A Florida teenager who sued Meta claiming that he was addicted to and harmed by his use of platforms, such as Instagram, has dropped his case.
The 15-year-old plaintiff, known by the initials R.K.C., had in recent weeks settled the same claims against TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube, all of which have been accused in a large lawsuit of creating addictive platforms harmful to children.
R.K.C.’s claims were to go before a Los Angeles jury next week as part of court proceedings that have seen Meta and YouTube lose once already.
A Meta spokeswoman told the BBC: “The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits.”
Lawyers for R.K.C., Emily Jeffcott and Rahul Ravipudi, told the BBC that the young plaintiff “came into this process wanting to hold social media companies accountable and push for changes to protect young people like himself”.
“He did that,” they added.
The lawyers noted concerns about a jury trial stretching on for weeks and said R.K.C. was “ready to close this chapter and focus on his recovery and engage in therapy as he aspires to have a normal life”.
The Meta spokeswoman said he received no payment for dropping his claims.
R.K.C. had claimed that common social media features such as infinite scroll and autoplay, both of which continuously and automatically show users new content on a platform, drove compulsive use that became a type of addiction.
He argued it caused him anxiety and sleep deprivation, among other issues.
Meta and YouTube faced similar accusations from a young woman during the initial trial.
A jury ultimately found them liable for harming her mental health and were told to pay her $6mn (£4.4mn) in damages.
It was the first time that social media platforms had been held liable for their effects on users.
Both companies have now appealed that verdict.
The Los Angeles Superior Court is overseeing hundreds of lawsuits making similar claims of addiction and harm against social media companies. A small number of cases have been selected to go to trial.
The next one is set to begin in October, according to court records.
Across the US, there are thousands of lawsuits accusing Meta and other major social media platforms of harming young children.
In May, Meta settled for an undisclosed amount with a school district that had sued it for negatively impacting students, so much so that schools incurred costs related to student welfare. The school district had sought $60m in damages.
That settlement came not long after a New Mexico judge told Meta to pay $375m for misleading users on the safety of its platforms for children.
A woman has been placed under formal investigation over the death last year in France of a British-South African mother-of-four.
Karen Carter, 65, was found lying near her car with stab wounds by a friend in Trémolat, the Dordogne village where she had lived for over a decade and managed two holiday rental homes.
Prosecutors say the 70-year-old woman was originally taken into custody in 2025 as part of preliminary inquiries before being released.
Jacques-Edouard Andrault, the investigating judge in the case, said in a statement on Wednesday that “the investigations conducted as part of the judicial inquiry opened on 7 May, 2025, have led the investigating judge to formally charge her”.
Being placed under formal investigation in French law means an investigating judge has to decide whether or not there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial.
At the time of the killing in April last year, Karen Carter’s husband, Alan, said that he first heard of her death through a cousin who had read about it on a local community Facebook page.
He said he received confirmation of the death after his assistant phoned local police.
Describing his wife as an outgoing, friendly person who “wouldn’t hurt a fly”, he said her death has been “traumatic” for his family.
“I’m an introvert, and she’s the exact opposite. She’s an extrovert, she loves people, she loves to have fun. People love her, she has a good heart,” he said.
“She’s the one who would bring home the lost dog, or cat, or whatever. She’s that sort of person. Everyone liked her. That’s why I married her. She’s just lovely.”
The biggest mistake beginners make is assuming rosemary behaves like mint or coriander. It does not.
Rosemary evolved in rocky, dry regions where rainwater drains away quickly and roots rarely stay wet for long. In India, it grows best in places with plenty of sunlight and good air circulation. Hill stations naturally provide favourable conditions, but even in cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Jaipur, or Chandigarh, rosemary can do well in pots if its roots are protected from standing water.
Instead of focusing only on watering schedules, pay attention to the soil. Healthy roots are the foundation of a healthy rosemary plant. If the leaves begin turning yellow while the soil remains wet, the problem is often too much water rather than too little.
