Dutch family’s bizarre story
The man immediately struck the bartender as a bit off.
His beard was disheveled, he was in a daze and his clothes seemed straight out of the 1980s. It was near closing time at Chris Westerbeek’s small pub in a rural Netherlands village.
As the bearded man in the dated outfit quickly gulped down five beers, he said that for the last nine years, he and his siblings had barely seen the outside world. Instead, they were mostly confined to a small room in a Dutch farmhouse on the outskirts of the village of Ruinerwold “waiting for the end of days,” Mr. Westerbeek told Dutch reporters.
The police confirmed that six adult siblings aged 18 to 25 had been living in a small room on the farm and were receiving care. Their mother is believed to have died some time ago, officials said. The father, according to local authorities, had suffered a stroke but was also living on the farm.
A 58-year-old Austrian man, identified by local news reports as a handyman connected to the property, was taken into custody, and the prosecutor’s office said Wednesday that he would be charged with “deprivation of liberty and prejudicing the health of others.” He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Big step for Brexit deal
BRUSSELS — Britain and the European Union made big strides Wednesday in intense negotiations to secure a Brexit deal, agreeing on almost all major sticking points, according to EU negotiator Michel Barnier. Some complex issues, however, remained unresolved.
It remained unclear late Wednesday whether EU leaders would be able to sign off on a deal at a crunch summit with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson starting Thursday. No legal text had emerged yet from the talks, EU diplomats said.
The clock is ticking down ahead of Britain’s planned departure from the EU on Oct. 31. The deal being negotiated would smooth Brexit by ensuring that EU rules continue to apply in Britain during a transitional phase.
Experts on both sides have reached agreement on some of the thorniest issues, Mr. Barnier told EU ambassadors, according to diplomats. This includes customs controls for goods passing between Northern Ireland — a part of the United Kingdom — and EU member Ireland.
Trump stuns parents
President Donald Trump says he thought the grieving parents of a British teenager who was killed in a car crash involving an American diplomat’s wife wanted to meet with the woman during a White House visit. But Harry Dunn’s parents say they were stunned by the surprise proposition.
Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn traveled to Washington seeking to have the woman’s diplomatic immunity lifted. Instead, Mr. Trump and national security adviser Robert O’Brien surprised the family by suggesting they meet with the woman in front of the White House press corps, said one of the couple’s lawyers.
Attorney Mark Stephens told The Associated Press that the couple had no idea the diplomat’s wife, Anne Sacoolas, would be in the building when they were there Tuesday. He said the couple wants to meet with Ms. Sacoolas at some point, but not in a surprise, staged meeting.