Leif Ames

TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million and adopt new restrictions for teenage users, including a two-hour daily limit, overnight access restrictions, stronger age verification, a ban on beauty filters, and an option for a non-personalized feed. The settlement could grow to as much as $300 million if enough other state attorneys general join similar agreements. The Guardian reports: A trial had been set to begin on Monday in the southern US state over claims by Alabama that TikTok misled parents about tools meant to shield children from harmful content. [...] Attorney general Steve Marshall hailed Friday's settlement as "a great day for Alabama parents." He said: "Tonight, they can rest easier knowing real protections are in place to shield their children from the dangers of social media addiction." Under the settlement, TikTok will send $100m to Alabama and could possibly pay up to $300m in total if 40 other attorneys general sign similar agreements with the company within a specified timeframe. In addition, the Alabama deal includes a conditional restriction that Meta also agreed to: expanding the night-time shutdown period to 10pm to 7am if other platforms also commit to do the same. "TikTok's priority has always been fostering a safe and positive space where people can be creative, discover what they love, and connect with their community," a company spokesperson told AFP. "This builds on our commitment and core objective to continually enhance our robust safety tools to protect teens," the spokesperson added. More than a dozen other states, including California and New York, still have suits against TikTok.

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It’s been more than a year since [Henrik Forstén] built the first iteration of his synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) imaging drone, and he’s certainly been productive in the meantime. Not only …read more

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Hardware: NorthPoint Development wants to build a data center on 1,300 acres in the Pocono foothills, near Hazle Township, Pennsylvania. As well as seeking to charm the local government with various funding packages, it has proposed paying checks of $10,000 per household. Despite the Pennsylvania town's median income of $60,000, the offer isn't being warmly welcomed by locals, reports the Wall Street Journal. Those interviewed were widely against the data center development plans and cited several reasons for being averse to accepting the payout. The major concerns regarded potential impacts on property values, the specter of noise pollution, and a distrust of both the AI moguls and local government representatives. Offer letters began to be received by Hazle Township back in June. The WSJ recently talked to several residents about NorthPoint's $10,000 offer. While some say the $10,000 would be handy, it couldn't find many residents who were "eager to welcome the data center for the payout," in the journal's words. [...] Traditionally, developers have offered towns and cities packages worth tens of millions, including funding for local services. But direct cash payments to residents represent a new phase of their charm offensive, the WSJ indicates. Perhaps the idea for the direct payments to residents came after "a raucous public meeting last year, where angry locals asked what they had to gain by supporting the data center," ponders the source. The locals won't just get the direct payout, though. Other funds up to $120 million over the next 15 years have been dangled like a carrot for community and local services investments -- improved schools, emergency services, and so on. Meanwhile, Hazle Township's government already rejected the data center project on zoning grounds last year, and it has enacted a temporary moratorium on data center construction. Finally, the $10,000 offer to households is simply not enough in many interviewed folks' opinions. Residents could feel insulted by it, regarding the offer as a bribe, concludes the WSJ report.

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Police said Tasia Fortune, 29, was killed before her body was placed in the tree, and the scene was ‘staged’

A Mississippi judge set a $5m bond on Monday for a third man charged in the death of a Black woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in August.

Police disclosed on Friday that Tasia Fortune, 29, was killed before her body was placed in a tree behind an abandoned house in Jackson, Mississippi’s capital city.

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President claims US negotiators spoke with Iranian officials through intermediaries after Iran says it ‘has no plans to negotiate with US’

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While the lawmakers in the US House have already left Washington to get a head start on midterm campaigning, the Senate is hoping to wrap up its legislative agenda this week. Today, we can expect a vote at 5.30pm ET on the Protect College Sports act, which attempts to provide greater protections for university athletes in the US.

The bill includes provisions for players to earn compensation from their name, image and likeness – known as NIL payments, and allow them to transfer schools (and teams) without being penalized or forced to sit out for a defined period of time. If the legislation clears the Senate it will still need to head back to the lower chamber before it can head to Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.

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President seeks midterms boost as White House says project, built by Indian-owned company, will begin in 2030

Donald Trump on Monday announced what he called the largest steel plant in American history to be built in Iowa, giving Republicans a jobs message to take to voters in a state that could help decide control of the Senate in November.

“Using advanced steelmaking technology, the plant will produce some of the highest quality, most affordable steel anywhere in the world,” Trump said in the Oval Office, flanked by Iowa’s top Republicans.

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• Post came in response to rumor of ‘huge migrant caravan’

• Brian Dawkins says he did not give permission for footage

The NFL has asked the US Department of Homeland Security to take down a video likening former Eagles star Brian Dawkins’s most violent hits to a clampdown on immigrants.

The video posted to social media on Sunday shows Dawkins’ pregame walkout as he chants “The time has come,” followed by a series of violent hits from his playing career. The DHS post includes the caption “Our time has come” in response to a social media account claiming a “huge migrant caravan” is approaching the United States’ southern border.

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Andrew Bailey will resign as FBI co-deputy director about a year after assuming the position

Andrew Bailey, a deputy director of the FBI who has been overseeing some of Trump’s election-related investigations, will step down from his position approximately one year after assuming his role.

“I am announcing that I am stepping down to return to my family in Missouri,” Bailey wrote in an X post on Monday amid an ongoing shake-up at the bureau.

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