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Major RI bridge unexpectedly closed for at least 2 weeks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:42 GMT

The unexpected closure of a major bridge in Rhode Island caused traffic headaches for drivers Monday morning. The Department of Transportation said the Washington Bridge, which connects Providence to the eastern part of the city, will be closed for at least two weeks.The sudden closure of the westbound lanes is due to “critical failure” of parts of the original 1960s-built infrastructure of the bridge.Authorities said depending on the extent of the issues, repair work could take three months or longer. https://twitter.com/RIDOTNews/status/1734342091751194838

Harvard president to stay! College Corporation backs embattled Claudine Gay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:42 GMT

Embattled Harvard University President Claudine Gay is staying put, the college Corporation said in a stunning open message of support.The statement reads, in part: “As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University. Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.”Gay now remains at the helm of a university as donors pull millions in support and the feds probe antisemitism on campus.The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has announced that it’s opening a formal investigation into the learning environments, policies, and disciplinary procedures at Harvard, MIT and UPenn.As for allegations of plagiarism, including in her 1997 Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard, the Corporation states today: “… The University became aware in late October of alleg...

Transat AT names Jean-François Pruneau as next chief financial officer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:42 GMT

MONTREAL — Transat AT Inc. says it has named veteran Quebec executive Jean-François Pruneau as its next chief financial officer. Pruneau will start officially at the travel company on Jan. 9.He was most recently executive vice-president and chief financial officer at Starpax Biopharma.Before that, Transat says Pruneau held various roles at Canadian National Railway, BCE Media and Quebecor, where he was chief financial officer.He also served as president and chief executive of Videotron from 2019 to 2021.Pruneau replaces Patrick Bui who is leaving the parent company of Air Transat to become chief financial officer at retailer Dollarama Inc. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)The Canadian Press

Singer Zahara, South Africa’s Afro-soul sensation and beloved ‘Country Girl,’ dies aged 36

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:42 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African singer Zahara, who rose from an impoverished rural background to find rapid fame with multi-platinum selling albums and delivered her unique version of wistful Afro-soul in her country’s isiXhosa language and in English, has died, her family said Tuesday. She was 36.Zahara, whose real name was Bulelwa Mkutukana, died Monday, her family said in a statement posted on her official page on X, formerly Twitter. It gave no cause of death. The family said last month that Zahara had been admitted to a hospital with an undisclosed issue and had asked for privacy.“She was a pure light, and an even purer heart, in this world,” her family said in Tuesday’s statement.Zahara’s debut 2011 album “Loliwe” — meaning “The Train” — was certified double platinum and became South Africa’s second-fastest selling album after the 1997 record “Memeza” by Brenda Fassie, an icon of South African music.Just 23 when “Loliwe” was rel...

As more Rohingya arrive by boat, Indonesia asks the international community to share its burden

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:42 GMT

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia said Tuesday it is appealing to the international community for help after more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees have arrived on its shores by boat since November.Indonesia once tolerated such landings while Thailand and Malaysia pushed them away. But the growing hostility of some Indonesians toward the Rohingya, who come from refugee camps in Bangladesh, has put pressure on President Joko Widodo’s government to take action.“We see that the handling of the refugee problem, especially the resettlement issue, has been very slow so far,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Muhammad Iqbal told a news conference in the capital, Jakarta. He urged the international community to “show more responsibility in efforts to resolve the Rohingya refugee problem.”Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, is not a signatory to the U.N.’s 1951 Refugee Convention outlining their legal protections, so is not obligated to accept them. In the past, all have provided at lea...

MI6 chief thanks Russian state television for its ‘help’ in encouraging Russians to spy for the UK

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:42 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency has thanked Russian state television for its “help” encouraging Russians to spy for the U.K. after it translated and broadcast part of a speech he gave earlier this year in which he called on Russians to “join hands with us.”Anchor Maria Butina — herself a former Russian spy — included the clip at the top of a program about Richard Moore, the head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6. Moore gave the speech in July at the British Embassy in Prague where he openly encouraged Russians faced with “the venality, infighting and sheer callous incompetence of their leaders” to spy for Britain.On Monday, Moore tweeted that the British foreign intelligence agency had been “puzzling over how to get my message to our target audience in Russia — we never thought Russian state TV would step in to help.”“Thanks folks,” he added.Butina introduced the clip at the start of an hourlong program in Septemb...

Chinese leaders consider next steps for economy as debt and deflation cloud outlook for coming year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:42 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese leaders have wrapped up a two-day annual meeting to set economic priorities for the coming year, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a report Tuesday that cited a litany of problems but also said the world’s second-largest economy had “achieved a recovery.”The report gave no details of specific policy changes but laid out broad goals that are in line with what the ruling Communist Party has been doing as it endeavors to steer the world’s second-largest economy toward more sustainable, stable growth as China recovers from the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The property industry is in crisis. Prices have been falling for months, suggesting weak overall demand both inside China and in global markets. Youth unemployment is precariously high and local government debts are adding to pressures on the financial system.The Xinhua report said China was contending with slack demand, excess industrial capacity, weak consumer confidence and “certain risks and...

A Moldovan court annuls a ban on an alleged pro-Russia party that removed it from local elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:42 GMT

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — An appeals court in Moldova’s capital on Tuesday annulled a decision that banned hundreds of candidates from an alleged pro-Russia political party from participating in an electoral race days ahead of a nationwide ballot.The Chisinau Court of Appeal overturned the ban on the Chance Party that had been enforced by Moldova’s Commission for Exceptional Situations on Nov. 3 — two days before the Nov. 5 local elections. The ban removed about 600 candidates from the ballot in the country of about 2.5 million people. The party had legally challenged the ban. Alexei Lungu, the Chance Party’s leader, reacted to the appeal court’s decision on Tuesday by claiming that Moldova’s state authorities had “acted illegally” and said the ban had “violated fundamental human rights and the right to free elections.”Moldova’s government spokesperson, Daniel Voda, said after the court’s decision that it will challenge it at both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme...

Female pedestrian seriously hurt when struck by vehicle in Mississauga

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:42 GMT

A pedestrian is in the hospital with serious injuries after being struck by a vehicle in Mississauga.Emergency crews were called to Eglinton Avenue West and The Chase, just west of Mississauga Road, around 7 a.m. for reports of a crash.Paramedics say a female pedestrian was rushed to hospital with serious, possibly critical injuries. There is no word on the age of the victim.The vehicle involved remained at the scene of the crash, according to police.Westbound Eglinton is closed at The Chase as police investigate.More to come.

At least $2.1 billion in new funds pledged at COP28, as foundations focus on health and agriculture

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:42 GMT

With the United Nations climate talks wrapping up in Dubai, foundations and other funders pledged at least $2.1 billion in new financing to reduce climate impacts, especially from agriculture, and increasing help for vulnerable communities.The Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, or COP28 summit, featured numerous firsts, including forums on health, food production and philanthropy. The estimated pledges, which do not represent a complete account of philanthropic commitments at COP28, came from a mix of foundations and private companies with some made in partnership with governments. They will be delivered over a range of timelines. For the first time, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria sent a delegation to the conference, pledging to spend 70% of its budget, about $9 billion, in the 50 most climate vulnerable countries over the next three years. “The honest answer is that the global health community, including us, was so focused on COVID-19, that we proba...