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Germany’s inglourious Bavarian

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:32 GMT

BERLIN — In German politics, bygones really can be bygones.  Just ask Hubert Aiwanger, the Bavarian politician in the eye of a maelstrom about German war guilt, antisemitism, and the country’s fraught culture of remembrance. On August 26, Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung published an exposé on its front page in which it accused Aiwanger, the leader of a small, though influential, conservative party called the Free Voters, of writing and disseminating an antisemitic flyer while a high school student in the 1980s. The flyer, composed on an old typewriter, was styled as an advertisement for a mock competition to find “the biggest traitor in the fatherland.”  First prize: “A free flight up the chimney in Auschwitz.”  Second prize: “A lifelong stay in a mass grave.” And so on.  Sorry, not sorryNazi accusations are about as serious as it can get in German politics, and the revelations have sent tremors across Germany’s political establishment. In Bavaria, the Fr...

Javier Assad struggles with his command in Chicago Cubs’ 6-2 loss to Arizona Diamondbacks in opener of 4-game series

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:32 GMT

Javier Assad’s command has been a staple of his big-league success.Since his transition to the rotation one month ago, it has served as the basis for his ability to give the Chicago Cubs quality starts. Coming off the deepest start of his career with eight shutout innings in Cincinnati, Assad searched for his command throughout a 6-2 loss Thursday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks.“I tried to take it inning by inning and I tried to maintain the score as low as possible,” Assad said through an interpreter. “But I definitely struggled with the command.“I left the pitches in the strike zone a little too much today so I think that may have contributed to it.”The loss in the opener of a four-game series at Wrigley Field dropped the Cubs two games behind the idle Milwaukee Brewers. The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, pulled within three games of the Cubs for the second National League wild-card spot.Assad surrendered three runs and scattered seven hits in...

Patriots mailbag: Predicting Pats’ top receiver in 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:32 GMT

After months of practice, preseason games and rampant speculation about the 2023 Patriots season, Week 1 is finally here.Let’s answer your last-minute questions before the Patriots open the season against the Eagles on Sunday in this edition of the mailbag.Tweet your questions to @DougKyed or email them to [email protected] ArticlesNew England Patriots | Callahan: Bill O’Brien’s honeymoon phase will be over soon — and that’s a good thing New England Patriots | NFL breaks silence on Patriots cornerback Jack Jones’ arrest New England Patriots | Patriots’ JuJu Smith-Schuster addresses Twitter drama with Eagles New England Patriots | Patriots-Eagles injury report: OT Trent Brown upgraded, defensive starter sits Thursday New England Patriots | Matthew Judon wants every Patriots pass rusher to be a ‘threat’ @JayKuervo#MailDoug Which pass-catcher ends with ...

Unemployment rate steady at 5.5% in August as economy adds 40K jobs: StatCan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:32 GMT

Canada’s labour market added 40,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate held steady as economists watch for more signs of a slowdown.Statistics Canada reported Friday the unemployment rate held at 5.5 per cent in August, ending a three-month streak of rising unemployment.The federal agency says Canada’s strong population growth means higher monthly job gains are needed to keep the unemployment rate steady.The monthly labour force surveys show Canada’s population has been growing by an average of 81,000 people every month this year. That pace of growth requires job gains of about 50,000 each month to keep the unemployment rate steady, said Statistics Canada.Employment increased in professional, scientific and technical services as well as construction, meanwhile, jobs were shed in education services and manufacturing.The latest jobs report comes days after the Bank of Canada opted to hold its key interest rate steady at five per cent.The central bank’s d...

Two men questioned in Lebanon at Turkey’s request over 2019 escape of former Nissan tycoon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:32 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese judicial authorities have questioned two people at the request of Turkey on suspicion of being involved in the 2019 escape of auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn from Japan to Lebanon, officials said Friday.The recent questioning of the two men in Beirut came a week before a hearing in Lebanon about the $1 billion lawsuit that Ghosn, formerly the president of Nissan, filed against the company and about a dozen people in Beirut over his imprisonment in Japan and what he says is Fmisinformation spread against him.The officials said one of the two men who were questioned is a Lebanese pilot who was at an airport in Istanbul when the plane carrying Ghosn from Japan landed. The pilot, officials said, denied that he got paid to help in Ghosn escape to Beirut. The Associated Press agreed to withold the pilot’s name at the request of officials. The AP has previously reported on the other man questioned, George-Antoine Zayek. He is believed to have helped a third man, forme...

