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Merkel is dealt election setback by migrant foes

 
Published March 14, 2016

Germany

Merkel is dealt election setback by migrant foes

A far-right party fiercely opposed to Chancellor Angela Merkel's welcome for refugees made startling gains in three state elections in Germany Sunday, dealing the chancellor a blow as she tries to seal an agreement with Turkey to reduce the influx of migrants. In elections that showed how strongly the refugee crisis has scrambled politics and daily life in Germany, Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats failed to wrest control of two states in western Germany where they had once been expected to do so. In the one eastern state that voted, her party finished first. But the Alternative for Germany, a populist, nationalist party formed in 2013, was only 5 percentage points behind. Merkel had no comment.

South Korea

North Korea talks of destroying New York

North Korea claimed Sunday that it could wipe out Manhattan by sending a hydrogen bomb on a ballistic missile to the heart of New York, the latest in a string of brazen threats. Although there are many reasons to believe that Kim Jong Un's regime is exaggerating its technical capabilities, the near-daily drumbeat of boasts and warnings from Pyongyang underlines the regime's anger at efforts to thwart its ambitions. "Our hydrogen bomb is much bigger than the one developed by the Soviet Union," DPRK Today, a state-run outlet that uses the official acronym for North Korea, reported Sunday. "If this H-bomb were to be mounted on an inter-continental ballistic missile and fall on Manhattan in New York City, all the people there would be killed immediately and the city would burn down to ashes," the report said, citing a nuclear scientist named Cho Hyong Il.

Hartford, Conn.

Apology after officer displays Trump sticker

Police apologized Sunday after an officer displayed a "Trump: Make America Great Again" sticker on the laptop mounted on the dashboard of his patrol car. "I am, and we are, embarrassed and sorry for this lack of professionalism and judgment," Hartford Deputy Chief Brian Foley said in a statement. "The officer was counseled on the critical importance of remaining neutral and impartial." A Hartford resident posted a picture of the patrol car and the sticker on Facebook Saturday and the post traveled around social media. The sticker was removed, Foley said.

Detroit

Police car doors stop armor-piercing slugs

It's a first for police cars: Doors that can protect officers against armor-piercing bullets. Ford will soon be offering the doors on its Police Interceptor sedans and SUVs. The doors are designed to stop a .30-caliber bullet shot from a high-powered rifle. They're made from ceramic tile, which breaks up the bullet, and a layer of a Kevlar-like material that catches the shrapnel. Previous versions of the door protected against handgun fire and non-armor piercing bullets.

Times wires