- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
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- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
Dutch government seeks opt-out from EU asylum rules
The Netherlands announced Wednesday that it had requested from Brussels an opt-out from the European Union's rules on asylum, days after the coalition government unveiled the country's toughest-ever immigration policy.
"I have just informed the European Commission that I want a migration 'opt-out' on migration matters in Europe for the Netherlands," Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber posted on X.
"We have to handle our own asylum policy once more!" said Faber, a member of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by Geert Wilders.
Denmark has already managed to negotiate an agreement to keep it outside the EU's common asylum policy.
The Dutch coalition government, which took power in July, has been promising this move for several months, but Wilders himself told AFP in May that getting such an opt-out could take years.
Some experts have also expressed reservations.
"A Dutch opt-out can only be realised by amending the treaty," the Dutch Advisory Council on Migration said, pointing out that all 27 EU member states had to agree to the move.
"This is not very likely because the number of asylum seekers must then be distributed among fewer other member states," council members Mark Klaassen and Laura Kok wrote on its website.
"Not every member state will be enthusiastic about this," they said.
- 'Asylum crisis' -
Prime Minister Dick Schoof unveiled the country's new immigration policy on Friday, which he said was in response to an "asylum crisis".
"We cannot continue to bear the large influx of migrants into our country," he said.
King Willem-Alexander, in his speech setting out the government's priorities at the opening of parliament on Tuesday, described it as a "faster, stricter and more modest" asylum.
Cracks are already emerging in the coalition, which includes Wilders's PVV, the farmers' party BBB, the right-wing liberal VVD and the anti-corruption NSC.
NSC acting parliamentary leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven said Monday that her party would vote for tough immigration measures only if the Council of State advisory body approved it.
That sparked a furious reaction from Wilders, who posted on X: "The Netherlands has a huge asylum crisis and it will not be solved by running away in advance and threatening... to vote no."
Wilders was the surprise winner of elections in November but gave up his prime minister ambitions after at least one coalition party threatened to quit the talks.
P.Santos--AMWN