Netherlands

Mosque in Netherlands vandalized with racist banners

THE HAGUE; 03 Mar 2019; AA: A mosque in the Netherlands was attacked by members of the Islamophobic German group Pegida, who defaced the building with racist banners, according to a mosque official on Sunday. 

At the entrance of the As Soennah mosque, frequented by Moroccan worshippers, the attackers hung banners and figurines including insults to the Prophet Muhammad.

Dutch buy Air-France KLM stake to counter French influence

27 Feb 2019; AFP: The Netherlands announced Tuesday the surprise purchase of a stake in Air France-KLM, saying it needed to protect Dutch interests after a series of rows about the alliance's management.

Paris reacted testily to the Dutch purchase of the 12.68 percent share -- which puts it on course to match France's own holding -- saying that Air France-KLM must be free of "state interference".

New Universe map unearths 300,000 more galaxies

19 Feb 2019; AFP: The known Universe just got a lot bigger.

A new map of the night sky published Tuesday charts hundreds of thousands of previously unknown galaxies discovered using a telescope that can detect light sources optical instruments cannot see.

The international team behind the unprecedented space survey said their discovery literally shed new light on some of the Universe's deepest secrets, including the physics of black holes and how clusters of galaxies evolve.

India urges ICJ to free death row terrorist Annul Jadhav

The Hague, Feb 18 (PTI) India on Monday urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to annul Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence by a Pakistani military court and order his immediate release, saying the verdict based on a "farcical case" hopelessly fails to satisfy even the minimum standards of due process

Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by the military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism" after a closed trial in April 2017. His sentencing evoked a sharp reaction in India

US fails to halt Iran bid to free frozen billions

14 Feb 2019; AFP: An international court Wednesday ruled Iran can proceed with a bid to unfreeze assets in the United States, rejecting Washington's claims the case must be halted because of Tehran's alleged support for international terrorism.

Washington had argued that Iran's "unclean hands" -- a reference to Tehran's suspected backing of terror groups -- should disqualify its lawsuit to recover $2 billion in assets frozen by the US Supreme Court in 2016.

Former far-right Dutch politician converts to Islam

5 Feb 2019; DW: A former Dutch far-right MP and right-hand man to anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders revealed he has converted to Islam. He was known for saying that Islam is "a lie" and the Quran is "poison."

For years, as a lawmaker for Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV), Joram van Klaveren fought a relentless campaign in the Lower House against Islam in the Netherlands.

Ivory Coast's Gbagbo freed by war crimes court

01 Feb 2019; AFP: The International Criminal Court finally freed former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo on Friday after his shock acquittal last month on charges of crimes against humanity.

Supporters sang and waved flags in the Hague after judges agreed to release the 73-year-old on condition that he stays in an as-yet-unnamed country pending an appeal by the prosecution.

US used misinformation, intimidation to secure OPCW vote it sought

THE HAGUE, November 21. /TASS/. The United States engaged in a campaign of misinformation and intimidation of small nations to secure the result it needed in the vote on financing an OPCW attribution mechanism, Russian Permanent Representative to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin told journalists on Wednesday.

Mosques want Geert Wilders banned from Twitter for hate speech

6 Nov 2018; DW: A federation representing more than 100 mosques in the Netherlands has called on Twitter to block the account of anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders. The group says it will take legal action if the platform fails to act.

The Turkish Islamic Cultural Federation (TICF) has sent a formal request to Twitter demanding that Dutch firebrand politician Geert Wilders be banned for inciting hatred.

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