ALEX BLOG

RYE, N.Y. (AP) —Jeanine Pirro,the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, has filed a $250,000 negligence lawsuit against her suburban hometown north of New York City and a power utility after claiming she tripped and fell while out walking.

Pirro said she tripped over a large wooden block protruding from a steel plate in a roadway on Aug. 28 in the Westchester County city of Rye, just weeks after she wasconfirmed as the Trump administration's top prosecutorfor the District of Columbia.

The plate was covering excavation related to gas-main work for Consolidated Edison, according to an amended complaint filed Wednesday in state court.

"As a result of defendants' negligence, Ms. Pirro sustained serious personal injuries, including but not limited to bruises and contusions to the head, eye, face, and shoulder areas, together with pain, discomfort, and limitation of movement," according to the complaint, initially filed last month.

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The 74-year-old former Fox News host was confined to bed, required medical attention and "continues to experience pain and suffering," according to the filing.

Representatives for Pirro, Con Ed and Rye declined to comment on the pending litigation Thursday.

In a motion to dismiss the claim, an attorney for Rye wrote that it "can hardly be said that the City was negligent in a duty to pedestrians at a location that was not a pedestrian walkway." An attorney for Con Ed wrote in a separate court filing seeking dismissal that all the dangers and risks related to the incident "were open, obvious and apparent."

Pirro has served as both a judge and the district attorney for Westchester County.

By Rachel More, Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke

Far-right groups are targeting works council elections at Mercedes car plant in Stuttgart

STUTTGART, Germany, Feb 13 (Reuters) - On a dark February morning at Mercedes-Benz's vast Untertuerkheim plant, workers arriving for the early shift are met by activists from Zentrum, a self-styled union affiliated with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

"Game-changer," reads the pamphlet they are handing out ahead of elections to the factory's works council, at which Zentrum aims to challenge mainstream unions it says have failed to shield the automotive industry from thousands of job cuts.

Currently confined to the fringes of auto union ‌politics, the far right hopes to harness anxieties among workers in Germany's powerhouse industry to build grassroots influence that could help the AfD on a national stage. The country's carmakers are struggling with the shift to EVs and Chinese competition.

"We have established ourselves," said Oliver Hilburger, 56, who ‌founded Zentrum in 2009 and himself works at the plant in Stuttgart.

Reuters spoke to about a dozen trade union and works council representatives and officials in the auto sector ahead of the elections, held by companies across Germany every four years, as well as politicians and activists.

The premier of one of Germany's 16 states, several senior members of the national governing coalition and union representatives were among ​those who said they are worried the far-right will make gains in votes happening from March to May.

The AfD, which was classified by federal authorities as "right-wing extremist" last year, is shunned by Germany's political mainstream.

"It should be a cause for concern if groups close to the AfD could gain a stronger foothold in companies," said the state premier, declining to be identified in order to speak freely.

'ELECTIONS ALONE ARE NOT ENOUGH'

Works councils are a pillar of the corporatist model which proponents say helped foster stability and prosperity in Germany after World War Two, giving about 37% of employees a formal voice within companies.

Officials at IG Metall, the main union at companies like Mercedes and Volkswagen, say many far-right candidates plan to stand in elections to works councils in the auto industry's southern heartland.

Although some are only loosely affiliated with the AfD, they could give the party - which leads nationwide opinion polls and is on track to make gains in five state elections this year - a bigger platform to woo workers.

"A works councillor can ‌present AfD arguments once every quarter to tens of thousands of people at a works assembly," said Lukas Hezel, ⁠part of an IG Metall initiative to counter the far-right. "That is a much more valuable political position than a local councillor."

Spying an opportunity, the AfD is giving Zentrum, the most established far-right labour movement, more support.

"If you want to shape a society, elections alone are not enough," said the AfD's deputy parliamentary leader Sebastian Muenzenmaier after hosting Zentrum at a party event ahead of March 22's state election in Rhineland-Palatinate.

"You need a mosaic - the party, a trade union, cultural initiatives, maybe a musician, a ⁠publisher, a bookshop. Each has its own role, but all move in the same direction."

