World
Dutch royals mark 80th anniversary of Netherlands' liberation
American troops from the 30th Infantry Division, known as Old Hickory, were among Allied forces that liberated parts of Belgium and the southern Netherlands from German occupation in September 1944.
Walking arm-in-arm with the Dutch queen, American World War II veteran Kenneth Thayer returned to the tiny Dutch village he and his brothers in arms from the 30th Infantry Division liberated from Nazi occupation exactly 80 years ago.
Thayer, now 99, visited Mesch, a tiny village of about 350 people in the hills close to the Dutch borders with Belgium and Germany, and was greeted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima for a ceremony beginning nearly a year of events marking the anniversary of the country’s liberation.
After Thayer and the king and queen were driven in a vintage military truck into the village along a mud track through orchards and fields, Maxima reached out and gave a hand of support to Thayer as he walked to his seat to watch the ceremony paying tribute to the American liberators.
American troops from the 30th Infantry Division, known as Old Hickory, were among Allied forces that liberated parts of Belgium and the southern Netherlands from German occupation in September 1944.
Thayer still recalls the day.
He said he was sent out on a reconnaissance mission the night before the liberation and saw no Germans.
“And so we went up the next day and we found that I had accidentally crossed the border and, we didn’t think anything of it, you know, it was just another day on the front line,” he said.
What felt like another day of work for soldiers who had fought their way from the beaches of Normandy, through northern France and Belgium to cross the Netherlands on their way into Germany is forever woven into the history of the village as the end of more than four years of Nazi occupation.
While Thayer was one of the guests of honour at the event, he paid tribute to his comrades who didn’t make it through the war and said he was representing them.
“It wasn’t just me… Look at the hundreds and hundreds of guys who didn’t make it. They’re not here, you know,” he said.
Residents of Mesch were among the first Dutch citizens to taste post-war freedom, at about 10am on September 12, 1944, when Thayer and other American infantry troops crossed the border from Belgium.
A day later, they reached Maastricht, the provincial capital of Limburg and the first Dutch city to be liberated.
It would take several months more for the whole country to finally be freed.
Jef Tewissen, 74, who was born in Mesch where his father was a farmer, said the gratitude is deeply rooted in the region.
“I have only heard good things from my father about the Americans,” he said after watching the king and queen walk along Mesch’s main street.
ADVERTISEMENTThe feeling, Thayer said, is mutual.
“The Dutch people were always tops with us,” he said.
Iranians mourning the country’s supreme leader condemned U.S. strikes that Washington called retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a tightly controlled state funeral in Mashhad — one of Iran’s most conservative cities, where opponents of the government were unlikely to be found in the crowd — mourners voiced defiance and called for revenge.
World
Beloved musicians among victims in deadly Bahamas plane crash; aviation authority grounds flights
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A devastating double-aviation crisis in the Bahamas, including a deadly North Andros plane crash and a separate aircraft fire on Friday, prompted the government to suspend flight operations for a local airline and launch a federal safety probe.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, a Cessna 402 aircraft with Bahamian registration departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the plane “encountered difficulties” and crashed into bushes prior to landing.
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Authorities said 10 people were killed in a Bahamas plane crash on Friday. (Our News Bahamas via AP)
First responders, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Airport Authority and emergency medical personnel, rushed to the dense brush where the aircraft went down.
The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed in a statement Saturday that 10 people died in the crash, including prominent members of the “The Pond Band” and a local DJ, whose artistry the union said “touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said a sole survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
“Ann and I are praying for the families who are now facing unbearable grief,” Davis wrote in a statement on X. “We are also praying for the survivor, whose recovery and care will remain in our thoughts.”
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The identities of those killed in the crash have not yet been released.
While the AAIA’s preliminary reports initially indicated seven people were on board, officials are still establishing the facts of the flight manifest.
Just hours before the fatal crash in North Andros, a Flamingo Air flight en route to Mayaguana was forced to turn back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation (MoET).
After the aircraft landed and passengers safely deplaned, the plane caught fire on the runway.
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FILE – The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate following two aircraft incidents Friday. (iStock)
Following the two back-to-back safety incidents, the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB) temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate, according to MoET officials.
“The suspension is a precautionary safety measure and should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air,” the agency wrote in a statement.
FILE – The plane crashed in North Andros on Friday after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport. (Melissa Alcena/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators from the AAIA and inspectors from the CAAB remain at the scene in North Andros as they work to determine what caused the Cessna 402 tragedy.
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Flamingo Air did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan on Saturday as the country’s next prime minister to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned earlier this month over differences with the ruling majority.
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In a video posted to social media, Sandu said Tofan’s primary responsibility, after his candidacy is approved by the country’s parliament, would be to move the country further towards its path of “integration” into the European Union.
He should also “strengthen the resilience of state institutions and society”, and “revive the economy”, added Sandu.
The Moldovan businessman now has two weeks to secure parliamentary backing, a prospect he hopes to achieve after submitting his government programme and his ministerial cabinet nominations.
Tofan had been mentioned as a possible prime minister last year even before the appointment of Munteanu.
Igor Grosu, who heads Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) which won the last parliamentary elections in September, announced on Friday that he had selected him as his candidate to replace the outgoing premier.
He said Tofan shared “the same objectives” as him and PAS, specifying that “EU accession in the years to come, institutional reform and economic growth”, were among the biggest points of agreement.
The nominee for prime minister, who graduated Harvard Business School and turns 44 on Sunday, has a degree in public management from the Netherlands and is a managing partner at Horizon Capital, a private equity firm with assets primarily in Ukraine and Moldova.
He has also chaired the board of directors of Moldova’s Purcari winery, considered the crown jewel of the country’s winemaking sector.
Munteanu, another businessman who like Sandu previously worked at the World Bank, had been chosen to boost the economy and bring it closer to the EU, but turbulence with PAS saw him vacate his post less than a year into holding office.
He resigned on 3 July after less than eight months, stating that he could no longer carry out his mandate “according to (his) principles and (his) convictions”.
The EU last month officially launched a first round of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries became official EU candidate countries on 23 June 2022.
Additional sources • AFP
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