The Netherlands was silent for two minutes during Remembrance Day on May 4, Dam Square in Amsterdam only partly filled

The National Commemoration on Dam Square in Amsterdam took place without major incidents on Saturday. During the two minutes of silence from 8 p.m. (CEST) it was quiet on and around Dam Square. At the start of the moment of silence, a visitor was taken away by the police.
The man wanted to unfold a banner. He is part of a group of demonstrators who drew attention to the political situation in Uganda. The incident did not disrupt the two minutes of silence, the police reported. The man has been arrested.
Out of fear of protests or disruptions due to the war in Gaza, extra measures were taken around Remembrance Day. People had to register in advance and could only enter with an admission ticket.
The Dam was accessible in three places. Visitors were thoroughly searched by the police before they were allowed onto Dam Square. Flags, amplifiers and signs, among other things, were not allowed.
The 4 and 5 May Committee estimated that approximately 4,400 people were present, including 1,500 guests. Ten thousand people were welcome. During previous years there were about twenty thousand people on Dam Square.
Those present saw how King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, among others, laid a wreath. Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, relatives of war victims, representatives of the Dutch armed forces and the presidents of the Senate and House of Representatives also laid wreaths.
Tomorrow, Sunday May 5, the Netherlands will celebrate its liberation by the Allies in May 1945.
(Source: NU.nl)

NOTE: Every year on May 4 at 8 p.m., the Netherlands commemorates with a 2-minute silence all Dutch victims of the Second World War by Germany in Europe, but also the victims by Japan in Indonesia, which until 1949 was a Dutch colony as the Dutch East Indies. Since 1961, the commemoration has been expanded and the Netherlands commemorates all Dutch victims who died as a result of war actions since 1940, including wars after 1945 (for example when Dutch soldiers were deployed in United Nations peace missions).
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The Netherlands closes its embassy in Tehran due to tensions between Israel and Iran

Due to rising tensions between Iran and Israel, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to close the embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran tomorrow. The consulate in the Iraqi city of Erbil will also remain closed as a precaution.
Normally both posts are open on Sundays because that is the start of the working week. "People who had an appointment have been or will soon be informed that it has been rescheduled," the ministry writes. This mainly concerns appointments from people who want to apply for a visa to travel to the Netherlands.
Other activities of the diplomatic missions will continue. "The safety of employees has the highest priority," the statement said.
It is not the first time that the Netherlands has closed an embassy or consulate as a precaution. For example, the consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul was temporarily closed a year ago after a Koran was torn up in front of the Turkish embassy in The Hague. Due to subsequent threats, the post was closed.
Earlier this week, the US Embassy in Israel banned employees from traveling through Israel. Russia, France, Canada and Australia have advised their citizens not to travel to Israel.
US President Biden has again warned of an impending attack by Iran on Israel. Biden told reporters in Washington that he expects that attack "sooner rather than later." Last Wednesday, the president said that Iran is threatening "a significant attack."
He now told journalists in Washington that he does not want to release sensitive information about it. He further addressed Tehran: "Don't do it," he said. "We are committed to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel, we will help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed."
The United States has rushed warships into position to protect Israel and American forces in the region and in hopes of averting Iran's attack.
(Source: NOS.nl)

Dutch politics: Wilders releases Nexit in PVV program European elections

NETHERLANDS: The PVV is no longer advocating for the Netherlands to leave the European Union. In the program for the European elections of June 6, Geert Wilders' party abandons the idea of a Nexit. The PVV does want to reform the EU from within.

The PVV wants to limit the power of Brussels, as can be read in the election manifesto 'Netherlands on 1'. According to the party, European cooperation has gone too far. Wilders wants to restore control to the member states. National sovereignty must come first.
In the election manifesto for the national elections last year, the PVV advocated a binding referendum on a Nexit, a departure of the Netherlands from the European Union. But the party has now abandoned that plan. "Working together with other countries is fine, but while maintaining our national sovereignty and identity."
Right-wing radical parties are on the rise in many EU countries. Wilders thinks that together they can significantly change the course in Europe after the elections. "Because in recent years, we have slowly swung further into the EU trap," he writes in the foreword.
Just as in the Netherlands, the PVV also wants to work hard in Europe to significantly limit the flow of asylum. In case that does not work, the party wants the possibility of a Dutch exceptional position in the areas of migration and asylum.
It is not the first position that Wilders has weakened now that government participation beckons. The PVV previously shelved controversial anti-Islam bills and Wilders said that military support to Ukraine is no longer taboo. He even appeared willing to give up the premiership if that paves the way for a cabinet of PVV (far right), VVD (right liberal), NSC (social conservative) and BBB (farmer citizen party).
(Source: RTLnieuws.nl)

