new video loaded: The A.I. Videos on Kids’ YouTube Feeds
The YouTube algorithm is pushing bizarre, often nonsensical A.I.-generated videos targeting children. Our video journalist Arijeta Lajka explains why experts say that these videos could affect their cognitive development, and how parents can identify this type of content.
By Arijeta Lajka, Christina Shaman, Melanie Bencosme, June Kim and Luke Piotrowski
February 26, 2026
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Arijeta Lajka, Christina Shaman, Melanie Bencosme, June Kim and Luke Piotrowski
At his Feb. 24 State of the Union address, President Donald Trump promoted his newly launched “Trump accounts.”
The accounts are seeded with a $1,000 head start from the federal government, and Trump said accountholders, with “modest additional contributions,” could see their investment “grow to over $100,000 or more by the time they turn 18.”
The White House said before the Super Bowl that 1 million people had already signed up in one week.
But this growth is not guaranteed over decades, and it almost certainly wouldn’t happen in 18 years. The estimate doesn’t factor in inflation, the risk of lower investment returns in the future, and the taxes upon withdrawal.
For the “Trump accounts,” babies born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, will receive $1,000 from the federal government. Parents can make additional deposits but aren’t required to.
An investment calculator maintained by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission shows that $1,000 could grow to about $6,000 after 18 years — far less than the $100,000 Trump cited.
Even if accountholders added a total of $9,000 during that time to that starting $1,000 — something many Americans couldn’t afford to do — it would produce about $60,000 in 18 years, at a 10% rate of growth.
The historical annual average gain for the U.S. stock market is about 10%, but that rate of gain is not assured. Management fees also could eat into any gains.
Even a modest 2% inflation rate would take a big bite out of the final amount.
Finally, the amount in the account would decline further upon withdrawal because of taxes.
SALEM, OR – A 31-year-old man was arrested Sunday night, February 22nd, after police say he violated a restraining order and refused to surrender for several hours at a Southeast Salem home.
Officers responded around 7 p.m. to a reported restraining order violation at a residence in the 4900 block of Periwinkle Drive Southeast. Police said Cristian Mercado, of Salem, was at the home in violation of a protection order that barred him from contacting the victim and her three children.
The victim was at work when she contacted authorities. Police said location services for her children’s cellphones had been turned off.
Mercado also had an outstanding warrant for a domestic violence-related assault involving the same victim and was known to have access to firearms, according to police.
Officers surrounded the home and attempted to negotiate with Mercado for several hours. Police said he spoke briefly by phone at times but did not maintain communication, complicating efforts to resolve the situation.
Salem police SWAT officers and the Crisis Negotiations Team were called to the scene. At about 11:45 p.m., Mercado surrendered without further incident.
He was booked into the Marion County Jail on four counts of violating a restraining order and the outstanding warrant.
SAN FRANCISCO — The California state lawmaker favored to succeed Nancy Pelosi in the U.S. House has already been thrust into the national spotlight as the force behind headline-grabbing policies like a ban on masks for federal agents and protections for transgender youth.
Now Scott Wiener is expected to win the California Democratic Party’s endorsement on Sunday, giving his candidacy an extra boost in a competitive primary. Once in Washington, he could swiftly become a fresh symbol of San Francisco politics, derided by conservatives as an example of extreme liberalism while occasionally clashing with progressives.
Wiener has practice with that balancing act after 15 years in city and state politics.
“Sen. Wiener only does the tough bills,” longtime Sacramento lobbyist Chris Micheli said. “He never shies away from a significant political battle.”
Wiener’s challenge of navigating modern Democratic politics was on display in January, when he changed his language on the war in Gaza. Days after declining to align with his progressive opponents in describing Israel’s actions as genocide, he said he agreed with that term. The shift angered some Jewish groups and led Wiener to step down as co-chair of the state Legislative Jewish Caucus.
“For a period of time I chose not to use the word ‘genocide’ because it is so sensitive within the Jewish community,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But ultimately I decided I had been effectively saying ‘genocide’ for quite some time.”
Wiener, known for his calm demeanor, is often at the center of California’s most divisive issues, from housing to drug use. His backers and critics alike describe him as someone who advocates relentlessly for his bills.
“If you’re willing to risk people being mad at you, you can get things done and make people’s lives better,” Wiener said.
Wiener authored a first-in-the-nation law banning local and federal law enforcement agents from wearing face coverings after a wave of immigration raids across Southern California last summer. A judge blocked it from taking effect this month — a rare loss in the state’s legal battles with the Trump administration that had Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office blaming Wiener.
Republicans have blasted many of his policies aimed at defending LGBTQ+ people, sometimes calling Wiener, who is gay, offensive names.
Aaron Peskin, a former San Francisco supervisor and outspoken progressive, said a law Wiener wrote inadvertently stifled local housing and affordability efforts.
“It was screwing my government’s ability to deliver goods and services to the people that we represent,” he said.
Wiener said he supports Israel’s right to defend itself but grew horrified by the scale of its attacks on Gaza and blocking of humanitarian aid. More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began in late 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. He had harshly criticized Israel’s actions but avoided using the word “ genocide.”
At a candidate forum in January, he refused to say “yes” or “no” after the Democratic hopefuls were asked whether Israel was committing genocide, which angered pro-Palestinian advocates. His opponents, San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan and former tech executive Saikat Chakrabarti, said “yes.”
Days later he released a video saying Israel had committed genocide, triggering backlash from Jewish and pro-Israel groups who said his words lacked “moral clarity.”
It was a representation of the difficult political terrain many Democrats are navigating as polls show views have shifted on Israel. American sympathy for Israel dropped to an all-time low in 2025, particularly among Democrats and independents, while sympathy for Palestinians has risen.
“Do I think he wins or loses based on this issue? Not necessarily, but it could become a problem for him,” San Francisco Bay Area political consultant Jim Ross said, adding that some voters might fear he will equivocate on issues important to them.
Just two Jewish members of Congress — Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Rep. Becca Balint, both of Vermont — have publicly used the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions. Only a small percentage of congressional Democrats have used the term, according to the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
Wiener grew up in New Jersey in a family that was Conservative Jewish, a sect of Judaism that is moderately traditional, and his only friends until high school were from his synagogue, he said. He later joined a Jewish fraternity at Duke University and was surprised by how supportive his brothers were when he told them he was gay.
“A lot of Jews just intuitively understand what it means to be part of a marginalized community,” he said.
Pelosi, a former House speaker, has not made an endorsement in the race.
If elected, Wiener said, he will work to bring down San Francisco’s notoriously high cost of living. His opponents are running on a similar promise and say he has failed to prioritize affordable housing.
Chan and Chakrabarti, a former aide to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., say they are fresher faces better positioned to bring sweeping change after Pelosi. Wiener, they say, is a moderate with establishment ties. Chan has been elected twice by voters in the city’s Richmond District, while Chakrabarti has never been on the ballot.
Ross, the political consultant, said it’s impossible to compare anyone to Pelosi given the sheer size of her political influence. But like her, Wiener has proved to be a strong networker who can raise money and pass ambitious bills.
“They’re both about the politics of what they can get done,” Ross said.
Now Scott Wiener is expected to win the California Democratic Party’s endorsement on Sunday, giving his candidacy an extra boost in a competitive primary. Once in Washington, he could swiftly become a fresh symbol of San Francisco politics, derided by conservatives as an example of extreme liberalism while occasionally clashing with progressives.
