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The Netherlands

The latest news, analysis and opinion on The Netherlands. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Amsterdam

Head of State

King Willem-Alexander

Head of Government

Prime Minister Dick Schoof

Protesters holding signs attend a rally demanding an end to alleged land-grabbing by foreigners in Bangkok on Thursday. Photo: AP

SCMP Highlights

Thais stage rare Israel protest; India-Pakistan water row: 7 Asia highlights

From Thai PM Anutin’s US$90,000 amulet to the Philippines’ big bet on railways, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.

15 Sep 2026 - 3:30PM

From our archives

On This Day | Hong Kong mourns Mao Zedong’s death in 1976 – SCMP archive

13 Sep 2026 - 11:15AM

Britain

UK lawmakers reject bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales

11 Sep 2026 - 10:43PM

Switzerland

Police say 5 dead, 40 injured in tour bus crash in Switzerland

Coach carrying 45 passengers overturns in Alpine canton of Graubuenden, police say.

11 Sep 2026 - 4:35PM

Emergency personnel at the scene on Thursday. Photo: Engadiner Post/Keystone via AP

Britain

UK, France, Canada block imports from Israeli West Bank settlements

Foreign Minister Ed Miliband says Britain refuses to be ‘bystanders to further suffering and to the destruction of the two-state solution’.

8 Sep 2026 - 10:37PM

European Union

War criminal Mladic buried with military honours in Serbia despite EU warnings

Thousands of mourners gather to attend his funeral in Belgrade, defying EU warnings against glorification of war criminals.

7 Sep 2026 - 11:39PM

Germany

Germany urges UN’s top court to dismiss Gaza genocide case

Berlin says judges lack the jurisdiction to rule on the case and dismisses Nicaragua’s accusations as ‘inaccurate and distorted’.

7 Sep 2026 - 7:35PM

Argentina

Argentina threatens to sanction oil projects around Falkland Islands

On Saturday, oilfield services firms including Schlumberger and Halliburton said they do not and will not work on projects near the islands.

6 Sep 2026 - 7:46AM

Serbia

Commemoration held for late Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic

The ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ will be buried in Belgrade on Monday in a ceremony expected to draw thousands despite international condemnation.

6 Sep 2026 - 3:57AM

European Union

5 EU nations plan to send rejected migrants to non-EU ‘return hubs’, target 2027

Rights groups have criticised the plan, arguing that European nations cannot guarantee the rights of migrants would be respected.

4 Sep 2026 - 11:55PM

Ministers from Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Greece attend a press conference after a meeting of the Ministers for Immigration and Integration in Copenhagen on Friday. Photo: Reuters

India

India’s push to secure place in global chip supply has ‘secret weapon’: its people

Building up its pool of design talent can gain it a spot higher up in the value chain by turning ‘Make in India’ to ‘Engineer in India’.

4 Sep 2026 - 6:09PMvideocam

An Indian flag is juxtaposed on an
operating chipset. New Delhi has launched the second phase of its mission with a budget of US$13 billion to build an industrial ecosystem spanning chip design to manufacturing. Photo: Shutterstock

Gold in Hong Kong

How Hong Kong can cash in as reserve managers rethink where to store gold

City in race to lure bullion custody as geopolitical risks intensify scrutiny of gold storage, Goldman Sachs report says.

4 Sep 2026 - 5:00PM

Serbia

Body of war criminal Mladic returns to Serbia with military honours

Huge funeral expected for the ‘Butcher of Bosnia’, who died last week in a UN detention facility aged 84.

4 Sep 2026 - 1:53PM

China-EU relations

Pursue a China deal but brace for backlash, Dutch advisory group urges EU

To correct growing economic imbalances, policymakers advise taking stronger defensive measures, despite risk of rising domestic costs.

3 Sep 2026 - 5:47PMvideocam

Flags of China and the Netherlands appear next to each other. Photo: Shutterstock

Central banks

Dutch shift gold from US and Canada to London, citing ‘geopolitical unrest’

DNB moves reserves to boost liquidity in crisis response as analysts warn widespread shifts could dent confidence in US.

3 Sep 2026 - 3:06PMvideocam

Gold bars are stacked in a vault at the United States Mint in West Point, New York. Photo: AP

China-EU relations

EU trade enforcers descend on Beijing demanding China fix ‘untenable’ imbalances

Brussels officials hold talks in the Chinese capital as they seek a commitment to reduce surging exports to the bloc.

