Icelanders will elect a new parliament Saturday after disagreements over immigration, energy policy and the economy forced Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to pull the plug on his coalition government and call early elections. This is Iceland’s sixth general election since the 2008 financial crisis devastated the economy of the North Atlantic island nation and ushered in a new era of political instability. Opinion polls suggest the country may be in for another upheaval, with support for the three governing parties plunging. Benediktsson, who was named prime minister in April following the resignation of his predecessor, struggled to hold together the unlikely coalition of his conservative Independence Party with the centrist Progressive Party and the Left-Green Movement. Iceland, a nation of about 400,000 people, is proud of its democratic traditions, describing itself as arguably the world’s oldest parliamentary democracy. The island’s parliament, the Althingi, was founded in 930 by the Norsemen who settled the country. Here’s what to look for in the contest. How does the election work? Voters will choose 63 members of the Althingi in an election that will allocate seats both by regional constituencies and proportional representation. Parties need at least 5% of the vote to win seats in parliament. Eight parties were represented in the outgoing parliament, and 10 parties are contesting this election. Turnout is traditionally high by international standards, with 80% of registered voters casting ballots in the 2021 parliamentary election. Why now? A windswept island near the Arctic Circle, Iceland normally holds elections during the warmer months of the year. But on Oct. 13 Benediktsson decided his coalition couldn’t last any longer, and he asked President Halla Tómasdóttir to dissolve the Althingi. "The weakness of this society is that we have no very strong party and we have no very strong leader of any party,’" said Vilhjálmur Bjarnson, a former member of parliament. "We have no charming person with a vision ... That is very difficult for us." Why is Iceland's politics so fractured? The splintering of Iceland's political landscape came after the 2008 financial crisis, which prompted years of economic upheaval after its debt-swollen banks collapsed. The crisis led to anger and distrust of the parties that had traditionally traded power back and forth, and prompted the creation of new parties ranging from the environment focused Left-Green Alliance to the Pirate Party, which advocates direct democracy and individual freedoms. "This is one of the consequences of the economic crash," said Eva H. Önnudóttir, a professor of political science at the University of Iceland. "It’s just the changed landscape. Parties, especially the old parties, have maybe kind of been hoping that we would go back to how things were before, but that’s not going to happen." What are the issues? Like many Western countries, Iceland has been buffeted by the rising cost of living and immigration pressures. Inflation peaked at an annual rate of 10.2% in February 2023, fueled by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While inflation slowed to 5.1% in October, that is still high compared with neighboring countries. The U.S. inflation rate stood at 2.6% last month, while the European Union’s rate was 2.3%. Iceland is also struggling to accommodate a rising number of asylum-seekers, creating tensions within the small, traditionally homogenous country. The number of immigrants seeking protection in Iceland jumped to more than 4,000 in each of the past three years, compared with a previous average of less than 1,000. What about the volcano? Repeated eruptions of a volcano in the southwestern part of the country have displaced thousands of people and strained public finances. One year after the first eruption forced the evacuation of the town of Grindavik, many residents still don’t have secure housing, leading to complaints that the government has been slow to respond. But it also added to a shortage of affordable housing exacerbated by Iceland’s tourism boom. Young people are struggling to get a foot on the housing ladder at a time when short-term vacation rentals have reduced the housing stock available for locals, Önnudóttir said. "The housing issue is becoming a big issue in Iceland," she said.
