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Peninsula educators sue TikTok, Snap and YouTube for allegedly delivering harmful content to kids

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:01 GMT

SAN MATEO – Peninsula educators are suing Snap, TikTok and YouTube over allegations they intentionally designed their platforms to be addictive and to deliver harmful content to children.The 107-page lawsuit was filed Monday by Cotchett, Pitre and McCarthy LLP on behalf of the San Mateo County Board of Education and the superintendent of schools.“For the youth targeted by social media companies and for the adults charged with their care, the results have been disastrous,” Karin Swope, an attorney for the firm, said in a statement. “Excessive use of the YouTube, TikTok, and Snap companies’ platforms by children has become ubiquitous. And now, there are more children struggling with mental health issues than ever before. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for youths.”The companies, the suit alleges, use artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver harmful content to children.Citing a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the lawsuit n...

‘Ted Lasso’ returns for final season on Apple TV+

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:01 GMT

toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley celebrates the return of 'Ted Lasso' (Season 3) $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); It’s a bittersweet feeling knowing that a beloved TV sitcom is returning for its final season. On the one hand, we can’t wait to dive back in to laugh with our favorite characters. On the other, we really don’t want it to end.That’s the case with the adorable sports sitcom “Ted...

Kings get boost from power play in 5-2 win over Islanders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:01 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Drew Doughty and Alex Iafallo scored on the power play as part of a four-goal outburst in the second period, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the New York Islanders 5-2 on Tuesday night. Blake Lizotte, Trevor Moore and Quinton Byfield also scored for Los Angeles. Joonas Korpisalo made 26 saves, and the Kings improved to 6-0-1 in their past seven games.“They’re more committed, they’re more calculated with the risk that they’re willing to take on the ice. And lo and behold, they’re scoring more, so it’s working well that way right now,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said.Pierre Engvall and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each had a goal, but the Islanders have dropped their past two games following three straight wins as part of a five-game point streak. Ilya Sorokin allowed four goals on 36 shots. “We’ve just got to bounce back,” Engvall said. “I think we had some really good periods in the game.”The Kings took charge on special teams after the Islanders lost their composu...

Venezuela tops Nicaragua 4-1 in WBC, is 3-0 in group play

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:01 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Eugenio Suárez and Anthony Santander had two hits each as Venezuela beat Nicaragua 4-1 on Tuesday and improved to 3-0 in the World Baseball Classic.Venezuela clinched Group D and reached the quarterfinals when the Dominican Republic defeated Israel later in the day.Suárez’s two-run single capped a three-run fourth inning that overcame a 1-0 deficit. Andrés Giménez’s run-scoring single tied the score, and Suárez lined a ball to right-center that scored Santander and Giménez.Santander added an RBI double in the fifth.José Ruiz got the win, pitching two perfect innings of relief. Carlos Hernández, José Quijada, Silvino Bracho and José Alvarado followed and limited Nicaragua to four hits over the final five innings.Brandon Leyton’s RBI groundout against starter Eduardo Rodriguez put Nicaragua ahead 1-0 in the second.Rodriguez allowed seven hits and struck out three in two-plus innings.Venezuela closes pool play in Group D against Israel on Wednesday.Nicaragua finished 0-4 i...

NRL enforces 11-day stand down for players after concussions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:01 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — The National Rugby League on Wednesday said any player diagnosed with a concussion will be automatically sidelined for 11 days in one of the biggest changes to its player safety protocols in nearly a decade.The Australian Rugby League Commission, which administers the NRL, met on Tuesday to determine updates to the game’s concussion policy. The rules will come into effect from Thursday’s third-round opener between Manly and Parramatta.Under the new 11-day shutdown rule, players who have sustained a concussion will be guaranteed to miss the following weekend’s match, and potentially a second game depending on the schedule.Players will only be able to return sooner in exceptional circumstances, after being given approval from an NRL-appointed independent neurologist.The rules come into effect as Australian rules football players in the Australian Football League initiated a class-action suit against the league, seeking up to one billion Australian dollars ($670 million) ...

