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German opposition leader replaces a top aide as he tries to improve standing in polls

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:48 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s opposition leader is replacing one of his party’s top officials with an ally as he tries to improve its standing in polls and capitalize on discontent with the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.Friedrich Merz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, announced on Tuesday that he was replacing Mario Czaja as the party’s general secretary — the official responsible for day-to-day political strategy. On Wednesday, the party leadership approved Merz’s proposal of Carsten Linnemann as his replacement.Linnemann is a pro-business conservative whose politics are considered in line with the party leader’s and who comes from the same western region. Czaja, who represents an eastern Berlin district in parliament, has a more liberal profile and his appointment was viewed as an attempt to reflect the breadth of the party. The change is likely to signal tougher rhetoric against the government.“We are seeing noticeable pola...

Kosovo to partially withdraw special police officers from northern Serb-majority municipalities

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:48 GMT

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s government on Wednesday will reduce the number of special police officers stationed outside four municipal buildings in ethnic Serb-majority areas and hold new mayoral elections in each of the towns, in a bid to defuse tensions with neighboring Serbia that flared anew in May.Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that one-fourth of the special police forces would be moved away from the sites “taking into consideration that the situation at the municipal buildings has been comparatively much quieter in the last two weeks.” He added that more officers would be withdrawn based on the continuous evaluation of the situation.It wasn’t immediately clear when the reductions would take place, and where the officers would be reassigned to.Serbia’s government and Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs want special police forces to leave the northern area, while Pristina says the number will be gradually reduced.Kurti said the government would make a formal statemen...

Spain sweats out sultry nights as heat wave bakes southern Europe

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:48 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain sweltered under an unrelenting heat wave Wednesday as temperatures started to build toward what is forecast to be a torrid weekend across southern Europe.Spain’s weather service said thermometers could potentially hit 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in southeastern areas of the Iberian Peninsula, which are under alert for extreme heat. That mark of 45 C was reached Monday in the village of Loja near Granada at the start of the heat wave that is causing restless nights across the country.Over 100 weather stations registered temperatures of at least 35 C (95 F) as early as 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to meteorologist Rubén del Campo of Spain’s national weather agency.“On Wednesday we expect temperatures to fall overall with the arrival of cool winds from the North and East, with the exception of the southeast and southern Andalusia, where hot winds blowing from the interior will cause temperatures to soar,” Del Campo said.While some relief is in store...

Takeaways from AP’s examination of nuclear waste problems in the St. Louis region

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:48 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Uranium processing in the St. Louis area played a pivotal role in developing the nuclear weapons that helped bring an end to World War II and provided a key defense during the Cold War. But the cost to the region has been staggering.Eight decades after Mallinckrodt Chemical Works first began the dangerous task of processing uranium at a sprawling complex near downtown St. Louis, the federal government is still removing soil from a creek and cleaning up a landfill — nuclear contamination sites. Last year, a grade school closed amid worries that contamination from the creek got onto the playground and inside the building.The government has paid out millions to former Mallinckrodt workers with cancer, or their survivors. Many people with rare cancers who grew up near the waste sites believe their illnesses, too, are connected to radiation exposure.The Associated Press examined hundreds of pages of internal memos, inspection reports and other items dating to the early 1...

Flood Watch in effect as heavy rain, storms move through area

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:48 GMT

CHICAGO — A Flood Watch is in effect for the Chicago area as heavy rain and storms move through the region Wednesday.A Flood Watch is in place until 7 p.m. for Cook County, DuPage County, Will County and some parts of Northwest Indiana. There is a slight risk of severe weather. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Mostly cloudy conditions with heavy rain showers expected throughout the day. High temperature of 76 degrees and 73 degrees lakeside. Low of 66 degrees tonight.Wednesday will be the stormiest day, but daily rain is instore for Chicagoland over the next seven days.Thursday Forecast: Partly sunny conditions with a 30% chance of showers and storms. High: 83,    Lakeside: 76.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog

