DutchNews Podcast

You don't need a degree in rocket science to work out that the government's higher education cuts are in deep trouble after opposition parties form a united front in the Senate against the €2 billion package. More budget headaches in Brussels as the EU raps the Netherlands over the knuckles for busting the deficit limit that it was instrumental in setting up. Integration lessons for refugees are so time-consuming that they damage their efforts to find work and participate in society, a new report finds. Dutch football clubs have a sensational week in the Champions League, while the tennis team fall agonisingly short of glory. And newly discovered letters from Albert Einstein provide evidence for the theory that Groningen is the most stubborn place in the universe.

NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt returns to The Hague to survey the tattered remains of his Nieuw Sociaal Contract party. Two MPs follow junior finance minister Nora Achahbar through the exit, complaining of a lack of basic decency in government. Another NSC minister, Caspar Veldkamp, had an awkward day in parliament as he explained the consequences of the ICC's arrest warrant against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Environmental campaigners take Schiphol to court over its nitrogen compound emissions. And Botic van de Zandschulp is the unlikely name on everyone's lips as he brings down the curtain on Rafael Nadal's illustrious tennis career.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.