Wiener has practice with that balancing act after 15 years in city and state politics.
“Sen. Wiener only does the tough bills,” longtime Sacramento lobbyist Chris Micheli said. “He never shies away from a significant political battle.”
Wiener’s challenge of navigating modern Democratic politics was on display in January, when he changed his language on the war in Gaza. Days after declining to align with his progressive opponents in describing Israel’s actions as genocide, he said he agreed with that term. The shift angered some Jewish groups and led Wiener to step down as co-chair of the state Legislative Jewish Caucus.
“For a period of time I chose not to use the word ‘genocide’ because it is so sensitive within the Jewish community,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But ultimately I decided I had been effectively saying ‘genocide’ for quite some time.”
Leading high-profile legislation
Wiener, known for his calm demeanor, is often at the center of California’s most divisive issues, from housing to drug use. His backers and critics alike describe him as someone who advocates relentlessly for his bills.
“If you’re willing to risk people being mad at you, you can get things done and make people’s lives better,” Wiener said.
But he doesn’t always win.
Wiener authored a first-in-the-nation law banning local and federal law enforcement agents from wearing face coverings after a wave of immigration raids across Southern California last summer. A judge blocked it from taking effect this month — a rare loss in the state’s legal battles with the Trump administration that had Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office blaming Wiener.
His critics come from both parties.
Republicans have blasted many of his policies aimed at defending LGBTQ+ people, sometimes calling Wiener, who is gay, offensive names.
Aaron Peskin, a former San Francisco supervisor and outspoken progressive, said a law Wiener wrote inadvertently stifled local housing and affordability efforts.
“It was screwing my government’s ability to deliver goods and services to the people that we represent,” he said.
Shifting language on Israel
Wiener said he supports Israel’s right to defend itself but grew horrified by the scale of its attacks on Gaza and blocking of humanitarian aid. More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began in late 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. He had harshly criticized Israel’s actions but avoided using the word “ genocide.”
At a candidate forum in January, he refused to say “yes” or “no” after the Democratic hopefuls were asked whether Israel was committing genocide, which angered pro-Palestinian advocates. His opponents, San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan and former tech executive Saikat Chakrabarti, said “yes.”
Days later he released a video saying Israel had committed genocide, triggering backlash from Jewish and pro-Israel groups who said his words lacked “moral clarity.”
It was a representation of the difficult political terrain many Democrats are navigating as polls show views have shifted on Israel. American sympathy for Israel dropped to an all-time low in 2025, particularly among Democrats and independents, while sympathy for Palestinians has risen.
“Do I think he wins or loses based on this issue? Not necessarily, but it could become a problem for him,” San Francisco Bay Area political consultant Jim Ross said, adding that some voters might fear he will equivocate on issues important to them.
Just two Jewish members of Congress — Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Rep. Becca Balint, both of Vermont — have publicly used the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions. Only a small percentage of congressional Democrats have used the term, according to the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
Wiener grew up in New Jersey in a family that was Conservative Jewish, a sect of Judaism that is moderately traditional, and his only friends until high school were from his synagogue, he said. He later joined a Jewish fraternity at Duke University and was surprised by how supportive his brothers were when he told them he was gay.
“A lot of Jews just intuitively understand what it means to be part of a marginalized community,” he said.
Competing for Pelosi’s seat
Pelosi, a former House speaker, has not made an endorsement in the race.
If elected, Wiener said, he will work to bring down San Francisco’s notoriously high cost of living. His opponents are running on a similar promise and say he has failed to prioritize affordable housing.
Chan and Chakrabarti, a former aide to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., say they are fresher faces better positioned to bring sweeping change after Pelosi. Wiener, they say, is a moderate with establishment ties. Chan has been elected twice by voters in the city’s Richmond District, while Chakrabarti has never been on the ballot.
Ross, the political consultant, said it’s impossible to compare anyone to Pelosi given the sheer size of her political influence. But like her, Wiener has proved to be a strong networker who can raise money and pass ambitious bills.
“They’re both about the politics of what they can get done,” Ross said.
Associated Press writer Janie Har contributed.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The world premiere of “Nothing Up My Sleeve: Simple Deceptions for Curious Humans,” now playing at the Bethesda theater through March 15, features illusionist Dendy, who takes the audience on a very personal journey through his life growing up in a small Midwestern town.
Dendy on the set of “Nothing Up My Sleeve, Simple Deceptions for Curious Humans.”(Credit Margot Schulman)
Dendy on the set of “Nothing Up My Sleeve, Simple Deceptions for Curious Humans.”(Credit Margot Schulman)
At its core, Round House Theatre’s latest entry is a magic show; but it’s so much more.
The world premiere of “Nothing Up My Sleeve: Simple Deceptions for Curious Humans,” now playing at the Bethesda Theater through March 15, features illusionist Dendy, who takes the audience on a very personal journey through his life growing up in a small Midwest town.
Dendy recounts being a lonely child. But once he got his first magic set, everything changed. He was hooked for life. And once he transforms himself into that little kid — complete with a lisp — in the first act, the audience is hooked, too.
Dendy almost glides through the sure-to-win-awards set like a dancer. The strategic lighting plays a strong part, and the music subtly sets the mood without being dominant or a distraction. And the Mister Rogers-like wardrobe changes are lovely.
Everything feels warm, cozy and just right.
Though it’s described as a one-man show, “Nothing Up My Sleeve” is anything but. Dendy relies heavily on audience members to be part of the act. The man knows how to work a crowd.
He mixes in the history of magic while paying homage to some of his heroes. Dendy is clearly a master magician, but he’s really a storyteller at heart.
The show was conceived and co-written by Dendy and Aaron Posner, who also directed. The two previously collaborated (along with Teller of Penn and Teller) on a very different take of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” which was a hit at Round House in 2022.
If all goes well, producers are hoping “Nothing Up My Sleeve” will get a U.S. tour down the road and perhaps a U.K. tour after that.
I was reminded of the last live magic show I saw — way back in the mid-90s — “Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants,” which was scintillating. Jay was a master showman and manipulator.
The biggest difference for me: this show is warmer, kinder and gentler. You want to be Dendy’s friend. Most magicians can’t pull off that trick.
“Nothing Up My Sleeve” is intimate, it’s funny, it’s heartwarming, it’s delightful. There’s nothing objectionable or offensive. It’s for adults but very appropriate for kids ages 10 and older.
If you’re looking for amazing sleight of hand, disappearing objects and oh-my-gosh-how-did-he-do-that moments, you won’t be disappointed.
But if you want more details about the show, you’ve come to the wrong place. To say more would be akin to explaining a magic trick, and that’s obviously a no-no.
One other thing: In an era when shows and movies can sometimes push three hours, it’s nice to have one that’s barely two hours. It actually feels like less and leaves you wanting more.
And that might be the show’s greatest trick of all.
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For years, social media companies have disputed allegations that they harm children’s mental health through deliberate design choices that addict kids to their platforms and fail to protect them from sexual predators and dangerous content. Now, these tech giants are getting a chance to make their case in courtrooms around the country, including before a jury for the first time.
Some of the biggest players from Meta to TikTok are facing federal and state trials that seek to hold them responsible for harming children’s mental health. The lawsuits have come from school districts, local, state and the federal government as well as thousands of families.