'Weapons found in investigation into alleged Rotterdam Hamas member'

NETHERLANDS / BULGARIA: In Bulgaria, police have found weapons that were probably intended for a European branch of Hamas, German media write. Four people are now in custody in that investigation, including Nazih R., a 57-year-old Rotterdam resident. He was arrested in December and has now been extradited to Germany, which is leading the investigation into the European Hamas branch.
According to justice in Germany, the underground branch of Hamas had to carry out attacks on Jewish targets in Europe. In addition to the Rotterdammer, the police in Germany have also arrested three men in Berlin. Justice in Germany tracked down the four after a tip from a secret service in Israel.
Officers found photos of weapons on the suspects' phones, which led to the depot in southern Bulgaria, close to the Turkish border.
The weapons in Bulgaria were destined for Berlin. The intention was that they would remain hidden there until an order was received to carry out attacks on Jewish targets, according to German justice.
That order would come from Lebanon. The contact person of the four Hamas members is said to have been Khalil Al-Kharraz. He was a high-ranking commander of the Hamas military branch in Lebanon. He was killed in November last year in a drone attack, allegedly carried out by Israel.
Nazih R., the arrested man from Rotterdam, denied any involvement with Hamas at the beginning of this year and wanted to stop the extradition to Germany. At a hearing on February 6, his lawyer spoke of "a very political accusation".
She called her client "a peace-loving family man in poor health." But the judge did not agree and decided that the man could be extradited to Germany.
(Source: NOS.nl)

Netherlands: A few municipalities are deporting third-country nationals from Ukraine, but uncertainty remains

NETHERLANDS: The first municipalities started deporting Ukrainians on Tuesday, while lawsuits are still ongoing about whether this is allowed at all. The ministry will only inform municipalities about this this evening. Third-country nationals lived in Ukraine for, for example, their studies or work. They only had a temporary residence permit when they had to flee the war.

The third-country nationals initially fell under the same rules as other refugees from Ukraine, but in the summer of 2023 the ministry decided to change that. The group of around 2,540 people, mainly from Nigeria, Morocco or Algeria, therefore had to apply for asylum or leave the Netherlands.
Three quarters of a year later it is still not clear whether the group should have been sent away at all. And while the deadline for that actually expired today.
In principle, the ruling of the Council of State in January should have put an end to the case. The country's highest court ruled that third-country nationals are indeed no longer entitled to protection as of March 4. They were then given another four weeks to apply for asylum or leave. The ministry also continued to adhere to that assessment.
But a few weeks ago, uncertainty arose again after dozens of third-country nationals went to court again. After the ruling, they received a letter stating that they had to leave. And although an appeal cannot normally be lodged against a ruling by the Council of State, the third-country nationals could go to court with that letter. The judge then looked at whether it was right for this person to be sent back on the basis of that document.
The several dozen lawsuits handled so far have resulted in different rulings. For example, the courts in Rotterdam, The Hague, Arnhem, Zwolle and Utrecht agree with ending protection for third-country nationals as of March 4. But the courts in Roermond, Den Bosch and Haarlem are not. The court in Amsterdam cannot reach an agreement at all and believes that the highest court in Europe should consider it.
Third-country nationals who have been told by the judge that they can stay or still have a legal case pending, may stay until a higher court has considered the case again. And that now leads to confusing situations: some third-country nationals must have left or applied for asylum, and others must not.
The municipality of Dordrecht started sending away about ninety third-country nationals from the shelter on Tuesday. The municipality of Meppel has also evicted someone from the shelter. It is not known where these people have gone now.
"We are dealing with a very complicated situation," said outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) on Thursday. "Where the judge has said: 'this person may not be deported until there is a ruling from a higher court', we have to follow that." This also applies to cases in which the judge has said that someone may be deported.
The ministry will explain how to proceed in a letter to municipalities on Tuesday evening. But it seems unlikely that it will now reverse the return of third-country nationals, as the lack of clarity has been going on for weeks.
However, the Council of State can now put a temporary stop to the policy. The highest court of the country can do that if it still wants to make a final ruling on this. A spokesperson told the ANP news agency that the Council of State will also provide more information on Tuesday evening.
(Source: NU.nl)

