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Sri Lankan protesters demand justice for Easter 2019 attacks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:19 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Thousands of Sri Lankans held a protest in the capital on Friday, demanding justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed nearly 270 people.The protesters demanded the government uncover who they said were the real conspirators behind the attacks on three churches — two Catholic and one Protestant — that included simultaneous suicide bombings during Easter celebrations on April 21, 2019. Three tourist hotels were also targeted, killing 42 foreigners from 14 countries.Thousands of people including Catholic clergy on Friday lined up for a silent protest on both sides of the main road connecting the capital, Colombo, with the country’s international airport. They blamed the government for not taking adequate measures to deliver justice for the victims of the bombings and punish those responsible.The protesters, dressed in white and black, held one another’s hands, forming a human chain. They displayed placards and banne...

Hong Kong bishop invites head of China’s state-backed church

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:19 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic bishop on Friday said he had invited a leader of the Communist Party-controlled group for Catholics in mainland China to visit his city, in a high-profile gesture aimed at improving strained Vatican relations with Beijing.Bishop Stephen Chow said Joseph Li, who also is archbishop of Beijing in China’s state-recognized church hierarchy, appeared to be “quite positive” about the invitation, according to public broadcaster RTHK. The report gave no indication when Li might visit.Chow announced the invitation on the last day of a five-day trip to Beijing, the first by a bishop of Hong Kong in nearly three decades. Last month, the bishop said that his visit underscores the mission of the Hong Kong Diocese to be a bridge church and promote exchanges between the two sides. But the trip came as the Vatican and Beijing are again split over the power to appoint bishops.China and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties in 1951, following the Communists’ ris...

Women’s soccer team plays to keep Mariupol in spotlight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:19 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In an empty stadium in Ukraine’s capital, a group of women soccer players draped in blue-and-yellow flags are getting ready for the match of the day.As at every game these days, they observe a minute of silence for those who died because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The logo on their uniform reads: “Mariupol is Ukraine.”They are members of Mariupol Women’s Soccer Team. The eastern port city was devastated and captured by Russian forces last year after more than two months of stiff resistance by outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian forces, turning Mariupol into a worldwide symbol of Ukrainian defiance.The city is now under Russian occupation, illegally annexed in September by the Russian president.Refusing to give up, five original players from Mariupol have formed a new team based in Kyiv, recruiting members from all over the country.Their goal? Not only to keep their place in the league but also to remind everyone that despite the Russian occupation that will s...

US urges NATO vigilance for signs Russia could use nuclear weapon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:19 GMT

The US and its NATO allies must remain alert for signs Russian President Vladimir Putin could use a tactical nuclear weapon in a "managed" escalation of his war in Ukraine, the second-highest US diplomat said on Tuesday (18 April).Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman issued the warning during the opening session of an annual NATO arms control conference that was being held in North America for the first time since its inception in 2004."We have all watched and worried that Vladimir Putin would use what he considers a non-strategic tactical nuclear weapon or use some demonstration effect to escalate, but in an managed risk escalation," Sherman said. "It is very critical to remain watchful of this."Putin's 25 March announcement that Russia is preparing to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus "is his effort to use this threat in a managed way", Sherman said.Tactical nuclear weapons are designed for battlefield gains or for use against limited military targets.Puti...

Formal campaign launched for overseas UK parliamentary constituencies to represent British citizens living abroad 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:19 GMT

The campaign gets under way as the UK government abolishes the legal bar, which currently prevents Britons who have lived outside the UK for more than 15 years, from voting in UK elections. The move followed a 20-year-long battle by Harry Shindler, a Second World War veteran and British resident in Italy to remove the so-called 15-year bar. He recently died, aged 101.The two groups behind the initiative are New Europeans UK and Unlock Democracy.Speaking at the launch, , Dr Ruvi Ziegler, chairman of New Europeans UK, told this site: “The removal of the 15-year bar significantly strengthens the case for special representation for UK voters residing abroad. “Whereas Britons living abroad retain substantive interests on the UK national level that justify their continued enfranchisement in Westminster elections, their links to a parliamentary constituency in the UK, which they may have left decades ago, may be weak and is likely to get even weaker with the passage of time. Conversel...

