TV News LIES

Meta will pay up to $18 billion and strictly limit how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram under a sweeping agreement with nearly all U.S. states to resolve claims it designed those social media platforms to addict children.

The settlements announced on Wednesday end a federal trial over allegations Meta‘s products harmed children and the company misled the public about their safety. Four of the states — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — were expected to seek close to $200 billion in civil penalties.

While Meta will not undergo a fundamental overhaul, the accords represent a sweeping effort to define how it serves young users.

It could provide a template for resolving thousands of other lawsuits against social media companies. Governments around the world are trying to curb children’s access to harmful online content, including a ban in Australia on social media for children under 16.

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When Tim Brunner was at an auction barn earlier this week, he was surprised to see decent cows selling several hundred dollars cheaper than they were just a few weeks ago. 

He largely blames President Donald Trump. And he’s not the only one.

The White House’s abrupt decision last week to ease tariffs on 300,000 metric tons — more than 660 million pounds — of foreign beef imports has infuriated American cattle ranchers and congressional Republicans alike. 

While the president promised the 90-day change would ease high prices for staple foods like hamburgers, many domestic livestock producers took it as a slap in the face during an already-difficult time.

"It’s absolutely idiotic," said Brunner, the president of the Montana Cattlemen's Association, one of several organizations representing cattle ranchers across the Treasure State.

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A massive landslide along the Nepal-China border sent a torrent of mud, rocks and water through communities Wednesday, leaving a trail of destroyed homes, roads, bridges and power infrastructure.

At least 160 people have died in Nepal and China's Tibet region, including 157 in Nepal and three in China, while hundreds remain missing. Officials on both sides of the border have warned that the death toll could rise as rescue crews struggle to reach devastated areas, Reuters reported.

Video footage from the disaster zone shows the scale and speed of the destruction. Security cameras on the Chinese side of the border captured people running from a wall of debris as floodwaters rushed through a border crossing, sweeping away vehicles and buildings.

In Nepal, images showed roads buried beneath thick layers of mud, homes partially submerged and survivors being carried or transported to safer areas. Helicopters flew over valleys as rescue crews searched for people stranded by the flooding.

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Zvi Sukkot, a member of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, was filmed smashing the Palestinian Martyrs' Monument in the village of Madama, south of Nablus, with a sledgehammer.

In a video posted to Facebook, Sukkot said the memorial commemorated two Palestinians who had killed Israelis and argued that it could not be allowed to remain.

“We must take it down,” he said, adding that he wanted the memorial destroyed because children growing up in the village and passing it would be inspired to become “martyrs” themselves.

Sukkot, who chairs the Knesset Education Committee, was accompanied by Israeli military forces during the incident, despite the army later saying that the destruction had not been authorised.

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South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham has won the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate, according to a race call by the Associated Press.

Her win came after an endorsement from President Trump, backing her for a full term in the seat formerly held by her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

She beat Rep. Ralph Norman for the nomination in Tuesday's special election primary runoff after no candidate won the GOP special election primary outright earlier this month. She now faces Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in November in the heavily Republican state.

Trump had backed Graham, a political newcomer, as the interim replacement for her brother, who died from a heart condition on July 11 and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to serve out the remainder of her brother's term.

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Claims by Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell that her sex trafficking conviction was a “complete miscarriage of justice” were rejected Tuesday by a federal judge who said her assertions were based on “speculation, distortions, and/or outright falsehoods.”

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in a written ruling that Maxwell’s habeas petition seeking to set aside her conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence on the grounds that there was “substantial new evidence” was “demonstrably meritless.”

“Maxwell’s petition falls very far from the mark,” Engelmayer said. “There is no fact that Maxwell fairly puts in dispute that has any potential to disturb the outcome of her trial.”

Maxwell maintained in a habeas petition last December that information that would have resulted in her exoneration at her 2021 trial was withheld and false testimony was presented to the jury.

She said the cumulative effect of the constitutional violations resulted in a “complete miscarriage of justice.”

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Dolly Parton, the “Queen of Country" singing icon with a personality as bold as her signature blond coif and rhinestone-encrusted outfits has died. She was 80 years old.

Parton's death was announced in a video message from her family on her social media pages and confirmed to USA TODAY.

Throughout her 60-year-career, Parton painted her twang-laced soprano voice on hits-turned-classics such as “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” “9 to 5” and “Coat of Many Colors.” Her 49 studio albums earned 25 No. 1 hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, the most of any female country artist, and spanned every decade from "Joshua" in 1971 to "Tyrant" with Beyoncé in 2024.

In addition to a legendary music career that earned 11 Grammy Awards (including Lifetime Achievement recognition), Parton starred or made cameo appearances in more than 20 films including her 1980 debut "9 to 5," with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" with Burt Reynolds (1982) and "Steel Magnolias" with Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine (1989).

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Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion worth of U.S. imports, aiming to match President Donald Trump’s tariffs "dollar for dollar."

The action marks an escalation in the growing trade war between the two countries, after talks collapsed last week and Trump imposed 50% tariffs Aug. 22 on about 5% of Canadian imports. The Canadian duties take effect Sept. 8 and range from 15% to 50% on 700 products.

"Our dollar-for-dollar, rate-for-rate counter-tariffs as well as a multibillion-dollar support package will protect workers, farmers, families, and businesses," Canada's Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said.

The 50% tariffs apply to steel, aluminum, furniture and clothing. The 25% tariffs are on cheese, appliances and some seafood. The 15% tariffs will be on electronics and tools.

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