Ajax Amsterdam suspends director Kroes for buying club shares just before appointment

NETHERLANDS / AMSTERDAM: The supervisory board of Ajax has decided to immediately suspend the new general manager Alex Kroes and intends to permanently terminate the collaboration.
The Amsterdammers announced in a press statement that the supervisory board has learned that Kroes purchased more than 17,000 Ajax shares a week before the publication of his intended appointment on August 2, 2023.
According to Ajax, which sought legal advice, it is very likely that Kroes acted with insider information. That is punishable. A shareholders' meeting will be held shortly to make a decision on the proposed dismissal.

Not long after Ajax's press release, Kroes himself also issued a statement. In it he confirms that he owns Ajax shares, but that the club was already aware of this. He is appealing against his suspension with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets.
"It is a share package of which Ajax was already aware at the time of my appointment in August 2023. During that period, I naturally provided full disclosure to the supervisory board about relevant assets, including 42,500 shares in the capital of Ajax. ."
Kroes himself also stated that he purchased the last part of his share package a week before his appointment. "At that time I had not yet agreed with Ajax, but I had a good feeling about it because of my own intentions. It seemed to me a positive signal to radiate confidence in the club and to shareholders. There is certainly no 'quick win' thought behind it, I first wanted to ensure that things would go very well for Ajax in all kinds of areas."
Kroes officially joined Ajax as general manager on March 15. Before that he worked at AZ.
(Source: NOS.nl)

Netanyahu wants to ban Arabic channel Al Jazeera in Israel

ISRAEL: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to immediately ban the news channel Al Jazeera from broadcasting from Israel. He says he wants to close the channel now that the Israeli parliament has passed a law that paves the way for a ban.
Al Jazeera has been a thorn in the side of the Israeli government for some time. The channel, which reports critically on the war in Gaza, would turn its viewers against Israel.
“The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “I intend to take immediate action in accordance with the new law to halt the channel's activities.”
Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets still broadcasting live from Gaza. It has an office there, as well as in the occupied West Bank.
The channel is funded by the Qatari government, but says it operates independently. Doha would have no influence on reporting, but critics say Al Jazeera does reflect Qatar's foreign policy.
The Gulf state has intensive contacts with Hamas and houses the militant terrorist group's political leaders, including its chief executive, Yahya Sinwar.
The Israeli desire to tackle Al Jazeera's offices in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has been going on for some time. Shortly after Hamas's attack on October 7, the Israeli government also approved temporary rules temporarily shutting down foreign media deemed "a threat to its national interest." Cabinet members said at the time that they hoped that the rules would be used against Al Jazeera.
Moreover, the American news channel Axios reported last year that the American Secretary of State, during a visit to Qatar, had asked "to tone down Al Jazeera's rhetoric about the war in Gaza." Al Jazeera's broadcasts are said to be full of "anti-Israel incitement". Secretary Blinken is said to have referred to Al Jazeera Arabic and not Al Jazeera English, the English-language branch of the station.
But America does not support a ban on the channel. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre says that if it is true that Israel wants to close Al Jazeera in Israel, this would be "very concerning."
“We believe in the freedom of the press. It is critical and the United States supports the vital work of journalists around the world, including those covering the conflict in Gaza,” Jean-Pierre said. "Freedom of the press is important. If these reports are true, it is worrying for us." Reporting independently on the war in Gaza is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous. Since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war between Israel in Hamas, 95 journalists and media company employees have been killed in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Of them, 90 are Palestinian, 2 Israeli and 3 Lebanese. NRC counted even more deaths last week: 103.
The journalistic organization Journalists Without Borders (RSF) accuses the Israeli army of deliberately attacking journalists to intimidate the press and make reporting from Gaza impossible.
A rather infamous example is the death of veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank in 2022. She wore a splinter vest with the clearly visible inscription 'PRESS'. Israel denied intent and did not prosecute the soldier who fired the fatal shot.
(Source: NOS.nl)

