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Northern Ireland police chief resigns after controversies including huge data breach

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:50 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Northern Ireland’s top police officer resigned Monday following a series of controversies that plagued the police force, including what he described as an “industrial scale” data breach.The Northern Ireland Policing Board confirmed that Simon Byrne has resigned as chief constable, with immediate effect. Bryne has faced growing pressure to step down since personal data on all serving members of the police force were mistakenly published last month in response to a freedom of information request. The details included the surnames, initials, location and departments for around 10,000 officers and staff. Police said that dissident republicans claimed to be in possession of information about police officers following the incident.The breach was particularly sensitive given the delicate security situation in Northern Ireland, which is still trying to overcome decades of sectarian violence known as “The Troubles.” Twenty-five years after a peace agreement largely ended the vi...

Pope insists Vatican-China relations are on track but says more work is needed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:50 GMT

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis insisted Monday that the Vatican’s relations with China were going well but said work must still be done to show Beijing that the Catholic Church isn’t beholden to a foreign power.Francis spoke about the Holy See’s dealings with China during a press conference en route home from Mongolia, where Beijing and its crackdown on religious minorities overshadowed an otherwise historic first papal visit to the majority Buddhist nation.Francis sent a telegram of greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping as his aircraft flew through China’s airspace coming and going to Mongolia. The pontiff also gave a special shout-out to the Chinese people at the end of his main Mass in Ulaanbaatar. He brought up to the altar the current and retired bishops of Hong Kong to demonstrate his “warm” affection for the Chinese people.But relations remain strained, particularly over a 5-year-old agreement on nominating Catholic bishops. The 2018 accord aimed t...

Pope wants to keep big Vatican meeting on the church’s future behind closed doors, ideology-free

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:50 GMT

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis defended the decision to keep the discussions of a big Vatican meeting on the future of the Catholic Church behind closed doors, saying Monday the three-week conference was a religious moment for the church and “not a television program” that was open to scrutiny.Francis was asked repeatedly on his way home from Mongolia about the Oct. 4-29 meeting, or synod of bishops, which is opening after an unprecedented two-year canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics around the globe about their hopes for the church.Many Vatican watchers consider the synod to be a defining moment of the Francis pontificate, since the official agenda includes hot-button issues such as the role of women in decision-making roles in the church, the acceptance of LGBTQ+ Catholics and celibacy for priests.While the meeting is not a decision-making body, many Catholics who participated in the pre-meeting consultations are eager to see how their contributions are considered or...

Protesters in southern Syria smash statue as they mark 2015 assassination of anti-government leader

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:50 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of angry protesters in southern Syria smashed the statue of Syria’s late president on Monday as they they marked the 2015 assassination of a prominent anti-government Druze leader.The protests in the province of Sweida, where the Druze community represents the majority of the population, have entered their third week. The demonstrations were initially driven by surging inflation and the war-torn country’s spiraling economy but quickly shifted focus, with marchers calling for the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government.Monday’s protest took place in the provincial capital, also called Sweida, where angry men and woman called for the downfall of Assad’s government. Some smashed the statue of Assad’s late father and predecessor, Hafez Assad.Several demonstrators marched up to the building of the local branch of the social security and tore down a giant poster of Bashar Assad, according to videos circulated on social media and opposition activists....

Serbian player loses a kidney after getting injured at Basketball World Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:50 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Serbian Basketball Federation announced Monday that forward Borisa Simanic has lost one of his kidneys as the result of an injury sustained during a World Cup game against South Sudan.Simanic has been operated on twice in Manila, the team said. Additional complications presented themselves after the first surgery, team doctor Dragan Radovanovic said, requiring the second procedure on Sunday where the kidney was removed.Serbia plays Lithuania in a World Cup quarterfinal on Tuesday.“It was really tough for us when we heard what happened,” Serbian forward Nikola Milutinov told reporters after the team practiced Monday. “First, we didn’t believe it was such a bad thing. It’s really affected us. We’re really praying for him that he’s going to be good as soon as possible.”Simanic was injured with just under 2 minutes left in Serbia’s win over South Sudan on Wednesday. South Sudan’s Nuni Omot was trying to score under the b...