2 Sep 2026 - 6:26PM

Semiconductors

What’s next after China court freezes US$318 million in Nexperia assets?

Bitter custody fight sparked by Dutch intervention has affected European supply lines, and assets look to remain frozen for years.

1 Sep 2026 - 9:30PMvideocam

Pakistan

India rejects ruling on water-sharing treaty with Pakistan by Hague court

The court says India must uphold the treaty and curb work on a hydroelectric plant in Kashmir pending a neutral expert’s assessment.

31 Aug 2026 - 11:08PM

People sit on the bank of the river Chenab flowing through Chiniot, Punjab province, Pakistan, in May last year. India halted water flow from Chenab into Pakistan amid rising tensions following a terrorist attack in Kashmir. Photo: EPA-EFE

Human rights

Dutch court jails man for life over role in Rwanda genocide

He had prevented Tutsis from escaping and threw a grenade into the crowd.

28 Aug 2026 - 6:56PM

Bosnia and Herzegovina

‘Butcher of Bosnia’ Ratko Mladic dies in The Hague prison

The 84-year-old, who oversaw the 1995 Srebrenica slaughter, was serving a life sentence for genocide and war crimes.

27 Aug 2026 - 10:02PM

India

Why South Asian students are rethinking Western university education

Rising costs, visa restrictions and better regional choices drive a shift towards domestic undergraduate study before going abroad.

26 Aug 2026 - 7:00PM

Students throw their graduation hats in the air at a university in Amritsar, India, in 2022. Photo: Nanu/AFP

Travel Destinations

Amersfoort: the tourist-free Dutch city that feels like a mini Amsterdam

Just 30 minutes from the crowded capital, this historic town offers medieval wall houses, art heritage and vibrant everyday life without the tourist masses.

25 Aug 2026 - 8:00AM

Built around 1425, Koppelpoort is the most substantial of Amersfoort’s remaining city gates. Photo: Getty Images

Semiconductors

China’s advanced chip deficit to shrink from 92% to 34% by 2035, Goldman says

The increase will be driven by aggressive capacity expansion at SMIC, China’s largest contract chipmaker, as well as improving yields.

24 Aug 2026 - 8:00PM

Music

Netherlands withdraws from ‘no longer’ neutral Eurovision

Its Dutch broadcaster says the contest, which has been hit by a wave of boycotts over Israel’s participation, has ‘become a platform for division’.

24 Aug 2026 - 8:40PM

Semiconductors

Cut off from Europe, Nexperia China eyes self-reliance through domestic wafers

The Chinese division is betting on a high-stakes, home-grown supply chain pivot to bypass suspended European wafer shipments.

24 Aug 2026 - 6:00PMvideocam

An employee works with a wafer on a production line of semiconductor firm Nexperia in Hamburg, Germany, on June 27, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Spain

How to be a good tourist; a guide for the modern traveller

With the world’s most popular destinations bursting at the seams – and neither residents nor visitors happy with the fact – it would be in everyone’s interests for travellers to rethink their approach.

23 Aug 2026 - 8:00AM

Tourists listen to a tour guide outside the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain. Photo: AP

The Philippines

Has Philippines’ Marcos missed his chance to stop the Dutertes?

Analysts say Marcos’ strategy of ‘accommodation over confrontation’ allowed the Duterte camp time to regroup and rebuild its political base.

22 Aug 2026 - 4:00PMvideocam

China’s C919 passenger plane

China’s C919 supply chain: inside the push to replace Western aerospace parts

The localisation strategy remains a long-term challenge and is not expected to derail the aircraft’s bid for EU safety approval, industry insider says.

20 Aug 2026 - 9:00AMvideocam

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The Netherlands

Thais stage rare Israel protest; India-Pakistan water row: 7 Asia highlights

From Thai PM Anutin’s US$90,000 amulet to the Philippines’ big bet on railways, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.

.css-1f6sr3w{color:#727272;}On This Day | Hong Kong mourns Mao Zedong’s death in 1976 – SCMP archive

UK lawmakers reject bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales

Police say 5 dead, 40 injured in tour bus crash in Switzerland

Coach carrying 45 passengers overturns in Alpine canton of Graubuenden, police say.

UK, France, Canada block imports from Israeli West Bank settlements

Foreign Minister Ed Miliband says Britain refuses to be ‘bystanders to further suffering and to the destruction of the two-state solution’.

