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Markus Söder’s crumbling empire

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:02 GMT

ROTH, Germany — Michaela Wild believes it’s time for a change.Standing behind the counter of the café where she works in this small town in northern Bavaria, the 48-year-old barista said she’s tired of the economic malaise that has gripped her area.Local stores had shut down or left town of late, and cutbacks at a nearby air force base hadn’t helped local business. Wild had a sense perhaps her area’s best economic days were behind it.This was one reason, she said, she and many people had just about had enough of mainstream parties, including the Christian Social Union (CSU), the conservative party that has ruled Bavaria — but for a relatively short interruption — since the end of World War II.On Sunday, Wild and others who share her views will have a chance to voice their dissatisfaction as the states of Bavaria and Hesse hold parliamentary elections, which have become a bellwether of the national mood, at a particularly volatile moment in Germany’s history.Wild said some people clo...

Disorder! The (occasionally) eventful life of a parliamentary speaker

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:02 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.Most kids dream of growing up and being an astronaut, an international sporting superstar, or doing the accounts for a midsized company that makes ink cartridges for printers. No one wants to be the speaker of a parliament. And yet these supposed keepers of order and schedule keep on making the news. Sometimes that’s a good thing (Canada’s House of Commons has just elected its first Black speaker, Liberal MP Greg Fergus) and sometimes it’s not, as just happened in the U.S.As you will have seen, House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy was toppled in a right-wing revolt because of his reliance on Democrats to pass funding to avert a government shutdown.That revolt was led by pompadoured Florida Republican member of Congress Matt Gaetz, who looks like if you asked a 6-year-old to draw the bad guy in a superhero comic. In the U.K. in the 1980s, French cookware brand Tefal’s TV adverts featured boffins wi...

Xavier Bettel’s last stand

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:02 GMT

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel’s political fate hangs in the balance as voters head to the ballot box on Sunday. After a decade in charge, polls suggest Bettel’s time could be up, as the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) is currently in the lead. That could pave the way for CSV lead candidate Luc Frieden to become prime minister, a well-known face in Brussels as a former finance minister and ex-president of industry and services lobby Eurochambres. Wait a second, though: Luxembourgish politics are never that simple. In the two previous elections, the center-right CSV was also the biggest party, but struggled to find partners to reach the 31 parliamentary seats required to form a government. So after polls close, the real power struggle will kick off as a hunt begins for coalition partners to lead the Grand Duchy.  For an indication of who might prevail in coalition talks, watch which smaller parties rise highest, said Philippe Poirier, a politic...

Paris is disgusting, and I love it: A bedbug’s tale

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:02 GMT

YOUR BED, PARIS — The French capital is wonderful. That’s if you can get used to the rats … and the smell … and the locals.I moved to Paris in mid-September, having heard great things about the place from my thousands of cousins who already made the journey there. They were right. The conditions are perfect for me and there are amazing opportunities to put down roots and do what we bedbugs do best — get plenty of rest during the day and suck your blood at night. I feel so at home that I’ve even started using a French name, Benoît. People seem to struggle with my birth name, Cimex Lectularius.At first, I had to find temporary accommodation but Paris hotel prices are extraordinary. So I moved into a rental apartment in Montmartre. It’s touristy, of course, and I have to cohabitate with humans but most of them are friendly. We even share a bed. Well, it is France! Sometimes in the morning, my human bed buddies seem annoyed, though, and there̵...

Family members mourning divers who died in Rockport diving accident

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:02 GMT

Family members are mourning after two men in their 70s died in a diving accident in the waters off Rockport Wednesday. Authorities first responded on Wednesday after police said they were notified of a diver in medical distress on Front Beach in Rockport around 11 a.m. Rockport Police Chief John Horvath and Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker in a joint statement said the diver was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities then launched a search later in the day after officials said they learned a second diver was unaccounted for. The search continued for hours and ultimately ended when officials said they recovered the second diver’s body late Wednesday afternoon. While an investigation was ongoing, officials on Thursday said the deaths were apparent drownings and identified the individuals who died as Alan De Oliveira Leao, 75, and Richard Brady, 78.Officials said there did not seem to be any signs of foul play.“These two were a pretty awesome duo,”...