London — The U.S. military’s Central Command repeated an assertion on Tuesday evening that has been made by the Trump administration many times over the last two weeks, insisting that “despite Iranian aggression, the Strait of Hormuz remains open for commercial vessel traffic.”
CENTCOM acknowledged in the same statement that Iran had launched more than 30 attacks on commercial vessels since the war began, which it said had “endangered hundreds of innocent mariners and undermined freedom of navigation.”
President Trump, who has himself declared the strait open many times recently, threatened on Wednesday to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant for every new attack targeting a ship in the vital waterway.
Despite the U.S. president and military continuing to urge vessels to use a southern route through the strait, in defiance of Iran’s threats, few shippers seem willing to risk it.
The Joint Maritime Information Center in Bahrain, a military partnership that includes the U.S., said commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz fell to a three-week low on Tuesday amid ongoing Iranian attacks. CBS News tracked just three commercial ships — two cargo vessels and the Chinese-owned tanker Hsin Ocean — transiting the strait on Tuesday.
Between July 13 and 19, only two ships transited the strait using the U.S.-backed southern route that hugs the coast of Oman. Both transits were dark, meaning the vessels had turned off their AIS broadcast systems, according to a Lloyd’s List analysis.
Map of the Strait of Hormuz showing the shipping corridor coordinated by Oman, the Iran-designated corridor, and the location of Iranian attacks on boats on July 6 and 7.
“There’s nothing physically obstructing the navigation of any vessel willing to transit the strait, and there are vessels that trade locally and are entirely unaffected by everything that’s going on, however, if we’re talking about large ocean-going, internationally owned-and-operated merchant vessels, nothing is going through,” Maniatis told CBS News on Wednesday.
U.S. support for ships that choose to risk Iranian attacks by taking the Oman route is limited to air support as they attempt the transit as part of a convoy, Maniatis said, “and this is definitely not enough, because we see that, despite the best efforts and intentions of the U.S. Navy, vessels continue to be hit while they’re crossing the southern corridor.”
“There is no guarantee of safe passage,” he said.
Greek shipping giant Dynacom was one of the last international operators willing to send crews through the strait, but two of its ships were struck off the coast of Oman earlier this week, forcing both crews to evacuate.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported South Korea’s Sinokor Group was offering mariners six months of extra pay to make a return voyage through the strait.
The Iranian threat, meanwhile, is spreading.
Iran’s Houthi rebel allies in Yemen said this week they would prevent Saudi Arabia from using its Red Sea ports to get energy products to Asian markets. That route relies on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as the southern gateway to the Red Sea.
A map shows major routes for energy resources and other trade from the Middle East to Asia, including the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Strait of Hormuz.
Getty/iStockphoto
Much like the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab el-Mandeb is a narrow chokepoint for ships that can leave them vulnerable to attack, and the Houthis have a history — including in the last few years — of leveraging their proximity to the shipping lanes to threaten global commerce. Before the war, about 30% of global oil supplies would typically traverse the two straits every year.
At least five commercial vessels were seen turning around Tuesday as they approached the Bab el-Mandeb after the Houthis announced their intention to impose a blockade on Saudi Arabia .
Asked Tuesday about the Houthi threat, Mr. Trump said there was no blockade in the Red Sea, adding, “If something like that happens, we take care of that.”
But Maniatis said the U.S., so far, has not been able to take care of it in the Strait of Hormuz.
A statue of Iranian military members is seen with vessels in the Strait of Hormuz in the background, near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, in a May 22, 2026 file photo.
Majid Asgaripour/WANA/REUTERS
“Owners and operators — and crews, predominately — are really not feeling the safety they would need in order to have their vessels transit, and now we’re seeing the same thing in the Bab el-Mandeb, which is absolutely horrendous,” Maniatis told CBS News.
“There’s so many people that are absolutely destroyed,” he said, referring to ship crews in the region. “We see a lot of crew members that have had long careers, but also junior members of the crew, where their psychology is absolutely destroyed. They don’t even want to be on ships anymore.”
