All posts tagged: grapple

Vermont town meetings grapple with contentious debate on big issues : NPR

Vermont town meetings grapple with contentious debate on big issues : NPR

Tuesday is town meeting day in Vermont. Municipalities in New England and elsewhere are increasingly grappling with major national and international issues at the local level. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption JOSEPH PREZIOSO/Getty Images If you haven’t lived in certain New England towns, it can be hard to fathom their centuries-old direct democracy-style Town Meetings, where everyday residents vote on mundane town business such as funding for schools, snow plows and road repairs. These days, voters are also being asked to weigh in on national and international issues, for example, demanding the de-funding of ICE, and condemning “the unprovoked attack and start of an illegal and immoral war against Iran.” It’s all fueling a separate – and fierce– debate on what towns ought to be debating. “When you have people sleepwalking into an authoritarian regime, it’s up to us to sound the alarm,” insists Dan Dewalt, an activist in Newfane, Vermont, one of several communities where residents scrambled to draft a resolution against the Iran war in time for their annual Town Meeting …

This week on The Hill: Lawmakers grapple with Iran conflict

This week on The Hill: Lawmakers grapple with Iran conflict

Lawmakers are grappling with President Trump’s decision to launch strikes against Iran over the weekend, setting off a widening conflict that is set to dominate Washington’s attention this week. The joint strikes with Israel killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the conflict has spread as Iran launched retaliatory strikes against Israel and eight… Source link

Fourth-place finishers grapple with the edge of glory

Fourth-place finishers grapple with the edge of glory

LIVIGNO, Italy Feb 19 : For the world’s elite athletes, failing to grasp an Olympic medal hurts – and especially so for the person who finishes fourth, among the very best in the world but just one step short of the podium. Years of gruelling physical work and mental preparation can end with missing out on the medal places and the global recognition that they bring.  At the Milano Cortina Games, German snowboarder Annika Morgan stood in the bronze medal position with one rider to go. That rider was New Zealand powerhouse Zoi Sadowski Synnott, who put down a stellar slopestyle run that bounced Morgan into fourth. “It sucks a lot. That’s all I can say,” Morgan said as she stood on the slopes in the Alpine town of Livigno. “Someone has to be fourth. And it’s me.” Adding insult to injury, she was wearing a bib with her assigned number for the race – four. “I ended up with my bib number,” she said. “Worst place to be, but whatever.” French Alpine skier Nils Allegre …

At Sundance, Festivalgoers Grapple With Alex Pretti’s Killing: “We’re Sitting Here Talking About Movies”

At Sundance, Festivalgoers Grapple With Alex Pretti’s Killing: “We’re Sitting Here Talking About Movies”

Gifford doesn’t work in the film industry, but was attending the festival with a group of friends who do. “I’m actually trying to shield them” from the news, Gifford said. “These are all people who are very politically active, and their films are politically active. They’re documentarians. They have got to try to focus for this period of five days. I don’t have that obligation, so I am reading the news, which is why I’m crying in line.” Even those who tried to ignore the news this weekend might have found the task impossible. Reality rudely intruded on a private party thrown by talent agency CAA Friday night, where Democratic Florida congressman Maxwell Frost was allegedly punched by a man who crashed the event. Police say that 28-year-old Christian Joel Young allegedly told Frost, “We are going to deport you and your kind,” before yelling a racial slur and striking the representative. (Young, who has been denied bail, faces charges of aggravated burglary, assault, and assaulting an elected official.) On Sunday afternoon, Vanity Fair even …

Governments grapple with the flood of non-consensual nudity on X

Governments grapple with the flood of non-consensual nudity on X

For the past two weeks, X has been flooded with AI-manipulated nude images, created by the Grok AI chatbot. An alarming range of women have been affected by the non-consensual nudes, including prominent models and actresses, as well as news figures, crime victims, and even world leaders.  A December 31 research paper from Copyleaks estimated roughly one image was being posted each minute, but later tests found far more. A sample gathered from January 5-6 found 6,700 per hour over the 24-hour period.  But while public figures from around the world have decried the choice to release the model without safeguards, there are few clear mechanisms for regulators hoping to rein in Elon Musk’s new image-manipulating system. The result has become a painful lesson in the limits of tech regulation — and a forward-looking challenge for regulators hoping to make a mark. Unsurprisingly, the most aggressive action has come from the European Commission, which on Thursday ordered xAI to retain all documents related to its Grok chatbot. The move doesn’t necessarily mean the commission has …

Berlin households grapple with prolonged blackout as a cold snap grips Europe – Business

Berlin households grapple with prolonged blackout as a cold snap grips Europe – Business

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Try again BUSINESS © FRANCE 24 Issued on: 06/01/2026 – 20:38 06:50 min From the show Reading time 1 min A severe cold snap has gripped Europe, causing deadly accidents and travel chaos.  In the German capital Berlin, freezing temperatures have made the situation even worse for tens of thousands of households that have been affected by a widespread power outage since Saturday.  A suspected arson attack claimed by a left-wing group is thought to have knocked electricity offline, sparking questions over the vulnerability of Germany’s wider infrastructure.  By: Source link