Netherlands

AMSTERDAM, April 28 (Reuters) - The Dutch government is likely to send a forensic team from the national military police to Ukraine to help investigate possible war crimes, Dutch press agency ANP reported on Thursday.

The team would leave for Ukraine at short notice to help the International Criminal Court (ICC) gather evidence at sites where war crimes may have been committed, ANP cited sources close to the matter.

The government will make a final decision on the mission on Friday, the sources said.

The Dutch foreign ministry declined to comment on the report.

AMSTERDAM, April 25 (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court (ICC) will take part in the joint team investigating allegations of war crimes in Ukraine following the Russian invasion, the European Union's agency for criminal justice cooperation said on Monday.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan and the Prosecutors General from Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine signed an agreement for the international war crimes tribunal's first-ever participation in an investigative team, Eurojust said.

AMSTERDAM, April 23 (Reuters) - Amsterdam's Schiphol airport urged travellers to stay away for several hours on Saturday as a strike by ground personnel at the start of a school holiday caused chaos at Europe's third-busiest airport.

"The terminal is too full at the moment ... Schiphol is calling on travellers not to come to the airport anymore," airport authorities said in a statement issued shortly before noon (1000 GMT).

Almost three hours later the airport said passengers were welcome again but would still face long waiting times and possible delays or cancellations.

AMSTERDAM, April 22 (Reuters) - European Council President Charles Michel in a phone call on Friday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage directly with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and called for a ceasefire in Ukraine, an EU official said.

In his call with Putin at 0800 GMT, Michel stressed in "no uncertain terms" the unacceptability of Russia's war and detailed the sanction costs the European Union is imposing on Russia, the EU official said.

THE HAGUE, April 19. /TASS/: The Netherlands already sends armored vehicles to Ukraine and considers sending additional heavy weapons, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tweeted Tuesday after the phone call with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

"In a call with [Zelensky], [Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren] and I expressed our support as Russia begins a renewed offensive. The Netherlands will be sending heavier materiel to Ukraine, including armored vehicles. Along with allies, we are looking into supplying additional heavy materiel."

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A haunting image of red dresses hung on crosses along a roadside, with a rainbow in the background, commemorating children who died at a residential school created to assimilate Indigenous children in Canada won the prestigious World Press Photo award Thursday.

The image was one of a series of the Kamloops Residential School shot by Canadian photographer Amber Bracken for The New York Times.

AMSTERDAM, April 3 (Reuters) - The Dutch national railway operator NS on Sunday issued an advisory that none of its trains will be running for "at least" five hours because of an unspecified technical problem.

In a statement posted on its website the NS advised passengers to seek alternative ways of travelling.

"We are working hard on a recovery but, alas, we cannot now say how long this situation will persist," the statement said.

Regional trains were still running, the NS said, but it was not possible to give accurate schedules for them.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — In what appeared to be a coordinated action to tackle Russian espionage, at least four European allies expelled dozens of Russian diplomats on Tuesday.

The expulsions come as relations between Russia and the West have plunged into a deep freeze following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court is set to rule Wednesday on a request by Ukraine for its judges to order Russia to halt its devastating invasion.

But it remains to be seen if Moscow would comply with any order made by the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, which is sometimes known as the World Court.

Russia snubbed a hearing last week at which lawyers for Ukraine accused their powerful neighbor of “resorting to tactics reminiscent of medieval siege warfare” in its brutal assault.

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Dutch and Australian governments have launched a legal case against Russia at the International Civil Aviation Organization seeking to hold Moscow accountable for its alleged role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

The case announced Monday in The Hague and Canberra is the latest bid to hold Russia legally responsible for the missile strike that brought down the passenger jet over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board.