Italian authorities shut down an anonymous online effort that asked the public to report the locations of Israeli tourists, Italian Jews and businesses believed to have ties to Zionism, drawing condemnation from senior government officials and Jewish leaders who compared the initiative to fascist-era persecution.
“I think we’re going back to the 1930s, to hunting Jews,” Walker Meghnagi, president of the Jewish Community of Milan, said after the Google form began circulating on social media and messaging platforms.
The questionnaire said it was intended to “map Zionist tourism,” property purchases and what it described as “Zionist neo-colonization” in Italy, according to reports. It asked users to identify Jews, Israelis and people believed to be connected to Zionism at hotels, vacation rentals, businesses and other public places.
People take part in a flash mob entitled “In the same boat” to protest the detention and treatment of activists participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla in Milan, northern Italy, on May 21, 2026.(AFP via Getty Images)
“The online mapping of so-called ‘Zionist tourism,’ rightly denounced by the president of the Jewish Community of Milan, Walker Meghnagi, is an aberrant initiative, in direct violation of fundamental human rights and the constitutional principles on which our nation is founded,” Italian Senate President Ignazio La Russa wrote in a statement, as translated to English.
“No form of cataloguing of persons on the basis of their religious belief or their connection with Israel is acceptable or justifiable. Behind all this lies a profound anti-Semitism that must be unanimously, firmly, and determinedly rejected,” he added. “We cannot remain motionless in the face of such serious facts that recall the ghosts of the past. To the Jewish Community all my closeness.”
The form was removed following the intervention of Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto, Italy’s national coordinator for the fight against antisemitism, according to Italian and Israeli media reports.
A view of participants in a May 21 flash mob demonstration in Milan, northern Italy, with people gathered in public space to show solidarity with detained Global Sumud Flotilla activists.(AFP via Getty Images)
“This form is intended to record cases of Zionist tourism, property purchases, and, more generally, Zionist neo-colonization in Italy,” the questionnaire stated.
It said the information collected would be received by the Global Sumud Movement, an activist network associated with flotilla efforts to reach the Gaza Strip, and would remain confidential. Respondents were asked to provide sources so the reports could be verified and used to coordinate unspecified “initiatives.”
The Global Sumud Movement denied commissioning the form or knowing about it before the controversy erupted, according to The Jerusalem Post.
“Zionism is one of the issues we work on, but we do not hunt Jews, and we know nothing about this questionnaire,” the group told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. “We did not commission it and had not even seen it before it was taken offline.”
Seen Oct. 2, 2025, in Piazzale Loreto in Milan, Italy, demonstrators participate in a protest supporting the Global Sumud Flotilla after its interception by the Israeli army off the Gaza coast.(Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto)
The organization said it learned about the questionnaire through news reports and reserved the right to take further action, including issuing a formal statement.
According to La Repubblica, later sections of the form asked respondents to name locations where Jewish or Israeli visitors had been seen and to indicate whether local organizations or activist groups were already “managing the phenomenon.”
Meghnagi warned that collecting and circulating such information could encourage extremists to target Jews and Israelis.
“What is happening today shows that there are unbalanced individuals out there, and if this kind of message spreads widely enough, you are certain to find someone willing to act on it,” he said. “For this reason, mapping where Jews are is extremely serious.”
Alessandro Morelli, an Italian deputy secretary of state, ripped the form as “abhorrent” and said those responsible should not go unpunished.
Eric Mack is a breaking news reporter and writer Sunday through Thursday, 6 a.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET, with a particular interest in stories that lead the news cycle on politics, elections, foreign affairs and government.
Every once in a while, a big leaguer looks like a little leaguer on the diamond.
Unfortunately for the Philadelphia Phillies, star catcher J.T. Realmuto’s Little League-esque blunder ended the game.
In the bottom of the ninth inning of the Phillies’ 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies had runners on second and third with one out.
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts tags Philadelphia Phillies’ Justin Crawford in a rundown with J.T. Realmuto heading back to second base during the ninth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in Philadelphia.(AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Justin Crawford, who pinch-ran for Alec Bohm, was on third base, while Realmuto was on second base. Right fielder Brandon Marsh was up against closer Tanner Scott.
