Cologne police chief fired over assaults

Cologne police chief fired over assaults

BERLIN

The police chief of the German city of Cologne was dismissed Friday amid mounting criticism of his force’s handling of a string of New Year’s Eve sexual assaults and robberies blamed largely on foreigners.

Wolfgang Albers had faced mounting criticism for the police response to New Year’s Eve attacks on women by groups of men within a 1,000-strong crowd described by police as predominantly Arab or North African in origin.

Albers’ dismissal comes amid a flurry of disconcerting allegations over the behavior of foreigners at time when large groups of migrants, mostly from Syria, are flooding into Europe.

Reports of the harassment have fueled calls for tighter immigration laws in Germany, particularly from politicians opposed to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy that allowed nearly 1.1 million people fleeing war and poverty to enter the country last year.

Debate goes on over women in combat

WASHINGTON

A top Marine general predicted Friday that the Defense Department’s vows to maintain the same standards for women and men in combat jobs won’t last, saying the military eventually will be pressured to lower the qualifications so more women can serve in jobs such as the Marine infantry.

The public comments by Gen. John Kelly, head of U.S. Southern Command, underscored how strongly the Marines opposed Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s plans to fully integrate women into all combat jobs, including the Marine Corps and special operations forces such as Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets. A new, high-level disagreement is erupting over whether the Marine Corps also must fully integrate its 12-week recruit training program at Parris Island in South Carolina.

60-foot waves pound Calif. surfing spot

HALF MOON BAY, Calif.

Monster waves the size of a six-story building broke at Northern California’s perilous Mavericks surf spot.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the waves Thursday drew professional big-wave surfers from around the world.

But conditions were too chaotic for an annual surfing competition for top riders. The Titans of Mavericks was postponed but could take place later this season, depending on conditions.

The window for the exclusive, one-day contest closes March 31.

Governor apologizes for ‘white’ remark

AUGUSTA, Maine

Republican Gov. Paul LePage apologized Friday for his remark about out-of-state drug dealers impregnating “young white” girls, calling it a slip of the tongue and saying he didn’t mean to inject race into discussion of Maine’s heroin epidemic.

LePage blamed reporters for unfairly focusing on the slip-up in which he described the drug dealers as “guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty” and added, “Half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave.”

Tourists attacked at Egyptian hotel

CAIRO

Two suspected militants stabbed and wounded three foreign tourists – two Austrians and a Swede – at a hotel in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Hurghada on Friday, the Interior Ministry said.

Security forces opened fire at the two assailants, killing one and seriously wounding the other, according to a ministry statement. The wounded attacker was arrested, according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Associated Press