Mercedes, Volkswagen and VW-owned Audi declined to comment directly on the works council elections but issued statements avowing democratic values like tolerance and diversity.

"The AfD advocates economic policies and, in some cases, even constitutional and xenophobic positions that are incompatible with the values of Mercedes-Benz," a company spokesperson said.

Some observers warn of a broader risk to democracy if the big unions are weakened, drawing parallels with fragmentation of labour movements during the Great Depression that undermined their ability to organise against Nazism in the 1930s.

"To assume the unions will scrape through the next works council elections with nothing more than a black eye would be fatal," said ​Klaus ​Doerre, a trade union expert at Kassel University. "The potential for a breakthrough is there."

At Untertuerkheim, some workers stride past the four Zentrum activists but many accept the campaign material.

"We've gone ​through 800 flyers," Hilburger says, fetching another box from his van.

THE RISE OF A MOVEMENT

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The big unions, which describe themselves ‌as non-partisan but explicitly defend values such as social justice and opposition to racism and far-right extremism, have traditionally dominated works council elections.

The AfD says the unions serve a left-wing agenda that no longer represents ordinary workers, and has sought to discredit them through a series of parliamentary inquiries.

"Today, it's no longer the cigar-smoking factory owner who bullies people. Today, people are more afraid of a powerful works council if they have the wrong opinion," Hilburger said in an interview.

The leaflet handed out to Mercedes workers accuses IG Metall, which has over 2 million members, of standing by as job cuts mount but offers few concrete proposals to fix the crisis.

Zentrum, whose status as a union is disputed because it does not take part in collective bargaining negotiations, currently has around 150 works council members plus 15 affiliates, Hilburger said, out of tens of thousands nationwide. Seven are at Untertuerkheim, where it will stand 207 candidates this year, a few more than in 2022.

An affiliated group at Volkswagen's all-electric plant in Zwickau will field 24 candidates, up from eight in 2022, Hilburger said, while Zentrum's three candidates at Audi Ingolstadt could make a breakthrough in auto centre Bavaria.

Hilburger could not give a total number of candidates.

"These are showcase companies, success here is symbolically important," said Doerre. "If they can succeed ‌at Mercedes or Volkswagen, it signals maybe they are a force to be reckoned with."

The crisis in carmaking could offer a chance to scoop up protest votes from workers disenchanted ​with established parties and trade unions.

Where weekend football results used to dominate shop floor chatter, now "the conversation immediately and almost exclusively turns to politics", Hilburger said.

SKINHEAD GUITARIST TURNED LABOUR LEADER

The AfD initially put ​Zentrum, whose leader Hilburger for years played guitar in a skinhead band, on an "incompatibility" list of organisations too extreme to work with. Members voted to ​remove it in 2022, when the party shifted rightwards.

Jens Keller, a city councillor in Hannover, is one of several AfD officials who are also Zentrum activists.

"The AfD has discovered all these people they already have... They now increasingly want them to become active ‌in workplace politics," said Andre Schmidt, a political analyst at Leipzig University.

An exit poll by Infratest dimap after last ​year's federal election showed some 38% of blue-collar workers voted AfD, up 17 percentage ​points from 2021, while just 12% chose the centre-left Social Democrats.

AFD: THE NEW WORKERS' PARTY?

Hildegard Mueller, who heads the VDA automotive industry association, has warned that "simple, populist and emotionally charged" far-right messaging could prove persuasive given job insecurity and policymaker inaction.

"It is not only the AfD waiting at the factory gates; representatives close to the AfD will be running on lists," she said.

Traditional unions are fighting back: Hezel said they have hired 10 people for the Association for the Preservation of Democracy, founded by IG Metall in 2019 to counter workplace extremism. They argue that groups like Zentrum ​are sham unions whose goal is disruption not upholding workers' interests.

The Christian Trade Union Confederation (CGB) has warned that some works ‌council candidates are not disclosing ties to the AfD, describing them as "more dangerous than Zentrum, whose closeness to the AfD is at least known".

