The Dutch government on Wednesday raised the terror threat level in the Netherlands from "limited" to "substantial" — citing growing radicalization of Dutch youth and other potential blow-back from the increasingly bloody conflict in Syria.
The Dutch government says it is planning to make it a crime for a suspect in a child sex abuse or terrorism case to refuse to help decrypt a computer when ordered to do so by prosecutors.
As I write these lines, there are police bodyguards at the door. No visitor can enter my office without passing through several security checks and metal detectors. I have been marked for death. I am forced to live in a heavily protected safe house.
Instead of running from the bulls in Pamplona, bureaucrats in Spain may soon be running from their creditors. As if the angry demonstrations in Madrid and Barcelona during the May Day socialist holiday weren't enough, the economic news continues to worsen.
Long famous for "coffee shops" where joints and cappuchinos share the menu, the Netherlands' famed tolerance for drugs could be going up in smoke.
The Dutch government, one of the most vocal critics of European countries failing to rein in their budgets, quit Monday after failing to agree on a plan to bring its own deficit in line with EU rules.
A collection of worrying news out of Europe sent stocks sharply lower on Monday.
The Dutch finance minister flew home early Sunday from International Monetary Fund meetings to discuss the future of austerity measures torpedoed by euro-skeptic lawmakers and to reassure ratings agencies that he wants to put his country's budget back on track.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute Wednesday to the Dutch government, which he said supported Israel's stance for tough sanctions on Iran.