Two trials are now underway in Los Angeles and in New Mexico, with more to come. The courtroom showdowns are the culmination of years of scrutiny of the platforms over child safety, and whether deliberate design choices make them addictive and serve up content that leads to depression, eating disorders or suicide.
Experts see the reckoning as reminiscent of cases against tobacco and opioid markets, and the plaintiffs hope that social media platforms will see similar outcomes as cigarette makers and drug companies, pharmacies and distributors.
The outcomes could challenge the companies’ First Amendment shield and Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms. They could also be costly in the form of legal fees and settlements. And they could force the companies to change how they operate, potentially losing users and advertising dollars.
Here’s a look at the major social media harms cases in the United States.
Jurors in a landmark social media case that seeks to hold tech companies responsible for harms to children got their first glimpse into what will be a lengthy trial characterized by dueling narratives from the plaintiffs and the two remaining defendants, Meta and YouTube.
At the core of the Los Angeles case is a 20-year-old identified only by the initials “KGM,” whose case could determine how thousands of similar lawsuits will play out. KGM and the cases of two other plaintiffs have been selected to be bellwether trials — essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury.
“This is a monumental inflection point in social media,” said Matthew Bergman of the Seattle-based Social Media Victims Law Center, which represents more than 1,000 plaintiffs in lawsuits against social media companies. “When we started doing this four years ago no one said we’d ever get to trial. And here we are trying our case in front of a fair and impartial jury.”
On Wednesday Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified, mostly sticking to past talking points, including a lengthy back-and-forth about age verification where he said ““I don’t see why this is so complicated,” reiterating that the company’s policy restricts users under the age of 13 and that it works to detect users who have lied about their ages to bypass restrictions..
At one point, the plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Lanier, asked Zuckerberg if people tend to use something more if it’s addictive.
“I’m not sure what to say to that,” Zuckerberg said. “I don’t think that applies here.”
A team led by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who sued Meta in 2023, built their case by posing as children on social media, then documenting sexual solicitations they received as well as Meta’s response.
Torrez wants Meta to implement more effective age verification and do more to remove bad actors from its platform.
He also is seeking changes to algorithms that can serve up harmful material, and has criticized the end-to-end encryption that can prevent the monitoring of communications with children for safety. Meta has noted that encrypted messaging is encouraged in general as a privacy and security measure by some state and federal authorities.
The trial kicked off in early February. In his opening statement, prosecuting attorney Donald Migliori said Meta has misrepresented the safety of its platforms, choosing to engineer its algorithms to keep young people online while knowing that children are at risk of sexual exploitation.
“Meta clearly knew that youth safety was not its corporate priority … that youth safety was less important than growth and engagement,” Migliori told the jury.
Meta attorney Kevin Huff pushed back on those assertions in his opening statement, highlighting an array of efforts by the company to weed out harmful content from its platforms while warning users that some dangerous content still gets past its safety net.
A trial scheduled for this summer pits school districts against social media companies before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California. Called a multidistrict litigation, it names six public school districts from around the country as the bellwethers.
Jayne Conroy, a lawyer on plaintiffs’ trial team, was also an attorney for plaintiffs seeking to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for the opioid epidemic. She said the cornerstone of both cases is the same: addiction.
“With the social media case, we’re focused primarily on children and their developing brains and how addiction is such a threat to their wellbeing and … the harms that are caused to children — how much they’re watching and what kind of targeting is being done,” she said.
The medical science, she added, “is not really all that different, surprisingly, from an opioid or a heroin addiction. We are all talking about the dopamine reaction.”
Both the social media and the opioid cases claim negligence on the part of the defendants.
“What we were able to prove in the opioid cases is the manufacturers, the distributors, the pharmacies, they knew about the risks, they downplayed them, they oversupplied, and people died,” Conroy said. “Here, it is very much the same thing. These companies knew about the risks, they have disregarded the risks, they doubled down to get profits from advertisers over the safety of kids. And kids were harmed and kids died.”
Social media companies have disputed that their products are addictive. During questioning Wednesday by the plaintiff’s lawyer during the Los Angeles trial, Zuckerberg said he still agrees with a previous statement he made that the existing body of scientific work has not proven that social media causes mental health harms.
Some researchers do indeed question whether addiction is the appropriate term to describe heavy use of social media. Social media addiction is not recognized as an official disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the authority within the psychiatric community.
But the companies face increasing pushback on the issue of social media’s effects on children’s mental health, not only among academics but also parents, schools and lawmakers.
“While Meta has doubled down in this area to address mounting concerns by rolling out safety features, several recent reports suggest that the company continues to aggressively prioritize teens as a user base and doesn’t always adhere to its own rules,” said Emarketer analyst Minda Smiley.
With appeals and any settlement discussions, the cases against social media companies could take years to resolve. And unlike in Europe and Australia, tech regulation in the U.S. is moving at a glacial pace.
“Parents, education, and other stakeholders are increasingly hoping lawmakers will do more,” Smiley said. “While there is momentum at the state and federal level, Big Tech lobbying, enforcement challenges, and lawmaker disagreements over how to best regular social media have slowed meaningful progress.”
—
AP Technology Writer Kaitlyn Huamani contributed to this story.
CHICAGO — From jokes about his well-known stubbornness to tears grieving the loss of a parent, the adult children of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. gave an emotional tribute Wednesday honoring the legacy of the late civil rights icon, a day after his death.
Jackson died Tuesday at his home in Chicago after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his ability to move and speak. Standing on the steps outside his longtime Chicago home, five of his children, including U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, remembered him not only for his decades-long work in civil rights but also for his role as spiritual leader and father.
“Our father is a man who dedicated his life to public service to gain, protect and defend civil rights and human rights to make our nation better, to make the world more just, our people better neighbors with each other,” said his youngest son, Yusef Jackson, fighting back tears at times.
The family said details on funeral arrangements for Jackson would be announced at a later time, but services will begin next week, with him lying in repose at the headquarters of the organization he founded, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago, which his son Yusef oversees. Services will follow at a church large enough to accommodate expected crowds.
Jackson rose to prominence six decades ago as a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., joining the voting rights march King led from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. King later dispatched Jackson to Chicago to launch Operation Breadbasket, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference effort to pressure companies to hire Black workers.
Jackson was with King on April 4, 1968, when the civil rights leader was slain.
Remembrances have poured in worldwide for Jackson, including flowers left outside the home where large portraits of a smiling Jackson had been placed. But his children said he was a family man first.
“Our father took fatherhood very seriously,” his eldest child, Santita Jackson, said. “It was his charge to keep.”
His children’s reflections were poetic in the style of the late civil rights icon — filled with prayer, tears and a few chuckles, including about disagreements that occur when growing up in a large, lively family.
His eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., a former congressman, said his father’s funeral services would welcome all, “Democrat, Republican, liberal and conservative, right wing, left wing — because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American.”
The family asked only that those attending be respectful.
“If his life becomes a turning point in our national political discourse, amen,” he said. “His last breath is not his last breath.”
A U.K. mom removed her neurodivergent son from mainstream school after she discovered a theory that unlocked so many answers.
Laura I’Anson, 42, posted a reel on Instagram (@thelevelledupmum) describing the day she learned about “drowning child” theory. Her caption challenged common reassurances she had heard from professionals: that her son was “coping,” “managing,” or simply needed “more resilience.”
What those words overlooked, I’Anson said, was the hidden toll on her son Coby, now 7.
