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Nearly 140 arrested in massive SoCal child sex abuse crackdown

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:50 GMT

139 people were arrested in a sweeping multi-agency crackdown on child sex abuse and child pornography this month, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Wednesday.The crackdown, dubbed Operation Online Guardian, involved over 100 agencies that comprise LAPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.“Child exploitation is one of the most horrendous crimes affecting our most vulnerable members of the community,” Joe McNally, Assistant U.S. Attorney General, said at a news conference Wednesday morning. “Through these crimes, predators target those who can’t protect themselves.”The operation unfolded in two phases.In the first, officers went undercover on social media to identify individuals who were trafficking child porn, LAPD said. The second phase involved executing search warrants in five Southern California counties.LAPD Chief Michel Moore speaks at a news conference announcing a multi-agency child sex abuse crackdown. July 26, 2023. (KTLA)“Vulnerable children wer...

Hunter Biden's plea deal on hold after federal judge raises concerns over the terms of the agreement

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:50 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The plea deal in Hunter Biden’s criminal case unraveled during a court hearing Wednesday after a federal judge raised concerns about the terms of an agreement that has infuriated Republicans who believe the president’s son is getting preferential treatment.Hunter Biden was charged last month with two misdemeanor crimes of failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes from over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018 and had been expected to plead guilty Wednesday after he made an agreement with prosecutors, who were planning to recommend two years of probation. But U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, raised multiple concerns about the specifics of the deal and her role in the proceedings. The plan also included an agreement on a separate gun charge — Biden has been accused of possessing a firearm in 2018 as a drug user. As long as he adhered to the terms of his agreement, the gun case was to be be wiped ...

Another USC basketball player had cardiac arrest at practice a year ago. Here’s what happened

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:50 GMT

By Christina Zdanowicz | CNNWhen University of Southern California basketball player Vince Iwuchukwu came down from a rebound, the team’s assistant coach noticed something was not right with the 7-footer.The team took a water break and USC assistant coach Eric Mobley called over the freshman forward and asked if he was OK. It was more than 45 minutes into a summer practice on July 1, 2022.Within minutes, Iwuchukwu was dizzy and getting dizzier. As he sat down to take a sip of water, everything went dark, he said.Iwuchukwu went into cardiac arrest, which happens when electrical disturbances cause the heart to suddenly stop beating. Coach Mobley ran across the court and was one of the first people to reach him.RELATED: LeBron James’ son, Bronny, suffers cardiac arrest during USC workoutThe incident is eerily similar to what happened to another USC player, Bronny James, son of NBA star LeBron James, who was hospitalized Monday after suffering a cardiac arrest during basketball practice...

Sinéad O’Connor dies at 56; Irish singer-songwriter was famed for ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:50 GMT

By Sylvia Hui | Associated PressLONDON — Sinéad O’Connor, the gifted Irish singer-songwriter who became a superstar in her mid-20s but was known as much for her private struggles and provocative actions as for her fierce and expressive music, has died at 56.“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time,” the singer’s family said in a statement reported Wednesday by the BBC and RTE.Recognizable by her shaved head and elfin features, O’Connor began her career singing on the streets of Dublin and soon rose to international fame. She was a star from her 1987 debut album “The Lion and the Cobra” and became a sensation in 1990 with her cover of Prince’s ballad “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a seething, shattering performance that topped charts from Europe to Australia and was heightened by a promotional video feat...

Carl Sagan’s personal recording of Voyager record for sale

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:50 GMT

By Ashley Strickland | CNNOne of the most iconic pieces of space exploration history is up for auction.When NASA’s twin Voyager probes lifted off to explore the solar system just weeks apart in 1977, they carried identical golden records designed as the first recorded interstellar message from humankind to potential intelligent life in the cosmos.The records had both audio and visuals that aimed to capture Earth’s diversity of life and culture, including greetings in 59 human languages and 115 images of life.Now, a copy of the master recording for NASA’s Voyager Golden Record — the one kept by the late astronomer Carl Sagan and his wife, producer Ann Druyan — will be for sale at Sotheby’s New York on Thursday.The recordings, contained on two double-sided reels of audiotape, are expected to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000. The audio quality of both tapes is “excellent,” according to the auction house.The tapes are still in their original Columbia Recording Studios boxes, marked b...

