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German leader confident that a surging far-right party will shrink again before the next election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:50 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed optimism Friday that support for a far-right party which has been surging in the polls lately will shrink to previous levels again by the time of the next national election in 2025.The far-right Alternative for Germany party received 10.3% of the vote in the last national election in 2021 — a slight decline from 2017, when it got 12.6% in the wake of an influx of migrants to Europe. Recent polls have shown support for the party, known by its German acronym AfD, at around 20% and ahead of Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats. “I’m quite confident that AfD won’t perform much differently at the next federal election than it did at the last,” Scholz told reporters at his annual summer news conference in Berlin.The German leader said his strategy to achieve this is to pursue policies “that give citizens enough reasons to believe in a good future” — including by showing that the country is in control of its bor...

6 German tourists arrested for suspected rape of German teen in hotel on Spanish island of Mallorca

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:50 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish police have arrested six German tourists for allegedly raping an 18-year-old German woman on Spain’s Mallorca island, authorities said Friday.Police on the Mediterranean island said the alleged gang rape occurred in a hotel room in the popular tourist spot of Playa de Palma early Thursday. Five were arrested within hours and a sixth, who initially fled the scene, was arrested later in the day. The six detainees are tourists ages 20 and 21. They are being held at police facilities and are expected to testify before a judge Saturday. The woman was also on vacation.According to the woman’s statement to police, the gang rape occurred around 3:40 a.m. Thursday.On Wednesday evening, the woman, along with a group of friends, visited the Playa de Palma boulevard, a popular spot for young German tourists in Mallorca. There she met one of the detained and after drinking, went to his hotel room where there were five other men drinking. The victim said she ...

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sharif launches $3.5 billion Chinese-designed nuclear energy project

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:50 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday launched the construction of a 1,200-megawatt Chinese-designed nuclear energy project, which will be built at a cost of $3.5 billion as part of the government efforts to generate more clean energy in the Islamic nation.The ceremony marking the start of the project comes less than a month after Pakistan signed an agreement with China’s National Nuclear Corporation Overseas in the capital, Islamabad, to construct a Hualong One reactor — a third-generation nuclear reactor and is considered safer because of the latest security features.Pakistan and China are longtime allies. Pakistan’s relations with Beijing are so close that its leadership calls China their “Iron Brother.” China is also building roads, bridges, power plants, and railways to link its far west with the Chinese-built port of Gwadar on the Indian Ocean.The nuclear power plant known as Chashma-5 will be constructed at a site along the left embankment ...

Stock market today: Wall Street opens higher, heading for another winning week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are ticking higher following stronger profit reports than expected from several financial giants, keeping Wall Street on pace for another winning week. The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher in early trading Friday, coming off its highest close since April 2022. The Dow was up 150 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.3%. Banks were the focal point of the day after a gaggle of them helped kick off the earnings reporting season. Wells Fargo gained 2.5% after reporting that its profit during the spring grew by more than expected. JPMorgan Chase rose 1.1%. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.NEW YORK (AP) — Global shares are mostly higher, buoyed by another rally on Wall Street fueled by hopes that cooling inflation will help stave off more interest rate hikes. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.3% in early trading to 7,394.68. Germany’s DAX fell 0.1% to 16,121.61. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.2% higher to 7,453.21. The fu...

Swedish police authorize protest by man who plans to burn Torah, Bible outside Israeli Embassy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:50 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Stockholm police on Friday said they have authorized a protest this weekend by a man who has stated that he wants to burn the Torah and the Bible outside the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm.Israeli officials called on the Swedish government to stop the protest, which is scheduled to take place Saturday outside the diplomatic mission.Sweden recently faced strong criticism from Muslim countries for allowing protesters to burn the Quran at small anti-Islam demonstrations.The man who filed the request for Saturday’s protest, said he wanted to burn the Torah and the Bible outside the Israeli Embassy in response to a Quran-burning outside a Stockholm mosque last month by an Iraqi immigrant.Stockholm police approved the protest in a decision obtained by The Associated Press, saying three people would participate in the demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy at 1 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Saturday.The right to hold public demonstrations is strong in Sweden and protected by t...