“One of my friends who is an early years teacher said to me, ‘If you saw a child drowning, would you ask them to swim harder, or would you pull them out?’ and it really hit me,” I’Anson told Newsweek.
“While he was physically present at school, it became clear to me that he wasn’t truly living or thriving—he was surviving, at a very real cost to his mental and emotional well-being.”
From the age of 5, Coby began experiencing anxiety-led blackouts—periods of complete disconnection under overwhelm.
By 6, this had escalated into intense school meltdowns that were often treated as behavioral issues rather than signs of distress. Between ages 5 and 7, repeated suspensions followed.
The emotional aftermath left a deep impression on Laura, who is also mom to Kian, 20, Annie, 14, and 6-year-old Finn with husband Scott, 35.
Coby would be ashamed and apologetic, struggling to understand his own reactions. Over time, he grew hypervigilant and withdrawn, often ending the school week mentally and physically exhausted and finding public outings distressing.
The “drowning child” theory gave Laura a framework for what she was seeing. To her, it recognizes that drowning is not always dramatic.
“Sometimes, my son was drowning loudly, through meltdowns, lashing out and behaviors that were visible and disruptive,” Laura said. “Those moments were often the ones people noticed, and they were usually treated as the problem itself, rather than a sign of how overwhelmed he was.”
After withdrawing Coby from school, the first change was simple: he slept, often and deeply. Laura focused on rest and “deschooling,” allowing his nervous system to settle before introducing expectations.
“Learning became something we could approach gently and flexibly, at his pace, rather than something driven by fear or exhaustion,” she said. “The biggest change was that he no longer felt like he had to survive the day. He could just be.”
The mom of four acknowledged that stepping outside the system felt daunting and that she initially felt anger toward the school, but she worked to separate emotion from decision-making.
Her message to other parents is measured but firm: questioning systems is not irresponsibility but thoughtfulness.
“Trust your judgment as a mother,” Laura said. “I knew whatever decisions I made for Coby were coming from a place of love, and I kept that in the forefront of my mind on the days I felt unsure.”
NEW YORK — Pene Pati was cautioned as a 20-year-old not to pursue a singing career, an unusual occupation for a Samoan who grew up in New Zealand
“Lots of people want to become a singer because they want the lifestyle,” the tenor recalled. “Whereas for me, I did it out of spite, to be honest. It was somebody who said: `Don’t be angry if you don’t cut it as an opera singer because as a Polynesian, there are not many opera singers.’ And that part of me thought: How do I prove him wrong?”
Now 38 and booked by top houses into 2030, Pati laughed as he recalled vocal coach Robert Wiremu’s wariness.
“He didn’t say I wasn’t a good singer,” Pati explained. “He just said: `Don’t be afraid if you don’t make it.’”
Pati is among the emerging tenors in a group with Xabier Anduaga, SeokJong Baek, Freddie De Tommaso, Ismael Jordi and Jonathan Tetelman.
He impressed last month in his first staged performances of Massenet’s “Werther” at Paris’ Opéra Comique, a 1,200-capacity jewel box that turned down the composer’s 1887 offer to stage the premiere.
“I wanted people who had never sung it before,” conductor Raphaël Pichon said.
Pati’s biggest break was at the Comique on Dec. 13, 2021, when he replaced Jean-François Borras for the opening of Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” with just a few hours notice. He had sung Alfredo in Verdi’s “La Traviata” the previous day in Amsterdam and quickly took a train.
“It was the springboard for Europe and for America,” Pati said.
His Paris castmates timed his held high C at 19 seconds, according to mezzo-soprano Adèle Charvet.
“The moment he set a foot on stage, it became electric,” said Charvet, who sang her first staged Charlotte with Pati last month. “When he’s around, it’s like the sun is here suddenly.”
Ted Huffman, the director, took advantage of the intimate house and placed Pati near the lip of the stage, where viewers could focus on his facial expressions.
“He’s such a warm person in real life and that openness, it translates to something very honest with the audience,” Huffman said. “Without planning this we went down a quite extreme path with the character in the way he went towards these inward explosions rather than the outward ones.”
Born in Samoa to parents who are both registered nurses, Pati moved to New Zealand with his family when he was between 1 and 2.
“That also gave me the motivation to leave New Zealand because I thought if they could do it, then now I have to do it,” he said.
Pati sang in an Auckland choir and planned on a computer science career. He was encouraged to pursue piano and singing by Terence Maskell, his choir and high school music director.
Pati continued studies at The University of Auckland, won a music competition in Australia and at the behest of tenor Dennis O’ Neill moved to Cardiff in 2011 to study at the Wales International Academy of Voice. Around the same time, Pati formed the trio Sol3 Mio with his brother, tenor Amitai Pati, and cousin, baritone Moses Mackay.
Pati entered the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program in 2013. During auditions for the program in New Zealand, he met soprano Amina Edris, his future wife and occasional recital partner. His first words to her were: “You’re the only one that’s better than me.”
He placed second among men in the 2015 Operalia competition and after at first turning down the opportunity, advanced to the San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellows program in 2016 along Edris. The following year he made his San Francisco Opera debut as the Duke in Verdi’s “Rigoletto.”
He sang his first European opera performance at Bordeaux, France, in 2018, and his profile rose when he replaced Brian Hymel for San Francisco’s opening-night performance of “Roméo” in September 2019. He’s since debuted at the Paris Opera (2021), the Vienna State Opera (2022), London’s Royal Opera (2024) and New York’s Metropolitan Opera and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera (both 2025).
Pati, who now lives in Paris, returns to the Met for Puccini’s “La Bohème” next season.
“He’s a tenor with enormous potential,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said.
Pati sings Edgardo in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” at Toulouse, France, starting Feb. 20, a role he repeats for his debut at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala this summer. He performs the title role in Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” for his Zurich Opera debut in late April and returns home to New Zealand in August for Chevalier des Grieux in Massenet’s “Manon.”
“I don’t want to jump the gun,” he said. “Once you go to all the heavier stuff it’s hard to come back.”
After the final “Werther” performance, Pati invited the children’s chorus to his dressing room and gave them cake. Between performances at the New York’s Park Avenue Armory last September, he held a workshop, singing and answering questions for 14-to-18-year-old vocal students from Talent Unlimited High School.
“The most important thing about Pene for me is just humanity,” Pichon said. “It’s a man who wants to share, wants to communicate his passion, his music. It’s properly unique, how solar, how luminous is this man.”
There are just 16 Flock Safety cameras in Thornton.
But those electronic eyes, mounted to poles at intersections throughout this city of nearly 150,000, brought out dozens of people to the Thornton Community Center for a discussion on how the controversial license plate-reading cameras are being used — and whether they should be used at all.
Law enforcement agencies cite the automatic license-plate readers, or ALPRs, as a powerful tool that bolsters their ability to locate and stop suspects who may be on their way to committing their next assault or robbery.
But Meg Moore, a six-year resident of the city who is helping spearhead opposition to Flock cameras, said she worries about how the rapidly spreading surveillance system is impacting residents’ privacy and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Thornton’s Flock camera data can be seen by more than 1,600 other law enforcement agencies across the country.
“We want to make sure this is truly safe and effective,” she said in an interview.
The debate over Atlanta-based Flock Safety’s cameras, which not only can record license plate numbers but can search for the specific characteristics of a vehicle linked to an alleged crime, has been picking up steam in recent years. The discussions have largely played out in metro Denver and Front Range cities in recent months, but this year they reached the state Capitol, where lawmakers are pitching a couple of bills to tighten up rules around surveillance.
