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A few other AfD members in Constance are also under investigation in the case.
Prosecutors started looking into the party’s election financing after a media consortium alleged that Weidel had received donations from a Swiss firm last year.
Q. We have two cats, both males. One is almost 2 years old, and the other is about 8 months old. They are both neutered. The younger cat is starting to urinate in various areas of the house even though the litter box is available. Both cats are kept indoors. Is it possible that the younger cat has a bladder infection? Or is he unhappy over being indoors? Do you think that he will need to be given any medication?
A. Two cats usually have no problems using only one litter box, unless the box is not kept clean or changed frequently. Still, it may be that the younger cat is objecting to sharing the litter box by going in other places in the house. It is also possible that the younger cat is attempting to establish certain areas of your home as being his own territory by marking with the scent from his urine.
You might try getting another litter box and confining the second cat to an area that he has been urinating around. This essentially amounts to re-housebreaking him. Make sure that the litter boxes are kept clean and available at all times.
If he continues to urinate in various places, have him examined by your veterinarian to make sure that he does not have a urinary infection, especially if he seems to be straining to use the box. Your veterinarian may want to put him on medication to try to reduce his behavior. Be patient because it may be difficult to break habits that cats develop.
Q. Our new kitten was a stray we found at the park. We just noticed that she is scratching at her head and is starting to lose some hair. I used Neosporin ointment, but it hasn't helped very much. We were told that it could be ringworm and that we might catch it from the cat. Is this possible? What can we use to clear up the ringworm? She seems to be doing well and has a very big appetite.
A. Hair loss and itching around the face and ears of a cat can be caused by several organisms. There is the possibility of two types of mites, one that causes very crusty, sore skin on the ears and face, and another that involves primarily the ear canal and causes a thick dark brown to black debris from the ears. The possibility of the fungus (usually called ringworm) also exists.
Take your kitten to your veterinarian to have the sores examined. The vet will do a skin scraping to look for the skin mites (Notodectes) as well as take a swab of the debris from the ears to look for the ear mite (Otodectes). An ultraviolet light might help identify any ringworm, although a culture of some of the hair shafts will be more diagnostic. Your cat will probably need a medicated bath to clean the lesions and a dipping to kill any mites that may be found. Your veterinarian will advise you on home care.
President Trump Donald John TrumpThorny part of obstruction of justice is proving intent, that's a job for Congress Obama condemns attacks in Sri Lanka as 'an attack on humanity' Schiff rips Conway's 'display of alternative facts' on Russian election interference MORE on Monday said that the U.S. will begin to cut off or reduce aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador as citizens of those countries flee for the U.S. as part of a so-called caravan of migrants.
In a trio of tweets, the president escalated his rhetoric surrounding the group of migrants, declaring a national emergency as they approach the border and claiming that "unknown Middle Easterners" had joined the group.
Trump, in the tweets, did not offer any evidence for the charge that people from the Middle East were among those crossing the border.
"Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National [Emergency]. Must change laws!"
Trump had previously threatened to cut off aid to those countries if they did not act to stop their citizens from fleeing. It's unclear if Trump will take unilateral action to reduce foreign aid, as Congress is not scheduled to return to Washington until after the midterm elections.
Experts have noted that human rights laws restrict actions a government can take to prevent its citizens from leaving its borders.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill about plans to cut foreign aid or to declare a national emergency.
Trump's suggestion that Middle Easterners had joined the group came shortly after a guest on "Fox & Friends" raised the specter of ISIS fighters embedding themselves in the group. The guest, Peter Hegseth, cited quotes attributed to Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales but acknowledged the claims have not been verified.
The president is known to watch the show regularly and often comment about segments on Twitter.
Trump has for days characterized the caravan as a horde of criminals in cahoots with the Democrats while providing no evidence for his claims.
"Every time you see a Caravan, or people illegally coming, or attempting to come, into our Country illegally, think of and blame the Democrats for not giving us the votes to change our pathetic Immigration Laws! Remember the Midterms! So unfair to those who come in legally," Trump tweeted Monday.
The caravan of thousands crossed into Mexico over the weekend, continuing their journey toward the U.S. border in search of asylum.
