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)