Mark Zuckerberg and opposing lawyers dueled in a Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday, where the Meta CEO answered questions about young people’s use of Instagram, his congressional testimony and internal advice he’s received about being “authentic” and not “robotic.” Zuckerberg’s testimony is part of an unprecedented social media trial that questions whether Meta’s platforms deliberately addict and harm children. During questioning by the plaintiff’s lawyer, Zuckerberg said he still agrees with a previous statement he made that the existing body of scientific work has not proved that social media causes mental health harms. The plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Lanier, asked Zuckerberg...

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived at a Seoul court on Thursday to face a verdict on charges of rebellion for his short-lived attempt to impose martial law. It’s the most serious charge the ousted leader faces after setting off the country’s most serious political crisis in decades by declaring martial law and sending troops to surround the legislature on Dec. 3, 2024. A special prosecutor has demanded the death penalty for Yoon, saying his actions posed a threat to the country’s democracy and deserved the most serious punishment available. Most analysts have predicted a life sentence for...

The top official at a California agency running the state’s long-delayed bullet train project is taking a leave of absence after he was arrested earlier this month over allegations of domestic violence, although prosecutors say they aren’t pressing charges. The events bring further unwanted attention to the nation’s largest infrastructure project, which was already under scrutiny for holdups and skyrocketing costs and saw its federal funding cut by the Trump administration last year. Ian Choudri was tasked in 2024 with reinvigorating the project as CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority after working on similar systems in Europe. California voters...

The toddler cries as an oxygen mask is fitted to his face, its green elastic band stretched across his sunken cheeks. When he was first hospitalized a month ago, the 2 ½-year-old was fighting for his life. Severely malnourished, Abu Bakar weighed just 6 kilograms (13 pounds), about half what he should. And yet, he is one of the lucky ones: His family got him to Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul, where doctors are providing life-saving care. But for every malnourished child receiving treatment, there are many more who cannot get help. “We have a catastrophic nutritional crisis on...

A federal judge will hear arguments Thursday on whether he should extend an order that protects Minnesota refugees who are lawfully in the U.S. from being arrested and deported. U.S. District Judge John Tunheim blocked the government from targeting these refugees last month, saying the plaintiffs in the case were likely to prevail on their claims “that their arrest and detention, and the policy that purports to justify them, are unlawful.” His Jan. 28 temporary restraining order will expire Feb. 25 unless he grants a more permanent preliminary injunction. Refugee rights groups sued the federal government in January after the...

For decades in the Moroccan town of Khenifra, Jacques Leveugle was simply known as the thin Frenchman who swept the streets at dawn, offered free language lessons and organized outings for schoolchildren. He spoke fluent Arabic and Morocco’s dialect, as well as Shilha, a Berber language widely spoken in the region, skills neighbors said helped him integrate into the community. He rode his bicycle to the local market, dressed simply in jeans and a button-down shirt, and opened a small library for children in the working-class Lassiri neighborhood. Now the 79-year-old is behind bars and under formal investigation in France,...

Crews found the bodies of eight backcountry skiers near California’s Lake Tahoe and were searching for one more after they were caught in an avalanche, the nation’s deadliest in nearly half a century, authorities said Wednesday. Authorities said the skiers had little time to react. “Someone saw the avalanche, yelled ‘Avalanche!’ and it overtook them rather quickly,” said Capt. Russell “Rusty” Greene, of the Nevada County sheriff’s office. Six were rescued six hours after the avalanche hit Tuesday morning as they were concluding a three-day trek in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada during a monster winter storm. The tour included four...