Netherlands Antilles

(Newser) - The world lost one country but gained two new ones yesterday as the Netherlands Antilles officially ceased to exist. People on the Caribbean islands of Curacao and St. Maarten woke to find themselves in autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Reuters reports. Three smaller islands that had been...

(Newser) - Runaway teen sailor Laura Dekker has returned home to a custody battle in the Netherlands. Child welfare authorities have asked a court to remove the 14-year-old from her father's custody and place her either with her mother or in foster care, Reuters reports. Dekker was reported missing last week after...

(Newser) - Laura Dekker, the Dutch teen sailor who apparently ran away from home, has been found in St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles. Police on the Caribbean island have her in custody, and she is "safe and sound," a Dutch government spokesman tells the BBC . Dekker, 14, wants to...