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Far-right triumph in German district election spooks politicians

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:45 GMT

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Sunday for the first time won a district council election, sparking concerns over a broader rise of the populist party in upcoming elections.AfD candidate Robert Sesselmann won a runoff election in Sonneberg, in the eastern German state of Thuringia, against incumbent district administrator Jürgen Köpper from the center-right Christian Democrat Party (CDU) — despite other parties like the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats endorsing the CDU candidate.“I’m dismayed by the result in Sonneberg,” said Green lawmaker Katrin Göring-Eckardt, who is also one of the vice chairs of the Bundestag. “Thank you to all who continue to fight for this county to remain democratic, open-minded and friendly.” She added, however, that she thinks Sonneberg — which is one of Germany’s smallest districts, with only around 48,000 eligible voters — could not be compared to the rest of Thuringia, much...

Belgium pitches EU agency to screen algorithms

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:45 GMT

BRUSSELS — Belgium thinks the European Union needs an agency with technical expertise in algorithms — and it will push for one during its stint at the Council presidency next year. EU legislators are currently in the final negotiations on the bloc’s rules on artificial intelligence. Other EU rulebooks, like the one on content moderation, will also necessitate scrutinizing algorithms, especially those used by very large online platforms. Belgium now shows a concern that the bloc won’t have sufficient — or else, too fragmented — technical comprehension to underpin the governance of AI and enforcement of other rules. “We have to understand how an algorithm works before we’re able to identify whether certain things are acceptable or not,” Mathieu Michel, the country’s junior minister for digitalization (and brother of European Council President Charles Michel), told POLITICO in an interview. “Having a structure that allows [us] to come up with a...

Supreme Court says Louisiana congressional map must be redrawn to add another majority-Black district

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:45 GMT

(CNN) — The Supreme Court said Monday that Louisiana’s congressional map must be redrawn to add a second majority-Black district.The justices reversed plans to hear the case themselves and lifted a hold they placed on a lower court’s order for a reworked redistricting regime. There were no noted dissents.The move from the high court comes after a ruling the justices issued earlier this month about Alabama’s congressional maps that upheld how courts have historically approached the redistricting provisions in the Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights law that Black voters are using to challenge the Louisiana congressional plan.Louisiana state officials were sued last year for a congressional map – passed by the Republican legislature over Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto – that made only one of its six districts majority Black, despite the 2020 census showing that the state’s population is 33% Black.“Today’s decision follows on the heels of the c...

London Series: Chicago Cubs settle for a split after Marcus Stroman’s blister and Trey Mancini’s misplays in 7-5 loss

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:45 GMT

Chicago Cubs right-hander Marcus Stroman was hyped leading up to Sunday’s start on an international stage.Stroman had gotten a taste of it before, pitching in big games in the World Baseball Classic. He embraced the opportunity to bring the “Stro Show” to the London Series, in which the Cubs had an opportunity to secure a two-game sweep against the St. Louis Cardinals.“I think everybody here enjoyed it,” Stroman said. ”You know you’re not going to prepare as well as you normally do just because of the schedule, but put that out of mind and you just go out there, have fun and compete.”Stroman’s memorable experience was cut short by a blister on his index finger that forced him to depart in the fourth inning of the Cubs’ 7-5 loss.Stroman shook his right hand after multiple pitches in the fourth, including his final pitch that resulted in a go-ahead RBI single by Paul Goldschmidt. Head athletic trainer Nick Frangella and manag...

Russia tries to project a sense of order after mercenary revolt but uncertainty still swirls

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:45 GMT

By The Associated PressRussian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made his first public appearance since a mercenary uprising demanded his ouster, inspecting troops in Ukraine in a video released Monday aimed at projecting a sense of order after the country’s most serious political crisis in decades.But uncertainty still swirled about his fate, that of rebellion leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his private army, the impact on the war in Ukraine, and even the political future of President Vladimir Putin.A feud between Wagner Group leader Prigozhin and Russia’s military brass that has festered throughout the war erupted into a mutiny that saw the mercenaries leave Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city and roll seemingly unopposed for hundreds of miles toward Moscow, before turning around after less than 24 hours on Saturday.The Kremlin said it had made a deal that Prigozhin will move to Belarus and receive an amnesty, along with his soldiers. There was no confirm...

Gallery: B.A.A. 10k road race

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:45 GMT

Trump is honored by Republicans as the Man of the Decade in a Michigan county he lost twice

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:45 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump was honored as the Man of the Decade in a Michigan county he lost twice as he returned to the state looking to reclaim territory that helped propel him to the White House but that slipped from his grasp four years later.Campaigning for a return to the presidency while facing a federal indictment for allegedly mishandling classified documents, Trump spoke on Sunday in suburban Detroit, where he lost ground between 2016 and 2020 and would need to win it back if he becomes the 2024 Republican nominee. He would have to reverse the recent trend in Michigan that has seen Democrats make some of their biggest gains nationally since Trump’s reelection loss.Trump spoke at the Oakland County GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner, where he was honored by the party as its Man of the Decade. Trump frequently attacked President Joe Biden throughout his speech Sunday, saying the Democrat was a “catastrophe” for Michigan and auto production in the state. ...

When wealthy adventurers take huge risks, who should pay for rescue attempts?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:45 GMT

When millionaire Steve Fossett’s plane went missing over the Nevada range in 2007, the swashbuckling adventurer had already been the subject of two prior emergency rescue operations thousands of miles apart.And that prompted a prickly question: After a sweeping search for the wealthy risktaker ended, who should foot the bill?In recent days, the massive hunt for a submersible vehicle lost during a north Atlantic descent to explore the wreckage of the Titanic has refocused attention on that conundrum. And with rescuers and the public fixated first on saving and then on mourning those aboard, it has again made for uneasy conversation.“Five people have just lost their lives and to start talking about insurance, all the rescue efforts and the cost can seem pretty heartless — but the thing is, at the end of the day, there are costs,” said Arun Upneja, dean of Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration and a researcher on tourism.“There are many people who are going to say, ‘...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts in early trading after rally hit a roadblock

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:45 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting in their first trading since a big rally for Wall Street hit its first roadblock in six weeks. The S&P 500 was little changed in early trading Monday. It remains close to its highest level in a year, which it reached a couple weeks ago. The Dow was just barely higher and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Lucid Group jumped 9.3% after the electric vehicle maker announced a deal to provide powertrain and battery systems to Aston Martin. Teslas slipped 0.7% as its torrid rally cools a bit amid concerns it went overboard. It’s already more than doubled this year.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Markets on Wall Street were slow to gain traction Monday, while global shares mostly fell after a short-lived armed rebellion in Russia added to uncertainties over the war in Ukraine. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 were flat before the bell Monday.The rebellion by mercenary soldiers who briefly took o...

Supreme Court lets lawsuits over team doctor’s sexual abuse proceed against Ohio State

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday left in place a decision that allows more than 230 men to sue Ohio State University over decades-old sexual abuse by a university doctor, the late Richard Strauss.Two cases involving the abuse were on a list of many cases the court said it would not hear. And, as is typical, the court did not comment in saying it would not hear the cases.Ohio State University had urged the court to review a ruling by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that revived lawsuits that had been dismissed. The men who sued are among hundreds of former student-athletes and other alumni who say they were abused by Strauss, who worked at the school from 1978 to 1998. They say university officials failed to stop him despite complaints raised as early as the late 1970s. Many of them allege Strauss abused them during required physicals and other medical exams at campus athletic facilities, a student health center, his home and an off-campus clinic.Strauss killed h...