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Man suspected of plotting attack on Dutch princesses to appear in court

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A 33-year-old man will appear in court next week after he was detained on suspicion of plotting an attack on two Dutch princesses, prosecutors said Friday.

According to details in a court scheduling order published on the website of The Hague Public Prosecutor’s Office, the man is suspected of preparing an attack on the 22-year-old heir to the Dutch throne, Amalia, Princess of Orange, and her 20-year-old sister, Princess Alexia, in February in The Hague.

“The suspect was allegedly in possession of two axes in early February with the words ‘Alexia’, ‘Mossad’, and ‘Sieg Heil’ carved into them, and he allegedly had a handwritten sheet with the words ‘Amalia’, ‘Alexia’, and ‘Bloodbath,’” the scheduling order said.

A spokesman for The Hague public prosecutor’s office declined to give any more details on the case, ahead of Monday’s procedural hearing. It was not clear where or when the man was arrested. The suspect’s name was not released, in line with Dutch privacy regulations.

The Royal House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amalia has faced threats before. The heir to the Dutch throne was forced in 2022 to give up Amsterdam’s student life and live at her parents’ palace due to threats believed to come from the criminal underworld. Queen Maxima said at the time that Amalia, “can’t leave home” and that it has “enormous consequences for her life.”

Amalia subsequently spent several months living in Madrid and later honored the Spanish capital and its citizens for their hospitality by opening a tulip garden there.

In 2020, a man was convicted of threatening the princess and one of sending threats via Instagram to the then-16-year-old princess and one of her friends.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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