An Opel Ruesselsheim works council member elected in March 2025 on the slate of CGB's metalworkers' union was later reported to have ​ties to far-right groups.

Trade union density has roughly halved since the 1990s, to about 14% of German employees, and the AfD has challenged their embedded role in civil society and politics.

"Unions are the only ones still competing with them to be the voice of workers," ​said Schmidt.

(Reporting by Rachel More, Sarah Marsh, Andreas Rinke and Christina Amann in Berlin, Ilona Wissenbach in Frankfurt and Joern Poltz in Munich; Editing by Catherine Evans)

At least 2 people are dead, and another was injured after a campus shooting on Feb. 12 at South Carolina State University, school officials said, the latest gun-related incident to rock a U.S. college community.

A campus lockdown was issued at about 9:15 p.m. local time on Thursday, Feb. 12, after a reported shooting in an apartment at the Hugine Suites student residential complex, South Carolina State University officials announced in a statement. The school campus remains on lockdown.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigators are investigating the shooting, according to school officials. The university, located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, is about 45 miles southeast of Columbia, the state capital.

'I will know every victim':What we know after 8 killed in shootings at Canadian school, home

"Friday classes have been canceled," the schoolconfirmed on Facebook. "Counselors are available to students."

The victims' identities and the condition of the injured person were not immediately known. USA TODAY has reached out to the university and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for comment.

Founded in 1896, South Carolina State University has a population of over 3,000 students, according to the school website. The school is the state's only public historically Black university.

The incident in South Carolina comes after the December 2025mass shooting at Brown Universitythat killed two students and injured nine others. In October 2025, shootings on the South Carolina State University campus left one person dead and another injured as the institutionhosted homecoming celebrations.

Contributing: Christopher Cann, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:South Carolina State University shooting leaves 2 dead, 1 injured

Feb 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. is sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East ‌amid tensions with Iran, U.S. media outlets ‌reported late on Thursday.

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and ​its escort ships will be sent to the Middle East from the Caribbean, the New York Times, which first reported the news, said, citing U.S. ‌officials.

The White House and ⁠the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside ⁠of regular business hours.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump had said he was considering sending a second ​aircraft carrier ​to the Middle East ​if a deal is ‌not reached with Iran.

The first aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers arrived in the Middle East in January.

Trump said on Thursday the United States has to make a deal ‌with Iran and suggested an ​agreement could be struck over ​the next month.

"We ​have to make a deal, otherwise it's ‌going to be very traumatic, ​very traumatic," ​Trump told reporters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said he hoped that Trump was ​creating the conditions ‌to reach a deal with Iran that ​would avoid military action.

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim in ​Barcelona;Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

MERAUX, La. (AP) — Across the calm waters behind a pumping station near Lake Borgne, hundreds of saplings stand out in the mist, wrapped in white plastic cylinders.

To get there and to other sites like it, organizers have ferried dozens of volunteers week after week in airboats. They have a trailer equipped with supplies. Rubber boots in all different sizes. Bins full of snacks for the end of a hard day's work.

One day, they hope to see 30,000 fully grown trees like bald cypress and water tupelo at this and other sites that restore the natural barrier ofwetlandsinto the protective forest it once was. The goal is for the roots of these native trees to hold the earth around New Orleans in place as it slips further below sea level, create habitat for wildlife and help shield the city from storms.

Much of that natural barrier was lost afterHurricane Katrina, which killed over 1,000 people and caused over $100 billion in damage in 2005. But many have been working since then to restore the land, and near the end of a long effort run by local environmental groups, organizers are reflecting on the roots they've helped put down — a more solid ecosystem, so different from the degraded marsh they started with.

"We're one part of a larger movement to resist this sort of 'doomerism' mindset, and to show that recovery is possible," said Christina Lehew, executive director ofCommon Ground Relief, one of the organizations working on the tree planting. "When we use our imaginations to envision the past and the vast amount of wetlands landscapes that we have lost, we know that likely we'll never return to that pristine image of the past. But we can gain something back."

