Netherlands

11 Mar 2021; MEMO: Lawyer Nick Kaufman has stated in an article published by Hebrew newspaper Haaretz that it is in Israel's best interests to communicate to Fatou Bensouda, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), that she should not send court notification letters regarding the opening of an investigation into war crimes before the formation of a

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The European Medicines Agency was meeting Thursday to discuss whether Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose coronavirus vaccine should be authorized, a move that would give the European Union a fourth licensed vaccine to try to curb the pandemic amid a stalled inoculation drive.

The Amsterdam-based EU regulator is scheduled to convene its expert committee in the morning to assess the J&J vaccine data. A decision on whether the agency recommends that the shot be licensed across the 27-nation bloc could come in the afternoon.

08 Mar 2021; MEMO: The European Union has backed the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its decision to open a formal investigation into war crimes committed in occupied Palestine in comments that appear to rebuke Israel and its key ally the US. Both have condemned The Hague for ruling that it has jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Child soldiers and other victims of convicted Congolese militia leader Bosco Ntaganda should get a total of $30 million compensation, International Criminal Court judges ruled on Monday, in their highest ever reparation order.

The judges said Ntaganda did not have the resources to pay the compensation himself. Instead they asked the tribunal’s own Trust Fund to help set up and finance vocational and other programmes to support victims of his crimes.

BOVENKARSPEL, Netherlands (Reuters) - A blast struck a coronavirus testing centre north of Amsterdam before sunrise on Wednesday, shattering windows but causing no injuries in what police called an intentional attack.

An explosives team visited the site in the town of Bovenkarspel, 55 km (35 miles) from the capital, where police said a metal cylinder involved in the explosion had been recovered.

It “must have been placed” there, police spokesman Menno Hartenberg told Reuters. “Something like that doesn’t just happen by accident.”

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — After more than a decade in power and a year spent battling the virus, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s popularity — boosted by his handling of the pandemic — remains high two weeks before a general election.

But amid a tough COVID-19 lockdown, that support is showing signs of eroding as the Dutch grow weary of pandemic restrictions.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - An incident involving a Boeing 747-400 cargo plane that dropped engine parts shortly after take-off from Maastricht airport on Saturday is under investigation, the Dutch Safety Board said.

The cargo plane, flight 5504, scattered small metal parts over the southern Dutch town of Meerssen, causing damage and injuring a woman, Maastricht Airport spokeswoman Hella Hendriks said.

ROTTERDAM, Feb 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Dutch customs investigators discovered over 1,300 kilograms of cocaine hidden between a load of coffee beans in the port of Rotterdam, the public prosecutor’s office said.

The sales value of the illegal cargo was estimated at almost 100 million euros (120 million dollars).

The container had arrived from Brazil and was destined for a company in the Netherlands, according to the authorities.

However, the company probably was not involved in drug smuggling, the prosecutor’s office said.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch lawmakers are holding a debate Thursday on hastily drawn up legislation underpinning the country’s coronavirus curfew after a judge ordered the measure scrapped earlier this week.

The lower house of parliament is expected to support the legislation, which would then go to the senate on Friday — the same day that government lawyers go to court to appeal the order banning the 9 p.m.-to-4:30 a.m. curfew.

17 Feb 2021; MEMO: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has responded to Israel's allegations that it is biased and even anti-Semitic following the announcement that the court is to investigate possible war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, Quds Press reported on Tuesday.