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Democracy is in peril in the world’s bonanza year of elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:33 GMT

Is 2024 the year when democracy hits a tipping point and slides toward autocracy?It may seem like an odd question to ask at a time when countries representing nearly half the world’s population, or an estimated 3.8 billion people, are sending their voters to the polls in some form of election.Indeed, from the United States to the U.K. and European Union, from India to Mexico, and from Taiwan to Indonesia, some of the world’s most strategically important countries will hold elections this year.Yet even amid this bonanza of balloting and voting, experts warn that dēmokratía — the form of government pioneered by aristocrats in 6th-century B.C. Athens — is entering a danger zone. Not only are dictators such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expected to try to exploit the trappings of democracy to prop up their own rule and stifle opposition, but democracy is also at risk in the West, they argue. U.S. President Donald T...

Man charged in Manchester, NH shooting that left woman dead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:33 GMT

Authorities have identified the 26-year-old woman who was killed in a shooting in Manchester, New Hampshire on Sunday and the man who is facing charges in connection with her death.Officers responding to a reported shooting on Amherst Street around 2 p.m. found Sophia Bonfiglio suffering from apparent gunshot wounds, according to Manchester police.She was taken to Elliot Hospital, where she was treated for several hours before being pronounced dead.Tyler Cook, 26, was arrested on a charge of manslaughter and is expected to be arraigned in Hillsborough Superior Court on Tuesday.

Column: ‘You can see where this is going.’ The Chicago Bears finished an eventful 2023 with a hope-inspiring blowout.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:33 GMT

5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 …And the ball dropped — from the hands of tackled Atlanta Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier to the wet grass on Soldier Field.That was it, the final moment of Sunday’s 37-17 Chicago Bears victory, putting the punctuation on the final game of a wildly eventful calendar year for the franchise.Satisfying? One-thousand percent. Especially for all these Bears who haven’t had many wins this convincing or many surges of success that have generated so much confidence.The Bears have now won five of their past seven games.Sunday’s triumph marked their fifth consecutive victory at home.This is now a feisty football team that is proving capable of taking care of “should win” games.That’s why, in a jubilant home locker room on New Year’s Eve, there was a celebratory cloud of cigar smoke lingering and a shared energy that the dark days for the team are gone.“We’re celebrating New YearR...

Judge allows new court in Mississippi’s majority-Black capital, rejecting NAACP request to stop it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:33 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that he will allow Mississippi officials to move forward with creating a state-run court in part of the majority-Black capital city of Jackson, over objections from the NAACP.Attorneys for the civil rights organization had sued on behalf of several Jackson residents, saying the new court undermines democracy because local voters or local elected officials won’t choose its judge or prosecutors.The new Capitol Complex Improvement District Court will have a judge appointed by the state Supreme Court chief justice and prosecutors appointed by the state attorney general — officials who are white and conservative.In a ruling filed late Sunday, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate dismissed requests to block the new court, which was created by the majority-white and Republican-controlled Mississippi Legislature. Jackson is governed by Democrats.“None of the Plaintiffs has alleged that he or she is in actual or imminent danger of experienci...

Live soon: Fireworks, drone show set to welcome 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:33 GMT

DALLAS (NEXSTAR/NBCDFW) -- We're just hours away from the most spectacular fireworks and drone show in the Central Time Zone to welcome 2024 and the new year! Sunday at 11:30 p.m., you'll see “Lone Star NYE 2024" featuring a remarkable nonstop 10-minute fireworks show that will illuminate the Dallas city skyline. The show includes breathtaking panoramic fireworks with more than 4,000 pyrotechnic special effects fired from 560 feet above ground atop the iconic Reunion Tower.The fireworks will be accompanied by a 300-drone light show. Engineered and flown by DFW-based Sky Elements, the drones will light up the sky at heights of up to 700 feet and create an array of visual elements and an immersive experience never seen before above the Dallas skyline. You'll be able to watch the program live in the player at the top of this story beginning at 11:30pm CT. Before and after the fireworks, Bowling for Soup and two other Texas musical acts will hit the stage. Known for their humor and...