In Denver, Mayor Mike Johnston has been butting heads with the City Council over the issue. Johnston is so convinced of Flock’s value in combating crime that in October, he extended the contract with the company against the wishes of much of the council. Denver has 111 Flock cameras.
In Longmont, elected leaders took a different approach. Its City Council voted in December to pause all sharing of Flock Safety data with other municipalities, declined an expansion of its contract with the company and began searching for an alternative.
Louisville beat its Boulder County neighbor to the punch by several months, disabling its Flock cameras at the end of June and removing them by the start of October. City spokesman Derek Cosson said privacy concerns from residents largely drove the city’s decision.
Steve Mathias, a Thornton resident for nearly a decade, would like to see Flock’s cameras gone from his city. Short of that, he said, reliable controls on how the streetside data is collected, stored and shared are paramount.
“In our rush to make our community safe, we’re not getting the full picture of the risks we’re facing,” he said. “We’re making ourselves safe in some ways by making ourselves less safe in others.”
The hot-button debate in Thornton played out at last month’s community meeting and continued at a City Council meeting last week, where the city’s Police Department gave a presentation on the Flock system.
Cmdr. Chad Parker laid out several examples of Flock’s cameras being instrumental in apprehending bad actors — in cases ranging from homicide to sex assault to child exploitation to a $5,700 theft at a Nike store.
As recently as Monday, Thornton police announced on X that investigators had tracked down a man suspected of hitting and killing a 14-year-old boy who was riding a small motorized bike over the weekend. The agency said a Flock camera in Thornton gave officers a “strong lead” in identifying the hit-and-run suspect within 24 hours.
At the Feb. 3 council study session, police Chief Jim Baird described Flock’s camera system as “one of the best tools I’ve seen in 32 years of law enforcement.”
But that doesn’t sway those in Thornton who are wary of the camera network.
“I’m not a fan of building toward a surveillance state,” Mathias said.
The hazards of a system like Flock, he said, lie not just in the pervasive data-collection methods the company uses but also in who eventually might get to see and use that data — be it a rogue law enforcement officer or a hacker who manages to break into Flock’s database.
“A person who wants us to do us harm with this system will have as much capability as the police have to do good,” he said.
A Flock Safety license plate recognition camera is seen on a street light post on Ken Pratt Boulevard near the intersection with U.S. 287 in Longmont on Dec. 10, 2025. (Matthew Jonas/Daily Camera)
Crime-fighting tool or prone to misuse?
In November, a Columbine Valley police officer was disciplined after he accused a Denver woman of theft based in large part on evidence from Flock cameras, according to reporting from Fox31. The officer mistakenly claimed the woman had stolen a $25 package in a nearby town and said he’d used Flock cameras to track her car.
“It’s putting too much trust in the hands of people who don’t know what they’re doing,” DeFlock’s Will Freeman said of so many police agencies’ adoption of the technology.
Last summer, 9News reported that the Loveland Police Department had shared access to its Flock camera system with U.S. Border Patrol. That came two months after the station reported that the department gave the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives access to its account, which ATF agents then used to conduct searches for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Parker, the Thornton police commander, said any searches connected to immigration cases or to women from out of state who are seeking an abortion in Colorado — another scenario that’s been raised — “won’t ever touch our system.” State laws restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities and with other states’ abortion-related investigations.
“Any situation I feel uncomfortable about or that might be in conflict with our policies or with Colorado law, I will revoke their access — no problem,” he said.
Thornton deputy city attorney Adam Stephens said motorists’ Fourth Amendment rights are not being violated by the city’s Flock camera network. During last week’s meeting, he cited several recent court cases that, in essence, determined that there is no right to privacy while driving down a public roadway.
In an interview, Stephens said Thornton was “in compliance with the law.”
Flock spokesman Paris Lewbel wrote in an email that the company was “proud to partner with the Thornton Police Department to provide technology used to investigate and solve crimes and to help locate missing persons.”
Lewbel provided links to two news stories about minor children who were abducted and then found with the help of Flock’s cameras in Thornton and elsewhere.
At the council’s study session last week, Parker provided more examples of Flock’s role in fighting crime and finding missing people in Thornton. They included police nabbing a suspect who had hit and killed a pedestrian, locating a burglar who was suspected of robbing several dispensaries, and tracking down an 89-year-old man with dementia who had gotten into his car and gotten lost.
“It allows us to find vehicles in a manner we weren’t able to previously,” Parker said of the camera network.
Thornton installed its first 10 Flock cameras in 2022 and then added five more — plus a mobile unit — two years later. The initial deployment was in response to a spike in auto thefts in the city, which peaked at 1,205 in 2022 (amid an overall surge in Colorado). Thornton recorded 536 auto thefts last year.
The city says Flock cameras have been involved in 200 cases that resulted in an arrest or a warrant application in Thornton over the last three years.
Thornton police have access to nearly 2,200 other agencies’ Flock systems across the United States, while nearly 1,650 law enforcement agencies can access Thornton’s Flock data, according to data provided by the city.
For Anaya Robinson, the public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, the networked nature of Flock cameras across wide geographies is a big part of the problem. By linking one police agency’s Flock technology with that of thousands of other police departments, it “creates a surveillance environment that could violate the Fourth Amendment.”
The sweeping nature of Flock’s surveillance is also worrisome, Robinson said.
“You’re not just collecting the data of vehicles that ping (a police department’s) hot list (of suspicious vehicles), you’re collecting the data of every vehicle that is caught on a Flock camera,” he said.
And because the technology is relatively inexpensive — Thornton pays $48,500 to Flock annually for its system — it’s an affordable crime-fighting tool for most communities. But that doesn’t mean it should be deployed, DeFlock’s Freeman said.
Fight remains a largely local one
State lawmakers are crafting bills this session to limit the reach of surveillance technologies like Flock’s.
Senate Bill 70 would put limits on access to databases and the sharing of information. It would prohibit a government from accessing a database that reveals an individual’s or a vehicle’s historical location information, and it would prohibit sharing that information with third parties or with government agencies outside the controlling entity’s jurisdiction. Certain exceptions would apply.
Senate Bill 71 would direct a “law enforcement agency to use surveillance technology only for lawful purposes directly related to public safety or for an active investigation.” It also would forbid the use of facial-recognition technology without a warrant and would place limits on the amount of time data can be retained.
Both bills await their first committee hearings.
Thornton says it doesn’t use facial recognition technology. Its Flock data is retained for 30 days.
Regardless of what passes at the state Capitol, the real fight over license plate readers of any type will likely continue to happen at the local level. Thornton’s council plans further discussions on Flock next month.
For Moore, the resident who is leading the charge against the cameras, potential surveillance of the immigrant community is what troubles her the most.
“We want to make sure we’re operating this so that it’s safe for all of our residents,” she said. “Getting rid of the cameras altogether is a tough sell. But there needs to be a conversation about guardrails.”
Mayor Pro Tem Roberta Ayala, a Thornton native, said she has heard a wide array of opinions from her constituents about the advantages and potential downsides of the technology.
“Could it be misused? Yes. Do we want to stop that? Yes,” she said.
