WEATHER ALERT
Humanitarian aid to northern Gaza mostly blocked for the last 2 months, UN says
Read full article: Humanitarian aid to northern Gaza mostly blocked for the last 2 months, UN saysHumanitarian aid to northern Gaza, where Israel launched a ground offensive on Oct. 6, has largely been blocked for the past 66 days.
The Latest | Palestinians flee Khan Younis as Israel says 1.9 million are crammed in central Gaza
Read full article: The Latest | Palestinians flee Khan Younis as Israel says 1.9 million are crammed in central GazaA new Israeli evacuation order has sent Palestinians in Gaza streaming out of eastern Khan Younis, the second-largest city in the war-torn territory.
Live updates | Fighting rages by central Gaza hospital; Israel kills Hezbollah commander in Lebanon
Read full article: Live updates | Fighting rages by central Gaza hospital; Israel kills Hezbollah commander in LebanonAn Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon has killed a senior commander of the militant group Hezbollah.
UN appoints a former Dutch deputy premier and Mideast expert as its Gaza humanitarian coordinator
Read full article: UN appoints a former Dutch deputy premier and Mideast expert as its Gaza humanitarian coordinatorThe Netherlands’ former deputy prime minister and Mideast expert has been appointed the United Nations coordinator for humanitarian aid to Gaza, where there are more than 2 million desperate civilians in need of food, water and medicine.
Live updates | Israel expands offensive in central Gaza as Netanyahu aide meets with US officials
Read full article: Live updates | Israel expands offensive in central Gaza as Netanyahu aide meets with US officialsThe Israeli military says it has expanded its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip to the densely populated urban refugee camps in the central part of the territory.
Man who threatened Dutch minister gets 6 months in prison
Read full article: Man who threatened Dutch minister gets 6 months in prisonDutch media report that a man who stood outside the home of a former Dutch foreign minister shouting and waving a burning torch has been sent to prison for six months.
Going Dutch: Look out, German coalition talks could be long
Read full article: Going Dutch: Look out, German coalition talks could be longAs Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany embarks on the task of piecing together a new ruling coalition after Sunday’s knife-edge election, observers need only look to its neighbors, Belgium and the Netherlands, to see how tricky the process can be.
Dutch foreign minister quits over Afghanistan evacuations
Read full article: Dutch foreign minister quits over Afghanistan evacuationsThe Dutch foreign minister has resigned after the lower house of parliament passed a motion of censure against the government over its handling of evacuations from Afghanistan amid the Taliban takeover.
The Latest: Dutch foreign minister resigns over Afghanistan
Read full article: The Latest: Dutch foreign minister resigns over AfghanistanThe Dutch foreign minister has resigned after the lower house of parliament passed a motion of censure against the government over its handling of evacuations from Afghanistan amid the Taliban takeover of the country.
EU ministers seek to cement trade ties with Biden team
Read full article: EU ministers seek to cement trade ties with Biden teamEuropean Union and U.S. top trade officials used a virtual meeting to cement recent advances in settling some key differences that have soured trans-Atlantic relations over the past years.
After election, talks underway to form new Dutch coalition
Read full article: After election, talks underway to form new Dutch coalitionDutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaks with the media following exit polls in the general election in The Hague, Netherlands, March 17, 2021. (Piroschka van de Wouw/Pool via AP)THE HAGUE – What is expected to be a complex process to form a new Dutch government got underway Monday with leaders of parties that won seats in last week's parliamentary elections laying out their preferred coalition options. Rutte's VVD won 35 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament; D66 won 23. AdIf, as expected, Rutte leads the next government, the 54-year-old would head his fourth coalition and will be in line to become the longest-serving Dutch prime minister. D66 leader Sigrid Kaag said she wants to look at issues rather than potential coalition partners.
Dutch PM Rutte's conservatives see 4th straight election win
Read full article: Dutch PM Rutte's conservatives see 4th straight election winDutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaks with the media following exit polls in the general election in The Hague, Netherlands, March 17, 2021. The VVD selected Senator Annemarie Jorritsma, while D66 chose Kajsa Ollongren, who was interior minister and deputy prime minister in Rutte's last Cabinet. AdBaudet, arriving at parliament for a meeting of party leaders, told reporters he “was actually hoping for more” seats in the election. The Green Left party, a big winner in the 2017 election, was forecast to lose half of its 14 seats. The Dutch election, coming just months after Britain's Brexit divorce with the European Union came into full force, saw gains among pro-EU parties.
Virtual summit seeks to galvanize climate change adaptation
Read full article: Virtual summit seeks to galvanize climate change adaptation(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)THE HAGUE – World leaders are converging — virtually — on the Netherlands Monday for a summit that will seek to galvanize more action and funding to adapt the planet and vulnerable communities to the effects of climate change. The Netherlands-based Global Center on Adaptation last week called on governments and financers around the globe to include funding for adaptation projects in their COVID-19 recovery spending. Kaag said that by using new and existing adaptation techniques, “we can build a climate-proof future together and promote sustainable economic growth in all parts of Africa.”British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the Climate Adaptation Summit to announce a new Adaptation Action Coalition that brings together more than 120 countries along with the European Union and nearly 90 other organizations to double down on climate adaptation efforts. Biden, in his first hours in office Wednesday, signed an executive order returning the United States to the Paris climate accord. It reversed the withdrawal by President Donald Trump, who ridiculed the science of human-caused climate change.
7 parties agree on Belgian government led by Liberal De Croo
Read full article: 7 parties agree on Belgian government led by Liberal De CrooBelgian Minister of Cooperation Development and Finance, Alexander De Croo speaks during a media conference at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. Despite his age, the 44-year-old De Croo is already a veteran in Belgian politics and was vice premier in the outgoing government. He would be the first Dutch-speaking prime minister in nine years. European Council President Charles Michel, a former Belgian prime minister himself, congratulated De Croo and said that “COVID-19 hit us badly, but I count on you and your government to guide us past this challenge." It made compromise politics, an essential element of Belgian politics, even harder.