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Germany’s government and Elon Musk spar on X over maritime rescue ships

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:38:08 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s government rebuked X owner Elon Musk after he criticized the recent work of migrant rescue ships that German humanitarian groups operate in the Mediterranean Sea.Musk late Friday shared a video that showed migrants and aid workers on a boat. The right-wing account that first put the content on X, formerly known as Twitter, praised the populist far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has taken a hard line on migration issues.“Is the German public aware of this?” Musk wrote in his repost. The German Federal Foreign Office replied to Musk directly on X, writing: “Yes. And it’s called saving lives.” Musk responded that he doubted the German public supports the actions of non-governmental organizations that take asylum-seekers from unseaworthy vessels in the Mediterranean. He also asserted it was “surely” a violation of Italy’s sovereignty for German-operated ships to bring rescued migrants to Italian territory. “So you’re actually proud of it. Intere...

A lead prosecutor in the Hunter Biden case cut a contentious path during his time in Baltimore

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:38:08 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Before being assigned to investigate President Joe Biden’s son, Leo Wise built a reputation in Baltimore as a tough and hard-charging federal prosecutor, taking on powerful, and seemingly untouchable, figures — whether a gang of corrupt cops, a police commissioner, a top local prosecutor and even a mayor.Wise’s backers call him talented and savvy, with a knack for navigating complex, headline-generating cases. To detractors, he’s stubborn and uncompromising as well as self-promotional: he wrote a memoir about one of his major cases while still employed by the Justice Department. His approach — aggressive in a way that has won him accolades but riled other lawyers — sets the stage for a contentious fight in the high-stakes prosecution of Hunter Biden.“He holds everything very close to the vest, and he takes every possible advantage that he can take,” said Gerard Martin, a Baltimore criminal defense lawyer who calls Wise a “hard-ass.” “He’s not a guy you can go meet w...

NW Minnesota boy, 13, shoots trophy bull elk on first hunt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:38:08 GMT

KITTSON COUNTY, Minn. — They’d spotted the big bull elk the previous weekend, but when Ryker Copp went afield with his dad, Jerred, for his first day of elk hunting Saturday, Sept. 23, the elk was nowhere to be seen.A seventh-grader from Warren, Minn., Ryker found out in July that he had drawn a once-in-a-lifetime Minnesota elk tag for the Caribou Township area of Kittson County in northwestern Minnesota, which has a reputation for producing trophy bulls.Ryker, 13, was one of two hunters to draw an either-sex elk tag for Zone 30 Season H, which continues through Sunday, Oct. 1.Jerred Copp admits they “were a little bummed” when the big bull didn’t show the first day his son could hunt.“We’d spotted this elk the Sunday before, and then I kind of kept an eye on him during the week when I could sneak up there, and he was around,” said Jerred, who owns a seed company in Warren. “And then all of a sudden Saturday morning, there was no elk there. I was really trying to figure out where th...

Three shootings overnight in St. Louis, one fatal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:38:08 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- There were three shootings in St. Louis overnight. Two people were injured in separate shootings within a span of two minutes, and a third victim was found dead.The first incident occurred this morning, September 30, around 1:30 a.m. The victim arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound. Approximately two minutes later, another shooting took place on North Broadway, near Fremont Street. Both victims are expected to survive. St. Louis had only 2 officers for an entire district – Both called in sick However, just after 6 p.m. last night, a fatal shooting occurred in the Dutch town neighborhood of Dunnick Hub. A 30-year-old man was shot in the head.Homicide detectives are currently investigating this particular case. If you have any information about any of these shootings and wish to remain anonymous, please call Crime Stoppers at 1866371.

Zero out Prostate Cancer walk/run in St. Louis today

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:38:08 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- Registration for today's Zero Out Prostate Cancer Walk begins at 7:30 a.m. this morning for the kids, dash, and 5K run/walk.The event will take place in Tower Grove Park, near the Sons of Rust Pavilion. It serves as an important opportunity to unite and raise awareness about prostate cancer.The event will also celebrate prostate cancer survivors and caregivers while honoring those who lost their battle with the disease. The opening ceremony is scheduled for 8:25 a.m. with the kids' dash and 5K starting a little before 9 a.m.