You Paid For It: Getting results in 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:33 GMT

ST. LOUIS - From horrible living conditions in a multi-million dollar housing complex to houses stolen right under the homeowners’ noses after the St. Louis Recorder of Deeds dropped the ball to a frustrated veteran who couldn't get his pension checks. The You Paid For It Team was on the case, getting answers and often taking action in 2023. FOX 2 looks back on an eventful year of investigations.Filthy housing complexIt was a horrible sight in an apartment in the Samuel Gompers Homes in East St. Louis. An army of insects harassed Sierra Hall and her three children for seven months. Days after FOX 2’s expose on the problem, the executive director of the East St. Louis Housing Authority was suspended and later dismissed. Meanwhile, Hall and her children moved into a new apartment.Medical transport failuresWe received a call about an unusual situation in Arnold. Double amputee Viva Schermesser contacted FOX 2, saying her taxpayer-funded medical transports failed to pick her up to take ...

Kiszla: If “Sparky” Stidham is the answer at quarterback, Broncos are already doomed in 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:33 GMT

As the calendar flips to 2024, they’re the same bad news Broncos. Your beloved local NFL franchise is unfit for the playoffs, boring to watch and throwing quarterbacks against the wall, hoping something will stick.Happy New Year, everyone!On a Sunday when they were eliminated from the NFL playoffs for the eighth season in a row, what did we learn about the Broncos during their 16-9 defeat of the woeful and uninspired Los Angeles Chargers?No. 1: Jarrett Stidham is Trevor Siemian with lesser skill and better hair.No. 2: Despite being the smartest football man in any room he enters, Denver coach Sean Payton is generally no better at identifying new quarterback talent than our old pal John Elway was.After benching Russell Wilson to give the offense a spark, the Broncos looked remarkably similar and almost as difficult to watch as any time during the past eight years, whether the quarterback in the huddle was Case Keenum or Paxton Lynch, or the man in charge of the sideline has bee...

Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton on missing playoffs despite win over Chargers: “It (stinks) and it is bittersweet”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:33 GMT

Fireworks shot out from the top of the video board at Empower Field. Fans cheered in celebration. There were a few smiles in the locker room.But the idea of missing the playoffs for the eighth straight season hung over everything after the Broncos’ too-little, too-late, 16-9 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday afternoon.“They are NFL games (and) they are still hard to win no matter what. It still sucks and it is bittersweet,” inside linebacker Alex Singleton said.While Broncos quarterback Jarret Stidham took a knee midfield, solidifying his first career win as a starter, the Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers secured victories, ending any hope of Denver playing meaningful football in January.Broncos nose tackle Mike Purcell thinks things could’ve been different if they didn’t shoot themselves in the foot earlier in the season. The Broncos started 1-5, allowed 70 points in a loss to the Dolphins, and blew halftime leads against the Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commande...

Broncos’ win over Chargers relegated to sideshow on afternoon of scoreboard and Russell Wilson watching

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:33 GMT

On the bright side, 67,221 isn’t a half-bad attendance number for a sideshow.That’s what Denver’s 16-9 home win over the Los Angeles Chargers on the final afternoon of 2023 became by the time everybody left Empower Field and headed to their New Year’s Eve parties.When the Broncos do their retrospective on how this year finished with such a thud, they’ll find they have nobody to blame but themselves.Oh, this isn’t just because of the Russell Wilson drama, either. Though that did become a big, ugly, public part of the equation this week. Denver spent several days dominating the NFL news cycle not because of a chance to end an eight-year playoff absence, but because coach Sean Payton benched Wilson and in the process effectively began divorce proceedings from the club’s $245 million quarterback.That was enough to push Jarrett Stidham (first NFL win), Jaleel McLaughlin (11 touches, 62 yards), Lil’Jordan Humphrey (54-yard TD catch-and-run) and all the rest to the backseat, bu...

One dead in south Fort Collins house fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:33 GMT

One person was killed and another injured in a fire in south Fort Collins on Saturday.According to a media release from Poudre Fire Authority, crews were dispatched to a single story house on South Taft Hill Road shortly before 7 p.m. Upon arriving, firefighters observed smoke coming from the windows and flames in the northeast part of the home.Firefighters entered the residence and evacuated two people, but a dog in the house was deceased.  The two were treated on scene and then transported to an area hospital, but one of the patients later died from their injuries, the release states.Crews extinguished the flames by 7:12 p.m., but remained on scene to clear debris and monitor hotspots.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Colorado man sentenced in Nevada power plant fire initially described as terror attack Crime and Public Safety | Colorado’s first Firehawk is nearly ready to fight fires after longer delays than expected Crime and Public ...