War criminal Mladic buried with military honours in Serbia despite EU warnings

Thousands of mourners gather to attend his funeral in Belgrade, defying EU warnings against glorification of war criminals.

Germany urges UN’s top court to dismiss Gaza genocide case

Berlin says judges lack the jurisdiction to rule on the case and dismisses Nicaragua’s accusations as ‘inaccurate and distorted’.

Argentina threatens to sanction oil projects around Falkland Islands

On Saturday, oilfield services firms including Schlumberger and Halliburton said they do not and will not work on projects near the islands.

Commemoration held for late Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic

The ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ will be buried in Belgrade on Monday in a ceremony expected to draw thousands despite international condemnation.

5 EU nations plan to send rejected migrants to non-EU ‘return hubs’, target 2027

Rights groups have criticised the plan, arguing that European nations cannot guarantee the rights of migrants would be respected.

India’s push to secure place in global chip supply has ‘secret weapon’: its people

Building up its pool of design talent can gain it a spot higher up in the value chain by turning ‘Make in India’ to ‘Engineer in India’.

How Hong Kong can cash in as reserve managers rethink where to store gold

City in race to lure bullion custody as geopolitical risks intensify scrutiny of gold storage, Goldman Sachs report says.

Body of war criminal Mladic returns to Serbia with military honours

Huge funeral expected for the ‘Butcher of Bosnia’, who died last week in a UN detention facility aged 84.

Pursue a China deal but brace for backlash, Dutch advisory group urges EU

To correct growing economic imbalances, policymakers advise taking stronger defensive measures, despite risk of rising domestic costs.

Dutch shift gold from US and Canada to London, citing ‘geopolitical unrest’

DNB moves reserves to boost liquidity in crisis response as analysts warn widespread shifts could dent confidence in US.

EU trade enforcers descend on Beijing demanding China fix ‘untenable’ imbalances

Brussels officials hold talks in the Chinese capital as they seek a commitment to reduce surging exports to the bloc.

What’s next after China court freezes US$318 million in Nexperia assets?

Bitter custody fight sparked by Dutch intervention has affected European supply lines, and assets look to remain frozen for years.

India rejects ruling on water-sharing treaty with Pakistan by Hague court

The court says India must uphold the treaty and curb work on a hydroelectric plant in Kashmir pending a neutral expert’s assessment.

Dutch court jails man for life over role in Rwanda genocide

He had prevented Tutsis from escaping and threw a grenade into the crowd.

‘Butcher of Bosnia’ Ratko Mladic dies in The Hague prison

The 84-year-old, who oversaw the 1995 Srebrenica slaughter, was serving a life sentence for genocide and war crimes.

Why South Asian students are rethinking Western university education

Rising costs, visa restrictions and better regional choices drive a shift towards domestic undergraduate study before going abroad.

Amersfoort: the tourist-free Dutch city that feels like a mini Amsterdam

Just 30 minutes from the crowded capital, this historic town offers medieval wall houses, art heritage and vibrant everyday life without the tourist masses.

China’s advanced chip deficit to shrink from 92% to 34% by 2035, Goldman says

The increase will be driven by aggressive capacity expansion at SMIC, China’s largest contract chipmaker, as well as improving yields.

Netherlands withdraws from ‘no longer’ neutral Eurovision

Its Dutch broadcaster says the contest, which has been hit by a wave of boycotts over Israel’s participation, has ‘become a platform for division’.

Cut off from Europe, Nexperia China eyes self-reliance through domestic wafers

The Chinese division is betting on a high-stakes, home-grown supply chain pivot to bypass suspended European wafer shipments.

How to be a good tourist; a guide for the modern traveller

With the world’s most popular destinations bursting at the seams – and neither residents nor visitors happy with the fact – it would be in everyone’s interests for travellers to rethink their approach.

Has Philippines’ Marcos missed his chance to stop the Dutertes?

Analysts say Marcos’ strategy of ‘accommodation over confrontation’ allowed the Duterte camp time to regroup and rebuild its political base.

China’s C919 supply chain: inside the push to replace Western aerospace parts

The localisation strategy remains a long-term challenge and is not expected to derail the aircraft’s bid for EU safety approval, industry insider says.

On This Day | Hong Kong mourns Mao Zedong’s death in 1976 – SCMP archive