Evacuation orders are in place in central Greece as a river bursts its banks and floodwaters rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:32 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Floodwaters were rising around one of Greece’s largest cities on Friday after a river burst its banks, while fire department and military helicopters were plucking people from villages inundated by tons of water and mud that have left at least six people dead, six missing and many people clinging to the roofs of their homes.Flooding triggered by rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing a total of 18 people in all three countries since the rains began on Tuesday.In Greece, severe rainstorms that lashed the country turned streams into raging torrents that burst dams, washed away roads and bridges and hurled cars into the sea. Authorities said that some areas received twice the average annual rainfall for Athens in the space of just 12 hours.Although the rainstorms eased, evacuation orders were issued for four areas near the city of Larissa on Friday, with authorities sending alerts to cell phones in the area warning that the Pineios Rive...

Man gets 110 years for killing ex-girlfriend, her grandmother outside Indiana auto seating plant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:32 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ind. (AP) — A man who fatally shot a former girlfriend and her grandmother outside an Indiana automotive seating plant was sentenced to 110 years in prison by a judge who called the killings “brutal and heinous.”Gary Ferrell II, 28, had avoided a possible death sentence when he pleaded guilty in April to two counts of murder in the 2021 killings of Promise Mays, 21, and Pamela Sledd, 62. He was sentenced Thursday.The Rossville women had driven to NHK Seating of America in Frankfort together and were about to start their shift on Aug. 18, 2021, when Ferrell, a fellow employee, shot them outside the business. The Frankfort man was arrested after crashing his car in a construction zone shortly after the killings.Clinton Superior Court Judge Justin H. Hunter wrote in his sentencing order that the murders were premeditated and “brutal and heinous” and noted that the two family members “watched the other being shot,” WISH-TV reported.Hunter added that Ferrell “acted out a...

Puerto Rico’s public schools clamor for air conditioning to get relief from record-breaking heat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:32 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Public school teacher Ángel Muñiz grabbed a thermometer and thrust it into the camera as someone recorded him inside his classroom this week.“It is about 99 degrees (37 C),” he said in a video posted on social media as seven fans whirred noisily around him.It wasn’t even noon yet, and an advisory that day warned of a heat index of up to 111 F (43.8 C).Students and teachers are sweltering in public schools across Puerto Rico that lack air conditioning and are demanding government action as the U.S. Caribbean territory struggles to respond to climate change effects while it bakes under record heat this year.Last month was the hottest August on the island since record-keeping began. Puerto Rico broke the record of the daily maximum temperature six times and the highest minimum eight times, according to the National Weather Service in San Juan.It also was the hottest August worldwide, with 2023 the second hottest year on record so far.Heat advisories for Pue...

Miami Beach’s iconic Clevelander Hotel and Bar to be replaced with affordable housing development

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:32 GMT

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Plans are underway for an iconic Miami Beach hotel and bar to be replaced with a high-end restaurant and affordable housing units, the building’s owner announced.The changes being submitted soon to the city of Miami Beach include a development with 40% of the units designated as affordable and a maximum of height of 30 stories, the Jesta Group, which owns the Clevelander Hotel and Bar on Ocean Drive, said in a press release Thursday. The group also owns the adjoining Essex Hotel. The plan is allowed under Florida’s Live Local Act, which is designed to incentivize affordable housing, said Anthony O’Brien, the group’s senior managing director. Rent has skyrocketed in the last several years along Miami Beach and across much of Florida. “Since purchasing the Clevelander Hotel and Bar a few years ago, we have been proud to operate this legendary and iconic establishment in South Beach. Although we are happy to continue operating as we have...

A tour of Toronto’s ridiculous park rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:32 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, a sign telling dogs not to bark at a dog park; a regulation prohibiting baseball players from hitting home runs; and a billboard the size of a small car to list extensive rules around enjoying a beer in a pilot project — that has been criticized for ‘encouraging’ the act it explicitly permits.There are times when the rest of Canada’s criticism of Toronto for being uptight and backwards is unfair. This is not one of those times.Ben Spurr is a reporter at the Toronto Star’s City Hall bureau. He said a lot of the time even city councillors don’t know where these rules come from.“I think these are the kind of conflicts that spring up in a city like Toronto that’s growing pretty rapidly and doesn’t have a ton of free green space these days,” said Spurr.So, what does this say more broadly about how the city manages public spaces?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.You...