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Cyprus dismantles human smuggling ring bringing Syrian migrants from Syria, Lebanon and Turkey

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:29 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus said Wednesday it dismantled a criminal human smuggling ring responsible for bringing boatloads of Syrian migrants from Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. The eastern Mediterranean island nation has seen almost daily migrant boat arrivals in recent days.Cypriot police said three months of investigative work resulted in the arrest of five suspects following a raid by a combined force of 40 officers on several homes in the island’s southeast.A Cyprus court ordered the detention of the suspects, all Syrian nationals, for eight days until police wrap up their investigation. The suspects face charges of belonging to a criminal migrant smuggling organization.Police spokesman Christos Andreou told The Associated Press that seven more Syrians were being sought in connection with the ring, including the ringleader who is believed to have fled abroad along with another ring member.Andreou said the police raid also found 44 Syrian migrants living in those homes, all of wh...

Children’s advocates ask FTC to investigate Google for targeting ads to kids

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:29 GMT

Children’s advocacy groups including Fairplay and Common Sense Media are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google, saying the tech giant serves personalized ads to kids on YouTube despite federal law prohibiting the practice. The letter follows a report from The New York Times last week that found that ads on YouTube may have led to the online tracking of children. The federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, requires kid-oriented websites to get parents’ consent before collecting personal information of children under 13.In response to the Times report, Google said last week that it did not run personalized ads on children’s videos and that its ad practices fully complied with COPPA. When ads appear on children’s videos, the company told the Times, they are based on webpage content, not targeted to user profiles. But Wednesday’s letter to the FTC — also signed by the nonprofit Center for Digital Democracy — says Fairplay, as well as indepen...

St. Louis proposal would ban ‘military-grade’ weapons, prohibit guns for ‘insurrectionists’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:29 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — As the St. Louis mayor pushes legislation that would prohibit “military-grade weapons” on city streets and make it a crime for “insurrectionists” and those convicted of hate crimes to possess firearms, Missouri’s attorney general is warning that such a law would violate the state constitution.Mayor Tishaura Jones announced the wide-ranging legislation Tuesday, noting support from several members of the Board of Aldermen. The board could begin considering the measure at its next meeting, on Sept. 15.“We come together around a shared vision: a safer, stronger St. Louis, ready to stand up for our values,” Jones said in a statement.Specific details of the measure have not yet been released, such as how “insurrectionists” would be identified and what “military-grade weapons” would be banned.Still, the proposal drew immediate rebuke from Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who wrote in a letter to Jones that he will “resist any effort to infringe on the...

El Inter Miami de Lionel Messi choca con el FC Cincinnati por la semifinal de la US Open Cup: análisis, formaciones, horario y televisación

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:29 GMT

(CNN Español) — El Inter de Miami de Lionel Messi buscará extender su gran presente cuando enfrente este miércoles al FC Cincinnati en la semifinal de la US Open Cup, cuyo último campeón fue el Orlando City.El equipo rosa, que sufrió una transformación radical desde la llegada de Messi, buscará hacer historia en el torneo más añejo del fútbol de Estados Unidos, que se juega desde 1914 y reúne a equipos profesionales y amateurs.El conjunto del sur de la Florida llegó a esta instancia antes del anuncio de la contratación de Messi, lo cual demuestra que, aunque está en la última posición en la conferencia este de la MLS con solo 18 puntos (ganó 5, empató 3 y perdió 14 encuentros), tenía un buen plantel, que se ha repotenciado con la llegada del tridente de exjugadores del FC Barcelona y el técnico Gerardo Martino.Lionel Messi jugará en Nueva York y los neoyorquinos pagarán un ojo de la cara por verloEn poco más de un mes, los dirigidos por Martino han hecho un cambio copernicano ...

Ongwanada Resource Centre celebrates 75 years in Kingston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:29 GMT

Ongwanada Resource Centre is celebrating 75 years working with people with developmental disabilities and their families in Kingston and Eastern Ontario this week.Since the organization’s inception in 1948, Ongwanada has provided services and care to the community, most recently supporting over 500 individuals in the region with developmental disabilities and their families. Ongwanada provides group home living for approximately 140 individuals, community programming, activities, medical care, and various other services.CEO of Ongwanada Alastair Lamb stated, “the organization has played a pivotal role in the community; I am certain that this milestone would not have been reached if it wasn’t for the dedicated staff and community support along the way.”On Aug. 16, the organization kicked off their anniversary celebrations with a picnic for upwards of 300 people, including staff, supported individuals, volunteers, board members, and auxiliary members.“It was phenomenal. It...