CREA downgrades sales forecast as interest rates weigh on buyers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:50 GMT

OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association has downgraded its home sales forecast for this year and next as fewer buyers jump into the market.The association expects 464,239 properties to trade hands this year, a 6.8 per cent decrease from last year. It also now predicts 516,043 being sold in 2024.In an April forecast, CREA said it expected 492,674 properties to be sold this year, a drop of 1.1 per cent from 2022. Home sales for 2024 were predicted to total 561,090. While the association says it has seen a sales rebound in most parts of the country, interest rate hikes are continuing to weigh on borrowing costs and buyer sentiment. It sees markets are still being hampered by a lack of supply, though prices aren’t bearing the brunt as much as sales.It now forecasts the national average home price edging down 0.2 per cent from 2022 to $702,409 this year before rising to $723,243 in 2024.The April forecast pointed to an average price of $670,389 for this year and $702,200 in 2...

2 killed, 1 injured when small plane crashes in Lake of the Ozarks region of Missouri

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:50 GMT

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (AP) — A small plane crashed Thursday in a wooded area near the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri, killing two of the three occupants.Killed were Hayden Ritchhart, 22, of Carrollton, Missouri, and Evan Vandiver, 19, of Richmond, Missouri, police said. Gary Vandiver, 54, of Richmond, suffered serious injuries.The crash happened just after noon, not long after the plane took off from Grand Glaize Airport in Osage Beach. A motorist called 911 and said he saw a plane that appeared to be crashing. Searchers found the plane near a tree.The cause of the crash is being investigated.The Associated Press

Reformist Thai party, thwarted from forming new government, seeks law change to limit Senate’s power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:50 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — The political party that captured first place in Thailand’s general election two months ago only to see the country’s unelected Senators block its expectations of taking power announced Friday it’s fighting back — and seeking to change the law to take away the Senate’s de facto veto over who can form a new government.After the surprise May 14 victory of the progressive Move Forward Party, it assembled an eight-party coalition that together had captured 312 seats, a clear majority in the House of Representatives. On that basis, it has the right to try to form a new government, and on Thursday sought to have party leader, 42-year-old businessman-turned politician Pita Limjaroenrat, named prime minister.Selection of a new prime minister requires winning a majority of votes in a joint sitting of the lower house and the 250-seat Senate, meaning a total of at least 376 votes. The process was enshrined in the 2017 Constitution, which was drafted and implemented by the ...

Subtropical storm Don forms in open Atlantic waters and becomes the fifth named storm of the year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:50 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Subtropical storm Don formed in open Atlantic waters on Friday, posing no threat to land, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.The storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph) and was moving north at six mph (nine kph). It was located about 1,165 miles (1,875 kilometers) west-southwest of the Azores, a cluster of islands west of Portugal.Don is the fifth named storm to form this year. It’s forecast to turn east on Sunday and weaken in upcoming days.A subtropical storm tends to have a wide zone of strong winds farther from its center compared with a tropical storm, which generates heavier rains, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.The Associated Press

Dutch voters will go to the polls on Nov. 22 after the fall of Mark Rutte’s coalition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:50 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch voters will go to the polls on in an early general election on Nov. 22, the caretaker government announced Friday, a week after Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s four-party coalition quit over its failure to agree a package of measures to rein in migration.The vote for the 150 seats in the lower chamber of parliament will usher in a new generation of leaders after key members of Rutte’s fourth governing coalition announced they would leave politics.Rutte, the Netherlands’ longest-serving premier, signalled the end of an era when he said Monday he would leave politics once a new coalition has been installed after the elections. That is a process that can take months of negotiations between potential coalition members.Rutte was followed by Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra and Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag, once tipped as a potential first ever female prime minister of the Netherlands. Kaag said this week she was leaving politics because of the impact on her...