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Video chat service Omegle shuts down following years of user abuse claims

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Omegle, a video chat service that connects users with strangers at random, is shutting down after 14 years following ample misuse of the platform — particularly the sexual abuse of minors.In a lengthy statement announcing the site’s closure, founder Leif K-Brooks reflected on how Omegle was meant to connect people worldwide and “build on the things I loved about the Internet.” But, he added that a dark side of the platform emerged.“Virtually every tool can be used for good or for evil,” Brooks wrote. “There can be no honest accounting of Omegle without acknowledging that some people misused it, including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes.”Over the years, Omegle has faced significant scrutiny for becoming what some say is a breeding ground for child pornography and other abuse. The site’s closure arrives about a week after Omegle settled a lawsuit that accused the platform of pairing a then 11-year-old user with a sexual predator, according to cou...

Michigan State is next as No. 3 Ohio State tries not to look ahead to showdown with No. 2 Michigan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

Michigan State (3-6, 1-5 Big Ten) at No. 3 Ohio State (9-0, 6-0, CFP No. 1), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC)Line: Ohio State by 31 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.Series record: Ohio State leads 36-15.WHAT’S AT STAKE?The Buckeyes are rolling right along, although the games haven’t all looked pretty. They struggled with Rutgers last week before finally pulling away in a game that was closer than the 35-16 score indicated. Ohio State theoretically should have an easier time with Michigan State, which got its first Big Ten win over Nebraska last week after losing six straight since former coach Mel Tucker was suspended and later fired. The Buckeyes are hurtling toward the much-anticipated showdown with No. 2 Michigan on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in Ann Arbor. But they have to beat Michigan State and then Minnesota next week for it to mean anything.KEY MATCHUPOhio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr. vs. Michigan State secondary. Harrison has shown he can beat double coverage and ...

Albania’s deal with Italy on migrants has been welcomed by many. But others are confused and angry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

SHENGJIN, Albania (AP) — When the leaders of Albania and Italy announced a contentious agreement earlier this week to jointly process some asylum applications of migrants arriving by sea, some in the Western Balkans country saw it as reciprocation.Italy had welcomed thousands of Albanians fleeing poverty after the fall of communism more than three decades ago, and Albania’s current government wanted to pay back the Italians’ hospitality.On Monday, Albania agreed to temporarily shelter thousands of migrants while Rome reviews their requests seeking asylum in Italy. Albania will reportedly take care of deporting them if their refugee status is denied by the Italians. While the deal has already been criticized by rights organizations and other groups, ordinary Albanians were divided about the agreement.Bib Lazri, 66, a resident of the northern Albanian village of Gjader, where one of two accommodation centers is set to be built, said he welcomed the move given the historica...

Election offices are sent envelopes with fentanyl or other substances. Authorities are investigating

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities on Thursday were trying to determine who sent letters filled with fentanyl or other substances to local election offices, an attack that appears to have targeted multiple states in the latest instance of threats faced by election workers around the country.Among the offices that may have been targeted was Fulton County in Georgia, which includes Atlanta and is the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nation’s most important presidential swing states.There is no immediate indication that any other election office in Georgia was a target for the letters, according to an advisory sent by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency and obtained by The Associated Press. Fulton County officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The potential Georgia connection surfaced a day after authorities in Washington state said four county election offices had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast...

A judge is hearing arguments as Michigan activists try to keep Trump off the ballot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A judge in Michigan is hearing arguments Thursday on whether Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has the authority to keep Donald Trump’s name off state ballots for president.Activists are suing Benson in the Michigan Court of Claims to force her to keep Trump’s name off ballots and to assess Trump’s constitutional qualifications to serve a second term as president.Meanwhile, attorneys for the former president are demanding that Trump’s name be allowed on the 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot.Arguments began Thursday morning in Grand Rapids before Judge James Robert Redford told an activist in one case, an attorney representing Benson’s office and lawyers representing Trump that “whatever happens in these cases … it will happen relatively quickly.”“It won’t happen today or this afternoon,” Redford added. “I’m not ruling from the bench.”Redford alluded to expecting some type of appeal.“I fully recognize I am not the las...

Biden says he has asked Israelis for a pause in Gaza fighting ‘longer than three days’ during hostage negotiations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden says he has asked Israelis for a pause in Gaza fighting ‘longer than three days’ during hostage negotiations.Source

Spanish conservative politician shot in face in Madrid. Gunman escaped on a motorbike, reports say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Veteran Spanish right-wing politician Alejandro Vidal-Quadras has been taken to a hospital in Madrid after being shot on a street in the capital, police said Thursday.Police said he was shot in the face on a central street at around 1:30 p.m. local time and was conscious when taken to a hospital.According to Spanish state news agency EFE, police believe the shooter was a person who escaped the scene on a motorbike wearing a black helmet.Vidal-Quadras, 78, was a long-time member of Spain’s conservative Popular Party, its regional leader in Catalonia, and a European Parliament member before leaving after three decades when he fell out with then Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.After he broke away, he helped found the far-right Vox party. He left Vox shortly after a failed attempt to win a European lawmaker seat in 2014.Police are investigating the shooting and have yet to make any arrests.Vox President Santiago Abascal said he believed Vidal-Quadras’ life wasn’t in imm...

Polis announces special session after voters rejected Prop HH

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Gov. Jared Polis announced a special session will be held following the failure of Proposition HH.Polis has been quiet since the proposition failed on election night. The measure failed with more than 60% of voters rejecting it.However, high property taxes still loom over Colorado property owners.Thursday morning, Polis announced that he would be making a "major announcement" at 10:15 a.m. Polis walked into the meeting and grabbed a pair of safety goggles and a bat and smashed a glass case to grab the plan B on property taxes. Results: Colorado’s 2023 ballot measures Polis called the general assembly to meet on Nov. 17 at 9 a.m. to address rising property taxes. The governor signed the executive order that would call for the special session during his announcement. During the special session, Polis is asking the legislature to tackle providing immediate relief for Coloradans who are at risk of receiving 40-50% increases in their property tax bill."Passing legi...

Sheriff: Miami man charged with threatening to kill Florida Keys judge, attorney and prosecutor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

MONROE COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) – A Miami man faces charges for threatening the life of a Florida Keys judge, his defense attorney, and a state prosecutor, officials said. According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Jerome Sanders, 44, currently held at the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island for previous drug-related charges with no bond allowed, allegedly sent a threatening letter to the judge on Nov. 2, 2023. Sheriff Rick Ramsay emphasized a zero-tolerance policy for threats against members of the criminal justice community. “This suspect is exactly where he belongs — in jail,” said Ramsay.

Police arrest 3 suspects connected to fatal shooting at gas station in Oakland Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

Three suspects connected to a deadly shooting in Oakland Park are now behind bars.Paul Oliver and Daequan Griffin, both 22 years old, and a 17 year-old, were charged with murder.According to police, the shooting happened in September at a gas station in the area of West Oakland Park Boulevard and Northwest 30th Avenue. The trio are accused of killing a man and wounding another when they attempted to rob them of a necklace and Rolex.Griffin and the 17-year-old were already in jail, accused in an unrelated robbery.