50 baby stars seen in dramatic close-up revealed by Webb Space Telescope

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:48 GMT

See a high-resolution satellite view of Earth in the video above. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Webb Space Telescope is marking one year of cosmic photographs with one of its best yet: the dramatic close-up of dozens of stars at the moment of birth.NASA unveiled the latest snapshot Wednesday, revealing 50 baby stars in a cloud complex 390 light-years away. The region is relatively quiet yet full of illuminated gases, jets of hydrogen and even cocoons of dust with the delicate beginnings of even more stars.The first anniversary image released Wednesday, July 12, 2023, by Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach, shows NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope displaying a star birth like it’s never been seen before, full of detailed, impressionistic texture. The subject is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pon via AP)All of the young stars appear to be no bigger than our sun. Scientists said the breath...

I-35 in far north Austin reopens after deadly auto-pedestrian crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:48 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The southbound lanes of Interstate 35 in far-north Austin have reopened after deadly crash shut them down for several hours early Wednesday morning. REAL TIME TRAFFIC UPDATES The Texas Department of Public Safety said troopers were called to the scene, which was near Grand Avenue Parkway, around 3:40 a.m. after a Toyota Camry hit a man who was walking on the highway. The highway reopened around 6:20 a.m.The driver stayed on the scene of the crash and is not expected to face charges, DPS said. The Department of Public Safety is investigating the crash. This is a breaking story. Stay with KXAN.com and KXAN News Today for the latest traffic information.

Average rent in Travis County hits $1,700 a month: Report

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:48 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A report looking at five Central Texas counties found despite slight reprieve, rent and home prices are still going up year-over-year. Across five counties in our Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) -- Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Williamson and Travis -- home sale prices increased overall by nearly 8% from 2021 to 2022. The median home price across the MSA was more than $500,000 last year, according to the report.While more expensive prices have historically been concentrated in Austin, the report shows the counties with the largest increases in average rent prices were actually the exterior counties as people were pushed out of central Austin. Austinites voted for more affordable housing. Where did your money go? The report noted that Travis County continues to see the highest average rent price at more than $1,700, but that counties at the outskirts of the MSA -- Bastrop and Caldwell -- saw the highest percent increase in average rent from the year prior hitting a...

List: Top 5 tree diseases in Austin and how to spot them

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:48 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Trees have been through a lot the last few years in Central Texas. In 2021, the snowy freeze, and then in February 2023, the ice storm.Meteorologist Nick Bannin spoke with Kevin Martin, an arborist with Davey Tree Expert Company, about the diseases you're most likely to see in Austin and Central Texas.KXAN Meteorologist Nick Bannin: Kevin, thanks for being here. You've got the list of the top five most prevalent tree diseases here in Central Texas. What are they?Kevin Martin, Arborist with Davey Tree Expert Company: Here in Austin, we're looking at oak wilt, rust, hypoxylon canker, blight, and root rot are gonna be our top five.Bannin: And how can you tell the difference between those or at least the signs that you have one of those tree diseases in your tree?Martin: So, those four first four I mentioned, oak wilt, rust, blight, and hypoxylon canker, all four of those, you're gonna start losing leaves, whether they're going to be splotchy, some rust would be spore-c...

Volunteers cleanup Lady Bird Lake following Fourth of July

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:48 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s been over a week since Fourth of July festivities wrapped up in Austin.Throughout the Independence Day weekend, Austin witnessed thousands of people on paddleboards, kayaks and boats in Lady Bird Lake.This week, cleanup efforts have continued as a lot of litter is still floating on the lake. RELATED: Impact paddle boarders, kayakers have on Lady Bird Lake On Tuesday, a team of 25 volunteers went on kayaks to pick up waste on the water.With gloves and grabbers, the group gathered tons of trash while scooping up other recyclable items such as bottles and cans.Lots of litter has been discovered floating near the shoreline of Lady Bird Lake following last week’s Fourth of July festivities.Local nonprofit Keep Austin Beautiful organized this cleanup effort in partnership with the Austin Rowing Club.Aubrea Rudder is the general manager at Austin Rowing Club.“If we didn't clean Lady Bird Lake all the time, trash would accumulate along the shoreline,” she explained.“E...