Netherlands

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A representative for Kyiv urged the United Nations’ top court on Monday to order Russia to halt its devastating invasion of Ukraine, at a hearing snubbed by Russia amid its ongoing assault on its neighbor.

Ukrainian representative Anton Korynevych told judges at the International Court of Justice: “Russia must be stopped and the court has a role to play in stopping it.”

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court prosecutor has launched an investigation that could target senior officials believed responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide amid a rising civilian death toll and widespread destruction of property during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced the probe late Wednesday night after dozens of the court’s member states asked him to take action.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Lawyers for Gambia on Wednesday urged the United Nations’ top court to throw out Myanmar’s legal bid to end a case accusing the Southeast Asian nation of genocide against the country’s Rohingya minority.

“This court must reject Myanmar’s meritless preliminary objections and proceed to adjudicate the merits of this dispute,” Gambia’s Attorney General and Justice Minister Dawda Jallow told judges at the International Court of Justice.

AMSTERDAM/BANGKOK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military junta is to take part in hearings at the top United Nations court in The Hague next week despite a complaint from political opponents that this could give it international recognition without legal standing.

The hearings complicate a jurisdictional dispute arising from Gambia's claim filed in 2019 at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, accusing Myanmar of genocide against its minority Muslim Rohingya population.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A lawyer for a Ugandan rebel commander serving a 25-year sentence for dozens of war crimes and crimes against humanity told appeals judges Monday that his client was found guilty by an International Criminal Court trail panel that cherry-picked evidence to ensure he was convicted.

Prosecution lawyers responded that Dominic Ongwen was “properly and fairly convicted” after an exhaustive trial that heard evidence from 179 prosecution and defense witnesses and assessed more than 5,000 items of evidence.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United States is bolstering its military presence is central and eastern Europe, a senior official in the Biden administration said Wednesday. The move comes amid fears of conflict erupting in Ukraine sparked by Russia’s huge troop buildup near the border.

The announcement came Wednesday after a leaked document published in a Spanish newspaper suggested the United States could be willing to enter into an agreement with Russia to ease tensions over missile deployments in Europe if Moscow steps back from the brink in Ukraine.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Prime Minister Mark Rutte further eased the Netherlands’ coronavirus lockdown, allowing bars, restaurants, museums, theaters and other venues to reopen from Wednesday for the first time this year.

But Rutte warned that the move wasn’t without risks.

“We are taking a big step today to unlock the Netherlands while the infections numbers are really going through the roof,” Rutte said Tuesday.

(AP) --- At some of the world’s most sensitive spots, authorities have installed security screening devices made by a single Chinese company with deep ties to China’s military and the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party.

The World Economic Forum in Davos. Europe’s largest ports. Airports from Amsterdam to Athens. NATO’s borders with Russia. All depend on equipment manufactured by Nuctech, which has quickly become the world’s leading company, by revenue, for cargo and vehicle scanners.

THE HAGUE, Jan 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Netherlands said it would cease funding a Palestinian NGO because of its “individual links” to a group deemed a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.

   The Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) is accused of ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a group blamed for a 2019 West Bank attack that killed an Israeli woman.

   The NGO is also one of six civil society groups Israel designated a “terrorist organisation” in October for alleged links with the Palestinian group.

SCHIPHOL, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch prosecutors on Wednesday demanded life sentences for four suspects in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, saying they caused “deep and irreversible suffering” to relatives of the 298 people killed.

Prosecutors said the four recklessly used a Russian missile to bring down the passenger jet, killing all 298 passengers and crew.

Public prosecutor Manon Ridderbeks made the sentence demand on the third day of a presentation of evidence supporting the indictment. The suspects are being tried in absentia.