Dutch king lays Remembrance Day wreath honoring war dead

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Dutch king has laid a wreath at a monument to the country’s war dead at a solemn commemoration ceremony devoid of the usual huge crowds for the second year because of coronavirus lockdown measures. King Willem-Alexander marked the Netherlands’ Remembrance Day with his wife, Queen Maxima, and other dignitaries at the national monument on Dam Square in downtown Amsterdam. The national day of commemoration, at which flags fly at half staff throughout the country, is followed Wednesday by a national holiday to celebrate the country’s liberation from Nazi German occupation at the end of World War II.