The group swelled to close to 5,000, The Associated Press reported, after an initial group of 2,000 crossed the Guatemala-Mexico border rather than waiting for asylum processing there.
The president has pointed to the caravan to stoke fear of an influx of undocumented immigrants and to blame Democrats for failing to pass stronger immigration laws, despite Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress.
Trump last week warned that he may take military action to stop immigrants from crossing the southern border if Mexico does not take action to stop the "onslaught."
A series of bipartisan immigration bills failed to garner enough votes in the Senate earlier this year, including one bill backed by the White House.
EU citizens feel insecure and that their voices aren't reaching the ears of their political leaders despite sometimes violent demonstrations. Desperation is growing in several EU countries, says Gilbert Fayl.
Gilbert Fayl is president of the Global Roundtable. He writes this opinion in a private capacity.
In this time of crisis, while waiting for our political leaders to show the way forwards, a plethora of constructive ideas and criticisms are put forward by individuals.
Albert Einstein said, “I fear the day when technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots”; and Robert Schuman said, “Europe before being a military alliance or an economic entity must be a cultural community in the highest sense of expression”.
Let us be unambiguously clear: Europe needs the EU and EU solutions – in addition to national- and regional ones. It seems highly unlikely that the current main concern of European citizens be abstract initiatives – such as stated “to boost online communication between politicians and population, mainly through social media” and similar ones.
What the citizens of the EU need is confidence about their prospects of a decent existence within the EU. It includes: peace (congratulations to the EU for the Nobel Peace Prize), the prospect to earn income through work not alms, existence without fear, and so on.
Nonetheless EU citizens feel insecure and that their voices aren't reaching the ears of their political leaders in spite even of sometimes violent demonstrations. Desperation is growing in several EU countries.
Austerity measures might be required and intervention might be successful – but what if the cure kills the patient?
The main concern of Mrs. Papanopoulus in Greece and Mr. Gonzales in Spain, and all the other Europeans surviving at close to existence minimum, is simply food and jobs – and prospects for the future.
We need an added vision and related political acts for an EU under the new global circumstances.
But political leaders are still failing to inject visionary, long-term objectives that could catch attention and raise hope for a better and joint future – the founding fathers managed to do this.
Maybe unsurprisingly, the European project is losing its appeal and interest for the population at large. The vision, objective and implications of the “Lisbon Strategy” and now the “Europe 20-20-20” fail to appeal intellectually and emotional to the population – and are of even less interest to the young generation.
They are not easily understandable and emotionally accessible. Could the just gained Nobel Peace Prize provide some stimulation?
The EU needs sensible and powerful initiatives in response to the evolving global circumstances and challenges. But this could only happen if the EU had a genuine long-term vision for its survival as a “unity”.
Such a vision must respect certain basics, including fundamental European values in the sphere of the European cultural identity. Our political leaders must not be ashamed of the fact that the foundation of European culture had been laid by the Greeks and strengthened by the Romans.
Christianity contributed with basic principles that were renewed and rationalised by the Renaissance and Reformation.
Showtime has given a series order to the long-gestating comedy “Roadies” from the writer-producer supergroup of Cameron Crowe, J.J. Abrams and Winnie Holzman.
The hourlong series, produced by Warner Bros. TV and Abrams’ Bad Robot, stars Luke Wilson and Carla Gugino and revolves around the lives of the road crew for an arena-rock touring act. The pilot was initially shot last year with Christina Hendricks as the female lead.
“Roadies” is targeted to premiere next year.
Crowe wrote and directed the pilot and will be on board to direct most of the 10 episodes ordered. Holzman is serving as showrunner and co-writer. Crowe, Abrams and Bad Robot’s Bryan Burk also exec produce. Kelly Curtis, longtime manager for Pearl Jam, is on board as a producer and music supervisor.
Wilson plays the band tour manager who has a “unique” relationship with production manager played by Gugino. The large ensemble also includes Imogen Poots, Rafe Spall, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Peter Cambor, Colson Baker and Ron White.
The bad news: Studying companies well involves a little math. The good news: It�s not that hard.