Google says switching away from its search engine is easy. It’s not.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:38:08 GMT

Imagine if every time you went to the supermarket, your shopping cart came loaded with the same box of cereal.This cereal happens to be the most popular, so it’s convenient for the store to have it in the cart. If you don’t like it, it’s simple enough to put it back on the shelf and grab a different box.That’s essentially the crux of Google’s defense against the Justice Department in a consequential antitrust trial — the federal government’s first such case in the modern internet era — that is now unfolding in court.The government has accused Google of illegally using partnerships with handset makers, computer manufacturers and browser developers to stifle competitors in online search. Under those partnerships, the Justice Department argues, Google made its search engine the default service on an overwhelming majority of consumer electronics, including smartphones. That then deterred people from trying alternative search engines, such as Bing, DuckDuckGo and others.But Google ...

Grading The Week: Rockies manager Bud Black, pitcher whisperer? Not so much. Not anymore.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:38:08 GMT

Whatever Bud Black is whispering, they’re not listening.Remember when Black was hired as Rockies manager before the 2017 season and sold as a pitcher whisperer?Colorado had been grooming a bunch of young, live arms in Jon Gray, German Marquez, Tyler Chatwood, Tyler Anderson and Jeff Hoffman, with Kyle Freeland on the way. They just needed a sage, wise voice to get them in line and on track.And it worked. Black steered the Rox to the franchise’s first back-to-back playoff berths in ’17 and ’18 on the strength of that young rotation and on a rock-star infield with Arenado, Story and LeMahieu.But to the kids on the Grading The Week staff, Rocktober feels more like 15 years ago than five.And to be frank, as the Rox hit the 100-loss tape for the first time, we’ve been struggling all week at coming up with more than one starting pitcher under 29 years old whom Black and the Rockies have actually made better since 2019.Bud Black, developer of pitchers — D-Germ...

Opinion: New Supreme Court term will feature women’s rights issues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:38:08 GMT

The last two Supreme Court terms were a shock to the system. First came the Dobbs ruling that overturned the fundamental constitutional right to abortion care when it struck down Roe v. Wade.Then last year, the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action in college admissions, struck down the Biden administration’s student loan reforms, and gave businesses the right to discriminate against same-sex couples, to name just a few of the consequential decisions handed down by the most activist and ideological Supreme Court in memory.What can we expect from the term that’s about to begin? More of the same? Or even worse?Women will be watching this court to see how far it is prepared to push back against the principle that the government is responsible for expanding equality, fighting for justice and lifting the disadvantaged.We’ve been at this crossroads for too long. Nine justices — three appointed by Donald Trump — have unparalleled power, and last year, the new ultra-conservative majority ...

List: National Merit Scholarship semifinalists from California, class of 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:38:08 GMT

About 16,000 high school students in the graduating class of 2024 — less than 1 percent of U.S. seniors — were named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.The semifinalists, announced on Sept. 13, qualified based on their scores on the Preliminary SAT. About 95 percent are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, to be announced in the spring.Below are the semifinalists from California, listed alphabetically by city (in bold) and high school.AGOURA HILLSAGOURA H. S.Ring, Calvin O.ALAMEDAALAMEDA H. S.Canavese, Madeleine G.Goldwasser, Bella R.Zhu, AngelicaALBANYALBANY H. S.Chen, Jeremy Y.Shen, Jonah Y.Xu, GraceYang, JustinYang, Nickolas X.ALHAMBRAALHAMBRA H. S.Wang, Raymond S.MARK KEPPEL H. S.Chu, Austin Y.Kamei, Kayla R.Wong, Eva M.ALISO VIEJOALISO NIGUEL H. S.Chen, Jayme J.Choe, Lea Ghosh, ArnabLee, Cooper G. Scherffius, Aidan J.Yang, Artemis I.ANAHEIMCANYON H. S.Patel, Jiya M. Rosu, Alexa...

Who might SF Giants pick to replace Gabe Kapler? A list of possible candidates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:38:08 GMT

The San Francisco Giants fired Gabe Kapler as their manager on Friday. Here are a few possible candidates to take Kapler’s place as the Giants’ full-time manager, starting next season.Internal candidatesRon Wotus: Wotus is just finishing his second season as a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations. The longest-tenured coach in franchise history, Wotus is in his 36th year within the Giants organization. He joined the Giants’ staff in 1998 and worked under Dusty Baker, Felipe Alou, Bruce Bochy, and Kapler, working as a bench coach and third base coach.Mark Hallberg: Hallberg is finishing his second season as the Giants’ third base coach, as he took over the job after Wotus stepped aside. Spent five seasons in the minors from 2007 to 2011, including two seasons at Triple-A. His only managerial experience came in 2019 when he skippered the short-season A Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in Oregon. He’s also coached in the Cape Cod League.Kai Correa: Now the Giants’...