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College of Europe to open new campus in Albania

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:54 GMT

The EU’s favorite university is in for a Balkan enlargement.  The Commission’s neighborhood czar Olivér Várhelyi announced that the College of Europe — the training ground for aspiring Eurocrats — will open a new campus in Tirana, Albania, in a sign that the Balkan country is edging closer toward EU membership. This move is seen by regional experts as an attempt by the bloc to increase its soft power in a key geopolitical region.Albania is an EU candidate country and is in the process of aligning with the EU’s rules and carrying out reforms to meet the bloc’s accession criteria.The new campus will be funded by the Commission and applications for students will open in September 2023, according to Várhelyi. He added: “The only thing we need now is a building, a nice site [for the college].”Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama hailed the news as a “great gift” and something “exceptionally important and significant for us” in a joint news conference in Tirana with the EU’s forei...

Chinese companies are shipping rifles, body armor to Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:54 GMT

Chinese companies, including one connected to the government in Beijing, have sent Russian entities 1,000 assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including drone parts and body armor, according to trade and customs data obtained by POLITICO.The shipments took place between June and December 2022, according to the data provided by ImportGenius, a customs data aggregator.China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, one of the country’s largest state-owned defense contractors, sent the rifles in June 2022 to a Russian company called Tekhkrim that also does business with the Russian state and military. The CQ-A rifles, modeled off of the M16 but tagged as “civilian hunting rifles” in the data, have been reported to be in use by paramilitary police in China and by armed forces from the Philippines to South Sudan and Paraguay.Russian entities also received 12 shipments of drone parts by Chines...

Linebacker Elandon Roberts goes from Dolphins to Steelers in free agency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:54 GMT

Linebacker Elandon Roberts’ time with the Miami Dolphins is up.The seven-year pro who spent the past three seasons in Miami is headed to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a two-year deal, according to NFL Network.Change was likely coming to the Dolphins’ inside linebacker corps when the team reached a deal with David Long, formerly of the Tennessee Titans. Miami is also re-signing linebacker Duke Riley as the defense transitions to being led by Vic Fangio following Josh Boyer’s tenure as defensive coordinator.The sure-tackling Roberts is coming off his first triple-digit tackle season, collecting 107 with a career-high 4 ½ sacks in 2022. Over three years with the Dolphins, he had 251 tackles. Roberts also played his first four seasons with the New England Patriots, where he won two Super Bowls and had former Dolphins coaches Boyer and Brian Flores on the defensive staff.Miami has Long, Jerome Baker, whose contract for 2023 becomes guaranteed on March 19, Riley and 20...

Ceiling debris falls onto MBTA commuter rail platform

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:54 GMT

A piece of ceiling debris fell on the Forest Hills commuter rail platform, two weeks after a 25-pound ceiling panel nearly hit a rider at a Red Line station.In this instance, the debris was not concrete and weighed less than a pound, according to MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo.“Some crumbled debris, apparently bridge joint felt, which is used as padding near joints and weighs less than one pound, was found on the ground,” Pesaturo said.“Facilities maintenance personnel on the scene observed an area where felt is missing, and, with the felt missing, water has been observed coming down the bridge joint.”He said the area where the debris was found, which was Wednesday morning according to a photo of the material posted on Twitter, has been cordoned off.This incident occurred exactly two weeks after a more serious case of fallen debris at Harvard station, where a 25-pound water-logged aluminum panel collapsed due to what T officials described as corrosion, nearly hitting a woman.A video...

‘We are all Amqui,’ Legault tells Quebec town reeling after pedestrian deaths

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:54 GMT

AMQUI, Que. — Quebec Premier François Legault promised to boost mental health services in the province Thursday as he visited the town where two people were killed and nine injured when a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians.Joined by opposition leaders and other politicians, Legault met with residents of Amqui, the small community in the lower St-Lawrence region. Afterwards, he said the tragedy had prompting soul-searching on what more can be done to prevent a repeat.“We feel a little guilty, me first of all,” he told reporters after the visit. He said the province “has to do more” for mental health.“It’s not always easy because people have to accept to go get help,” he added. “Sometimes we have to, maybe, force them to go seek help.”On Monday, a man drove a truck down one of Amqui’s main streets, allegedly hitting several groups of pedestrians in what police have described as an intentional act. Gérald Charest, 65, and Jean La...