The price of rolling tobacco is rising faster than ever in The Netherlands, cigarettes are also significantly more expensive

NETHERLANDS: From April 1, a pack of rolling tobacco will become no less than 8 euros more expensive due to an increase in excise duties. It is the largest increase ever. The price of a pack of cigarettes is also increasing considerably.
As of today, you will pay around 11 euros for a pack of twenty cigarettes. That is considerably more than the approximately 9 euros you had to pay for it recently.

A 50 gram pack of rolling tobacco costs 24.62 euros. That is about 8 euros more than before. The largest part of this (6.52 euros) is excise duty. But there is also an additional 1.37 euros in VAT. Never before has the price of a bag of rolling tobacco increased so quickly.
You will not immediately pay the new prices everywhere. Retailers may first use up their old stocks at the old prices.
Excise duties on tobacco increase every year on April 1. By raising the price, the outgoing government wants to discourage smoking. Last year, a government plan was leaked to increase the price of cigarettes much further, whereby you would have to pay more than 30 or even more than 40 euros for a pack. That ultimately didn't work out.

However, other measures have been introduced in recent years. For example, tobacco products in stores now have to be shielded so that they are not visible to customers. Furthermore, retailers are no longer allowed to sell tobacco online.
In addition, a sales ban for supermarkets will be introduced in July this year. They are now no longer allowed to offer cigarettes online, but they will soon no longer be allowed to do so in regular stores. Some supermarkets have already removed smoking products from their shelves on January 1, in the run-up to the actual ban.
(Source: NU.nl)

Turkey: Opposition claims gains in Istanbul and Ankara, Erdogan acknowledges disappointing results

TURKEY: The opposition in Turkey appears to be heading for victory in major cities in local elections. The preliminary results also indicate that the influence of opposition parties is growing in municipalities across the country.
President Erdogan has acknowledged in a speech that his AK Party has not achieved the desired result. He calls the result a turning point and calls on the party to reflect. “The Turkish people have spoken,” Erdogan told his supporters at the party office in Ankara.
In Istanbul and Ankara, the incumbent opposition mayors have claimed victory. With almost all votes counted in Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu of CHP, the largest opposition party, is more than 10 percentage points ahead of his opponent Murat Kurum of the AK Party. This is evident from statistics from state news agency Anadolu.
In Ankara, Mayor Mansur Yavasal (CHP) claimed victory just three hours after the polls closed. In the capital, almost all votes have also been counted and the difference with the AK Party candidate is almost one million votes.
Across Turkey, millions of residents went to the polls on Sunday to elect their local leaders, from village heads and district chiefs to municipal councilors and mayors. The election battle in Istanbul in particular was awaited with great anticipation.
The outcome of the mayoral elections in the metropolis also has consequences for the next presidential elections in 2028. "Whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey," Erdogan himself said earlier. The battle for the mayoral position is therefore also a battle for the land.
(Source: NOS.nl)

Rokin metro station Amsterdam released after previous evacuation, nothing suspicious found

NETHERLANDS/ AMSTERDAM: The cordon around the Rokin metro station in the center of Amsterdam has been lifted. The station was evacuated at the end of the afternoon due to a "suspicious situation". According to the police, nothing suspicious was found in the station.
Around 6 p.m. (CEST), the police received a report about possible explosives in the metro station. "That is why we have decided to evacuate the station," the police said. The Explosives Safety Team (TEV) arrived on site to investigate, but nothing suspicious was found.
The police previously distributed the description of a man who may have been involved in the suspicious situation via Burgernet. According to the police, he was linked to the information about the possible explosives.
The search for the man has now been stopped. The police are investigating the situation on Rokin and therefore also the man in question, the police spokesperson said.
The evacuation disrupted some metro and tram traffic in the Amsterdam city center. The metro and trams that stop at the Rokin stop are now running their usual routes again.
(Source: NU.nl)

