The Japanese emperor visits the national war memorial to commemorate the victims of his country's occupation of Indonesia. Over at the World Cup, Oranje do their bit for diplomatic relations by conceding a late equaliser to Japan in their opening game. Police believe a blast that destroyed a gym in Amsterdam was caused by cashpoint robbers making their own bombs. Explosives are also found at the site of a planned refugee centre that has been repeatedly targeted by extremists. And Limburg is stru...
Jun 20, 2026•1 hr
New European rules on asylum come into force, but the Dutch immigration service warns it will take a year to clear the backlog. An extradition treaty aimed at busting drug gangs is signed, while the net tightens around the latest "Mr Big". International students numbers fall for the first time in 20 years, but Dutch students are disappearing even faster. The Mauritshuis is allowed to keep a batch of 17th century paintings in a dispute that hinges on a sentence in a French will. And in sport, sev...
Jun 12, 2026•57 min
In the wake of the recent asylum riots, we unpick the Dutch far-right landscape with the help of Leiden university professor Sarah de Lange. Voters' confidence in Rob Jetten's cabinet has plunged in the first 100 days as it struggles to make progress on key policy areas such as asylum, welfare and housing. Palestinian students with visas for the Netherlands will get more help leaving Gaza. The NS cut-price summer train ticket arrives a week early. And in sport, Jesper de Jong feels the love in P...
Jun 04, 2026•1 hr 14 min
Social affairs minister Hans Vijlbrief cans the cabinet’s plans to extend the retirement age in the hope of avoiding a summer of strikes. Accusations fly in parliament in a bad-tempered debate on asylum, as the reception centre in Ter Apel continues to strain at the seams. The sale of DigiD is blocked at the last minute to the dismay of Donald Trump's man in The Hague. Schiermonnikoog wants to use heat-seeking drones to round up its stray cats. And a Dutchman is king of the hill in the ancient E...
May 30, 2026•1 hr 6 min
As the atmosphere outside asylum centres grows heated and the debate becomes increasingly poisonous, Rob Jetten sends in a crack team of civil servants to lend moral support. A changing of the guard at Schiphol leads to long queues at the airport, while unions warn of more disruption over the summer. The crew of the MV Hondius look forward to six weeks in a dockside cabin in Rotterdam. Art detective Arthur Brand traces a painting looted by the Nazis to a flat in Utrecht. And in sport, Dick Advoc...
May 21, 2026•1 hr 10 min
An outbreak of a rat-borne virus on a cruise ship triggers mass anxiety as phrases like "self-isolation" and "test and trace" re-enter the lexicon. Local mayors are growing increasingly frustrated with The Hague's reluctance to condemn violent protests outside refugee centres. Environmental campaigners are distraught as the man who led a string of successful court cases against major polluters takes Tata Steel's shilling. And in sport, the passportgate saga is resolved while crisis club Vitesse ...
May 08, 2026•45 min
The army is feeling the heat after several wildfires break out during training excercises in tinderbox conditions. The king gets his skates on and straddles some Frisian dikes for his birthday bash this year. Protests against refugee centers turn ugly when a former council office is trashed by roving hooligans. The government signs a data security deal with the owners of Lidl as it tries to become less dependent on US tech firms. And owl watchers are stunned by some fly-by-night high jinks in Li...
May 01, 2026•52 min
Vaudevillian scenes in the Senate as the PVV block their own asylum bill before blaming D66 for not wanting to soil their hands with it. The cabinet still isn't willing to cut fuel prices but hopes cheap train tickets and extra poverty relief funding will ease the pain. Utrecht is forced to take emergency measures after its electricity grid hits its limit. Artworks looted by the Nazis from Jewish families will go on public display for the first time. And in sport, there's a potential kitchen-sin...
Apr 24, 2026•1 hr 2 min
Those who can, plan; those who can't, plan scenarios. At any rate, that seems to be how the Dutch government is preparing for the impending crisis triggered by the war in Iran and blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. It wasn't enough to stop the king and queen's visit to the other orange king in the White House going ahead: the royal couple avoided any embarrassing mishaps, unless you count the faux pas of talking about last season's coup. Three men have appeared in court accused of organising the ...
Apr 17, 2026•34 min
The Netherlands promises to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but only once the hellfire has died down. Continuing the theme of negotiating with scoundrels, curators in Assen and Bucharest breathe a sigh of relief following the safe return of the golden helmet that was stolen from the Drents Museum last year. In a victory for vested interests, the Senate is set to vote down the cabinet's plans to delay the state retirement age. Student finance agency Duo will pay €80 million in compensation f...
