Rays Veteran Pitcher Elects Minor League Free Agency - Yahoo

Alternative für Deutschland has become Germany’s first far-right party to secure the position of speaker of a regional parliament since the second world war. Tobias Rausch, a former estate agent, was elected in the first round of voting on Tuesday in Saxony-Anhalt. He won 48 out of the 82 votes cast. Later in the day, Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, part of the AfD’s more extreme wing, was elected as Rausch’s deputy. The AfD, which is classed as “rightwing extremist” by the eastern state’s intelligence agency, won nearly 44% of votes in elections last month, dealing a hammer blow to Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and his centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU). Rausch’s election to the role of president of the parliament – and its speaker – took place at the inaugural gathering of members in the state capital, Magdeburg. Twenty-nine voted against Rausch and five abstained. Protesters console each other outside the state parliament in Magdeburg after the election of Tobias Rausch as speaker on Tuesday. Photograph: Maja Hitij/Getty ImagesThe AfD parliamentary group holds 39 seats, narrowly short of an absolute majority.