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Spy chief warns authoritarian states stoking anti-government mood in Germany

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:46:52 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency warned Monday of a rise in anti-government extremism fueled by authoritarian states such as Russia that seek to divide society and topple the government. German security agencies have disrupted several plots in recent years by small groups linked to the Reich Citizens movement accused of planning attacks on critical infrastructure, government officials and even the national parliament. While it is unclear how far advanced such plans were, authorities have expressed alarm that the alleged plotters had acquired weapons and included people who aren’t usually on the radar of security agencies, such as judges and police officers.Thomas Haldenwang, who heads the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, said the mixing of previously separate groups — from far-right extremists to QAnon conspiracy theorists — and their willingness to use violence was particularly worrying.“What links all of the...

How damage from a US debt default could cascade across the global economy

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:46:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — If the debt crisis roiling Washington were eventually to send the United States crashing into recession, America’s economy would hardly sink alone.The repercussions of a first-ever default on the federal debt would quickly reverberate around the world. Orders for Chinese factories that sell electronics to the United States could dry up. Swiss investors who own U.S. Treasurys would suffer losses. Sri Lankan companies could no longer deploy dollars as an alternative to their own dodgy currency.“No corner of the global economy will be spared’’ if the U.S. government defaulted and the crisis weren’t resolved quickly, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.Zandi and two colleagues at Moody’s have concluded that even if the debt limit were breached for no more than week, the U.S. economy would weaken so much, so fast, as to wipe out roughly1.5 million jobs.And if a government default were to last much longer — well into the summer — the consequ...

India scorched by extreme heat with monsoon rains delayed

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:46:52 GMT

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Swathes of India from the northwest to the southeast braced for more scorching heat Monday, with New Delhi under a severe weather alert, as extreme temperatures strike parts of the country.The Indian Meteorological Department issued a heat wave alert for seven southern and central states last week and broadened it to the capital and some northern states on Monday as sizzling temperatures breached normal levels.It warned that blistering heat will continue for the next few days before rains bring some relief. The southwest monsoon is slightly delayed this year and will hit in the first week of June, causing temperatures to stay high longer than usual, it said.As temperatures crossed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, some parts suffered blackouts lasting more than 12 hours despite a March order for all power plants in the country run at full capacity to reduce power cuts. The heat wave in the state is likely to con...

Iran’s president appoints new official in powerful security post, replacing longtime incumbent

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:46:52 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s president on Monday appointed a new official to take over the post of secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, replacing the longtime powerful official Ali Shamkhani after becoming implicated in a recent spy scandal. President Ebrahim Raisi issued a decree replacing Shamkhani who has faced persistent corruption allegations — which he denied — as well as scrutiny because of close ties with a British-Iranian man hanged on spying charges earlier this year in Iran. Shamkhani was a key player in negotiations with the West over Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. He was also in office during the years of tensions that followed then-President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to unilaterally withdraw America from the accord. The decree, reported by the state-run IRNA news agency, offered no explanation for the change. In a message on Twitter on Sunday night, as rumors about his position circulated, Sh...

US bomb designed to hit targets like Iran underground nuclear sites briefly reappears amid tensions

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:46:52 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As tensions with Iran have escalated over its nuclear program, the U.S. military this month posted pictures of a powerful bomb designed to penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground facilities that could be used to enrich uranium. The U.S. Air Force on May 2 released rare images of the weapon, the GBU-57, known as the “Massive Ordnance Penetrator.” Then it took the photos down — apparently because the photographs revealed sensitive details about the weapon’s composition and punch.The publication of the photographs comes as The Associated Press reported that Iran is making steady progress in constructing a nuclear facility that is likely beyond the range of the GBU-57, which is considered the U.S. military last-ditch weapon to take out underground bunkers. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT AMERICA’S MASSIVE ORDNANCE PENETRATOR?The U.S. developed the Massive Ordnance Penetrator in the 2000s as concerns grew over Iran hardening its nuclear ...