City of San Diego looks to toughen street vendor law

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:02 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The City of San Diego is looking to tighten its sidewalk vending ordinance by going after vendors who are out of compliance.On Thursday, the city council’s Community and Neighborhood Services Committee approved an amendment from Councilmember Jennifer Campbell.“There are few rogue vendors who refuse to follow the rules and they have given us a hard time, in terms of enforcement," Campbell said.The city passed a sidewalk vending ordinance in 2022, requiring vendors to have permits and stay out of “no vending zones.”But complaints are ongoing over unpermitted vendors creating public and safety hazards in high-traffic areas along the coast, Balboa Park and the Gaslamp Quarter.Business owners and legal vendors who work in the Gaslamp are pushing for stronger enforcement as they deal with confrontations with out-of-town and unpermitted hot dog vendors. These were the top baby names in San Diego County last year “We’re losing 75% of our business to all these illegal vendor...

Typhoon Koinu heads toward southern China and Hong Kong after leaving 1 dead in Taiwan

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:02 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A typhoon headed toward southern China and Hong Kong on Friday after bringing record-breaking winds and leaving one dead in Taiwan.Typhoon Koinu was weakening as it headed west across the South China Sea toward China’s Guangdong province, the China Meteorological Administration said. It was forecast to turn to the southwest in waters off the coast by Sunday.The storm was about 370 kilometers (230 miles) from Hong Kong on Friday morning and moving at about 10 kilometers (6 miles) per hour, the city government’s Hong Kong Observatory said. Hong Kong was hit by heavy rains about one month ago that killed at least two people and caused widespread flooding.Ferry service was suspended in parts of Guangdong province, and the city of Guangzhou canceled some flights and trains.One person was killed by flying glass in the Taiwanese city of Taichung on Thursday and more than 300 others were injured around the island, Taiwan’s fire department said. Pounding rain and w...

Mori Building opens new development in Tokyo, part of push to revitalize the city

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:02 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Razed a century ago by an earthquake and fire and then again by bombing during World War II, Tokyo is constantly recreating itself. These days, multibillion-dollar redevelopment projects are replacing aging downtown neighborhoods of tiny two-story homes and apartments, and in some cases cherished green spaces, with massive mixed office, retail and residential centers designed to help the city burnish its status as a desirable home for global business.Mori Building, one of the biggest players in this effort led mainly by private developers, is putting the finishing touches on two big projects. Toranomon Hills Station Tower, a skyscraper with office space that’s part of the earlier Mori Toranomon Hills project, is opening Friday. Mori JP Tower, a 64-story, 325-meter (1,067-foot) -tall skyscraper that will be Japan’s tallest structure, is part of Mori Building’s 600 billion yen ($6 billion) Azabudai Hills project, which is set to open in November. More projects...

Records reveal new details in Willowbrook Juneteenth mass shooting

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:02 GMT

WILLOWBROOK, Ill. — “I just want answers.”It was a simple plea from the fiancée of the man killed in a mass shooting in unincorporated Willowbrook in June to members of the DuPage County Board at a recent meeting. “I’ve never seen a mass shooting of such caliber take so long to get answers,” Ashley Miller said through tears.More than 20 people were shot when gunfire erupted in a crowd of several hundred people marking the Juneteenth holiday in a strip mall parking lot. Three-and-a-half months later no one has been arrested or charged and the investigation appears stalled.The DuPage County Sheriff originally fought to keep all records from that night secret saying releasing them could harm the investigation. After WGN Investigates appealed to the Illinois Attorney General, the sheriff relented releasing early reports from the scene.WHY DID DEPUTIES LEAVE JUST BEFORE SHOOTING?At least two sheriff’s deputies were monitoring the crowd just after midnight; but dispatch records show they ...

Woman in critical condition after crashing into Nissan dealership

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:02 GMT

CHICAGO -- A woman is in critical condition after her car crashed into a South Side Nissan dealership on Thursday.According to reports, the incident occurred at the Western Avenue Nissan Service dealership on the 7400 block of South Western Avenue on Chicago's South Side on Thursday. FBI releases video of armored car robbery attempt near south suburban Walmart Video captured shows major damage to the front and back of a blue SUV and the building's wall and windows are shattered.The cause of the crash has yet to be determined. No further information has been made available at this time.Stay with WGN-TV as this story develops.