Remains of missing French toddler Emile found after months

FRANCE: The remains of a toddler who had been missing for months have been found in France. French media report this based on the public prosecutor's office. Researchers managed to identify bones recovered yesterday near the hamlet of Le Haut Vernet.
Two-year-old Emile disappeared near that mountain village in southeastern France at the beginning of July last year. A major search was launched, but there was no trace of the toddler.
According to the prosecutor's office, bones were found yesterday near where he disappeared. French broadcaster BFMTV reports that a hiker discovered a skull during the day. Investigation by the public prosecutor's office has now shown that the remains are of Emile.
It is not yet clear how the toddler died. It is therefore not yet known whether it was a crime or an accident.
According to BFMTV, police are conducting additional investigations today in the area where the bones were found. The toddler's family was informed this morning. A few days ago, actors in the village recreated the day Emile disappeared.
The boy was last seen in an alley near his grandparents' home. According to French media, his grandparents were preparing the car for a ride.
A search brought together 800 volunteers. House searches were carried out in November. A special tip line was also opened. Last year, 1,200 reports were received.
(Source: NOS.nl)

Pope present at Easter vigil

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis attended the Easter vigil in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City last night. He will also attend the traditional Easter Mass this morning and give his Easter message and blessing.
On Friday evening he was absent from the traditional Way of the Cross at the Colosseum for health reasons. According to the Vatican, he skipped the ceremony to conserve his strength. Last year he missed the same ceremony due to pneumonia.
The 87-year-old leader of the Roman Catholic Church has recently had more frequent health problems. Lung problems that he has had since childhood have recently been exacerbated by flu, bronchitis and a cold.
Last night, Francis entered the church in a wheelchair because of his bad knees, where about 6,000 worshipers were present by candlelight. Shortly afterwards all the lights came back on, symbolizing the resurrection of Jesus.
Although the vigil is one of the longest celebrations in the Catholic calendar at more than two hours, Francis was present for the entire ceremony and read the 10-minute sermon himself rather than leaving it to a subordinate.
(Source: NOS.nl)

Ede hostage crisis over, all hostages released from café

NETHERLANDS / EDE: The hostage situation in a cafe in Ede is over. The four hostages who had been held in a café on Museumplein in Ede since early this morning have been released. The hostage taker has been arrested by the police, the police confirmed.
Around 12:30 someone came out with an orange jacket. This was most likely the fourth hostage still inside. An hour and a half earlier, three people had already walked out of the Petticoat café. The three were visibly emotional and were taken care of by special police units. They wore jackets with the name of the café on it.
Moments after the release of the fourth hostage, the hostage-taker emerged. Images show him wearing a balaclava and walking out of the cafe with his hands in the air. The police tell him to kneel so he can be handcuffed and blindfolded. He was then taken away in a car by the police.
Early this morning the first reports came in of an incident on Museumplein. It later turned out to be a hostage situation. It is unclear exactly what time it started, the first P2000 report was made around 6:30 am. The cafe normally closes at 4am. Last night there was a party for people over 16 in the café.
It soon became clear that there was a person in the cafe who "posed a danger to himself or the environment." The police said this morning that they were assessing the situation "seriously." There would be no indication that there was a terrorist motive, but the spokesperson could not provide further details about the motive.
(Source: NOS.nl)