Why organizations have joined forces to plant trees in wetlands

In other locations around New Orleans, cypress trees planted years ago tower over dense thickets rich with other native plants. They tell the story of what could have been, and what restorers are trying to bring back.Before the logging industry, before the oil and gas industry, before anyone built levees to contain the Mississippi River, the Delta naturally ebbed and flowed and flooded as the river deposited sediment on the Gulf Coast. The plants that thrived in that ecosystem formed protective estuaries.But then the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 burst through levees in dozens of places. Hundreds of people died and the water caused catastrophic damage across several states. After that, the government initiated a new era of levee building. By the mid-1960s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had also constructed a shipping channel called the Mississippi River—Gulf Outlet Canal (MRGO), which ultimately became a path for Katrina's storm surge into the city of New Orleans.Those engineering decisions worsenedKatrina's destruction. They allowed saltwater into freshwater ecosystems around the city, poisoning many of the trees. And so the city was exposed to future hurricanes, and lost the living guardians whose roots held the land in place.In 2009, the MRGO was shut down to cut off further saltwater intrusion, and environmental groups started reforesting. Eventually, about five years ago, several organizations came together as acollectiveto apply for federal and state funding for a bigger project. Spreading two large grants across different volunteer bases, planting in different areas and using different techniques, they're getting closer to that 30,000-tree goal. One of the largest groups, theCoalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, has planted about 10,000 of its 15,000-tree quota, said Andrew Ferris, senior coordinator for their native plants program. They'll finish by next year, he said."In our wildest dreams we never thought we'd be able to plant some of the areas that we are now planting," said Blaise Pezold, who started planting trees around 2009 and is now coastal and environmental program director for theMeraux Foundation, one of the partner organizations. "It was thought to be too low, too salty, Katrina messed it up too much, and we would have to focus on areas that were easier to get into."The closing of the MRGO and the drop in salinity levels changed all that. "The Central Wetlands Reforestation Collective has kind of allowed us to be very adventurous in the sites we choose," Pezold added.A way of processing grief, and rebuilding for the futureFor many of the organizers in Louisiana who have been helping with restoration and recovery efforts, the project has been a way to cope with living in the wake of a natural disaster.Katrina hit the day after Ashe Burke's 8th birthday. "It still affects everybody that went through it, and ... it changed us all. I mean, we had our lives ripped out from underneath us in a day," said Burke, the wetlands restoration specialist for Common Ground Relief, where Lehew also works. "It still does hurt in some ways, you know? But we gotta keep going on and the sun rises in the morning."That's also something important to teach the next generation, said Rollin Black, who works with theCenter for Sustainable Engagement and Development, one of the tree-planting partner organizations. He also has family in New Orleans, and he said restoring the environment has been a way to act on the problems he saw. Seeing kids participate helps."That brings a little bit of joy to my heart that they're actually inspired by what we're doing. So maybe they could come back or maybe they have some reason to live in New Orleans," he said.___Follow Melina Walling on X@MelinaWallingand Bluesky@melinawalling.bsky.social. Follow Joshua A. Bickel onInstagram,BlueskyandX@joshuabickel.___The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP'sstandardsfor working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas atAP.org.

In other locations around New Orleans, cypress trees planted years ago tower over dense thickets rich with other native plants. They tell the story of what could have been, and what restorers are trying to bring back.

Before the logging industry, before the oil and gas industry, before anyone built levees to contain the Mississippi River, the Delta naturally ebbed and flowed and flooded as the river deposited sediment on the Gulf Coast. The plants that thrived in that ecosystem formed protective estuaries.

But then the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 burst through levees in dozens of places. Hundreds of people died and the water caused catastrophic damage across several states. After that, the government initiated a new era of levee building. By the mid-1960s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had also constructed a shipping channel called the Mississippi River—Gulf Outlet Canal (MRGO), which ultimately became a path for Katrina's storm surge into the city of New Orleans.

