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German top court hits pause on controversial heating law — and coalition peace

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

BERLIN — This week, it was supposed to finally be over. But as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz celebrated at his party’s summer festivities, the German Constitutional Court ruled that the Building Energy Act, which had caused fierce dispute in the coalition for several months, could not be passed by the Bundestag this week.In an emergency petition to the court, Thomas Heilmann, a Christian Democratic Union lawmaker, argued parliament was not given enough time to discuss the heating law. The court ruled in his favor on Wednesday. “Members of parliament not only have the right to vote in the German Bundestag, but also the right to deliberate,” the court argued in its statement.The law aimed at reforming heating systems in German households has led to extensive discussion within the governing coalition. The Greens wanted to ban the installation of gas heating as early as the beginning of 2024 while the liberals fought for laxer rules. When the government found a comprom...

Why Europeans don’t have Threads yet

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

THE HEART OF THE EU CAPITAL — Got FOMO yet, Brussels? Facebook’s parent company Meta on Thursday launched Threads, its rival to microblogging platform Twitter, and gained millions of users in the first few hours across the U.S., U.K. and more than a hundred other countries. Meta is holding back on launching the platform in the European Union “because of upcoming regulatory uncertainty,” spokesperson Matt Pollard told POLITICO. Behind the U.S. tech giant’s decision is a fear of European Union tech laws — and specifically its new digital competition regulation called the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that’s designed to stop Big Tech from bulking up on data, users and services, overpowering competitors and becoming “too big to care,” as EU chiefs like Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton have warned in past years.The move to postpone Threads’ rollout in Europe is the latest example of tech firms holding back in launching services on the European mark...

Man charged with murder, accused of killing mother in Hudson, NH

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

A Hudson, New Hampshire man has been charged with second degree murder, accused of killing his 57-year-old mother in Hudson Wednesday night, officials announced. State and local officials, in a joint statement from the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, said police first responded to a report of a disturbance in a townhouse on Shoal Creek Road around 9:45 p.m. On scene, officials said police found Christine DeGiacomo “suffering from a traumatic injury.”Officials said DeGiacomo was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.Officials previously confirmed Thursday morning that they were investigating DeGiacomo’s death, describing it as “suspicious.” In an update, officials said Grant DeGiacomo, 26, had been charged. “Mr. Grant DeGiacomo is charged with recklessly causing the death of Christine DeGiacomo under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life by repeatedly striking her head,” officials said. An autopsy is expe...

This futuristic entertainment venue in Las Vegas is the world’s largest spherical structure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

(CNN) — It squats on the Las Vegas skyline like an enormous spaceship, black and mysterious – until night falls, when it will glow like the Earth from space.The MSG Sphere won’t open to the public for almost three more months, when U2 christens the entertainment venue with a series of concerts. But anticipation is growing.Cue the superlatives. At 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide, it’s being billed as the world’s largest spherical structure. Its bowl-shaped theater reportedly contains the world’s highest-resolution wraparound LED screen. And its exterior is fitted with 1.2 million hockey puck-sized LEDs that can be programmed to flash dynamic imagery on a massive scale – again, reportedly the world’s largest. It was fully illuminated for the first time Tuesday night to celebrate the Fourth of July.It’s not easy to move the needle in a city that boasts the Bellagio’s dancing fountains, a half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower, the second-tallest obser...

Bankrate: Can you get your credit card’s annual fee waived?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

Sarah Brodsky | (TNS) Bankrate.comYou get what you pay for. That old phrase applies to many financial decisions, including which credit cards you carry. While it’s certainly possible to get a great credit card with no annual fee, you generally have to pay for premium perks. That said, credit card issuers are sometimes open to waiving annual fees in certain circumstances, which can be as easy as calling to ask.Whether you feel like the cost of a card outweighs the its benefits, or perhaps you just need a break from this year’s fee, here are some steps you can take to get your card’s annual fee waived.How to get your card’s annual fee waivedAttempting to get your credit card’s annual fee waived isn’t guaranteed to work, but it doesn’t hurt to try, either. There are a few possible ways to convince an issuer to waive your fee.Call your issuerCall the customer service number on your statement or the back of your card, and provide identifying information like your name and account number....