Apr 08, 2026•1 hr 2 min
As political parties around the country come together to form council administrations, the far-right Forum voor Democratie rage against the mainstream by falling apart. The government decides the best way to conserve energy during the escalating fuel crisis is to stand still and do nothing. Motorists are inundated by fake fines in the wake of the Odido hack. Dozens of Eredivisie footballers turn out to have been playing in a legal grey area. And a collapsing floor in Maastricht reveals the remai...
Mar 27, 2026•1 hr 30 min
All parties claim victory after this week's local elections, but the real winners were the local parties, who took more than one-third of the total vote. The losers were Rob Jetten and Carola Schouten, who recklessly promised to abseil down the Euromast tower if turnout went up. We bring you a run-down of the results and the main talking points, including a huge comeback win for Richard de Mos in The Hague and gains by the far-right Forum voor Democratie. Elsewhere, Jetten performs a dramatic U-...
Mar 20, 2026•1 hr 10 min
With a week to go until the local elections, we provide a Dutch News crash course in how to vote and find your way through the jungle of local parties. Rob Jetten's cabinet rules out emergency measures to cut fuel prices, while pressure grows to keep the Groningen gas fields open. Chip manufacturer ASML unveils plans to expand its campus in Eindhoven. The Council of State tells the government to think again on Schiphol flights. And in sport, Max Verstappen hopes to rally in Nuremberg after crash...
Mar 13, 2026•1 hr 28 min
As local elections approach, we talk to polling expert and political scientist Tom Louwerse about the kaleidoscopic range of candidate and parties on offer and how voters can make sense of it all. Rob Jetten's first week as prime minister proves to be a bumpy ride, and not just because he's travelling by road to Brussels. The cabinet comes under fire from all sides as it tries to support Donald Trump and uphold international law at the same time. Unions threaten strikes after walking out of a me...
Mar 05, 2026•1 hr 21 min
Rob Jetten starts work as prime minister by shaking hands with Olympic heroes and doing backroom deals with PVV refuseniks. Mona Keijzer creates an unstable situation in farmers' party BBB after being passed over for the leadership. Internet provider Odido is in double trouble after hackers leak its customers' data. And art historians get a surprise when they view a collection of "very nice" etchings.
Feb 27, 2026•1 hr 16 min
Rob Jetten starts his term one finance minister short of a full cabinet after Natalie van Berkel is found to have inflated her credentials on LinkedIn. More new homes are being built, but not enough to tackle the housing shortage or cool the property market. The armed forces are struggling to recruit chefs, mechanics and other support staff in the battle to spend the extra Nato billions. A new rail link is planned to connect Eindhoven to Brussels. And the Dutch shorttrack skaters eclipse the sta...
Feb 20, 2026•1 hr 6 min
*Apologies to regular listeners for the short format, which was caused by a technical hiccup. Normal service, or what passes for it, will be resumed next week. The new government of D66, VVD and CDA gets straight down to work, suffering its first defeats in parliament before the ministers have even been sworn in. Nearly 100 people are stripped of their citizenship for the equally grievous offences of supporting international terrorism and refusing to give up a second passport. Celebrity boxer Ja...
Feb 13, 2026•33 min
The coalition talks wrap up in record time with Rob Jetten announcing plans for everyone to work longer and pay more for nursing care when they retire. In an early test of the coalition's discipline, Dilan Yesilgöz surprises finance minister Eelco Heinen by blurting his cabinet appointment into the first microphone that drifts her way. Local government taxes go up by 6.5%, with the steepest rises in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. An alleged double agent goes on trial accused of passing secret...
Feb 06, 2026•1 hr 17 min
Rob Jetten takes a big step towards becoming the Netherlands' youngest ever prime minister as D66, VVD and CDA agree to form a minority cabinet. The chips are down for managers at ASML as the company announces 1,700 layoffs despite posting record profits. New commemorative panels at Margraten war cemetery only partly dispel the anger over the erasure of the Black Liberators, just as Donald Trump's crass outburst raises the hackles of Dutch Nato soldiers. The Netherlands is told to do more to pro...
Jan 30, 2026•1 hr
Chaotic scenes in The Hague as seven PVV MPs break away, leaving Geert Wilders's party with the same number of members as it had before (one). The cabinet is urged to save Dutch residents' DigiD data from the Trump Administration if the service is sold to the States. Experts warn thieves are targeting museums after an entire collection of antique silver disappears in Doesburg. Drug traffickers are abandoning cocaine, sometimes literally, as customs checks step up. In sport, Ajax win again in the...