Those engineering decisions worsenedKatrina's destruction. They allowed saltwater into freshwater ecosystems around the city, poisoning many of the trees. And so the city was exposed to future hurricanes, and lost the living guardians whose roots held the land in place.

In 2009, the MRGO was shut down to cut off further saltwater intrusion, and environmental groups started reforesting. Eventually, about five years ago, several organizations came together as acollectiveto apply for federal and state funding for a bigger project. Spreading two large grants across different volunteer bases, planting in different areas and using different techniques, they're getting closer to that 30,000-tree goal. One of the largest groups, theCoalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, has planted about 10,000 of its 15,000-tree quota, said Andrew Ferris, senior coordinator for their native plants program. They'll finish by next year, he said.

"In our wildest dreams we never thought we'd be able to plant some of the areas that we are now planting," said Blaise Pezold, who started planting trees around 2009 and is now coastal and environmental program director for theMeraux Foundation, one of the partner organizations. "It was thought to be too low, too salty, Katrina messed it up too much, and we would have to focus on areas that were easier to get into."

The closing of the MRGO and the drop in salinity levels changed all that. "The Central Wetlands Reforestation Collective has kind of allowed us to be very adventurous in the sites we choose," Pezold added.

A way of processing grief, and rebuilding for the future

For many of the organizers in Louisiana who have been helping with restoration and recovery efforts, the project has been a way to cope with living in the wake of a natural disaster.

Katrina hit the day after Ashe Burke's 8th birthday. "It still affects everybody that went through it, and ... it changed us all. I mean, we had our lives ripped out from underneath us in a day," said Burke, the wetlands restoration specialist for Common Ground Relief, where Lehew also works. "It still does hurt in some ways, you know? But we gotta keep going on and the sun rises in the morning."

That's also something important to teach the next generation, said Rollin Black, who works with theCenter for Sustainable Engagement and Development, one of the tree-planting partner organizations. He also has family in New Orleans, and he said restoring the environment has been a way to act on the problems he saw. Seeing kids participate helps.

"That brings a little bit of joy to my heart that they're actually inspired by what we're doing. So maybe they could come back or maybe they have some reason to live in New Orleans," he said.

Follow Melina Walling on X@MelinaWallingand Bluesky@melinawalling.bsky.social. Follow Joshua A. Bickel onInstagram,BlueskyandX@joshuabickel.

The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP'sstandardsfor working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas atAP.org.

By Ariba Shahid

KARACHI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Under neon lights at an indoor sports club in Karachi, twenty-somethings drifted between glowing courts and a DJ booth, dancing with coffee cups and iced tea in hand.

No alcohol. No drugs. And the music ended promptly at 10 pm.

In Pakistan, a ‌growing number of Gen Z are opting for "sober socialising", joining a global trend as young people increasingly opt for healthier lifestyles.

Here, though, the shift carries ‌an added appeal: Drinking alcohol is illegal for Muslims, who make up the vast majority of Pakistan's population.

PARTYING WITHOUT THE POUR

They are increasingly turning their backs on the party scene of the past, which often ​involved underground venues because of the presence of alcohol and drugs, and the risk of running afoul of authorities.

"In Karachi, we don't have many places to just exist socially," said Zia Malik, a software entrepreneur attending the event. "This gives you that without having to hide."

"I have visited some underground parties," he added. "You cannot feel secure."

At the sports club, crowd numbers were capped. Between breaks in dancing, revellers played padel, a cross between squash and tennis popular in Pakistan.

The event's organiser, experiential platform 12xperience, had local government approval to host a public ‌party without alcohol.

CREATING A SAFE SPACE

Cameras - both wall-mounted and ⁠on drones - monitored the crowd to enforce the no-alcohol policy and to deter fights or harassment, organisers said.

"Without guardrails, you're just recreating the same risks people are trying to escape," said Mohammed Usman, founder of 12xperience.

"This is about creating a space where people feel safe," ⁠he said. "Without alcohol, without drugs, without chaos."

Events like this are popping up across the city of nearly 19 million in growing numbers, mainly at sports facilities and coffee shops, but also at venues such as art galleries and co-working spaces.