Marsh hit a weak ground ball to third base, and Crawford started to go home but stopped after a few steps.
Interim Phillies manager Don Mattingly said postgame the contact play was on, which means Crawford was supposed to run home no matter what. However, Crawford said the contact play was on unless the ball was hit to third base.
So Crawford, now caught between third base and home plate, got in a rundown. Realmuto ran to third base but inexplicably turned around to go back to second base when he saw Crawford run back to third base.
Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Tommy Edman reacts after tagging out Philadelphia Phillies catcher JT Realmuto in the ninth inning at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pa., on July 21, 2026.(Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)
Mookie Betts tagged Crawford out and then whirled and fired to second baseman Tommy Edman to nab Realmuto going back to second, completing a chaotic 5-2-6-4 double play to end the game.
Phillies announcer John Kruk was in disbelief after seeing Realmuto run back toward second base.
“Oh no, JT! Oh no,” Kruk said.
Realmuto said postgame it was a bad baserunning play.
“Just a bad baserunning play, really,” Realmuto told reporters postgame. “We were going on seeing it through there, and once (Crawford) gets in the rundown and I’m on third base, there’s no reason for me to go back to second. Just a lack of judgment. You can’t make two outs on that play. I’ve just got to stay in scoring position.”
Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman reacts after getting Philadelphia Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto out at second base for the final out of a game Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in Philadelphia.(AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
“Just a lapse in judgment. I thought Crawford could get out of the rundown for some reason. The chances of that are so small, you just can’t take that chance there of making two outs on one play.”
Realmuto said he should have played it through in his head before it happened and been more proactive in his preparation. Mattingly said he wasn’t sure what his star catcher was thinking.
“I don’t know what JT was thinking there, honestly, because he got to third,” Mattingly told reporters postgame.
“With contact on,” Mattingly said, “just hoping (Crawford) stays in (the rundown) long enough to get Marsh to second, and you end up in the same spot.”
J.T. Realmuto #10 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park on July 20, 2026, in Philadelphia, Pa. The Phillies defeated the Dodgers 10-7.(Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
“I’m not quite sure what he’s thinking. I don’t know if he thought that (Crawford) was going to get back or they were going to let him get back. It’s something we’ll talk about.”
The baserunning blunder comes in the midst of a down season for Realmuto. The three-time All-Star catcher is hitting just .215 with seven home runs, which well below his career batting average of .268.
The Phillies (56-46) will look to bounce back from the tough loss and take the third game of the three-game set against the Dodgers (64-38) on Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. ET.
Aston Martin has secured £550m in loans as it attempts to boost its finances.
The luxury car maker has been struggling in recent years and in March announced it would cut about 600 jobs, as last year’s net losses leapt by a little over 50% to £493.2m.
The firm has blamed the effects of US tariffs and weak demand in China.
Its half-year results are set to be published on 29 July, but on Wednesday the firm announced loans that it said would bolster its balance sheet and fund future product plans.
Headquartered in Gaydon, Warwickshire, most of the job cuts were thought to affect sites in the UK, where the majority of its staff are based.
The company has been burning through cash and at the time it announced the job cuts, Aston Martin said the move would mean annual savings of about £40m.
Santos superstar Neymar was a notable absentee from the squad as Cuca’s side secured a dominant victory in the Copa Sudamericana on Tuesday night. Rather than flying to Venezuela for the continental clash, the Brazilian icon was spotted competing in a professional poker tournament in São Paulo.
High stakes at the poker table
While his Santos teammates were battling on the pitch in Venezuela, Neymar was busy testing his luck and skill at the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) Winter edition. The forward, who has a well-documented passion for the card game, was spotted at the Golden Hall of the WTC Complex in Sao Paulo participating in the fourth stage of the national championship, according to ESPN Brazil. It is a familiar haunt for the Santos hero; during his participation in the same tournament in 2025, Neymar pocketed R$53,500.