Jan 23, 2026•1 hr 6 min
The new coalition leaders signal a break from unstable political experiments by forming a minority government that depends on the support of parties they turned down as partners. Greenland breathes a sigh of relief as the Dutch dispatch a lone naval officer to defend it against the US army. Contrasting fortunes in Amsterdam as the AEX soars past 1,000 points while Ajax crash to their worst cup defeat in 99 years. And art experts find two huge Easter eggs concealed in one of the Mauritshuis's bes...
Jan 16, 2026•1 hr 1 min
2026 gets off to a hot and cold start with the most devastating New Year's Eve ever, culminating in the destruction of Amsterdam's Vondelkerk tower. Thousands of passengers are left in limbo as Schiphol airport battles with snowbound runways and a shortage of de-icing fluid. Talks to form a new government are given an added sense of urgency by events in Venezuela. The Giant is cut down to size by the Nuke in his quest to become the third Dutch darts world champion. And we announce the results of...
Jan 09, 2026•1 hr 10 min
We round off the year with our traditional round-up of the most outrageous flash news stories of 2025, and this year has produced a bumper crop. The Rijksmuseum sparked protests with an intimate depiction of a scene from Greek mythology, a night shift worker caused alarming scenes in Spijkenisse, a fringe party campaign advert churned stomachs and Katwijk council's attempts to prevent New Year's Eve vandalism backfired spectacularly. Vote for your favourite from the shortlist on the form below a...
Jan 01, 2026•52 min
The coalition talks grind on as the three parties decamp to Prince Bernhard's former military lodge. Volodymyr Zelenskyy unveils plans in The Hague to rebuild Ukraine with the proceeds of frozen Russian assets. Commercial pilots in the skies over Curaçao play Russian roulette with the US Air Force as the Venezuelan crisis escalates. Robin van Persie is feeling the pressure as Feyenoord lose two crucial matches in a week. And Femke Halsema wants to tone down the Koningsdag revelry in the capital....
Dec 19, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Sybrand Buma bows out as coalition negotiator, leaving behind an iconic photograph and a Herculean task to form a new government. His successor, Maastricht university professor Rianne Letschert, pays tribute to the Schoof cabinet when she almost steers off the road as she takes the call offering her the job. Ajax stop the rot with a dramatic late comeback in Azerbaijan. Dick Advocaat is declared safe from US aggression off the coast of Venezuela. And this year's top Google searches suggest that ...
Dec 11, 2025•58 min
The coalition talks hit an impasse as D66 and CDA's hopes of forming a government go up in smoke faster than an Ajax home match. Financial investigators uncover more evidence of Russian influence at the Netherlands' largest shipbuilder. AvroTros confirms it will boycott next year's Eurovision Song Contest in protest at Israel's participation. Utrecht waits for DNA test results after a suspected "problem wolf" is shot dead. And a kitten dies after contracting bird flu on a goat farm. Link to the ...
Dec 05, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Like exhausted generals at the Somme, the VVD gear up for one last push to get their asylum bill through parliament before the new cabinet takes office. Drones from Russia - or possibly MediaMarkt - cause consternation in the skies and ground aircraft in Eindhoven. PSV are on cloud nine after thumping Liverpool in the Champions League, while Ajax look to another Cruyff to rescue them from the doldrums. Amsterdam introduces a licensing system for second home buyers, as first-timers benefit from a...
Nov 28, 2025•59 min
Dick Advocaat sparks scenes of jubilation on Curaçao and the world's shortest open top bus tour after the Caribbean nation reaches the World Cup for the first time. Back in The Hague, Rob Jetten and Henri Bontenbal get bogged down on nitrogen policy, while Dilan Yeşilgöz serves coffee with humble pie to Hans Wijers. Groningen reels from its biggest earthquake in six years while economic affairs minister Vincent Karremans calms the storm that blew up in China over the Nexperia takeover. And the U...
Nov 21, 2025•1 hr 10 min
Rob Jetten and Henri Bontenbal give Dilan Yesilgöz a taste of her own medicine by shutting the VVD out of the first round of coalition talks. Employers are struggling to entice workers to go back to the office, while the VVD quietly ditches plans to protect migrant workers from exploitation. Limburg protests against the removal of exhibits at a a US war cemetery honouring black liberators. The prefabricated houses donated to Zeeland after the devastating 1953 floods get heritage status. And we e...
Nov 14, 2025•1 hr 13 min
National train chief Wouter Koolmees defies expectations by getting the first stage of coalition talks under way with only a slight delay. But will Dilan Yesilgöz' pledge to deplatform GL-PvdA shunt the whole exercise into a siding? The housing crisis intensifies as private landlords sell off student flats and a project to convert empty buildings fails to make an impact. The cabinet controversially scraps measures designed to protect migrant workers. Company bikes prove a hit as the cost of trav...
Nov 07, 2025•1 hr 16 min