Yankees, Paterson mayor hope for a game at Hinchliffe Stadium, but obstacles remain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

PATERSON, N.J. — Hall of Famers such as Monte Irvin and Larry Doby graced the grounds at Hinchliffe Stadium during its heyday. Could modern day stars like Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso follow in their footsteps?That’s the dream for Paterson mayor André Sayegh, who wants to host a major league game between the Yankees and his beloved Mets at the former Negro Leagues ballpark in New Jersey. With Birmingham, Alabama’s Rickwood Field — another still-standing Negro Leagues venue — recently being awarded a major league game in 2024, Sayegh has been doubling down on the idea that Hinchliffe should get a “Field of Dreams” game, too.In Sayegh’s perfect world, the Yankees would don the uniforms of the New York Black Yankees, while the Mets would take on the look of the New York Cubans. The two Negro Leagues teams called Hinchliffe home.“It’s only natural that that would bode well for us,” Sayegh told the Daily News, referrin...

Meta’s new Twitter rival app Threads gets tens of millions of sign-ups in its first day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

By KELVIN CHAN (AP Business Writer)Tens of millions of people have quickly signed up to Meta’s new app, Threads, as it aims to compete with Twitter — a sign that users are looking for an alternative to the social media platform that has undergone a series of unpopular changes since Elon Musk bought it.Meta Platforms’ CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that 30 million people had registered for the app, including 10 million in the first seven hours of its launch Wednesday in the U.S. and over 100 other countries, including Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan. Threads is billed as a text-based version of Meta’s photo-sharing app Instagram that the company says provides “a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations.” Instagram users can log in with their existing usernames and follow the same accounts on the new app, giving Threads users a ready-made audience and an edge over other Twitter challengers like Bluesky and Mastodon....

CDC to reduce funding for states’ child vaccination programs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reducing funding to states for child vaccination programs, according to an agency email obtained by KFF Health News.The funding cut “is a significant change to your budget,” said the email to immunization managers, dated June 27 and signed by two CDC officials.The immunization managers who received the message are public health officials who direct state, territorial and local programs to promote vaccinations against a variety of infectious diseases, such as measles and chickenpox.The reduction comes from a federal immunization grant — totaling about $680 million in the latest year — that supports vaccination programs for children, according to the Association of Immunization Managers.“There will be no easy solution for this,” said the CDC email. “We know that this change will require some tough decisions.”When asked about the change, CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said Monday, “The budgetary impact is still being worked out.”Agen...

‘Smallville’ actress Allison Mack, who recruited victims for NXIVM sex cult group, sprung from prison early

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

By Jami Ganz and Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily NewsLess than two years after she landed behind bars for recruiting women into a sadistic upstate sex cult, “Smallville” actress Allison Mack has been released from custody.The one-time NXIVM member was sprung from a federal lockup in California on Monday, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, more than a year shy of her three-year sentence.The 40-year-old Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges in April 2019, admitting to serving as one of convicted leader Keith Raniere’s top-level masters for the better part of a decade within the Albany-based NXIVM.The actress known for her role as Clark Kent’s friend in the TV series “Smallville” faced between 14 and 17 1⁄2 years in prison before taking a plea.Actress Allison Mack leaves the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse with her lawyers after a court appearance surrounding the alleged sex cult NXIVM on February 06, 2019 in New York City. Along with Clare Bronfman, he...

Congress wants to regulate AI. Big Tech is eager to help

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress want to regulate artificial intelligence, and Big Tech is watching — and lobbying.Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., launched a major push on AI regulation late last month, promising his colleagues hearings and a series of “AI insight forums” that will bring top AI experts to Washington and eventually lead to the creation of draft legislation.Over the next several months, members of Congress — only a few of whom have any technical expertise — will have to choose whether to embrace a strict regulatory framework for AI or a system that defers more to tech interests. Democratic and Republican lawmakers will have to grapple with the daunting task of learning about rapidly developing technology, and with the fact that even experts disagree about what AI regulations should look like.California’s Silicon Valley-area members of Congress, including Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, and Anna G. Eshoo, D-Menlo Park...