Divide $48 million by $12 million and you�ll get 4. This means that sales quadrupled, or increased by a growth multiple of 4. That doesn�t translate to a gain of 400 percent, though. (After all, if something doubles, it increases by 100 percent, not 200 percent.) To get the percentage, you need to take the growth multiple, subtract 1, multiply by 100, and then tack on a percentage sign. So 4 minus 1 equals 3. And 3 times 100 is � bingo! � 300 percent. Between 2007 and 2010, sales grew by a total of 300 percent.
Another way to approach it is to take the $48 million and subtract the $12 million, getting $36 million, which represents the growth. Divide $36 million by $12 million and you�ll get 3. Multiply that by 100 and you�ve got 300 percent. Same answer.
Next, you can annualize the growth rate, to see how much Meteorite sales are growing by each year, on average. You first need the time period involved. From 2007 to 2010 is three years, so we�ll be taking the third, or cube, root of the growth multiple. To do that, we�ll raise it to the 1/3 power.
This math can prove profitable � after a little practice.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Yankees’ chances of making the postseason already were plenty long, even before Michael Pineda started Monday night’s game and immediately gave up three runs to the Royals in an 8-5 loss at Kauffman Stadium.
Sure, he came back to retire the next 15 in a row, but for a team that has left itself no margin for error, it certainly could have used a better start from the always-inconsistent right-hander.
It was the Yankees’ second straight defeat after they won four in a row, and it came against one of the teams they are chasing for the second wild-card spot.
Still, Pineda ended up surrendering three runs on five hits in the first inning to raise his ERA in the opening frame to 7.62 this season. And whatever hopes the Yankees had of coming back seemingly evaporated during a five-run Royals’ seventh.
Girardi was ejected in the top of the eighth, seemingly unhappy with home-plate umpire Brian O’Nora’s strike zone.
But the Yankees went on to score four times in the inning, and pinch-hitter Mark Teixeira came to the plate as the potential tying run, but he grounded to second against Kelvin Herrera.
The Yankees got two more runners on in the ninth to give Starlin Castro a chance to tie the game, but he struck out to end it, and the Yankees remained 3 ¹/₂ games behind the Orioles for the second wild card.
There were bigger problems on the mound, where Pineda ended his night by surrendering back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the seventh.
Lefty Tommy Layne came in to get Salvador Perez, but Alcides Escobar’s three-run homer off Blake Parker made it 6-1.
The trouble started immediately for Pineda, who had given up five runs in 5 ¹/₃ innings in his previous outing against the Mariners.
This time, Pineda wasn’t undone by homers. Instead, the Royals got five singles and took advantage of a wild pitch to get to Pineda for the three runs in the first. He allowed five runs in six-plus innings.
The red-hot Royals, who have won 16 of 19, also were able to swipe two bases in the opening frame with Gary Sanchez behind the plate, and both steals led to runs.
Pineda went on to retire the side in order over the next five innings, as a day after being shut out by Kevin Gausman and the Orioles, the Yankees’ offense again was largely silent until the eighth.
The Yankees got to ex-Met Dillon Gee in the fourth with consecutive two-out doubles by Didi Gregorius and Castro, but Brian McCann flied out to end the inning.
The Yankees weren’t able to claw all the way back in a discouraging start to a six-game road trip against two teams they are chasing for the second wild card. After two more against the Royals, the Yankees will travel to Baltimore.
With their new-look bullpen coming undone just about everywhere, the Yankees certainly could use another ace-like showing from Masahiro Tanaka on Tuesday.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, Tanaka tied a career high by giving up six earned runs to the Royals back in May.
NEW YORK – After they recover from extra helpings of Thanksgiving turkey, analysts and stock investors will feast on a smorgasbord of economic figures this week.
The data finale will come Friday, with the crucial November U.S. payrolls report.
With the holiday shopping season now in full swing, Wall Street will keep a close eye on Thursday's monthly sales figures from retailers. Some of the figures may offer early clues into holiday spending and whether "Black Friday" — the day after Thanksgiving, when shoppers flock to malls and outlets — was a success.
Auto makers issue monthly sales Wednesday.
Oil prices remain in focus, after weighing heavily on the market ever since rising above $50 a barrel earlier this year.
Market players will also pay heed to the falling dollar, which has seized Wall Street's attention lately.
