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Germany’s far-right ‘firewall’ cracks

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:40 GMT

BERLIN — The political maneuver shaking Germany’s postwar democratic order involves a piece of legislation that is about as mundane as it gets.Center-right legislators in the eastern German state of Thuringia wanted to cut a local property tax by a small amount — and did so with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD.The move broke with years of tradition in which mainstream parties have vowed to maintain a Brandmauer, or firewall, between themselves and the AfD, a party many in a country alert to the legacy of Nazism see as a dire threat to democracy. Even accepting the party’s support, the thinking goes, would legitimize far-right forces or make them salonfähig — socially acceptable.And so, when parliamentarians from the conservative Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, passed the tax reduction on a late afternoon in September with AfD votes, it sent tremors across the country’s political landscape that still are reverberating.“For me, a taboo has been broken,...

EU, US and Russia held secret talks days before Nagorno-Karabakh crisis

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:40 GMT

Top officials from the United States and the EU met with their Russian counterparts for undisclosed emergency talks in Turkey designed to resolve the standoff over Nagorno-Karabakh, just days before Azerbaijan launched a military offensive last month to seize the breakaway territory from ethnic Armenian control.The off-diary meeting marks a rare — if ultimately unsuccessful — contact between Moscow and the West on a major security concern, after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 upended regular diplomacy. A senior diplomat with knowledge of the discussions told POLITICO the meeting took place on September 17 in Istanbul as part of efforts to pressure Azerbaijan to end its nine-month blockade of the enclave and allow in humanitarian aid convoys from Armenia. According to the envoy, the meeting focused on “how to get the bloody trucks moving” and ensure supplies of food and fuel could reach its estimated 100,000 residents.The U.S...

Trump is no ghost of the past — he’s haunting Ukraine’s present

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:40 GMT

Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe.Europe and Ukraine got a nasty foretaste last week of what a second Donald Trump presidency in the United States would look like.As the former president’s polling numbers among likely Republican voters remain high — despite his mounting legal woes and criminal indictments — the number of GOP lawmakers opposed to continuing to aid Ukraine help defend itself has only grown.And thanks to these lawmakers, the U.S. House and Senate had little choice but to strip out $6 billion of military aid to Ukraine from a stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown — fearing the wrath of their constituents.Such political shocks and jolts will only increase as the U.S. presidential election gets underway in earnest — that is, of course, if congressional Republicans have the legislative power to deliver them. And like moths drawn to a flame, more and more of them will want to hover near Trump’s light, hoping to bask in it for their own electoral be...

Police investigating after mail carrier robbed at gunpoint in Lowell

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:40 GMT

An investigation got underway over the weekend after a US Postal Service mail carrier was robbed at gunpoint in Lowell, police said. Lowell police said officers responded to Grove Street around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday where they spoke with a postal service mail carrier who said an unknown masked person robbed him “while brandishing what he believed to be a firearm.”Police said the suspect fled the area before police arrived. The mail carrier was not injured, according to police. Security video shared with 7NEWS showed the moment a person ran up to the mail carrier’s truck. The person is seen reaching through the window and wrestling with the worker inside for a few seconds. The person is then seen sprinting back down the street before getting into a car and driving away.Salvatore Balestrieri said the incident happened in front of his house as the postal worker was completing the last delivery of his shift. “He looked a little shaken up,” Balestrieri said.Balestrieri sai...

Baltimore police confirm multiple victims in active shooter situation at Morgan State University

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:40 GMT

(CNN) — Baltimore police are responding to an active shooter situation involving multiple victims at Morgan State University Tuesday night, the department confirmed to CNN.Both police and the university – a small HBCU in northeast Baltimore – have urged those on campus to shelter in place and avoid the area.“Please stay clear of the area surrounding Thurgood Marshall Hall and the Murphy Fine Arts Center and shelter in place,” the university said in a notice on its website. Police said they were responding to the 1700 block of Argonne Drive.ATF Baltimore said its agents are assisting police in responding to the shooting.Morgan State is a historically Black university and had about 9,000 students enrolled in Fall 2022.This is a developing story and will be updated.