Nets drop winnable game in OKC ahead of tough home stand

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:01 GMT

The Nets’ five game road trip ended with a 121-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.They now travel back to Brooklyn for a four-game home stand that will define the rest of season.Thunder All-Star star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — with help from budding star Josh Giddey and Net killer Lugentz Dort — ended Brooklyn’s impressive streak, which included convincing come-from-behind victories over two NBA championship contenders: the Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets.Tuesday provided the Nets an opportunity to secure a victory in a winnable game that could have gone a long way toward helping the team’s playoff standing.Instead, the Nets fell short — just before the schedule takes a turn.Gilgeous-Alexander put up his 38th 30-plus-point game of the season, Giddey recorded a triple-double, and Dort hit six threes for 24 points and nine assists.He has scored at least 20 or more in each of his last four games against the Nets.The Nets, who built...

Dutch go to polls in mid-term provincial elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:01 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Local elections with national impact opened Wednesday in the Netherlands as voters cast their ballots for the country’s 12 provincial legislatures — which in turn elect the national parliament’s upper house.A big swing away from the ruling four-party center-right coalition of long-serving Prime Minister Mark Rutte could affect his ability to push through reforms in the remainder of his term.The vote comes amid widespread dissatisfaction with Rutte’s government and anger among farmers at plans to rein in nitrate pollution.Underscoring the discontent, Rutte and other political leaders were briefly unable to leave the venue of the final election debate Tuesday night because of farmers and others protesting outside.Dozens of parties take part in the provincial elections in this nation of nearly 18 million, many of them small and local. Voters also will elect members of the country’s 21 local water authorities, key institutions in a nation ...

Political tensions, new protests over French pension bill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:01 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Opponents of French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension plan are staging a new round of strikes and protests Wednesday as a joint committee of senators and lower-house lawmakers examines the contested bill. The latest step in the legislative process to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 is prompting a peak of political tensions and one key question: Will the bill command a parliamentary majority?Meanwhile, unions are hoping that demonstrations across the country will further show workers’ massive opposition to the plan, promoted by Macron as central to his vision for making the French economy more competitive. Wednesday’s meeting of seven senators and seven lawmakers from the National Assembly is meant to find an accord on the final version of the text. The Senate is expected to approve it on Thursday, as its conservative majority is in favour of raising the retirement age. The situation at the National Assembly is much more complicated, however. Macron’s cent...

UK Treasury chief seeks drama-free budget day amid strikes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:01 GMT

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt will stage a moment of high political theater Wednesday, unveiling his budget to a crowd of baying lawmakers as consumers demand more help with the high cost of living and workers press for higher wages with strikes at schools, hospitals and the offices of civil servants.Even as Hunt plays his historically scripted role — emerging from his official residence with the spending plan in a battered red dispatch box, then carrying it to the House of Commons where he will be greeted by jeers and cheers — the truth is he will try to be as boring as possible.That’s because the last time the government staged a similar “fiscal event,” the mini-budget presented by Hunt’s predecessor last September, it set off an economic catastrophe by promising huge tax cuts without saying how it would pay for them. The value of the pound plunged, mortgage rates soared and the central bank was forced to intervene to protect pension funds.This time, strong and sta...

Thai policeman injured, detained after 24-hour standoff

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:01 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai police on Wednesday detained a senior police officer who fired multiple gunshots from his home in Bangkok, ending a standoff of over 24 hours after his colleagues tried to take him to be treated for mental illness.The gunman, identified as police Lt. Col. Kitikarn Sangbun was taken to hospital Wednesday for an injury after the ordeal, said police Lt. Gen. Samran Nualma, an assistant to the police chief. He did not specify the nature of Kitikarn’s injury and how it was obtained, but said no others were injured.Police Col. Rangsan Sornsing, superintendent of Sai Mai police station in Bangkok, said Wednesday that Kitikarn’s crazed episode began Tuesday morning.“His superior officer was going to take him to be treated at a mental institute but the situation got out of hand,” Rangsan said.Kitikarn then fired in the direction of police who arrived at the scene, starting the standoff.Police evacuated and cordoned off the area surrounding Kitikarn’s home as they tr...