Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, agreed to pay a multibillion-dollar settlement in a lawsuit that accuses the company of harming children through its addictive social media products. Meta also agreed to policy changes, including a daily limit on how long teenagers can use their platforms. NBC's Allie Canal reports in this week's Sunday Focus.

#agreed #Facebook #canal #owns

Pentagon officials on Wednesday claimed they have uncovered classified documents that were "hidden away in safes where they would not be found" that shed new light on the chaotic end to the U.S. war in Afghanistan five years ago — but declined to offer public details of the revelations.
The claim comes hours before Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to participate in a Pentagon ceremony to upgrade the valor awards for service members who served at the Kabul International Airport during the final days of the conflict.
The end of the war — and the final days of the U.S. occupation, when 13 American service members were killed guarding the airport — have been a focal point of Republican criticism of former President Joe Biden's foreign policy decisions while in office.
GOP lawmakers have accused Biden of too abruptly ending military operations in Afghanistan, endangering American troops and handing over control of the country to the Taliban. Democratic supporters argue Biden's move brought to an end two decades of open-ended military missions that did little to improve national security.
The White House has labeled the final days of the war "one of the most shameful and heartbreaking moments in our nation's collective memory." Pentagon leaders established a new Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel to examine the decisions leading up to the American exit from Kabul and determine who deserves blame for the U.S. deaths there.

#american #airport #members #decisions

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Palantir chair and co-founder Peter Thiel has bought a 1% stake in Argentina's Vista, ‌one of the largest oil companies operating in the ‌country's Vaca Muerta shale formation, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The filing, published on Friday, comes four months after the tech billionaire met with Argentine President Javier Milei in the presidential palace, after which Milei told a local media outlet they discussed economic policies and ‌his opposition to wealth ⁠taxes.
Thiel had recently bought a mansion in an upscale neighborhood of Buenos Aires, local media reported.
The billionaire's ⁠Thiel Macro LLC hedge fund bought around 1.2 million American Depositary Shares in Vista worth about $76 million, according to the SEC filing, equivalent to 1% of Vista's capital.
The fund declared a portfolio of $418.7 million, ‌including stakes in Vistra, Amazon and power and energy firms American Electric Power, DTE Energy, FirstEnergy, CMS Energy and X-Energy.

#energy

A 22-year-old passenger who died after a medical emergency aboard a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles has been identified as officials investigate what may have led to his sudden death.
Rain McMillan Walmsey died Aug. 7 after becoming unresponsive aboard Southwest Flight 958 from Dallas to Los Angeles, prompting desperate attempts to save him before the plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport.
Newly released records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner reveal the investigation into Walmsey's death remains open, and exactly what led to the young passenger's death remains unclear.
The medical examiner identified Walmsey as a 22-year-old man and listed his place of death as "LAX Southwest plane."
Co-pilot Becomes Sick Midair As Crew Illness Reports Emerge After Overnight Layover

#year #aboard

Relocations for the first of dozens of beluga whales that remained at the now-shuttered Marineland Canada have begun, according to the aquariums **** isting in the rescue.
Marineland Canada, located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, closed in September 2024 in the wake of controversy and allegations of animal abuse, CBC reported. Thirty beluga whales remained at the facility -- their care funded by donations. But once those donations ran out, their caretakers worried that euthanasia might be imminent -- asking the Canadian government in October 2025 for funds to feed the marine mammals.
MORE: Loss of sea ice putting migrating beluga whales in danger
On Monday, six of the beluga whales began their journey to their new home, according to several **** ociation of Zoos & Aquariums-accredited aquariums that are collaborating in the rescue.
Veterinarians **** sed the belugas' fitness for travel before they were loaded into specialized cold-water containers and transported by truck and plane, the aquariums said. The belugas, ranging in age from 6 to about 40, have been receiving "top-notch care" and are all in great condition, Eric Otjen, vice president of zoological operations at SeaWorld San Diego, told ABC News.

#aquariums #whales #remained #rescue

By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, July 1 (Reuters) - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said on Wednesday he was shutting down his office's Conviction ‌Review Unit that looked into potential wrongful convictions, attributing the ‌decision to funding suspension by the Trump administration.
"Following the Trump Administration's refusal to renew federal grant funding that supported the program, my Office is suspending our Conviction Review Unit," Ellison said in a statement.
"Current budget constraints do not allow the program's costs to be absorbed without compromising other core responsibilities."
The unit ‌was formed in 2020 ⁠and started accepting applications to review cases in 2021. Ellison said it had received a $300,000 grant for its initial ⁠two years to fund the work of an attorney and the grant was renewed at $500,000 for a period of two more years.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) on Sunday said he would not want to change the Constitution's rules against non-native born Americans running for president, even as his political base continues to grow nationally.
The 34-year-old democratic socialist was born in Uganda. During a Sunday interview, ABC News's Jonathan Karl noted that Mamdani will soon meet the Constitution's age requirement to run for president. But Karl noted Mamdani would still not be eligible to run given his birthplace.
When asked if the requirements should change, Mamdani laughed and said, "I think the Constitution looks good the way it is," during a Sunday appearance on ABC's "This Week."
Mamdani made waves this week as three House candidates he backed won elections over two incumbents and a third candidate backed by the party establishment. Two of the candidates backed by Mamdani were also democratic socialists.
The mayor's policies have focused on economic issues, though he is also a supporter of the Palestinian cause and a critic of Israel, as were the three candidates who won on Tuesday.

Those in charge at the Kennedy Center have been accused by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, of purposely allowing the Washington, D.C., venue to languish into a "lifeless husk" by not resuming regular shows and programming.
Beatty, an ex officio board member of the Kennedy Center, initially filed the lawsuit against President Donald Trump in December 2025, when the board decided to install signage displaying his name alongside Kennedy's on the building.
According to a court filing Friday, Beatty's legal team argued the current board, with Trump as chairman, is in violation of a May court order by "refusing to take any steps to maintain the Center's operations, and will effectively close the Center as a performing arts venue come July 5, 2026."

MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — A Texas teenager who fatally stabbed a 17-year-old track athlete from a rival team during a high school meet was convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison on Tuesday in a case that drew wide attention beyond the booming Dallas suburb where they were students. A jury rejected Karmelo Anthony's claims of self-defense during a confrontation with Austin Metcalf in stadium bleachers last year. Most people who testified were students who described a heated exchange over Anthony's refusal on a rainy spring day to leave a tent that belonged to Metcalf's team.
Anthony, now 19, did not testify at trial and only his mother took the stand during the sentencing phase, telling jurors her son was sorry.
Notoriety about the case spread, in part, because of a flood of social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Lawyers on both sides, however, told jurors that the tragedy had nothing to do with race.
Jeff Metcalf, Austin's father, had also denounced those who sought to stoke racial divisions after his son was killed. A year later, he said again in a Collin County courtroom that it was never about race while his voice swelled with anger over the death of his son.
"You failed your parents, you failed yourself and you failed society," said Metcalf, looking at Anthony after the teenager was sentenced.