Despite criticism, the US would still 'quietly' send more weapons to Israel

Despite concerns about an expected major attack in southern Gaza, the US government has approved billions in aid to Israel for new bombs and fighter planes. That's what The Washington Post writes.
President Joe Biden's administration is said to have "quietly" approved the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets in recent days, The Washington Post reports, citing sources in the Pentagon and the US State Department.
Publicly, Biden has recently been increasingly critical of Israeli violence in the Gaza Strip. This is mainly due to the announced Israeli attack on the southern border town of Rafah. More than a million people currently live there. Most of them have fled to Rafah from the heavy Israeli bombardments in the center and north of the Gaza Strip.
There are fears that an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah will become a humanitarian disaster. Despite international criticism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sticking to the plan for a ground offensive.
The new US arms shipments to Israel include more than 1,800 heavy MK84 bombs, which previously caused massive casualties in Gaza, The Washington Post reports.
According to the American newspaper, the decision shows that despite the growing rift, stopping arms deliveries to Israel is not seen as an option by the Biden administration to influence Netanyahu's actions.
A number of Democrats believe that the American government has a responsibility to stop arms supplies to Israel if there is no guarantee of limiting civilian deaths during the announced attack in Rafah.
(Source: NU.nl)

Public Prosecution Service demands dismissal of the board of the Islamic School Foundation in Amsterdam

NETHERLANDS / AMSTERDAM: The Public Prosecution Service (OM) is demanding from the court the dismissal of the board members of the Islamic School Foundation in Amsterdam. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the board is not acting in the interests of the students and teachers.
The Public Prosecution Service submitted a petition to the court in Amsterdam on Friday. The foundation manages the three As-Siddieq schools in Amsterdam. There are approximately eleven hundred students at these primary schools.
The Public Prosecution Service accuses the board members of not having made any improvements after several warnings from the ministry. For that reason, outgoing education minister Mariëlle Paul decided two weeks ago to further reduce the budget for schools. According to the minister, the board has proven time and again that it does not function properly.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the conflict between the minister and the board members threatens to cause the school foundation to go bankrupt in the short term. This is not in the interests of the students and that is why, according to the Public Prosecution Service, a new board should be established.
(Source: NU.nl)

More than twenty injured in bus accident in Germany

More than twenty people were injured in a bus accident in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia last night. A police spokesperson told the DPA news agency that there were about sixty people on the bus.
The bus left the road on the A44 near the town of Werl, about 35 kilometers east of Dortmund, for an unknown reason and ended up on its side. No other vehicles were likely involved in the accident.
There were about sixty passengers on the bus. Twenty of them were slightly injured. A person is in worse shape, but is out of danger. On the bus were students from a vocational school returning from an excursion to England. Part of the highway was closed to remove the bus.
There was also a bus accident in Germany on Wednesday morning. Then a Flixbus went off the road near Leipzig. No other vehicles were involved. Four women were killed, six other people were seriously injured and 29 were slightly injured. The bus driver has been investigated on suspicion of culpable homicide.
(Source: NOS.nl)

45 dead in South Africa bus crash, 8-year-old girl is the only survivor

In South Africa, 45 people have been killed in a bus accident in Limpopo province. One of the passengers, an 8-year-old girl, survived the accident but was seriously injured.
According to news channel SABC News, the driver of the bus lost control of the vehicle for unknown reasons. The bus then fell from a 50 meter high bridge and caught fire on a mountain pass between Mokopane and Marken. The occupants of the bus were residents of neighboring Botswana who were on their way to an Easter service in the town of Moria.
Some bodies are so badly burned that they are unrecognizable. Other bodies were trapped in the wreckage or scattered across the site, the ministry said.
South Africa's Minister of Transport reports that the bodies of the occupants will be repatriated to Botswana. "We would like to express our sincere condolences to the families, but also to the government and people of Botswana. We will do everything we can to help so that they can return to their country and families for a dignified burial."
(Source: NOS.nl)

US: Former crypto boss Sam Bankman-Fried gets 25 years in prison

USA: The court in New York has sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and owner of the fallen crypto exchange FTX, to 25 years in prison for fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. A jury decided in November that he was guilty.
Prosecutors had asked for 40 to 50 years in prison. Prosecutors say it is "one of the largest financial frauds in American history."
FTX was a platform where users could open a crypto account and trade cryptocurrencies. Sam Bankman-Fried (32) committed large-scale fraud with the funds of customers who invested money in cryptos at his FTX exchange. He often did not use the funds for cryptos, but 'lent' them to his own investment fund Alameda Research for other risky investments.
The judge said today, among other things, that Bankman-Fried lied during the trial when he said he did not know that his investment fund used money from FTX customers. According to prosecutors, he also spent clients' money on all kinds of extravagant things, such as luxury homes on Caribbean islands and private flights.
The company ran into problems in 2022 when crypto prices plummeted and customers wanted to withdraw their money en masse, money that was no longer there. The crypto exchange FTX collapsed.
Thousands of victims saw their crypto investments go up in smoke. FTX was soon declared bankrupt. According to the judge, FTX customers lost about $8 billion and investors and creditors of FTX and Alameda about $3 billion. Bankman-Fried has previously announced that it will appeal against the verdict.
(Source: NOS.nl)