Former Los Angeles police officer arrested for alleged rape of a child

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:19 GMT

A former Los Angeles police officer was arrested Thursday for the alleged rape of a child under 14 years old.The suspect was identified as Diego Jose Miranda Lopez, who was a former LAPD officer assigned to the North Hollywood area.The alleged assault occurred prior to his employment with the LAPD, authorities note.When Lopez was confronted with the rape allegations, he resigned from his role as a probationary officer, according to officials.Lopez was arrested on charges of forcible rape of a child under 14 years old. He is currently being held without bail at LAPD’s Valley Jail.The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office is set to review Lopez’s case on April 24 for filing considerations.No further details were released as the case remains under investigation."The Juvenile Division, under Detective Bureau, is investigating the criminal allegations of rape and Internal Affairs Division, under Professional Standards Bureau, is responsible for theadministrative investigation relating t...

Single family residence in Palo Alto sells for $5 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:19 GMT

2920 Cowper Street – Google Street ViewThe property located in the 2900 block of Cowper Street in Palo Alto was sold on March 30, 2023. The $4,995,000 purchase price works out to $3,431 per square foot. The house, built in 1949, has an interior space of 1,456 square feet. The property features three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a garage, and one parking space. It sits on a 6,555-square-foot lot, which also has a pool.Additional houses that have recently changed hands close by include:On Waverley Street, Palo Alto, in March 2023, a 1,371-square-foot home was sold for $6,000,000, a price per square foot of $4,376. The home has 3 bedrooms and 1 bathrooms.In October 2022, a 1,383-square-foot home on Waverley Street in Palo Alto sold for $3,000,000, a price per square foot of $2,169. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 3,958-square-foot home on the 300 block of Loma Verde Avenue in Palo Alto sold in July 2022, for $4,850,000, a price per square foot of $1,225. The home has 6 bedrooms a...

Millbrae educator arrested on suspicion of molesting students

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:19 GMT

MILLBRAE — A Millbrae middle school teacher has been arrested on suspicion of molesting students, authorities said.In a statement Thursday, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said it received a report in late February that a student had been sexually assaulted by a sixth-grade teacher at Taylor Middle School.An investigation revealed one student was molested between November 2021 and March 2022, the sheriff’s office said.In addition, detectives learned of several juveniles who also claimed to have been touched inappropriately over their clothing by the teacher between 2007 and 2022.The teacher was placed on administrative leave after the allegations surfaced, the sheriff’s office said.On Thursday, detectives arrested the teacher, identified as 54-year-old Matthew Garrett, at his home in San Francisco. The sheriff’s office said he was booked into San Mateo County Jail on 10 counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14.Garrett’s bail was set at $5 million. He ...

AFSCME report: Staffing shortage by more than 3,400 at Maryland’s correctional facilities

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:19 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.A new report released Thursday by Maryland’s largest state employee union shows the state’s correctional facilities have an extreme staffing shortage of more than 3,400.The 120-page staffing audit was completed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Maryland Council 3, which completed an in-depth review of all 19 state correctional facilities.During a three-day visit in December to the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center, approximately 142 officers worked three shifts. In order to make sure the facility is safe for both workers and those incarcerated, 306 officers were needed, the union concluded. At that time, the facility had 147 vacancies.In the same month and same timeframe at Jessup Correctional Institution, 213 officers worked three shifts, but the report notes 357 officers were nee...

Padres ganan 7-5 a Diamondbacks; Tatis regresa a la acción

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:19 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Trent Grisham consiguió dos dobles y cuatro producidas, Xander Bogaerts disparó un jonrón de dos carreras y los Padres de San Diego vencieron el jueves 7-5 a los Diamondbacks de Arizona en el regreso a la acción de Fernando Tatis Jr. después de una larga suspensión por uso de sustancias prohibidas.El dominicano Tatis terminó de 5-0 y lo poncharon un par de ocasiones en su primer partido de campaña regular desde 2021; fue primero en el turno de bateo y cubrió el jardín derecho. Su intervención más notable de la noche fue en la defensiva en el octavo inning: se desplazó velozmente hacia atrás y su izquierda para atrapar una línea que impidió a Josh Rojas concretar un hit extrabase.Tatis, de 24 años, se perdió toda la campaña pasada, primero a causa de la fractura de su muñeca izquierda y después por una suspensión de 80 encuentros por uso de una sustancia prohibida para mejorar el rendimiento.Grisham y Bogaerts se contaron entre los jugadores de los Padres que compensar...