West Virginia University crisis looms as GOP leaders focus on economic development, jobs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:50 GMT

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — On the same day that dejected students pleaded with the board of West Virginia’s flagship university not to eliminate its entire foreign languages department and dozens of other programs, Gov. Jim Justice said he was feeling hopeful about the future of education in the state.“We’ve had tough times — there will be more tough times — but absolutely we are rising from the ashes,” Justice said Aug. 22, while signing a bill allocating $45 million for another state school, Marshall University, to open a new cybersecurity center 200 miles from West Virginia University.Lawmakers approved the Marshall project, heralded as the nation’s “new East Coast hub” for cybersecurity, in a hastily called special session last month but rejected calls to send WVU funds to address its budget deficit, currently about $45 million. The Legislature’s lack of interest in bailing out the state’s largest university comes as WVU struggles with the financial toll of dwindling e...

Zimbabwean president at his inauguration says the disputed election reveals a ‘mature democracy’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:50 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday hailed recent elections as a sign of the country’s “mature democracy” and a victory over Western adversaries, as he took an oath of office following a vote whose credibility was questioned by both Western and African observers.Mnangagwa, 80, won disputed polls held on Aug. 26, garnering 52.6% of the vote ahead of main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s 44%. His ZANU-PF party, which has ruled the tiny nation of 15 million people since independence from white minority rule in 1980, also retained a parliamentary majority.“There are no losers but victory for the people of Zimbabwe against the neo-colonial tendencies of our country’s detractors and those who believe that might is right. … We have shamed our detractors,” he said before jubilant supporters, many of them bussed to pack a 60,000-seater Chinese-built stadium in the capital, Harare. “Counter revolutionaries and their proxies will never prevail in Zimbabw...

Dunkin’ is giving out free coffee every Monday. Here’s how to get it 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:50 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) - Need a way to get rid of the Monday blues? Starting the week with a free coffee can't hurt. From every Monday from now until the end of October, Dunkin' is giving out a free medium cup of iced or hot coffee with any purchase. You can buy a donut, bagel, breakfast sandwich or any other item to qualify. Dunkin’ teases line of ‘Spiked’ iced coffees, teas To cash in on the deal that is brewing up, you must be a Dunkin' Rewards member. You can become a member by creating an account on the Dunkin’ app or enrolling on the website. The offer is valid until the last Monday in October. Each member is limited to one free drink. Cold brew and Nitro Cold Brew drinks are excluded from the deal, according to Dunkin’. Dunkin' has more than 13,000 locations around the world.

Troy Music Hall lunchtime music lineup announced

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:50 GMT

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall is bringing back its lunchtime concert series, Music at Noon, for the 2023-24 season. This series has taken place each month from October to May since 1988. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! The shows are free to attend and take place at noon at Troy Music Hall. The first performance is set for October 10.LineupOctober 10: Lost Radio Rounders, Americana/FolkNovember 14: Carl Gutowski & Talin Chi, Flute/PianoDecember 12: Alan Goldberg, Americana/ Original Singer/ SongwriterJanuary 9: Heliand Consort, Woodwind ensemble/Vermont-basedFebruary 13: CelloGayageum, Korean Classical FusionMarch 12: Yvonne Chavez Hansbrough, Young Kim, and Paul Quigley, Flute/Piano/GuitarApril 9: Spira, Chamber QuartetMay 14: Findlay Cockrell, Piano Tugboat Roundup and Parade returning to Waterford Some of these Music at Noon performances will have a pre-show arts enrichment workshop to learn more about ...

Albany Police recover firearms from stolen vehicle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:50 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Albany Police Department arrested James Ford, 50, on South Pearl Street on Sunday night. Officers conducted a traffic stop connected to a stolen vehicle investigation and located an illegally possessed loaded 9mm handgun and a loaded Archangel. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! Ford was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, one count of criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree, one count of unauthorized use of a vehicle in the third degree, and aggravated unlicensed operation in the second degree. Ford was arraigned in Albany City Criminal Court and remanded to the Albany County Jail.