Prime Minister Rutte: things are going in the wrong direction with anti-Semitism in the Netherlands

NETHERLANDS / THE HAGUE: Things are "really going in the wrong direction" in the Netherlands with increasing anti-Semitism. This was said by outgoing Prime Minister Rutte prior to the Council of Ministers this morning.
"I am very concerned that people with a Jewish background are currently being harassed because of that background and because of the situation in Israel," Rutte said. “That person has nothing to do with that.”
According to the Prime Minister, the question is not so much what 'The Hague' will do about this, but that society must "take it on collectively". "We are one of the most open countries in the world. That's part of calling each other to account about behavior."

Rutte referred, among other things, to the disruption of a performance by singer Lenny Kuhr last weekend by pro-Palestinian activists. She was called a terrorist and accused of genocide.
Following this incident, State Secretary Gräper (Culture) was called to the House of Representatives on Tuesday. She then said that a statement from the cabinet would be made after today's cabinet meeting.
Many MPs thought that was a weak response and later that day, thirteen of the fifteen parties emerged from the Chamber with a joint call to "stand up" against hatred of Jews. “Let no one be silent anymore, stop anti-Semitism now,” they wrote, among other things.
Since Hamas's attack on Israel in early October last year and the subsequent war in the Gaza Strip, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands has increased sharply.
(Source: NOS.nl)

Dutch parliament shocked by reports of Russian interference: debate early next week

NETHERLANDS / THE HAGUE: The House of Representatives wants a letter from the cabinet very soon, preferably today, about the reports that Dutch politicians have been paid by Russia to take pro-Russian positions. If the reports are correct, the House wants to hold a debate on the issue early next week.
The reason is the news that the Czech Republic says it has dismantled a Russian disinformation network. The Voice of Europe website played a key role in this. Politicians from various countries, including the Netherlands, are said to have been approached and in some cases paid to question Ukraine's right to exist in the run-up to the European elections. "If this is true, then I want to know: who are they? I want to hear man and horse. Which parties are involved?" said PVV leader Wilders when he requested the debate. He wants to receive a letter as soon as possible from outgoing Minister De Jonge of the Interior, which concerns both the election process and the intelligence services.
He received support from almost the entire House for his proposal. Several MPs called the messages "very serious". A majority absolutely does not want to be informed confidentially by the cabinet. “Everything must be public and transparent,” said BBB leader Van der Plas.
Wilders has sometimes spoken positively about the Voice of Europe website in the past. When asked about it, he now says he feels cheated. "Yes, I didn't know of course. So yes, that can happen. But fortunately we have never received a cent from anyone, directly or indirectly, from that country, not even via a website. But it is bad. Because We have European elections soon and if they are influenced with large sums of money, that is very bad."
NSC leader Omtzigt also wants the issue to be investigated "with great urgency". "The Netherlands fully supports Ukraine and it would be very undesirable if money were accepted from Russia, one way or the other."
Politicians from Forum for Democracy regularly have their say on the Voice of Europe website. Baudet's party supports Russia in the conflict with Ukraine. There is so far no evidence that Forum is influenced or paid by Moscow, but other parties in the Chamber point out that the accounting of Forum, and foundations affiliated with the party, is not very transparent.
Wednesday this led to a clash between Baudet and GroenLinks-PvdA MP Klaver. Klaver asked about annual figures of a foundation that Baudet founded in 2014 to organize activities surrounding the Ukraine referendum, but Baudet remained vague about this.
After the debate, Baudet said that he would hit Klaver "in the mouth" if he asked about it again. He has since apologized for that threat.
(Source: NOS.nl)