Jimmy Carter, 39th US president and noted humanitarian, has diedChargers are expected to be without top RB Dobbins and could lean on QB Herbert against Falcons
BERLIN (AP) — Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk caused uproar after backing Germany’s far-right party in a major newspaper ahead of key parliamentary elections in the Western European country, leading to the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor in protest. Germany is to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalize the country’s stagnant economy. Musk’s guest opinion piece for Welt am Sonntag —a sister publication of POLITICO owned by the Axel Springer Group — published in German over the weekend, was the second time this month he supported the Alternative for Germany, or AfD. “The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote in his translated commentary. He went on to say the far-right party “can lead the country into a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes, but reality.” The Tesla Motors CEO also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on the country’s condition. The AfD is polling strongly, but its candidate for the top job, Alice Weidel , has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor because other parties refuse to work with the far-right party. An ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, the technology billionaire challenged in his opinion piece the party’s public image. “The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!” Musk’s commentary has led to a debate in German media over the boundaries of free speech, with the paper’s own opinion editor announcing her resignation, pointedly on Musk’s social media platform, X. “I always enjoyed leading the opinion section of WELT and WAMS. Today an article by Elon Musk appeared in Welt am Sonntag. I handed in my resignation yesterday after it went to print,” Eva Marie Kogel wrote. A critical article by the future editor-in-chief of the Welt group, Jan Philipp Burgard, accompanied Musk’s opinion piece. “Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach, that only the AfD can save Germany, is fatally wrong,” Burgard wrote. Responding to a request for comment from the German Press Agency, dpa, the current editor-in-chief of the Welt group, Ulf Poschardt, and Burgard — who is due to take over on Jan. 1 — said in a joint statement that the discussion over Musk’s piece was “very insightful. Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression.” “This will continue to determine the compass of the “world” in the future. We will develop “Die Welt” even more decisively as a forum for such debates,” they wrote to dpa. The Associated PressJimmy Carter , a one-term U.S. president who dedicated his time after the White House to widespread humanitarian work, has died at age 1. Carter, who became the oldest living ex-president after the death of George H.W. Bush in November 2018, had the longest post-presidency in U.S. history, having left the White House in January 1981. On Feb. 18, 2023, The Carter Center ― a charity founded by the former president ― announced that after a “series of short hospital stays,” Carter would begin receiving hospice care at home “instead of additional medical intervention.” On Nov. 17, the Center announced his wife Rosalynn Carter had also entered hospice care after previously being diagnosed with dementia. She died two days later. Despite being in hospice, Carter appeared at her funeral. On May 14, Carter’s grandson Jason, the chair of The Carter Center, said the former president was nearing the end of his life. “He really is, I think, coming to the end that, as I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him,” he said . “And there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end. And I think he has been there in that space.” The Carters made their last public appearance together in September, when they were spotted riding in a black SUV at the Plains Peanut Festival in Plains, Georgia, seven months after the former president entered hospice care. Carter had few public appearances over the last years of his life. He and his wife skipped Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in January 2021, their first time missing the ceremonies since Carter was sworn in as the 39th president in 1977. But Carter continued to speak out about humanitarian and political issues. In January 2021, Carter joined with other former living presidents to condemn the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, calling it a “national tragedy” and “not who we are as a nation.” The following year, Carter penned an op-ed for The New York Times expressing concern about U.S. democracy and called on leaders and candidates to “uphold the ideals of freedom and adhere to high standards of conduct.” He spoke out in February 2022 against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, arguing the “unjust assault” threatened “security in Europe and the entire world.” Carter experienced several health setbacks in his later years. He was admitted to the hospital in November 2019 for a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain caused by several falls. He continued to face health issues that year, including a broken hip, pelvic fracture and a urinary tract infection . In August 2015, Carter revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer . He received radiation treatment for melanoma and was declared cancer-free that December, announcing four months later that he no longer needed to receive treatment. The bout with cancer forced Carter to come to terms with mortality. In a 2019 address to a church in his hometown, he said he was “ completely at ease ” with death. “I assumed, naturally, that I was going to die very quickly,” Carter told the congregation at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. “I obviously prayed about it. I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death. And I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death.” He was born James Earl Carter Jr. in Georgia in October 1924, the first of his parents’ four children. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, then served seven years in the Navy before returning to Georgia, where he operated a peanut farm, then served as state senator and governor. Carter, a Democrat, kicked off his presidential run in December 1974, choosing Walter Mondale as his running mate. In November 1976, he defeated Gerald Ford, who had become president two years earlier when Richard Nixon resigned. During his four years in the White House, Carter dealt with a national energy crisis, expanded the national park system and installed solar panels on the White House. He signed the bill that allowed for the creation of the U.S. Department of Education. Perhaps his greatest achievement, the Camp David Accords , settled hostilities between Egypt and Israel and established diplomatic relations. But it failed to live up to his hopes for serious negotiations toward Palestinian statehood. His administration was dogged by other foreign policy issues, including the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran hostage crisis . Carter was deeply unpopular by the time Republican Ronald Reagan defeated him in the 1980 election and he left office with a 34% approval rating, according to Gallup . After the presidency, Carter became a champion for international human rights. He monitored elections across the globe and devoted time to building houses for the charity Habitat for Humanity. His efforts through The Carter Center nearly eliminated Guinea worm disease, an infection that has plagued Africa for centuries. He became a self-styled international diplomat, sometimes working unofficially. