Netherlands

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife HILVERSUM, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- A man brandishing a fake gun demanding airtime stormed the headquarters of Dutch national broadcaster NOS, January 29, briefly abducting a doorman and interrupting a television news program, before being overpowered by Dutch police.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife ISLAMABAD/STRASBOURG (BosNewsLife)-- The European Parliament (EP) on Thursday, November 26, urged Pakistan to withdraw blasphemy laws after a Christian mother of five lost her appeal against the death penalty

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KIEV/AMSTERDAM (BosNewsLife)-- The Netherlands has commemorated the nearly 300 people who died on board a Malaysia Airlines plane which was shot down over eastern Ukraine earlier this year. Flags flew at half-mast at government buildings as the nation united to remember one of the worst disasters in modern Dutch history.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Ukraine has released what it says are intercepted phone calls in which pro-Russian separatists admit to shooting down a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane, killing all 298 people on board. The Boeing 777 went down in eastern Ukraine while on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Most of the victims, 293 according to Dutch officials, came from the Netherlands.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife  KYIV/AMSTERDAM (BosNewsLife)-- Ukraine has ordered the withdrawal of all its forces from Crimea, following the Russian takeover of the peninsula. Monday's announcement came while Western concerns over Ukraine was expected to dominate a nuclear security summit in the Netherlands.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report's shorter version via Vatican Radio:   By BosNewsLife News Center THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife) Prince Johan Friso of the Netherlands, the younger brother of the new Dutch king, has died, 18 months after a skiing accident left him in a coma from which he never regained consciousness. He was 44

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief Internatonal Correspondent BosNewsLife THE HAGUE/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague has marked its 20th anniversary on Monday, amid concern about the future of some cases. Dutch King Willem-Alexander was among those invited to commemorate the occasion at a time when the United Nations court is under pressure to end its operations.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio click: KINGWILLEMVATICAN By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent reporting from Terschelling, Netherlands TERSCHELLING, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- Tens of thousands of people crammed shoulder-to-shoulder outside crammed shoulder-to-shoulder outside the royal palace in Amsterdam where  Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated on Tuesday after a 33-year sometimes turbulent reign, handing over to her eldest son.

By BosNewsLife News Center THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced Monday she is abdicating in favor of her son, Prince Willem-Alexander.

By BosNewsLife Europe Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos STRASBOURG,FRANCE (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian Europarliamentarian has urged Ireland to use its European Union presidency to tackle the world's "growing persecution of Christians."