Arizona State recruiting scandal: Sun Devils have reason for optimism after NCAA rules on Tennessee

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:50 GMT

The Pac-12’s pursuit of a media rights contract is not, in fact, the conference’s longest unresolved saga. Remember those allegations of recruiting violations levied against Arizona State back in the summer of 2021? The NCAA still hasn’t ruled on the matter.Granted, the media deal will impact the collective, not a single member, and frame the future of the conference. But the outcome remains a first-class mystery.Meanwhile, the endgame for ASU’s football program seemingly gained clarity thanks to the NCAA’s ruling in a different scandal.Tennessee dodged a bowl ban despite an unprecedented series of recruiting violations, indicating the NCAA might go relatively easy on the Sun Devils, as well.We’ll address ASU momentarily, but let’s summarize Tennessee’s situation for those who have not followed closely:Simply put, it was one of the most egregious cases in NCAA history. The Volunteers were guilty of more than 200 infractions and a whopp...

Father charged after being found in hot car in desert with 2 children

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:50 GMT

By Andy Rose | CNNA Nevada man is facing charges after he and his two young children were found suffering from the effects of scorching heat in a vehicle in the desert, according to an arrest report.Brian Laugeson’s children – a boy and a girl – were going in and out of consciousness when they were found by Henderson Police Department officers Monday. The temperature was 105 degrees, the arrest report states.Dangerously high temperatures that have proven deadly in multiple states are expected to remain for several more days, forecasters say.Laugeson, who is separated from the children’s mother, had custody of them for the weekend, according to the police report. He was reported missing along with the children and officers tracked his location using his cell phone.The police report says the children, ages 3 and 4, “were naked and visibly suffering from heat-related illnesses,” with one child having a seizure. Laugeson and the children were hospitalized. A court-ordered blood test ind...

Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to 2 tax crimes after deal with prosecutors falls through

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:50 GMT

By Claudia Lauer, Randall Chase and Colleen Long | Associated PressWILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden’s son Hunter pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two tax crimes after a deal with federal prosecutors unraveled during a court hearing following the judge’s concerns over the agreement.Hunter Biden was charged last month with two misdemeanor tax crimes of failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes from over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018, and he was expected to plead guilty after he made an agreement with prosecutors, who were planning to recommend two years of probation. That deal is now on hold.But during the hearing Wednesday, there was a dispute in court over whether the initial agreement gave him protection against any future charges. U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, raised concerns about the language of the deal.Biden had also been charged with possession of a firearm by a person who is a known ...

Ammon Bundy vs. hospital: $52 million in damages awarded over child trafficking smear campaign

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:50 GMT

Far-right activist Ammon Bundy, an associate and three groups connected to them must pay more than $50 million in damages for accusing an Idaho hospital of child trafficking and for harassing its medical staff, a jury has decided.The defamation lawsuit by St. Luke’s Regional Health accused Bundy and Diego Rodriguez of making defamatory statements against the hospital and its employees after Rodriguez’s infant grandson was removed from his family for several days in March 2022 and taken to St. Luke’s amid concerns for his health.The emergency room physician, Dr. Rachel Thomas, testified that the 10-month-old baby’s stomach was distended, his eyes were hollow and he was unable to sit up, according to the Idaho Statesman newspaper. Police said at the time that medical personnel determined the child was malnourished.Bundy urged his followers to protest at the hospital and at the homes of child protection service workers, law enforcement officers and others involv...

San Francisco man charged with Section 8 housing scheme

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:50 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A San Francisco man received Section 8 rental assistance vouchers while living in a house that he owned, prosecutors said Wednesday. A federal grand jury indicted 63-year-old Gregory Finkelson for conspiracy, theft of government property, and money laundering. Between 2006 and 2020, Finkelson allegedly stole approximately $341,455 in Section 8 rental assistance by hiding from housing authorities his true income, his ownership of the house where he lived, and the fact that he was the owner of a company. If he had been truthful about his employment and house ownership, he would have never qualified for Section 8 benefits, according to the indictment.Finkelson worked with a co-conspirator in Russia to hide the fact that he owned the house where he lived, investigators said. Finkelson also established numerous bank accounts in his co-conspirator’s name to conceal the fact that he received and controlled the Section 8 payments, rather than a separate landlord.To q...