"As long as oil doesn't rise too high, and the dollar doesn't fall too low, I think we'll continue to see a pretty good market," said Edward Hemmelgarn, chief investment officer at Shaker Investments.
Oil prices climbed back toward $50 a barrel Wednesday on winter supply worries, after sliding below $48 a barrel earlier in the day. The New York Mercantile Exchange (search) was closed Friday for the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Oil prices, which have soared more than 50 percent this year, have often held the stock market back as investors worry that rising energy prices will sap corporate profits and curb spending by consumers who pay more for gasoline at the pump.
On Friday, the dollar recovered from a sharp drop that took it to new lows against the euro on reports China might be cutting back on its accumulation of dollar reserves. It was the fourth straight day the dollar hit new lows against the euro.
A weaker dollar makes U.S. products cheaper overseas, which helps U.S. companies improve their offshore earnings from demand fueled by bargain-hunting shoppers.
But investors can be reluctant to buy U.S. assets if they expect the dollar to continue to weaken and reduce the value of those investments.
"Further declines in the U.S. dollar could really rattle the markets' cage," said David Buik, head of business strategy at spread-betting firm Cantor Index.
For the holiday-shortened week, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.6 percent, while the broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.05 percent, and the tech-laced Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.51 percent.
The first big serving of economic data next week arrives Tuesday, with Chicago PMI and consumer confidence figures due. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index (search), or Chicago PMI, a measure of business activity in the U.S. Midwest, is expected to slip to 62.5 for the overall index reading in November from 68.5 in October.
The consumer confidence index for November, which will be released by The Conference Board (search), is forecast to rise to 96.5 from 92.8 last month, according to economists surveyed by Reuters. The Conference Board is a private research firm.
Wednesday, personal income and consumption data arrive, along with the Institute for Supply Management (search) index, which measures growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector.
The forecast calls for U.S. personal income to rise by 0.5 percent from a gain of just 0.2 percent in the previous period, while personal consumption is expected to rise 0.4 percent, below the previous gain of 0.6 percent, a Reuters poll of economists showed.
Economists expect the ISM index for November to rise to 57 from a reading of 56.8 in October.
Thursday's round of economic data includes weekly jobless claims, factory orders, and durable goods orders — or orders for long-lasting goods such as cars and refrigerators.
Of all the economic reports due next week, many consider Friday's November nonfarm payrolls data the most important, as it will offer broad clues about the health of the U.S. economy. Analysts polled by Reuters expect that non-farm payrolls added 180,000 jobs in November, compared with October's surprising gain of 337,000. The U.S. unemployment rate is forecast to fall to 5.4 percent in November from 5.5 percent in October.
"The market will steer a neutral course until Friday," Buik said. "If we get good jobs figures, I think we could see the market headed on a steady course through to Christmas."
In the earnings arena, Pall Corp., a maker of purification and filtration systems, grocery chain Albertsons Inc. and Dollar General Corp., which operates a chain of deep-discount retail stores, are among the handful of companies due to release their quarterly results.
Two dozen people were killed and twice as many injured when a bomb exploded around 10 a.m. Sunday morning during a worship service at the spiritual center of Christianity in Egypt.
The terrorist attack, with a reported death toll of 24 victims and another 49 to 65 wounded, was the worst to target Copts since the 2011 New Year’s bombing of a church in Alexandria that killed 23 people.
A worship service of mostly women was targeted in the St. Peter and St. Paul church, adjacent to the prominent St. Mark’s Cathedral and papal residence of Pope Tawadros II, leader of the Coptic Orthodox community in Egypt and worldwide.
Aftermath of Cairo church bombing.
Tawadros was traveling in Greece at the time of the attack. He will cut short his visit and lead funeral prayers tomorrow in the Nasr City district of Cairo.
So far, there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
“This is an unbelievable act against Egypt first and Christians second,” Andrea Zaki, president of the Protestant Churches of Egypt, told CT.
“They wanted to destroy the innocent lives of people praying, at a time we are facing great economic challenges,” he said.
Zaki plans to attend funeral prayers, and believes President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi may do the same.
Sisi immediately declared three days of national mourning.