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JOHANNESBURG — The Zimbabwe army’s takeover of the state broadcaster and action against members of President Robert Mugabe’s government has been praised as a “bloodless correction.”
Chris Mutsvangwa, chairman of a war veterans’ group, told The Associated Press that Army Gen. Constantino Chiwenga has carried out “a bloodless correction of gross abuse of power.” Mutsvangwa said the army will return Zimbabwe to “genuine democracy.”
The army said Mugabe, 93, and his wife are safe but that action will be taken against “criminals” surrounding them. A DECISIVE majority of Australians have voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, paving way for the country to become the world’s 26th nation to recognize gay and lesbian unions.
More than three quarters of Australia’s eligible voters took part in a survey administered by the country’s Bureau of Statistics Wednesday morning local time. Out of 12.7 million voters, 61.6% voted yes and 38.4% voted no, according to officials. A RETIRED FDNY lieutenant and father of five is the latest first responder to succumb to cancer contracted during his time working at Ground Zero, authorities said Tuesday.
Lt. Edward McDonagh died Sunday after a threeyear battle against colon cancer, relatives said. He was 49.
McDonagh is the 20th firefighter to die of a 9/11-related illness this year.
The Rockland County man joined the FDNY in 1996 after serving in the Marines during the Gulf War, relatives said.
He was the first of his family to join the FDNY, but firefighting was in his blood, his widow Kimberly McDonagh said.
“It was part of who he was, right there with the Marine Corps,” she said. “They were his brothers. At the FDNY they weren’t just co-workers, they were family.”
After the Sept. 11 terror attacks, McDonagh spent the three months taking part in recovery efforts. He returned to Ground Zero intermittently for the next six months, relatives said.
He was diagnosed with colon cancer on March 26, 2014. “He never let cancer define him,” his widow, Kimberly McDonagh, 47, remembered.“For three and a half years we took trips, celebrated life and made memories.”
He retired in July last year.His last assignment was Engine 37 in Harlem, an FDNY spokesman said.
McDonagh is survived by his wife, five children from two marriages, the oldest 20, the youngest just 6.
He is the 164th FDNY member to die of a 9/11-related illness. An additional 133 NYPD members have died of sicknesses attributed to the attack aftermath, police said.