Officials urge visitors to avoid driving into Salem during October rush

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:40 GMT

It’s spooky season in Salem and, when it comes to visiting the city and its Halloween festivities, local officials are asking people to do anything but drive.“Take the train, take the ferry, come by bike, come by broom,” said Mayor Dominick Pangallo on Tuesday. “But try not to come by car if you can avoid it.” A famous Halloween destination, Salem averaged between 80,000 and 82,000 visitors each Saturday in October last year, according to Pangallo. The city only has roughly 4,000 public parking spaces in its downtown area, Pangallo said. “On the Saturdays and Sundays leading up to Halloween and on Halloween itself, it becomes really impossible,” said Police Chief Lucas Miller. “We don’t have the capacity for parking that many people,” Pangallo said. While officials urge visitors to avoid driving, the MBTA Commuter Rail is ramping up service, planning to run trains from North Station to Salem in 30-40 minute intervals on weekends throughout October, according...

Multiple people shot in ongoing ‘active shooter situation’ at Morgan State University, Baltimore Police say

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:40 GMT

By Dan Belson, Baltimore SunBaltimore Police are encouraging people to avoid the area of Morgan State University and those nearby to shelter in place Tuesday night after multiple people were shot on campus.The department said that multiple people were shot on the campus.Police tweeted that officers are on the scene of the situation, which the school said was related to a report of shots being fired, on the 1700 block of Argonne Drive, near the Thurgood Marshall Apartments and close to the Northeast District Police Station. Special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are also on scene, the federal agency said.The university said those near campus should clear the area near the residential building as well as the Murphy Fine Arts Center, and shelter in place.This story will be updated.

Why are the Chicago Bulls holding training camp in Nashville? It starts with a need to improve locker-room culture.

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:40 GMT

The Chicago Bulls needed to shake things up. That was clear by the end of last season, when they failed to make it out of the play-in tournament after a season defined by stagnancy.The Bulls return 13 players from last season’s roster, a clear declaration of faith that the talent already assembled is enough to compete with the best of the Eastern Conference. But throughout the first two days of the preseason, players, coaches and executives have acknowledged the Bulls require a culture shift in the locker room to elevate that talent.That’s how the team ended up at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., this week for training camp, using the separation from Chicago to hone a new identity for a team full of familiarity with one another.“Sometimes just trying something new could be beneficial,” All-Star forward DeMar DeRozan said. “Nothing wrong with that at all. Just giving somebody a different scenery, getting them out of their comfort zone, could ...

Chula Vista breaks ground on new park, part of the Bayfront redevelopment

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:40 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- The Port of San Diego and the City of Chula Vista broke ground on a new park, Sweetwater Park, as part of the larger Chula Vista Bayfront Redevelopment plan.“A game changer for the South Bay and the region,” said Rafael Castellanos, Port of San Diego Port Board of Port Commissioners Chairman.The Sweetwater Park is the first park that is part of the Bayfront Redevelopment plan.“We have for decades envisioned something great here on the Bayfront," Chula Vista Mayor John McCann said.The new park will sit on 21 acres near E Street and Bay Boulevard."This park is so important because it has to be something that the community can enjoy," said Ann Moore, Port of San Diego Commissioner. Campland on the Bay shoreline closed after fire causes runoff, $1.7 million in damages The Port of San Diego and the City of Chula Vista designed the park based on community input.It will include several new features including playgrounds, sand dunes, restrooms, parking spaces and pu...

Lahaina residents deliver petition asking Hawaii governor to delay tourism reopening

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:40 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Residents from fire-stricken Lahaina on Tuesday delivered a petition asking Hawaii Gov. Josh Green to delay plans to reopen a portion of West Maui to tourism starting this weekend, saying the grieving community is not ready to welcome back visitors. The petition signed by 3,517 people from West Maui zip codes comes amid a fierce and anguished debate over when travelers should return to the region home to the historic town of Lahaina that was destroyed in the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. At least 98 people died in the Aug. 8 blaze and more than a dozen are missing. The first phase of the plan to reopen Maui to tourists begins Sunday, the two-month anniversary of the disaster.Though many residents say they are not ready, others say they need tourism so they can work in hotels and restaurants to earn a living.“We are not mentally nor emotionally ready to welcome and serve our visitors. Not yet,” restaurant bartender Pa‘ele Kiakona said at a news confe...