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work “to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development” through The Carter Center. “He remains such a controversial figure,” Julian Zelizer, a professor of history at Princeton University and a Carter biographer, told The Atlantic in 2012 . “But like it or not, he re-invented the post-presidency.” He wrote books and spoke his mind on contemporary political issues. In July 2015, for example , he said the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that allowed unlimited campaign donations had turned America into an “oligarchy.” “It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system,” Carter said. “Now it’s just an oligarchy, with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or to elect the president.” He also spoke out against then-President Donald Trump, telling The Washington Post in August 2018 he thought Trump was “a disaster” after previously arguing that the media were too harsh and saying he had prayed for him . Carter married Rosalynn in 1946. They had four children, 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren . The couple celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary in 2021 with a private reception attended by former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, country artists Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, and more. Rosalynn was heavily involved in the humanitarian work her husband did after leaving the White House, and advocates for several causes on her own , including mental health and caregiving. Carter, a Baptist, was deeply religious, and told The Atlantic in July 2015 he believed he’d led “several hundred” people to Christ through one-on-one interaction. He taught Sunday school lessons every other week at Maranatha Baptist Church for decades after he left the White House. He told HuffPost Live in 2015 that he approved of same-sex marriage, saying he believed Jesus would as well. “I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else, and I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else,” he said. While speaking at The Carter Center in 2019, Carter described his aspirations for the Center’s future initiatives, he said he hoped it would speak out against armed conflicts and “wars by the United States.” “I just want to keep the whole world at peace,” Carter said. Ryan Grenoble, Shruti Rajkumar and Carla H. Russo contributed reporting. Jimmy Carter Says Brett Kavanaugh 'Unfit' To Be A Supreme Court Justice Jimmy Carter: The U.S. Has 'Abandoned' Its Role As A Champion Of Human Rights Jimmy Carter Calls Trump’s First Reaction To McCain's Death 'A Serious Mistake'Krishna Stanton was planning to end her running career at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games two decades ago. Within years, she questioned whether her life would be the same again due to crushing pelvic problems. or signup to continue reading The former Olympian and Commonwealth Games silver medalist was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2005, and then subsequent forced her to withdraw from her farewell games. Her health wreaked havoc with her teaching career and . "I thought I was going to have a bag, a colostomy bag ... that was hard to swallow," she said. "I know lots of people do, and they manage their life very well, but I'd gone from being someone who was an athlete ... [who] got a silver medal a couple of years before at the Commonwealth Games. "This was a huge shock." Thanks to an advanced but little-known treatment option, Ms Stanton is now running marathons again. A case of food poisoning led to the diagnosis of a condition she had been unknowingly living with for most of her life. Initially, she assumed the illness would run its course, but it didn't get better, prompting her to see pelvic floor specialist Andrea Warwick. A colonoscopy confirmed she had celiac disease. It also revealed a section of her bowel was not working, and certain nerves had been destroyed. Bowel surgery revealed she had also sustained a 12-centimetre tear during childbirth in 1996. The celiac disease, nerve damage and tear led to multiple bowel prolapses and numerous surgeries, significantly impacting her quality of life. "That stress of thinking that I couldn't lead the life I'd planned or envisaged, that was really a trying time." She was teaching physical education (PE) at the time and had to devise strategies with her teaching partner so she could rush off to the toilet when needed. The condition also had a significant impact on her personal life. "I met my second husband during that time, and really, it was difficult. "I probably wasn't my normal bubbly self ... was really self-conscious." She learnt about neuromodulation technology during a chat with a friend and nurse. Neuromodulation uses electronic, chemical or mechanical processes to stimulate the nervous system, improving function and quality of life. After a discussion with Dr Warwick, she had a nerve stimulator implanted, and while it took a few months to get used to the device, in time it helped her return to a more regular lifestyle. The device made such a difference that she successfully ran the Gold Coast Marathon in 2016 in just under three hours. She ran the race in honour of Kerryn McCann and Jackie Fairweather (nee Gallagher) - her fellow medalists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, who had both died. "I did it. and that ... made me realise ... I could maybe finish my running off on my terms now and not, you know, for health reasons." She continued to run, and in 2022, she broke the women's world record in her age group at the London Marathon. The 58-year-old plans to keep running until she is 60 when she will rerun the Gold Coast Marathon before retiring from the sport. According to the Continence Foundation of Australia, one in four adults is affected by incontinence. Dr Warwick said many people living with incontinence were unaware of available treatment options because stigma prevented them from talking about their conditions. "The patients' whole lives can be affected by these problems. They may start by changing little things in their life and adapting to cope with their symptoms. Then they start making bigger changes, Dr Warwick said. "There are so many fantastic treatment options available now depending on the person's individual situation. "If neuromodulation is appropriate, up to 90 per cent of my patients experience significant improvements to their lives." Hi, my name is Rowan Cowley and I'm a reporter for The Senior newspaper. I have special interests in the areas of entertainment, the arts and history and would like to hear from anyone who feels they have a good story idea. Hi, my name is Rowan Cowley and I'm a reporter for The Senior newspaper. I have special interests in the areas of entertainment, the arts and history and would like to hear from anyone who feels they have a good story idea. Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . Advertisement
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