But as a victim of crime herself, Ayala also knows the immense damage and disruption that crime causes victims and their families, be it a stolen vehicle or something much worse. And as a teacher, Ayala is concerned about achieving justice for the families of children who are harmed or abused.
“If it can save even five kids,” she said, “I want the cameras.”
LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia began to implement a ban on cellphones in classrooms Monday, as the school year starts in the landlocked South American nation.
Children in Bolivia, and teachers, will be asked to keep their cellphones in lockers or in their bags while they’re in classrooms. The measure will be implemented in both private and public schools and applies to pupils of all ages.
Several countries have already implemented mobile phone bans in schools in an effort to increase the attention span of children and reduce distractions, including Brazil, France and South Korea.
The measure was drafted under the administration of Rodrigo Paz, a centrist who won last year’s election and took office in November, following two decades of rule by the left-wing Movement Toward Socialism.
Paz said on Monday that he does not oppose technology, adding that he is attempting to improve connectivity for Bolivian students by using satellites to connect schools in rural areas to the internet.
“I will not give you Wi-Fi to watch movies,” Paz said during an event in Copacabana, a town on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake. “I am going provide connectivity so that pupils can download knowledge.”
Last year, the Paz administration lifted a ban against foreign-owned internet satellite providers that had been put in place by the previous government. Bolivia has long relied on a Chinese-built satellite to provide internet in remote areas, but the satellite known as the Tupac Katari is getting old and has limited capabilities. Bolivia has some of the lowest internet speeds in the region.
Worried about your child’s screen habits? Clinical neurophysiologist and author Dr Javier Albares has taken a deep dive into scientific research to highlight the serious impact that excessive screen time has on the sleep, development and well-being of children and adolescents.
This pressing issue in our increasingly digital world is a worrying reality for specialists and families alike, and the expert warns that screens are “over-stimulating” young people.
“The impact is incredibly broad,” says Dr Albares. “It contributes to sedentary lifestyles, higher cardiovascular and metabolic risks and a greater risk of obesity.
By age 12, many children are averaging four to five hours a day looking at a screen
“More time on a device means fewer hours of rest,” he explains. “For children and adolescents whose brains are still developing, sleep is a non-negotiable pillar of health.”
In your book Zombie Generation, you suggest screens can actually “slow down” cognitive development. Is there a safe limit for children and teenagers?
“Medical organisations generally recommend zero screen time for children under six. Between the ages of six and 12, the limit should be one hour a day. From 12 to 16, we suggest no more than an hour and a half to two hours.
“Data shows that in families with a firm bedtime, the risk of depression in children drops by 25 per cent”
Clinical neurophysiologist Dr Javier Albares
“The reality, however, is miles away from this. We see babies being given screens well before they are two years old. By age 12, many children are averaging four to five hours a day. One psychologist recently weighed in on how the gap between recommendations and reality has become truly alarming.”
You are critical of tech companies for claiming today’s youth have evolved into “Homo Digitalis”. How can families fight back?
“Families need to understand that tech marketing – the idea that these tools make children smarter – is simply not true. Studies show that the more time children spend on screens, the lower their cognitive development and attention span.
“Digitalisation doesn’t automatically equal learning. We families to unite and demand the protection of our children’s health. It is also vital that we monitor what our kids are doing online and ensure tech companies are held to account.”
‘If science shows that screens are damaging physical growth, mental health and empathy, then we have a duty to pass protective laws,’ says the expert
Do you believe we need large-scale laws to protect children from the digital world?
“Absolutely. The law must protect children just as it does with alcohol. If science shows that screens are damaging physical growth, mental health and empathy, then we have a duty to pass protective laws. It’s also worth looking at what really happens to the body when other unhealthy habits, like poor diet and sedentary behaviour, are combined with constant screen use.”
Young people are sleeping less and worse than ever. Can we turn this around?
“Yes, we can. It requires a shift in our social schedules, but we can also take action at home. For example, screens should be completely off-limits after dinner. That alone would give back a significant amount of sleep.
“Parents have to set firm boundaries. Data shows that in families with a firm bedtime, the risk of depression in children drops by 25 per cent. Setting a bedtime isn’t just a rule; it’s a parental duty. You can start with simple changes and tips to help get children to sleep more naturally.”
Not every child or adolescent belongs to the ‘Zombie Generation’ yet, but the warning signs are there
What happens if young people simply join the digital world when they’re a bit older?
“There is no downside to waiting. In fact, it’s the opposite. It means they won’t have ‘lost’ their childhood. Childhood only happens once, and every hour spent in front of a screen is an hour stolen from something else – like exercise, traditional play, music, reading or simply hanging out with friends. They miss out on quality family time and, of course, sleep. Delaying access to screens allows for healthy brain development through real-world interaction.”
Can young digital natives ever stop being the ‘Zombie Generation’?
“Of course. Not every child belongs to the ‘Zombie Generation’ yet, but the warning signs are there… We can’t just look the other way… It’s about integrating healthier routines that benefit the whole family. Many families have already written to me saying that by distancing themselves from screens, their children are happier, resting better and growing up in a much healthier environment.”
About the expert
Dr Javier Albares is a clinical neurophysiologist and a member of both the Spanish Sleep Society (SES) and the European Sleep Research Society. In his Spanish-language book, Generación Zombi (Zombie Generation), he uses scientific research to highlight the serious impact that excessive screen time has on the sleep, development and well-being of children and adolescents.
As refugee and immigrant families across Minnesota grapple with fear and uncertainty following the recent federal immigration crackdown, a nonprofit and volunteers are stepping in to provide food, care kits and reassurance — especially for children afraid to leave their homes.
“Everybody is afraid to leave their homes. They don’t know if they should go to work, or they don’t know if they should send their kids to school,” said Jo Haugen, US Enterprise marketing and engagement manager.
With the sudden surge in the federal immigration crackdown, many arrests have left families afraid to go to work, school or even the grocery store. Many children have remained home, often isolated and anxious, while families face urgent needs like food and housing.
In response, nonprofit Alight has been coordinating food deliveries and other critical services. The effort made this week has focused on collecting toys, games and art supplies for children who are not attending school.
“We recognize that the kids are at home and isolated. They are isolated from their friends and school,” Haugen said. “We just really wanted to bring a little joy to the kids and bring them something to keep them happily occupied.”
On Wednesday, volunteers assembled care packages catered to the children’s preferences in toys and arts.
“Our case managers have gone to the families and asked the children’s preferences … these are highly personalized,” said Haugen.
Alongside the care kit, volunteers wrote note cards with kind and compassionate words for the children.
Volunteer Laura Johnson said she was driven by a sense of responsibility during what she described as a heavy moment for the community.
“In the midst of this sad and heavy time, it just feels good to be together,” Johnson said.
Johnson added that the response from Minnesotans has offered her a sense of hope.
“There is this kind of hopefulness around the fact that people are showing up for each other and finding ways to support,” Johnson said. “The world is looking at us and I think there is just a lot of pride in how the Twin Cities is showcasing this is how a city comes together.”
Alight is taking donations through next Wednesday. A full list can be found here on their website and monetary donations can be submitted here.
Alight is a humanitarian organization that works alongside refugees, providing support from initial arrival to long-term stability.
PARIS — French lawmakers approved a bill banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to enter into force at the start of the next school year in September, as the idea of setting a minimum age for use of the platforms gains momentum across Europe.