The Kick and Push Theatre Festival has another successful run in Kingston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:29 GMT

The 2023 edition of The Kick & Push theatre Festival has wrapped. After 28 days featuring 14 innovative works in various locations around Kingston, the ninth annual Kick & Push Festival came to a close this weekend.Since 2014, the festival has brought professional, award-winning artists from across Canada and beyond to Kingston to share their work. Each year, the festival allows performers to showcase their work in both alternative spaces and established venues in Kingston.Madeleine Smith, working with the festival for the first time this year, spoke about the theatre community in Kingston and how they have come together to produce Kick and Push alongside other simultaneously occurring events.“It’s really uplifting and it’s a great sort of, I think, projection of the Kingston community and of itself, just this sort of really positive, uplifting energy,” Smith said. “And we just are really at our core, trying to share positive experiences.”While the 20...

Donation to Queen’s University funds creation of student mental-health research centre

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:29 GMT

With the support of a donation from the Rossy Foundation, Queen’s University and the Department of Psychiatry are working to launch a student mental-health research centre in September.U-Flourish, a group of researchers based at Queen’s who have completed various initiatives to improve student mental health since their inception 2017, will include the U-Flourish Centre come the fall term. This move represents a major investment in this field of education and research, which will also expand the reach and impact of U-Flourish. Those involved hope to see this investment translate into tangible changes in the mental health of students not only at Queen’s, but on campuses across the world. The centre will be under the direction of Professor Anne Duffy (Queen’s University, Department of Psychiatry), an academic who focuses on student mental health research.“This funding will build capacity for student mental health research and education, nationally and internationally, and allow u...

Randy Gradishar receives nomination for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:29 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — At long last, the wait is over for Randy Gradishar.Wednesday, the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame linebacker got the call that he received a nomination into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.A tackling machine, the 1978 Defensive Player of the Year, and the heart and soul of the “Orange Crush” defense that dominated the late 1970s and early 80s, Gradishar was selected by the senior committee along with Art Powell and Steve McMichael. Former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan passed over for Pro Football Hall of Fame Gradishar played 10 seasons with the Broncos from 1973 to 1984. In his 145 games, he recorded 20 interceptions and four touchdowns and was in seven Pro Bowls.The Broncos’ all-time leading tackler, with 2,049 tackles, has been a Pro Hall of Fame finalist three times: twice as a modern-era finalist in 2003 and 2008, and once as a seniors candidate in 2020.Each of the senior finalists will be elected to the hall if they receive at least 80% approval in the up-or-down bal...

Mother’s plea for justice in son’s Hialeah shooting death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:29 GMT

A heartbroken mother is on a mission to find her son’s killer. She was at the Miami-Dade Headquarters in Doral where she made an emotional plea for help. Timothy Starks’ mother, who wanted to remain anonymous, had nothing but kind words to say about her 20-year-old son who lost his life in March 2022 in a Hialeah shooting on the Palmetto Expressway. “My Timothy … was very funny, had nothing but life in him,” she said on Wednesday as she pleaded with the public for their help in finding the shooter. “Please come forward, please be anonymous, please.”On the day of the shooting, Starks, also known as rapper Baby Cino, was in a red Nissan Ultima that was riddled with bullets after the incident. He was being driven by a friend after he was released from jail for a weapons chargeDetectives said he was targeted, shot in the head and killed. A friend driving the car was shot in the stomach. The ordeal occurred on the northbound lanes of State Road 8...

Jet believed to be carrying Wagner boss Prigozhin crashes in Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:29 GMT

A private plane carrying Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has been downed by Russian air defences, taking the lives of all on board, Moscow officials said Wednesday night. “According to the report of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, in the Tver region, close to the village of Kuzhenkino, an Embraer Legacy private jet flying between Moscow and St. Petersburg was downed,” officials said. “There were ten people on board, including three crew members. According to preliminary information, all those on board were killed,” the statement, provided to state media outlet RIA Novosti, reads. Russia’s aviation regulator, Rosaviatsii, has issued a statement confirming that an investigation has been launched. “According to the list of passengers, the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin is among them”, the agency said.The Grey Zone Telegram channel, believed to be close to Prigozhin’s Wagner Group, cited the statement from the Russian aviation authority that Prigozh...