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Germany bewildered about how to halt the rise of the AfD

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:12:21 GMT

Markus Ziener is a senior visiting fellow with the German Marshal Fund in Berlin.In Germany, news regarding the seemingly unstoppable rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) appears on an almost weekly basis. But nowadays this isn’t just true of the notoriously AfD-friendly states in east Germany, it’s also spreading further west.In Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg, the AfD is currently running well above 30 percent. The party is gaining ground in the former West German states of Hesse and Bavaria as well, where it is expected to land at around 15 percent in this weekend’s elections.Once labeled as only appealing to the marginal far right, today the AfD has become acceptable to significantly more voters. And although polls aren’t election results, they are sending shock waves through the German political landscape.At regional and local levels, it is now becoming increasingly difficult to successfully form coalitions against AfD candidates. In Sonneberg, a district in s...

Ukraine puts on brave face as West goes wobbly

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:12:21 GMT

The West’s united front on Ukraine is showing more cracks than ever — and Kyiv has little choice but to grin and bear it.More than 500 days into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Republican lawmakers in Washington DC on Saturday derailed an effort to unleash a major tranche of aid for the war-torn country.Coming just nine days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington to plead for continued support, the blockage underscored a hardening of attitudes among congressional Republicans who want to end Washington’s assistance for Kyiv.At the same time as Republicans were voting ‘no’ on Capitol Hill, voters in Slovakia elected a pro-Russian prime minister, Robert Fico, who vows not to send a “single round” of ammunition to Ukraine, and looks set to team up with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbàn to oppose further European support for Kyiv. Poland, once the most dependable of Kyiv’s allies, made the shock announcement on S...

Sweden’s new normal: Bombs in the suburbs on a weeknight 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:12:21 GMT

STOCKHOLM — When the blast ran through the Stockholm suburb of Hässelby Villastad on a weekday night last week, I was sitting in my living room about to send a text.The front windows rattled so hard I thought they might shatter and I broke off typing mid-word.As I went upstairs to check if my daughter was OK, she came out of her bedroom looking confused. “I’m pretty sure that was a bomb,” I said as the wail of sirens from emergency services vehicles filled the evening air. I’m no expert on how bombs sound but we already have had two bomb attacks in this part of the city this year, so the odds were that this was number three. The first bombing, in January, blew a football-sized hole in an apartment block near where I often cycle. Four arrests were made following the attack, local media reported at the time.The second, in March, knocked a whole row of wooden terraced houses off their foundations behind my son’s secondary school. Six people were...

Boston Celtics Media Day

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:12:21 GMT

Kansas police chief who led raid on small weekly newspaper has resigned, official says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:12:21 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The police chief who led an August raid on a small weekly newspaper in central Kansas resigned Monday, just days after he was suspended from his post and following the release of body camera video of the raid showing an officer searching the desk of a reporter investigating the chief’s past. Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody’s resignation was confirmed to The Associated Press both by Mayor Dave Mayfield and City Council member Ruth Herbel, following an announcement by Mayfield at Monday’s council meeting. Mayfield had suspended Cody on Thursday for reasons that have not been made public. In a text message Monday night to the AP, he said he couldn’t answer questions about the chief’s resignation “as it is a personnel matter.”Cody stepped down weeks after a local prosecutor said that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to justify the search of the Marion County Record or searches at the same time of the publisher’s home and HerbelR...

Generations of students remember 1968 massacre in march through Mexico City

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:12:21 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Chanting in unison, students marched through downtown Mexico City on Monday evening, marking 55 years since the military massacred hundreds of students in Tlatelolco plaza.Enrique Treviño Taudres survived the massacre and now marches every year with the Pro Democratic Freedoms 68 Committee. “People know a lot and forget easily,” he said, adding that the memory of Tlatelolco holds important lessons for modern Mexico.As many as 300 people were massacred at a student protest in Tlatelolco plaza on Oct. 2, 1968, in what the Mexican government initially reported as the lawful suppression of a violent riot just 10 days before the Summer Olympics’ Opening Ceremony in Mexico City.Since then military reports have revealed at least 360 government snipers were stationed on rooftops around the square. They opened fire and, in the ensuing chaos, the military members posted round the square began shooting peaceful protesters and students.“Look, it’s a commemoration of that day ...

2 injured after crash involving bicyclist along Lake Shore Drive

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:12:21 GMT

CHICAGO — Two people were taken to the hospital after a crash along Lake Shore Drive on Monday evening, according to the Chicago Fire Department.Fire officials say a woman fell off of her bike after she was hit by a driver who allegedly lost control of their vehicle, struck the pavement, and crossed into the bike path in the 5400 block of North Lake Shore Drive. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines The crash, which involved a Toyota Prius being driven by a 29-year-old woman, left the vehicle's front end badly damaged.According to fire officials and police, the driver of the vehicle and the 54-year-old woman who was riding the bicycle along the bike path were taken to the hospital.Fire officials and police say the 54-year-old woman suffered a fractured leg and arm and was submitted in serious condition. The 29-year-old driver suffered neck and back pain and was submitted in good condition.Authorities have not yet identified anyone involved.

No arrest made in southeast Austin homicide, police identify victim

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:12:21 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- On Monday, the Austin Police Department said no arrests were made in a southeast Austin homicide that occurred last week, and the victim was also identified, according to a APD news release. One person dead, police investigating as homicide at southeast Austin apartment complex Shortly before 11 a.m., Sept. 26, 911 dispatch received several calls about a man who was shot in the parking lot at 2319 Greenfield Parkway, according to police. Officers arrived on the scene and found Keith Bedford, 40, with gunshot wounds, the release said. He died on the scene.As of Monday, police said no arrests were made, and the investigation was still active and ongoing. https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-homicide-map-2023/ Anyone with any information should contact APD at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477. A reward of up to $1,000 may be available...

Violence Free MN documents 24 domestic abuse deaths last year. Here are 5 risk factors.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:12:21 GMT

Twenty-four people lost their lives to domestic violence in Minnesota last year, which equates to nearly a victim every other week.And such violence should not be minimized by blaming it on someone snapping or losing their temper, Violence Free Minnesota leaders said Monday as they released their annual homicide report.“Power and control is the root cause of all intimate partner violence,” said Joe Shannon, Violence Free Minnesota’s communications program manager. While physical abuse may be the most visible form, he said domestic violence is a pattern of emotionally, sexually, financially and physically abusive behaviors.At least 24 people in the state were killed by current or former intimate partners in 2022, or they died as bystanders or intervenors, according to Violence Free Minnesota. That matches the average over the preceding five years. So far this year, at least 24 people have already been killed in domestic violence situations.Violence Free Minnesota ha...

Missouri minister among those who died in chemical truck crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:12:21 GMT

NEW HAVEN, Mo. – Sixty-seven-year-old Danny J. Smith was known as Pastor Dan at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in New Haven, Missouri. He was supposed to take the pulpit this past Sunday.“There were a lot of tears shed in our church yesterday morning,” church member John Berger said.Church member Audrey Freitag added, “He just fit into the whole community so well.”Pastor Dan was scheduled to preach Sunday in the small river town in Franklin County. Instead, some church members learned he was one of the five people who died Friday night traveling through Central Illinois when a chemical truck reportedly jackknifed and spilled anhydrous ammonia onto the road.Preliminary coroner findings report exposure to the chemical as the likely cause of deaths when the victims drove by the crash. Berger saw the news reports, then soon learned Pastor Dan was among those who died.“I immediately called one of our church council members and advised them of the sad news,” he said. “Pastor Dan was ...