Stocks advance on Wall Street, Treasury yields swing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:54 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks shook off an early stumble and gained ground Thursday amid hopes for help for a bank at the center of Wall Street’s hunt for what’s next to crack in the struggling industry.The S&P 500 was 1.8% higher in afternoon trading after erasing an earlier loss following reports that First Republic Bank could receive financial assistance or sell itself to another bank.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 364 points, or 1.1%, at 32,228, as of 1:14 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 2.2% higher. This week has been a whirlwind for markets globally on worries about banks that may be bending under the weight of the fastest set of hikes to interest rates in decades. The crisis of confidence has been flaring since Friday’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which was the second largest bank failure in U.S. history.Since then, Wall Street has tried to root out banks with similar traits, such as lots of depositors with more than the $250,000 limit that’...

UN announces new advisers to bolster young voices on climate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:54 GMT

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres named seven young climate leaders Thursday to be his Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, underlining the role of youth advocates in climate action.They include advocates, tribal land defenders, educators, and activists and will serve through the end of next year. They’re the second-ever group of climate youth advisers, the first having been selected in 2020.They were selected by Guterres from Poland, the Gambia, Saint Lucia, Philippines, Colombia/Paraguay, Ireland and the U.S. The team will advise the United Nations on climate action and policies.At the announcement, Guterres urged young climate advocates around the world to continue raising their voices and said that the “unrelenting conviction” of young people is essential to keeping climate goals within reach, lowering fossil fuel emissions, and delivering climate justice. Fatou Jeng, a climate educator and frontline activist from Gambia, now a U.N. advisor, said she’s devasta...

Alberta mourns Edmonton officers killed in the line of duty

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:54 GMT

Alberta is mourning the loss of two Edmonton officers that were killed while responding to a domestic call early Thursday morning.In a news conference on Thursday, Edmonton Police Chief Dale McFee called it an “unthinkable and horrific tragedy.”“This is unthinkable. It’s unimaginable. It’s horrific. It’s a tragedy. But we will move on because that’s what we do,” McFee said.“We appreciate all the expressions of support from all over the country, nationally, and internationally, and locally. That is the support that helps us get through each day.”Police say 35-year-old Const. Travis Jordan and 30-year-old Brett Ryan were responding to a family dispute call just before 1 a.m. at the Baywood Apartments on 114 Avenue and 132 Street.When they went inside the apartment complex and approached the suite in question, they were shot by the suspect.McFee says they did not get a chance to use their weapons.Read More: ‘Unthinkable and horrific tragedyR...

Senators take first step in repealing Iraq War authorization

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate took a first step Thursday toward repealing two measures that give open-ended approval for military action in Iraq, pushing to end that authority as the United States marks the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War.Senators voted 68-27 to move forward on legislation that would repeal the 2002 measure that greenlighted that March 2003 invasion of Iraq and a 1991 measure that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War to expel Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait. The effort comes at a time when lawmakers of both parties are seeking to reclaim congressional powers over U.S. military strikes and deployments, arguing that the war authorizations are no longer necessary and subject to misuse if they are left on the books. President Joe Biden has backed the push, and the White House issued a statement Thursday in support.“Repeal of these authorizations would have no impact on current U.S. military operations and would support this administration’s commitment to a ...

Fugitive with distinctive facial tattoos captured in Hamilton

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:54 GMT

It’s fair to say that fugitives with face tattoos are at a considerable disadvantage when it comes to eluding the authorities.In that case, Michael Stamatakos didn’t stand much of a chance.The heavily-tattooed federal offender’s time on the run came to an end when he was arrested by Hamilton Police less than a month after breaching his statutory release.Stamatakos, 31, had been unaccounted for since February 23, 2023, after which he became the subject of both a Canada-wide warrant and the internet’s gawking curiosity for his distinctive tats, which included a heart and teardrop with a stitch trail on his left cheek, a stitch trail on his right cheek and “SPARTON” on the right side of his neck, to name a few.The provincial Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (R.O.P.E.) Squad said on Thursday that he’s now back in custody after being arrested in Hamilton.Before his brief fling with freedom, Stamatakos was serving a two-year sentence for arson a...