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The enemies of democracy are testing us

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:58 GMT

Mathias Döpfner is chairman and CEO of Axel Springer, POLITICO’s parent company.We have underestimated the enemies of democracy for far too long — because it’s been more comfortable that way.But now, we are at a tipping point, faced with the possibility that even democracy itself could be overwhelmed. The simultaneous occurrence of so many crises and so much war presents the democracies of the world with a historic challenge. The question is, how steadfast and willing will the West be to defend its interests in this fight?Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has already strained United States and NATO capacity — financially and militarily. And the Gaza crisis may now unleash a war on several fronts.It will be difficult to overcome Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, Yemen, as well as the enablers and financiers from Qatar and Iran, even with a coherent Western alliance. And we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that the serial crises we’re confronting directly play into the...

Li Keqiang, former Chinese premier, dead at 68

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:58 GMT

Former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang died Friday aged 68, Chinese state media reported.Li had a “sudden heart attack” and died in Shanghai just after midnight, according to the Xinhua news agency. Li served as China’s premier from 2013 until March 2023, when he retired before the official retirement age and was replaced by Li Qiang.Known for his focus on economic reform and liberalization, the former premier was once seen as a contender for Chinese president, but was passed over by party leadership in favor of Xi Jinping.

Panic! Russia sends France into a tailspin over bedbugs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:58 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.Those pesky Russians have launched a new front in their war on, er, everything. And this time their sights have been set on France, and more specifically, French people’s bodies! According to French intelligence (as in the security services, not as in intellectuals sitting in smoky bars, thinking a lot and gazing into the distance), the Kremlin has been actively stoking fears about bedbugs in Paris. As you will be aware, bedbugs are now running the French capital, taking on senior administrative roles, and opening shops and restaurants serving bedbug specialties such as boudin noir. Their failure to assimilate has angered many French people. Some bedbugs, and you may want to sit down before reading this, make a very poor orange sauce to go with duck!Regular readers may remember that POLITICO recently secured an exclusive interview with Benoît Bedbug, who now lives in Paris and hopes to become a French citizen in time to compete in...

EU leaders meet amid Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:58 GMT

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Google Play EN_Google_Podcasts_Badge Created with Sketch. Acast Amazon Music Coming to you directly from the European Council summit, our POLITICO team brings you the very latest on a range of difficult subjects facing EU leaders during their two-day meeting in Brussels. In a packed press centre, host Suzanne Lynch, along with Jacopo Barigazzi, Barbara ...

The odds are against Rishi Sunak’s AI summit. He might just pull it off

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:58 GMT

LONDON — Optimism is in the air.It’s September 2019, and at a dinner involving diplomats and tech execs at a private dining club in Paris’s eighth arrondissement, hopes are high that the world’s rival superpowers — the United States and China — will put aside their differences to discuss the future of a rapidly emerging field important to both: artificial intelligence.At the summit the next day, those hopes quickly fizzle. A U.S. official opens the debate by saying Washington will never cooperate with Beijing on AI for as long as China remains authoritarian. It goes downhill from there, descending into a mud-slinging match between the two global titans.“Here we are trying to sort out this huge thing and China and the U.S. are squabbling like two divorced parents,” said Neil Lawrence, a leading academic on AI at Cambridge University recalling the 2019 event he was present at.More than three years on, Rishi Sunak will be hoping his own AI summit, to be held in historic Bletchley ...

Search continues for accused gunman after 18 killed, 13 hurt in Lewiston, Maine shootings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:58 GMT

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Heavily armed police surrounded a home Thursday as they searched for a U.S. Army reservist who authorities say killed 18 people and wounded 13 in a mass shooting at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine.“You need to come outside now with nothing in your hands. Your hands in the air,” police shouted through a megaphone outside the home owned by suspect Robert Card’s relative near the town of Bowdoin.Dozens of law enforcement officials had descended on the property, with extended announcements calling for Card and anyone in the home to come out into the driveway. In most instances when police execute warrants — even for suspects wanted for violent crimes — they move quickly to enter the home.“The announcements that are being heard over a loudspeaker are standard search warrant announcements when executing a warrant to ensure the safety of all involved,” state police spokesperson Shannon Moss said. “It is unknown whether Robert Card is in any of ...

Residents shelter in place in multiple Maine communities while law enforcement works to locate shooting suspect Robert Card

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:58 GMT

LISBON, MAINE (WHDH) – Communities near Lewiston, Maine remained on high alert Thursday as authorities continued to search for a gunman suspected of carrying out a deadly mass shooting Wednesday night. Investigators said 40-year-old Robert Card allegedly first targeted a bowling alley in Lewiston before targeting a restaurant in town around 7 p.m. Maine’s Governor on Thursday morning said at least 18 people were killed. Thirteen people were injured. The Maine State Police asked residents in Lewiston and nearby Lisbon to shelter in place Wednesday night. Near 6:15 a.m. Thursday, state police expanded the shelter in place advisory to Bowdoin, Maine.“Please stay inside your homes while more than 100 investigators, both local and federal work to locate Robert Card who is a person of interest in the Lewiston shootings,” state police said.In Lisbon authorities said they found Card’s car abandoned at a local boat ramp on Wednesday night. Sources later told 7NEWS...

House Democrat Dean Phillips launches primary challenge against President Biden

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:58 GMT

(CNN) — Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips announced Thursday that he is running for president, kicking off a long-shot Democratic primary challenge to President Joe Biden.“I think President Biden has done a spectacular job for our country, but it’s not about the past. This is an election about the future. I will not sit still, I will not be quiet in the face of numbers that are so clearly saying that we’re going to be facing an emergency next November,” Phillips told CBS News in a clip posted online.Phillips is expected to formally announce his campaign Friday in Concord, where he’ll file to run in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary.The three-term congressman, who recently left his House Democratic leadership position in the face of intraparty frustration over his calls for a Biden alternative, has argued that the president would be a weak general election candidate due to his age and low approval ratings. Still, Phillips’ campaign launch...

7 Investigates: Hate Hunters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:58 GMT

The Anti-Defamation League is on high alert over a surge in violent threats against Jewish people. They say it has ticked up since the attack on Israel by Hamas. Just one station traveled to New York City to show you how the organization is working to protect Boston and the rest of the country.“You can really kind of feel the tension,” said Harvard University Freshman Charlie Covit.As the war in Israel rages, fear is building here at home.“We have tracked 400 or so rallies around the country and especially after the first few days after the massacre, it was celebration, glorification and legitimizing Hamas brutality,” said Oren Segal, Vice President of the ADL of the Center on Extremism.The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, located in Manhattan, is working around the clock to track and intercept threats. They say college campuses have been hotspots since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.“Student groups and individuals have really, to a shocking degree, adulated, praised what Hama...

Kurt Warner called the Ravens offense ‘kind of clunky.’ Todd Monken doesn’t totally disagree.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:58 GMT

Despite the Ravens scoring 38 points and racking up more than 500 yards of offense in their 38-6 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and NFL analyst Kurt Warner saw a lot of room for improvement.“Although they threw for a bunch of yards, it’s still not smooth and connected,” Warner said on his YouTube show. “It’s kind of clunky right now.”Offensive coordinator Todd Monken didn’t necessarily disagree.“There were certain things we did that were really outstanding that you look at and say, ‘Wow, we can build on it.’ And there’s other things that can get glossed over because you won, and you look at it and go, ‘That has to be a lot better, or we can’t be who want,’” Monken said Thursday. “There were some elite things that we did, and there were some things for sure we have to clean up and not just counting on that [No.] 8 is going to run around and make...