عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Dutch See Options for Netanyahu to Visit Despite ICC Arrest Warrant

Netherlands' Prime Minister Dick Schoof talks during a press conference at the Ministry of General Affairs, in The Hague on November 11, 2024. (AFP)
Netherlands' Prime Minister Dick Schoof talks during a press conference at the Ministry of General Affairs, in The Hague on November 11, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Dutch See Options for Netanyahu to Visit Despite ICC Arrest Warrant

Netherlands' Prime Minister Dick Schoof talks during a press conference at the Ministry of General Affairs, in The Hague on November 11, 2024. (AFP)
Netherlands' Prime Minister Dick Schoof talks during a press conference at the Ministry of General Affairs, in The Hague on November 11, 2024. (AFP)

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Friday said there could be options for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the Netherlands without being arrested, despite the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant against him.

His words seemed to tone down a previous stance by his foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp, who last week in parliament said the Netherlands fully cooperates with the ICC, explaining that meant "we act on arrest warrants for people who are on Dutch territory".

Schoof on Friday said there were still scenarios within the Netherlands' duties towards the ICC in which Netanyahu would not be arrested, depending on the reason of his visit.

"The most important thing is that we have obligations that come from the treaty (on which the ICC is based), and that we comply to them," Schoof said at a news conference.

"In light of that, we would have to see how we act when the prime minister of Israel were to come to the Netherlands. There are possible scenarios, also within international law, in which he would be able to come to the Netherlands without being arrested."

Schoof did not elaborate on the circumstances under which Netanyahu could come. Last week he said it might be possible for Netanyahu to visit an international organization located in the Netherlands, such as the UN watchdog for chemical weapons OPCW, without being arrested.

The Netherlands is also host nation to the ICC, which is located in The Hague.

The ICC issued arrest warrants last week for Netanyahu, his former defense chief Yoav Gallant and a Hamas leader, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.

Though all EU member states are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, France said on Wednesday it believed Netanyahu had immunity to actions by the ICC, given Israel has not signed up to the court statutes.

Italy has said it is not feasible to arrest Netanyahu as long as he remains head of Israel's government.

Israel, which launched its offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas's deadly attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, has said it will appeal against the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Iran President Says Any Attack on Supreme Leader Would Be Declaration of War

In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks in a meeting, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks in a meeting, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
TT
TT

Iran President Says Any Attack on Supreme Leader Would Be Declaration of War

In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks in a meeting, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks in a meeting, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Sunday that any attack on the country's supreme leader Ali Khamenei would mean a declaration of war.

"An attack on the great leader of our country is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation," Pezeshkian said in a post on X in an apparent response to US President Donald Trump saying it was time to look for a new leader in Iran.

World

Quake Hits Northeast Sicily, No Damage Reported

A man feeds seagulls in Syracuse, Sicily, southern Italy on January 10, 2026. (AFP)
A man feeds seagulls in Syracuse, Sicily, southern Italy on January 10, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Quake Hits Northeast Sicily, No Damage Reported

A man feeds seagulls in Syracuse, Sicily, southern Italy on January 10, 2026. (AFP)
A man feeds seagulls in Syracuse, Sicily, southern Italy on January 10, 2026. (AFP)

A light earthquake hit the northeastern corner of Sicily on Sunday, authorities said, but no damage was immediately reported.

The quake registering 4.0 on the Richter and Moment Magnitude scales was centered two kilometers (just over a mile) from Militello Rosmarino in the northeastern province of Messina, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV).

It occurred at 2:54 pm local time (1354 GMT) and had a depth of eight kilometers, INGV said.

Il Mattino newspaper said the earthquake was felt throughout the Messina area but no damage to people or buildings had been reported.

The town of approximately 1,200 inhabitants is located just north of the Nebrodi park, Sicily's largest protected area.

Tremors occur frequently in the northeast of Sicily, with a 2.5 magnitude quake occurring at Piraino, to the east, on Saturday.

World

EU States Condemn Trump Tariff Threats, Consider Countermeasures

Military personnel from the German armed Forces Bundeswehr board Icelandair flight leaving Nuuk airport for Reykjavik on January 18, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland. (AFP)
Military personnel from the German armed Forces Bundeswehr board Icelandair flight leaving Nuuk airport for Reykjavik on January 18, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland. (AFP)
TT
TT

EU States Condemn Trump Tariff Threats, Consider Countermeasures

Military personnel from the German armed Forces Bundeswehr board Icelandair flight leaving Nuuk airport for Reykjavik on January 18, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland. (AFP)
Military personnel from the German armed Forces Bundeswehr board Icelandair flight leaving Nuuk airport for Reykjavik on January 18, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland. (AFP)

Major European Union states decried US President Donald Trump's tariff threats against European allies over Greenland as blackmail on Sunday, as France proposed responding with a range of previously untested economic countermeasures.

Trump vowed on Saturday to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on EU members Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, along with Britain and Norway, until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.

All eight countries, already subject to US tariffs of 10% and 15%, have sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland, as a row with the United States over the future of Denmark's vast Arctic island escalates.

"Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral," the eight-nations said in a joint statement published on Sunday.

They said the Danish exercise was ‌designed to strengthen Arctic ‌security and posed no threat to anyone. They said they were ready to ‌engage ⁠in dialogue, based ‌on principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a written statement that she was pleased with the consistent messages from the rest of the continent, adding: "Europe will not be blackmailed", a view echoed by Germany's finance minister and Sweden's prime minister.

"It's blackmail what he's doing," Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said on Dutch television of Trump's threat.

COORDINATED EUROPEAN RESPONSE

Cyprus, holder of the rotating six-month EU presidency, summoned ambassadors to an emergency meeting in Brussels on Sunday, which diplomats said was due to start at 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) as EU leaders stepped up contacts.

A source close to French President Emmanuel Macron said he was pushing for ⁠activation of the "Anti-Coercion Instrument", which could limit access to public tenders, investments or banking activity or restrict trade in services, in which the US has a surplus with ‌the bloc, including digital services.

Bernd Lange, the German Social Democrat who ‍chairs the European Parliament's trade committee, and Valerie Hayer, head of ‍the centrist Renew Europe group, echoed Macron's call, as did Germany's engineering association.

Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said ‍that while there should be no doubt that the EU would retaliate, it was "a bit premature" to activate the anti-coercion instrument.

And Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is closer to the US President than some other EU leaders, described the tariff threat on Sunday as "a mistake", adding she had spoken to Trump a few hours earlier and told him what she thought.

"He seemed interested in listening," she told a briefing with reporters during a trip to Korea, adding she planned to call other European leaders later on Sunday.

Italy has not sent troops to Greenland.

BRITAIN'S POSITION 'NON-NEGOTIABLE'

Asked how Britain would respond to new ⁠tariffs, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said allies needed to work with the United States to resolve the dispute.

"Our position on Greenland is non-negotiable ... It is in our collective interest to work together and not to start a war of words," she told Sky News on Sunday.

The tariff threats do though call into question trade deals the US struck with Britain in May and the EU in July.

The limited agreements have already faced criticism about their lopsided nature, with the US maintaining broad tariffs, while their partners are required to remove import duties.

The European Parliament looks likely now to suspend its work on the EU-US trade deal. It had been due to vote on removing many EU import duties on January 26-27, but Manfred Weber, head of the European People's Party, the largest group in parliament, said late on Saturday that approval was not possible for now.

German Christian Democrat lawmaker Juergen Hardt also mooted what he told Bild newspaper could be a last resort "to bring President Trump to his senses on the Greenland issue", ‌a boycott of the soccer World Cup that the US is hosting this year.