The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The British-Dutch oil giant Shell said it was temporarily shutting down Europe’s biggest refinery after a pre-dawn fire broke out at a power station on the vast site on Sunday. Flames billowed into the sky over the port of Rotterdam after the blaze …
Read More »Football: Amsterdam on ‘high alert’ for Ajax vs Man Utd
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | Police in Amsterdam are on high alert after the Manchester attack with large crowds set to gather outdoors to watch Wednesday’s Europa League final between Ajax and Manchester United. The match will be screened live from the Stockholm Friends Arena on a giant screen …
Read More »Cyber kid stuns experts by showing toys can be ‘weapons’
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | An 11-year-old “cyber ninja” stunned an audience of security experts Tuesday by hacking into a teddy bear via bluetooth to show how interconnected smart toys “can be weaponised”. American wunderkind Reuben Paul may be still only in 5th grade at his school in Austin, …
Read More »High turnout as Dutch vote in Europe’s first far-right test
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | Millions of Dutch flocked to the polls Wednesday in a test of the “patriotic revolution” promised by far-right MP Geert Wilders, with Europe closely watching the outcome amid signs his support may be waning. Following last year’s shock Brexit referendum, and Donald Trump’s victory in …
Read More »Turkey’s Erdogan compares Dutch rally ban to Nazism as row spirals
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said a Dutch ban on his foreign minister’s visit was like Nazism, as tensions rocketed over rallies abroad to help Ankara gain backing for a key vote. His comments came after The Hague said it would refuse Foreign …
Read More »How fake US embassy in Ghana issued visas for 10 years
Washington, United States | AFP | Fraudsters posing as consular officers operated a fake American embassy in the Ghanaian capital Accra for about a decade and printed counterfeit visas, a US official said Monday. US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said no one was believed to have entered the United …
Read More »MH17 shot down by missile brought into Ukraine from Russia
Nieuwegein, Netherlands | AFP | The missile that downed flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine was transported from Russia, a criminal inquiry revealed Wednesday, announcing about 100 people were being investigated for playing “an active role” in the disaster. Saying they had “irrefutable evidence” that the BUK missile system was used …
Read More »US flower grower quits Ethiopia after arson attack
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | A US-based company has pulled out of Ethiopia after anti-government protesters attacked its flower farm causing 10 million euros in damage, and triggering job losses in the country and The Netherlands, a spokesman said Tuesday. Flower growers and exporters Esmeralda Farms began operations in …
Read More »Two Dutch UN troops killed in Mali training accident
Bamako, Mali | AFP | Two Dutch UN peacekeepers were accidentally killed and one seriously wounded Wednesday in an explosion in northwest Mali during a training exercise, the Dutch defence ministry said. “During the accident, two of our men lost their lives,” said The Netherlands’ Vice Chief of Defence, Vice …
Read More »Netherlands gets first nationwide ‘Internet of Things’
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | Dutch telecoms group KPN said Thursday that The Netherlands had become the first country in the world to implement a nationwide long range (LoRa) network for the so-called Internet of Things. Connecting everyday objects to networks, allowing them to send and receive data, is …
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