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Dutch PM Mark Rutte announces he’s quitting politics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:59:41 GMT

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Monday he would leave politics after the next election, following his government’s collapse last Friday.“On Sunday I decided that I will not be available as a leader for the VVD in the upcoming elections,” Rutte told the Dutch parliament Monday. After the Cabinet collapse late last week, Rutte said he still had the “energy and ideas” to continue, but this weekend he decided to put an end to his 17 years as leader of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). “I do this with mixed feelings, with emotions. I love the team dearly. But it feels right.” As one of Europe’s veteran leaders, Rutte has been linked with a number of top jobs outside the Netherlands, including at NATO and the EU. But Rutte said Monday that he’s not interested in an international top job.The outgoing prime minister is currently teaching social studies once a week at a local school in The Hague. “Maybe I will do that for a few days,” Rutt...

Poland captures Russian spy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:59:41 GMT

Poland’s intelligence services have detained a man accused of spying for Russia, Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said Monday.“The suspect conducted surveillance of military facilities and seaports,” Kamiński said. “He was systematically paid by the Russians.”European intelligence services have cracked down on Russian interference since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and hundreds of suspected Russian spies have been expelled from the Continent.In March, Poland said it had broken up a Russian espionage network, arresting six suspected spies.The Polish interior minister said the man detained Monday was the 15th individual held in connection with that same investigation.

Former Worcester Academy star Matthew Shaw selected by Cubs in the first round

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:59:41 GMT

Matthew Shaw’s professional baseball dreams are now a reality.On Sunday night, Shaw was selected No. 13 overall by the Chicago Cubs in the first round of the 2023 Major League Baseball amateur draft. A Springfield native, Shaw played his high school baseball for Worcester Academy before most recently starring at the University of Maryland.The slot for Shaw’s selection is valued at $4.85 million. Shaw impressed evaluators throughout the year as he showcased power to all fields coupled with a high walk rate and low strikeout percentage. He is the highest Terrapin ever taken in the draft.“He is relentless in terms of his work ethic. He lives baseball,” director of Nokona Baseball Dan Sullivan said. “Everything he does is geared towards getting better. That is what has elevated him above kids of equal talent putting in whatever it takes to make himself better.”Shaw played for Nokona for nine seasons on the club circuit before heading to Maryland.Thoma...

Incumbent Uzbek president wins new term in snap election with token opposition

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:59:41 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Uzbekistan’s incumbent president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has overwhelmingly won a new seven-year term in a snap election in which he faced three weak opponents, preliminary results showed Monday.Mirziyoyev received more than 87% of the vote and each of the challengers about 4%, the country’s national elections commission said.Sunday’s vote followed a constitutional referendum that extended presidential terms from five to seven years.In 2021, Mirziyoyev was elected to his second five-year term, the limit allowed by the constitution at the time. A set of constitutional amendments approved in April’s plebiscite allowed him to begin the count of terms anew and run for two more, raising the possibility that he could stay in office until 2037.Since coming to power in 2016 after the death of longtime dictator Islam Karimov, Mirziyoyev has introduced a slew of political and economic reforms that eased some of the draconian policies of his predece...

Dutch prime minister says he will leave politics after next election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:59:41 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Netherlands’ longest serving premier, said Monday he will leave politics after a general election sparked by his government’s resignation.Rutte, the leader of the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, or VVD, announced his decision at a hastily arranged parliamentary debate.“Yesterday morning I made a decision that I will not be available again as a leader of the VVD. When a new Cabinet takes office after the elections, I will leave politics,” he said.Rutte’s four-party ruling coalition resigned Friday after failing to agree on a package of measures to rein in migration.No date has yet been set for the election.The Associated Press

The Russian military chief who was targeted in a June rebellion has surfaced in a video

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:59:41 GMT

Russia’s Defense Ministry released a video Monday of the country’s military chief, the first time Gen. Valery Gerasimov has been shown since the leader of a mercenary army sought his dismissal during a brief rebellion.In the video, Gerasimov is shown hearing a report from the chief of staff of Russia’s aerospace forces and calling for improvement in identifying the location of Ukrainian missiles. During last month’s short-lived revolt, the head of private defense company Wagner repeatedly denounced Gerasimov, who serves as chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for denying supplies to his fighters in Ukraine.Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenaries forces entered the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on June 23 and took control of the headquarters of Russia’s southern military command. Wagner forces also moved toward Moscow, encountering little resistance. Prigozhin claimed that the uprising was...

Japan defends neutrality of IAEA report on Fukushima water release plan as minister visits plant

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:59:41 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s industry minister visited the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Monday to see equipment that would be used in the planned release into the sea of treated radioactive water to ensure the safety of the controversial plan, while demonstrators, including many from South Korea, rallied against it.The Japanese government defended the neutrality of the United Nations nuclear agency’s final report that concluded Japan’s water release plan met international safety standards, denying allegations that Japan pressured the International Atomic Energy Agency into publishing only favorable results.Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura visited the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Monday morning to see key equipment, including an emergency shutdown system, days after the Japanese regulatory authority granted a permit for the operator and the IAEA said the environmental impact from the water release would be negligible.The government and the ...

Iran sentences rapper to more than 6 years in prison over protests, supporters say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:59:41 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has sentenced a popular rapper to six years and three months in prison over his participation in protests that rocked the country last year, his supporters said Monday.A social media account run by supporters of Toomaj Salehi announced the sentence, as did Ye-One Rhie, a member of the German parliament who has campaigned on his behalf. There was no immediate word from Iranian authorities.Salehi was among thousands of mostly young Iranians who took to the streets last fall after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code. The protests spread across the country and quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. Salehi expressed support for the protests in songs and videos that were widely circulated online.Authorities launched a heavy crackdown in which over 500 people were killed and nearly 20,0...

In the news today: Premiers meet to discuss new health care money, Trudeau in Latvia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:59:41 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today …Premiers meet to discuss use of new health dollars …Provincial and territorial premiers are kicking off a three-day meeting in Winnipeg today in which the chaos in Canada’s health care systems will be front and centre.They’re gathering to discuss how to use $46 billion in new health funding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered in February, in exchange for provinces and territories committing to targeted reforms.All but Quebec have accepted the funding offer, but none have submitted plans on the targets and timelines they’ll use to turn the new funding into fixes for Canada’s ailing but beloved public-health care programs.The premiers will also tackle economic issues and affordability during their meetings, which take place as Trudeau visits eastern Europe to discuss defence issues.—Here’s what else we’re watching ̷...

Hong Kong’s newly named Roman Catholic cardinal wants reconciliation and more hope for young people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:59:41 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s newly named Roman Catholic cardinal said Monday that he hopes for reconciliation and wants the city to give young people more hope following the economic downturn and a campaign to crush a pro-democracy movement.On Sunday, Pope Francis announced he had chosen 21 new cardinals, including Hong Kong Bishop Stephen Sau-yan Chow, 64. Chow said it was somewhat unbelievable to learn that he was picked, and that he felt it is a new mission that God assigned to him through the pope. The ceremony to formally install him as a cardinal will be held in September. “For Hong Kong, (I hope) the city can have more reconciliation,” he told reporters on Monday. “This is what I hope (we) can achieve.”Beijing and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties in 1951 following the Communist Party’s rise to power and the expulsion of foreign priests. For decades, the Vatican and China have experienced tensions alternating with improvement of relations over China’s insi...