true Dutch fashion only four of them actually count. Look back in astonishment at a year of ministerial mishaps, penis-shaped cakes, QR codes for dead dictators, unlikely online matchmakers and abstinent Euro-rockers. And don't forget to vote for your favourite via the link below. You could even win a coveted DutchNews ophef mug! Vote here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd1XwbqQfUb_hZWGc5b_D0w9kd8l3uOXjD473u7A9EA8THK7Q/viewform

Rejoice this Yuletide, for a cabinet is born! Or is it four more years of being led by the same donkeys? In a special edition of the DutchNews podcast, we pick over Rutte IV's frugality-busting coalition deal. Can the government regain people's trust in the wake of the childcare benefits scandal and the Groningen earthquakes? What will the climate change plans mean for households? Can they really find €5 billion in healthcare savings? And who will benefit most from the €3 billion of tax cuts?

Eleven months, eight resignations and more than 8,000 coronavirus deaths since the Dutch government resigned, a new cabinet looks set to take office just in time for the Christmas recess. Schools will not be finishing early for the holidays, however, despite the threat of the Omicron variant and the advice of the Outbreak Management Team. The booster campaign picks up speed as the EU decides that covid passports will expire after 9 months for people who have only had two jabs. Princess Amalia takes up her seat on the Raad van State and plants a tree on her first royal duty. And the Formula One season heads for a dramatic climax, or possibly a dramatic Max crash. #Netherlands #DutchNews #DN #Dutch #TheNetherlands #News #DutchPolitics #DutchCurrentEvents #Holland

Coronavirus cases are flying high but the big news this week was about two quarantining tourists who were barred from flying home and forced to spend the night in a stinking toilet in Groningen. Hugo de Jonge promises to give everyone over 60 a booster jab by Christmas as the cabinet comes under fire again for its sluggish vaccination programme. The coalition talks look to be creeping towards a conclusion as speculation begins about the ministerial merry-go-round. And completing a week of slow news, the major Dutch cities call for urban speed limits to be reduced to 30 km/h.

While shoppers hunt for a Black Friday bargain, the Dutch government faces a Code Black scenario in hospitals as coronavirus infections continue to spread. Unrest boils again in Dutch cities as bars are forced to shut early and stricter rules are mooted for unvaccinated people. The cabinet comes in for criticism for its mixed messages, ineffective measures and late start to the booster vaccine campaign. If all else fails for Hugo de Jonge, there's good money to be made from busking on Sunday mornings, according to researchers from Tilburg university. Dutch football teams enjoy their best season in Europe for a decade and Feyenoord fans get a royal surprise on their way to Prague. And a security guard in Almere is led on a wild goose chase by the Netherlands' most famous stuffed rabbit.

2G or not 2G? That is the question vexing Dutch politicians as coronavirus cases keep soaring and the calls for tighter restrictions grow louder. The coalition talks are still on track despite a careless party leader leaving confidential documents on a train. Sparks fly in parliament as far-right party FVD is accused of threatening behaviour. And that could be the only flashpoint we see this winter after ministers bow to pressure to ban New Year fireworks.