Euromonitor data shows Pakistan's soft drinks market grew more than 27% between 2020 and 2025, and hot drinks - a category that includes coffee - expanded ​by ​a similar margin.

While that mirrors a global trend in young people drinking less, Pakistan's shift has ​outpaced mature markets such as the United States and Britain, where ‌non-alcoholic beverage volumes have grown only modestly.

PARTYING WITHIN ISLAMIC BOUNDARIES

Sociologist Kausar Parveen said the change shows how young Pakistanis have put a modern spin on adapting to the country's Islamic norms, rather than being a sign they are rejecting them.

"They are not going beyond religion, but reframing how social life happens," said Parveen, an associate professor at the University of Karachi.

Women-only events are also increasing in popularity, in a country where gender mixing carries cultural stigmas.

"For a lot of women, nightlife comes with conditions of who's there, how late it runs, how visible it is," said comedian and influencer Amtul Bajwa, who was hosting the women-only desi music night at her cafe in Karachi, Third ‌Culture Coffee.

"This was about creating a space where women could relax without negotiating those things."

OPTIONS OPEN ​ONLY TO WOMEN

Pakistani and Indian music played as women danced without reservations to desi tracks, and ​the event ended at 9pm sharp.

"You don't have to worry about who's watching," ​said Fatima, who did not share her last name because her parents did not know she was attending. "Ending early makes it easier ‌to get home."

Bajwa has also hosted a number of coffee raves for ​both genders, and recently held a silent ​disco at her cafe, but said there is particular demand for women-only events.

Price is something of an issue: Tickets typically cost between 3,000 and 7,000 Pakistani rupees ($10.73 to $25.04) in a country where entry-level monthly salaries tend to be 30,000 to 40,000 rupees, making a single night out a significant expense.

Even so, sober ​raves have become a significant - and very visible - outlet for ‌Pakistan's youth.

At the sports club, well-dressed lifestyle bloggers and social media influencers posted photos and videos in real time, something unlikely at parties involving ​alcohol.

"It's more available to the masses," said Shah Zaib, a 27-year-old data analyst attending his third such event.

"I love the fact that it's not ​underground anymore."

($1 = 279.5000 Pakistani rupees)

(Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi: Editing by Kevin Buckland)

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Malaysia's government will form a special committee to investigate allegations against the country's anti-corruption chief, the communications minister said on ‌Friday, following a media report alleging a breach of shareholding laws.

The task ‌force will be led by the country's Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, Communications Minister ​Fahmi Fadzil said during his weekly press conference.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg cited a corporate filing from last year as saying that Malaysia's Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki held 17.7 million shares in a financial services company that were currently worth about 800,000 ringgit ($205,000), well ‌above the 100,000 ringgit limit ⁠allowed for public servants.

Bloomberg in a later report on Thursday said that MACC officials were also helping a group of businessmen to seize ⁠control over companies, citing internal documents and interviews with witnesses. Reuters has not independently verified the report.

"After the investigation is completed, it will be reported back to the Cabinet for ​any follow-up ​action. This is an effort to ensure the ​aspects of transparency and integrity of ‌the investigation process," Fahmi said.

Fahmi did not specify which allegations would be investigated.

Azam said earlier that he was willing to be investigated by a government committee amid calls for him to step down, adding that he had "nothing to hide" as all his financial and asset declarations have been made according to public service laws.

"I am confident that ‌the truth will prevail through a fair and ​independent process," he said in a statement.

The report prompted ​opposition lawmakers and civil society groups ​to renew demands for Azam's resignation and call for major reforms ‌to the anti-graft agency, including the removal ​of the prime ​minister's power to appoint the MACC chief.

Azam's trading activities faced similar scrutiny in 2022 over allegations that he owned millions of shares in two publicly listed companies ​in 2015 and 2016.

The ‌securities regulator said at the time it was unable to determine whether he ​had broken the law.

($1 = 3.9030 ringgit)

(Reporting by Danial Azhar and Ashley Tang; ​Editing by John Mair and David Stanway)