TikTok faces new lawsuits filed by 13 U.S. states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday, accusing the popular social media platform of harming and failing to protect young people. The lawsuits filed separately in New York, California, the District of Columbia and 11 other states, expand Chinese-owned TikTok's legal fight with U.S. regulators, and seek new financial penalties against the company. The states accuse TikTok of using intentionally addictive software designed to keep children...

More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits against TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the popular short-form video app is damaging children’s mental health with a product designed to be used compulsively and excessively. The lawsuits stem from a national investigation into TikTok, which was launched in March 2022 by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from several states, including California, Kentucky and New Jersey. All of the complaints were filed in...

An Afghan man was arrested in Oklahoma for allegedly plotting an election day "terrorist attack," the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday. The man, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, living in Oklahoma City after entering the U.S. in 2021 on a special immigrant visa, was plotting the attack in the name of Islamic State, according to the indictment. Tawhedi searched online for information on how to access cameras in the capital, Washington, D.C., and for states that did not require a license to get...

Justice Department calls for sanctions against Google in landmark antitrust case The Department of Justice is proposing a series of sanctions against Google to ensure that it can no longer monopolize the search engine market. In a filing late Tuesday night, the government laid out its framework for reining in the tech giant. Proposals include possibly putting an end to exclusive agreements Google has with companies like Apple and Samsung, and prohibiting certain kinds of data tracking. The...

The Biden-Harris administration has warned it does not have enough money to make it through the hurricane season, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency is sitting on millions of dollars of unused funds. An August report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General found unliquidated money that was appropriated for past disasters, including $8.3 million from disasters in 2012 or earlier. “As of October 2022, FEMA estimated that 847 disaster declarations with...

A Delaware judge ruled Monday that the Armenta family’s lawsuit against Deadspin for accusing their son of wearing "blackface" at a Chiefs game last year can proceed. In 2023, Deadspin writer Carron Phillips wrote an article using an image of nine-year-old Holden Armenta sporting black and red Kansas City Chiefs face paint at a game, showing only the black half of his face. Phillips accused Holden of finding a way to "hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time" and accused his...

Hurricane Helene and FEMA’s response to it have sparked misleading narratives about FEMA’s funding, its priorities and management, weather control and lithium mining. Let’s unpack what we know about each claim. Claim That Disaster Relief Money Has Gone to Immigrant Services How FEMA Spends Disaster Relief Funds Questions About FEMA’s Priorities Is FEMA Ignoring Requests for Help?  Did FEMA Give Out $750 Loans? Compared to Hurricane Katrina Claims of Weather Control Why...

Communities across the southeastern United States suffered catastrophic damage and loss of life after Hurricane Helene made landfall near Perry, Florida, as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 26.  With more than 230 confirmed dead by Oct. 8 and many still missing, Helene ranks as the second-deadliest hurricane to hit the contiguous United States over the last 50 years. Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest, with a toll of at least 1,833. The Federal...

At a rally here in Arlington last weekend, Speaker Mike Johnson took a selfie video of himself and roughly 500 people cheering and sent it to Donald Trump. At a campaign event about 500 miles south in Harlingen, the speaker whipped out his famous Trump impression. And before the former president hosted a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania — returning to the scene of the July assassination attempt — Johnson tried to call him on the phone with a group of Republican lawmakers for moral support....

Democrats’ nerves are at an all-time high.  Two months ago — even a month ago — they were feeling bullish about Vice President Harris’s prospects of defeating former President Trump. But now, with less than a month to go until Election Day, they’re increasingly worried about a number of issues plaguing the Democratic nominee’s campaign. On Tuesday, there was grumbling from some Democrats about the vice president’s interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” There’s also concern on...