The bill, which also bans the use of mobile phones in high schools, was adopted by a 130-21 vote late Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the legislation be fast-tracked and it will now be discussed by the Senate in the coming weeks.
“Banning social media for those under 15: this is what scientists recommend, and this is what the French people are overwhelmingly calling for,” Macron said after the vote. “Because our children’s brains are not for sale — neither to American platforms nor to Chinese networks. Because their dreams must not be dictated by algorithms.”
The issue is one of the very few in a divided National Assembly to attract such broad support, despite critics from the hard left denouncing provisions of the bill as infringement on civil liberties. Weakened domestically since his decision to dissolve parliament plunged France into a prolonged political crisis, Macron has strongly supported the ban, which could become one of the final major measures adopted under his leadership before he leaves office next year.
The vote in the assembly came just days after the British government said it will consider banning young teenagers from social media as it tightens laws designed to protect children from harmful content and excessive screen time.
The French bill has been devised to be compliant with the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which imposes a set of strict requirements designed to keep internet users safe online. In November, European lawmakers called for action at EU level to protect minors online, including a bloc-wide minimum age of 16 and bans on the most harmful practices.
According to France’s health watchdog, one in two teenagers spends between two and five hours a day on a smartphone. In a report published in December, it said that some 90% of children aged between 12 and 17 use smartphones daily to access the internet, with 58% of them using their devices for social networks.
The report highlighted a range of harmful effects stemming from the use of social networks, including reduced self-esteem and increased exposure to content associated with risky behaviors such as self-harm, drug use and suicide. Several families in France have sued TikTok over teen suicides they say are linked to harmful content.
The French ban won’t cover online encyclopedias, educational or scientific directories, or platforms for the development and sharing of open-source software.
In Australia, social media companies have revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children since the country banned use of the platforms by those under 16, officials said. The law provoked fraught debates in Australia about technology use, privacy, child safety and mental health and has prompted other countries to consider similar measures.
Why might healthy lifestyle choices wipe out 90% of our risk for having a heart attack, while drugs may only reduce risk by 20% to 30%?
On the standard American diet, atherosclerosis—hardening of the arteries, the number one killer of men and women—has been found to start in our teens. Investigators collected about 3,000 sets of coronary arteries and aortas (the aorta is the main artery in the body) from victims of accidents, homicides, and suicides who were 15 to 34 years old and found that the fatty streaks in arteries can begin forming in our teens, which turn into atherosclerotic plaques in our 20s that get worse in our 30s and can then become deadly. In the heart, atherosclerosis can cause a heart attack. In the brain, it can cause a stroke. See the progression below and at 0:35 in my video Can Cholesterol Get Too Low?.
How common is this? All of the teens they looked at—100% of them—already had fatty streaks building up inside their arteries. By their early 30s, most already had those streaks blossoming into atherosclerotic plaques that bulged into their arteries. From ages 15 through 19, their aortas had fatty streaks building up throughout them, but no plaques yet, on average, as seen below and at 1:15 in my video.
The plaques started appearing in their abdominal aorta in their early 20s and worsened by their late 20s, by which time fatty streaks had infiltrated throughout. By their early 30s, their arteries were in bad shape, as seen below and at 1:25 in my video.
But that’s just the abdominal aorta, the main artery running through the torso that splits off into our legs. What about the coronary arteries that feed the heart?
Researchers found the same pattern: fatty streaks in teens, early signs of plaque in early 20s that progress with age, and by the early 30s, most people already had plaques in their coronary arteries, as seen below and at 1:47 in my video.
That’s why we shouldn’t wait until heart disease becomes symptomatic to treat it. If it starts in our youth, we should start treating it when we’re youths. If you knew you had a cancerous tumor, you wouldn’t want to wait until it grew to a certain size to treat it. If you had diabetes, you wouldn’t want to wait until you started going blind before you did something about it. So, how do you treat atherosclerosis? You lower LDL cholesterol through a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol—a diet that’s low in eggs, meat, dairy, and junk.
If we want to stop this epidemic, we have to “alter our lifestyle accordingly, beginning in infancy or early childhood. Is such a radical proposal totally impractical?” (Eating more healthfully? Radical?!) It would take serious dedication to change our behavior, but atherosclerosis is our number one cause of death. In the case of cigarettes, we did pretty well, slashing smoking rates and dropping lung cancer rates. And, yes, healthy eating is safe. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the largest and oldest association of nutrition professionals in the world, even strictly plant-based diets are appropriate for all stages of life, starting from pregnancy. (NutritionFacts.org is among the websites recommended by the Academy for more information.)
The title of an important study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology declares: “Curing Atherosclerosis Should Be the Next Major Cardiovascular Prevention Goal.” What evidence do we have that a lifelong suppression of LDL will do it? There is a genetic mutation of a gene called PCSK9 that about 1 in 50 African Americans are lucky to be born with because it gives them about a 40% lower LDL cholesterol level their whole lives. Indeed, they were found to have dramatically lower rates of coronary heart disease—an 88% drop in risk compared to those without the genetic mutation, despite otherwise terrible cardiovascular risk factors on average. Most had high blood pressure and were overweight, almost a third smoked, and nearly 20% had diabetes, but that highlights how a lifelong history of low LDL cholesterol levels can substantially reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, even when there are multiple risk factors.
This near-90% drop in events like heart attacks or sudden death occurred at an average LDL level of 100 mg/dL, compared to 138 mg/dL in those without the genetic mutation. This means LDL can drop below even 100 mg/dL. Why does a drop in LDL cholesterol by about 40 mg/dL from a lucky genetic mutation lower the risk of coronary heart disease by nearly 90%, while the same reduction with statin drugs lowers it by only about 20%? The most probable explanation? Duration. When it comes to lowering LDL cholesterol, it’s not only about how low it is, but how long it’s been low.
That’s why healthy lifestyle choices may wipe out about 90% of our risk for having a heart attack, while drugs may reduce it by only 20% to 30%. If you’re getting treated with drugs later in life, you may have to get your LDL under 70 mg/dL to halt the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. But if we start making healthier choices earlier, it may be enough to lower LDL cholesterol just to 100 mg/dL, which should be achievable for most of us. That’s consistent with country-by-country data that suggested death from heart disease would bottom out at a population average of about 100 mg/dL, as seen below and at 5:21 in my video.
But that’s only if you can keep your LDL cholesterol down your whole life.
If you’re relying on medication later in life to halt disease progression, you may need to get your LDL below 70 mg/dL, and if you’re trying to use drugs to reverse a lifetime of bad food choices, you may not get to zero coronary heart disease events until your LDL drops to about 55 mg/dL. If your heart disease is so bad that you’ve already had a heart attack but you’re trying not to die from another one, ideally, you might want to push your LDL down to about 30 mg/dL. Once you get that low, not only would you likely prevent any new atherosclerotic plaques, but you’d also help stabilize the plaques you already have so they’re less likely to burst open and kill you.
Is it even safe to have cholesterol levels that low, though? In other words, can LDL cholesterol ever be too low? We’ll find out next.
PARIS (AP) — French lawmakers approved a bill banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to enter into force at the start of the next school year in September, as the idea of setting a minimum age for use of the platforms gains momentum across Europe.
The bill, which also bans the use of mobile phones in high schools, was adopted by a 130-21 vote late Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the legislation be fast-tracked and it will now be discussed by the Senate in the coming weeks.
