DutchNews Podcast

Children's rights were neglected and their well-being suffered during the coronavirus lockdowns, the inquiry into the pandemic is told this week. The Netherlands' first ever code red warning for weather is issued as day and night temperatures soar. Rob Jetten delivers a long awaited apology for treatment of Moluccan war veterans who fled post-colonial Indonesia. International students are at high risk of falling prey to fraudulent landlords. And in sport, Oranje breeze past Sweden to line up a potential needle match against Morocco at the men's football World Cup.

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 struggling to keep out an influx of small furry invaders.

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, several key players are missing from Ronald Koeman's World Cup squad but a keyboard player is hoping to be called up to join them.

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 Paris as he bows out of the French Open on his 26th birthday.

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 English sport of cheese rolling.