By being silent for two minutes, on Saturday at 8 pm the war victims who have died since the start of the Second World War have been commemorated. Traditionally, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima also attended the National Remembrance Day. Before the two-minute silence began, the royal couple laid a wreath at the National Monument on Dam Square. Prior to …

EU President Donald Tusk calls on the 27 EU leaders to consider a longer Brexit delay than what British Prime Minister Theresa May himself is asking for. The division within the British parliament about the Brexit deal gives little reason to believe that its ratification process can be completed before the end of June, he writes in his letter of …

The British House of Commons Friday is considering some of the agreements that Prime Minister May’s government has concluded with the European Union on the British departure from the union. The Conservative party chairman Andrea Leadsom said that the basic agreement on how London withdraws from the union (the withdrawal agreement) will be on the table for a vote on …

Italy joins the Chinese New Silk Road. The countries recorded this in an agreement during a visit by the Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Rome. Italy is the first G7 country to sign a role in the major Chinese infrastructure project. The populist government in Rome wants to revive the troubling economy and had rolled out the red carpet for …

The pressure is beginning to build up for the United Kingdom to conclude a deal with the European Union before the official deadline of March 29th. Another week has passed in which the British prime minister May has once again sat down with various parties to find sufficient support for her Brexit agreement. The coming weeks will be crucial for …

The Dutch government must demand that the mobile network can always achieve a certain minimum speed. This is the advice in a study commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The researchers advise State Secretary Mona Keijzer of Economic Affairs to require a minimum speed for mobile internet when the frequencies for the 5G network are auctioned. That minimum speed …

Swiss government ministers have held a series of bilateral meetings on the first day of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos. Finance Minister Ueli Maurer said he discussed plans with his counterpart from Saudi Arabia, Mohammed al-Jadaan, to boost financial relations with the Arab kingdom. Maurer told a news conference that the …

Swiss President Ueli Maurer says recent comments he made about Saudi Arabia in relation to Jamal Khashoggi have been taken out of context. Maurer sparked protest when he appeared to say that Swiss-Saudi relations had normalised, despite the Middle East country still being suspected of murdering the journalist. But Maurer, who also heads the Swiss finance ministry, told Swiss public …

Progress has been made in talks with China on technology and intellectual property issues, President Trump emphasized Thursday. This week, Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu He and American envoy Robert Lighthizer sat in Washington in a new round of negotiations to put an end to the lingering trade. Since the beginning of December last year after the meeting between Trump …

The lawyer of Asia Bibi, Saif-ul-Malook, had a nice day on Tuesday. The Pakistani Supreme Court finally relieved his client of blasphemy. It is not easy to interview the Islamic lawyer. The telephone connection with Pakistan is poor and it does not have much more than ten minutes. The man sounds tired and gives short, somewhat measured answers. Can you …