The timing of his appearance raised eyebrows among some supporters, as it occurred just hours before Santos kicked off their crucial playoff tie. However, his presence at the event was not a case of going AWOL. The club had already made the decision to leave their marquee player behind to focus on a specific fitness programme following his return from a disappointing World Cup campaign.
Santos manager Cuca was quick to clarify the situation surrounding his star man after the 4-1 victory over Universidad Central. The veteran coach insisted that the decision to leave Neymar out was primarily aimed at ensuring he was fully rested following his international commitment.
“Since he was sidelined for a few days and didn’t have a holiday, we decided to let him get even stronger, training hard so he could have a run of games,” Cuca explained after the match. “Now, in ten days, we’re going to play four matches. What advantage would it be to bring him here? You saw how hard and exhausting the trip is. He stayed there working, just like [Willian] Arao, Joao Schmidt, and Igor Vinicius, and that gives us more options for the upcoming games.”
Despite his evening at the poker table, Neymar has been putting in the work at the club’s training ground. He had recently shared a video on social media showing him scoring goals and looking sharp in training drills. The manager’s plan appears to be focused on ensuring Neymar is at 100 percent for the domestic campaign, where the club is currently struggling in 15th place in the league table.
Successful night for the Peixe
Even without their talisman, Santos proved far too strong for Universidad Central, putting one foot firmly in the Copa Sudamericana round of 16. The Brazilian giants romped to a 4-1 victory in Venezuela, establishing a commanding cushion ahead of next week’s second leg at the Vila Belmiro. Should they finish the job, Ecuadorian giants Macara await in the next round.
When asked if his No. 10 would return for the upcoming league fixture, Cuca confirmed Neymar will be back in action against Chapecoense this Saturday. The decisive away win eases the pressure on their continental campaign, allowing the club to shift its entire focus back to domestic duties for the weekend.
Life after international retirement
This period marks a significant transition for Neymar, who recently called time on his legendary career with the Selecao. The forward announced his retirement from international football following Brazil’s shock 2-1 loss to Norway at the 2026 World Cup, an exit that left the player in tears. Having scored 80 goals in 130 appearances for his country, he stepped away from the world stage at the MetLife Stadium.
With his international duties now a thing of the past, the focus for the remainder of his career is firmly on his club commitments with Santos. The Peixe are desperate for his leadership and goal-scoring prowess to navigate a congested fixture list. If he can stay fit and replicate the sharp form shown in recent training sessions, his presence will be the deciding factor in whether Santos can salvage their season.
Southern Brave produced a remarkable fightback to begin their Hundred campaign with a hard-fought eight-run win against Welsh Fire in Southampton.
Fire were on course for a comfortable victory after reaching 109-3 in their chase of 128, with opener Georgia Voll in good nick and unbeaten on a half-century.
But 18-year-old left-arm spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman sent back the Australian batter for 52 and sparked a dramatic collapse as the visitors lost five wickets in the space of just six runs and 14 balls.
Lauren Bell then picked up the wickets of Georgia Wareham and Em Arlott in the following set while captain Sophie Molineux finished with 3-14, including the wicket of her opposite number Sophie Devine, to guide them to victory.
A Brave win had seemed unlikely for much of the evening after a sloppy fielding display in which they dropped a string of catches, including that of Voll in Bell’s opening set.
Earlier, Brave, who reached four of the five finals and won the competition in 2023, had struggled to build on the platform laid by opener Lizelle Lee, who struck 30 from 26 deliveries, after being sent in to bat first.
South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt anchored their innings with an unbeaten 45, but Heather Graham’s 4-19 with the ball ensured the home side’s innings never really took off as they finished on 126-7.
Fire will hope to bounce back quickly, having made significant investments, including a joint-high fee of £210,000 for Devine in the auction, after finishing bottom of the table with just one victory last season.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have paid tribute to their son Prince George on his birthday, sharing a video of the now-teenager having fun in Cornwall.
George, who turned 13 on Wednesday (22 July), can be seen climbing rocks, petting his dog, and playing cricket on the beach in a new footage.
“Thank you for all the birthday wishes for George today,” said the Kensington Royal account as they shared the clip online.