TikTok and other social media trends are thrusting performance crimes into the US spotlight

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:46:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Jonnifer Neal’s Kia was stolen twice in one day — first from in front of her Chicago home and later from outside the mechanic shop where she took it to get fixed.But Neal’s ordeal didn’t end there. After her car was recovered a month later, she was stopped by police twice coming home from work because a police error caused the Optima to remain listed as stolen. The same error resulted in officers waking her up at 3 a.m. another night. On yet another occasion, a swarm of officers pulled her over as she was traveling to Mississippi, handcuffing and placing her in the back of a cruiser for more than an hour.The Kia now sits in her garage.“It’s been a few months, but honestly I’m still nervous,” Neal said. “I drive that car maybe once in a blue moon and I loved that car.”Neal’s story is one of thousands from Kia and Hyundai owners across the country whose cars were stolen or damaged in the past two years. The sharp uptick has been linked to viral videos, posted to ...

Iran nuclear site deep underground challenges West as talks on reviving atomic deal have stalled

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:46:52 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, workers are building a nuclear facility so deep in the earth that it is likely beyond the range of a last-ditch U.S. weapon designed to destroy such sites, according to experts and satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press.The photos and videos from Planet Labs PBC show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehran’s standoff with the West over its atomic program.With Iran now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers, the installation complicates the West’s efforts to halt Tehran from potentially developing an atomic bomb as diplomacy over its nuclear program remains stalled.Completion of such a facility “would be a nightmare scenario that risks igniting a new escalatory spiral,” warned Kelsey Davenport, the director of nonproliferation ...

UN agency: 2M killed, $4.3 trillion in damages from extreme weather over past half-century

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:46:52 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Nearly 12,000 extreme weather, climate and water-related events over much of the past half-century around the globe have killed more than 2 million people and caused economic damage of $4.3 trillion, the U.N. weather agency said Monday.The stark recap from the World Meteorological Organization came as it opened its four-yearly congress among member countries, pressing the message that more needs to be done to improve alert systems for extreme weather events by a target date of 2027.The Geneva-based agency has repeatedly warned about the impact of man-made climate change, saying rising temperatures have increased the frequency and intensity of extreme weather — including floods, hurricanes, cyclones and drought. WMO says early warning systems have helped reduce deaths linked to climate and other weather-related catastrophes. Most of the economic damage between 1970 and 2021 came in the United States — totaling $1.7 trillion — while nine in 10 deaths worldwide took place...

SpaceX sends Saudi astronauts to International Space Station on chartered flight

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:46:52 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in decades rocketed toward the International Space Station on a chartered multimillion-dollar flight Sunday.SpaceX launched the ticket-holding crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now working for the company that arranged the trip from Kennedy Space Center. Also on board: a U.S. businessman who now owns a sports car racing team.The four should reach the space station in their capsule Monday morning; they’ll spend just over a week there before returning home with a splashdown off the Florida coast.Sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government, Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem cell researcher, became the first woman from the kingdom to go to space. She was joined by Ali al-Qarni, a fighter pilot with the Royal Saudi Air Force.They’re the first from their country to ride a rocket since a Saudi prince launched aboard shuttle Discovery in 1985. In a quirk of timing, they’ll be greeted at the station by an astronaut from the United Arab Emi...

School choice won big in states this year. Is the movement about to hit a wall?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:46:52 GMT

(The Hill) - The school choice movement is riding high this year with multiple GOP-led states handing it legislative victories, but opponents are shrugging off the advances and predicting a tougher road ahead.At least eight states have put new school choice policies on the books in the first five months of 2023, with some of them expanding to all K-12 students. Other measures are still up in the air. The victories have been heavily celebrated by Republicans, but they may be running out of friendly territory. So far this year, Arkansas, Iowa, Utah and Florida have enacted education savings accounts (ESAs) for all K-12 students, giving families a set amount of money they can use to put their children in other educational settings if they don’t want them to go to public school. "I am not interested in being a caretaker of the failed status quo. I vowed to be a change-maker for our people," Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) said. "Today, I am delivering on that pro...