“Banning social media for those under 15: this is what scientists recommend, and this is what the French people are overwhelmingly calling for,” Macron said after the vote. “Because our children’s brains are not for sale — neither to American platforms nor to Chinese networks. Because their dreams must not be dictated by algorithms.”
The issue is one of the very few in a divided National Assembly to attract such broad support, despite critics from the hard left denouncing provisions of the bill as infringement on civil liberties. Weakened domestically since his decision to dissolve parliament plunged France into a prolonged political crisis, Macron has strongly supported the ban, which could become one of the final major measures adopted under his leadership before he leaves office next year.
The vote in the assembly came just days after the British government said it will consider banning young teenagers from social media as it tightens laws designed to protect children from harmful content and excessive screen time.
The French bill has been devised to be compliant with the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which imposes a set of strict requirements designed to keep internet users safe online. In November, European lawmakers called for action at EU level to protect minors online, including a bloc-wide minimum age of 16 and bans on the most harmful practices.
According to France’s health watchdog, one in two teenagers spends between two and five hours a day on a smartphone. In a report published in December, it said that some 90% of children aged between 12 and 17 use smartphones daily to access the internet, with 58% of them using their devices for social networks.
The report highlighted a range of harmful effects stemming from the use of social networks, including reduced self-esteem and increased exposure to content associated with risky behaviors such as self-harm, drug use and suicide. Several families in France have sued TikTok over teen suicides they say are linked to harmful content.
The French ban won’t cover online encyclopedias, educational or scientific directories, or platforms for the development and sharing of open-source software.
In Australia, social media companies have revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children since the country banned use of the platforms by those under 16, officials said. The law provoked fraught debates in Australia about technology use, privacy, child safety and mental health and has prompted other countries to consider similar measures.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Three of the world’s biggest tech companies face a landmark trial in Los Angeles starting this week over claims that their platforms — Meta’s Instagram, ByteDance’s TikTok and Google’s YouTube — deliberately addict and harm children.
Jury selection starts this week in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. It’s the first time the companies will argue their case before a jury, and the outcome could have profound effects on their businesses and how they will handle children using their platforms. The selection process is expected to take at least a few days, with 75 potential jurors questioned each day through at least Thursday. A fourth company named in the lawsuit, Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., settled the case last week for an undisclosed sum.
At the core of the case is a 19-year-old identified only by the initials “KGM,” whose case could determine how thousands of other, similar lawsuits against social media companies will play out. She and two other plaintiffs have been selected for bellwether trials — essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury and what damages, if any, may be awarded, said Clay Calvert, a nonresident senior fellow of technology policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
KGM claims that her use of social media from an early age addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Importantly, the lawsuit claims that this was done through deliberate design choices made by companies that sought to make their platforms more addictive to children to boost profits. This argument, if successful, could sidestep the companies’ First Amendment shield and Section 230, which protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms.
“Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, Defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue,” the lawsuit says.
Executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are expected to testify at the trial, which will last six to eight weeks. Experts have drawn similarities to the Big Tobacco trials that led to a 1998 settlement requiring cigarette companies to pay billions in healthcare costs and restrict marketing targeting minors.
“Plaintiffs are not merely the collateral damage of Defendants’ products,” the lawsuit says. “They are the direct victims of the intentional product design choices made by each Defendant. They are the intended targets of the harmful features that pushed them into self-destructive feedback loops.”
The tech companies dispute the claims that their products deliberately harm children, citing a bevy of safeguards they have added over the years and arguing that they are not liable for content posted on their sites by third parties.
“Recently, a number of lawsuits have attempted to place the blame for teen mental health struggles squarely on social media companies,” Meta said in a recent blog post. “But this oversimplifies a serious issue. Clinicians and researchers find that mental health is a deeply complex and multifaceted issue, and trends regarding teens’ well-being aren’t clear-cut or universal. Narrowing the challenges faced by teens to a single factor ignores the scientific research and the many stressors impacting young people today, like academic pressure, school safety, socio-economic challenges and substance abuse.”
Meta, YouTube and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
The case will be the first in a slew of cases beginning this year that seek to hold social media companies responsible for harming children’s mental well-being. A federal bellwether trial beginning in June in Oakland, California, will be the first to represent school districts that have sued social media platforms over harms to children.
In addition, more than 40 state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against Meta, claiming it is harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms. The majority of cases filed their lawsuits in federal court, but some sued in their respective states.
TikTok also faces similar lawsuits in more than a dozen states.
Littleton Public Schools agreed Thursday to pay $3.85 million to the families of three children who are autistic and were abused by a school bus monitor.
The school board voted unanimously to approve the settlement Thursday, slightly more than two weeks after former bus monitor Kiarra Jones pleaded guilty to abusing the three boys while they were riding the bus to and from The Joshua School, a private school in Englewood.
Littleton Public Schools was contracted to bus the students, who are nonverbal and autistic, to and from school each day. Jones abused the boys on their bus rides for about six months, between September 2023 and March 2024, before authorities discovered surveillance video that showed the woman elbowing, stomping and punching the students.
The boys’ parents frequently asked teachers and officials at The Joshua School about their sons’ unexplained bruises and injuries while the abuse was going on, but school officials claimed the children were injuring themselves.
The families have filed a lawsuit against The Joshua School, alleging that school officials mishandled their concerns and never reported suspicions of abuse to outside authorities, enabling the monitor’s abuse.
In a statement, attorneys from Denver law firm Rathod Mohamedbhai said the three families appreciate the school district’s willingness to resolve the case early to allow for the children to start healing.
“No parent should have to wonder if their children will come home from school hurt by the very people entrusted to care for them,” attorneys for the families said Thursday night.
Littleton Public Schools has changed policies around reviewing and retaining bus surveillance, according to the statement.
“The families continue to advocate for the rights of their children and for the dignity and rights of the Autism community as a whole,” attorneys for the three families said. “They continue to seek accountability and justice from everyone who played a role in not ending the abuse against their children sooner through their ongoing lawsuit against The Joshua School.”
Joshua School Executive Director Cindy Lystad previously issued a statement that put blame for the abuse on Littleton Public Schools and said the school stands by teachers and staff members.
School board members did not comment on the settlement before or after approving it Thursday night, but district officials posted a letter online from Superintendent Todd Lambert addressing the settlement shortly after the vote.
The settlement will be “fully funded through insurance” and will have “no adverse impact on the educational services LPS students receive,” Lambert wrote.
“We will continue to look for ways to strengthen our practices, to communicate transparently with you, and to do everything in our power to ensure the safety, dignity and well-being of every student in our care,” he wrote.
The U.S. Department of Justice has agreed to stop demanding medical records that identify young patients who received gender-affirming care from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, ending a legal standoff with families who sued to block a subpoena that some feared would be used to criminally prosecute the parents of transgender kids.
The agreement, filed in federal court Thursday, allows the hospital to withhold certain records and redact personal information from others who underwent gender-affirming treatments, which Trump administration officials have compared to child mutilation despite support for such care by the nation’s major medical associations.
Several parents of CHLA patients expressed profound relief Friday, while also acknowledging that other threats to their families remain.
Jesse Thorn, the father of two transgender children who had been patients at Children’s Hospital, said hospital officials have ignored his requests for information as to whether they had already shared his kids’ data with the Trump administration, which had been scary. Hearing they had not, and now won’t, provided “two-fold” relief, he said.
“The escalations have been so relentless in the threats to our family, and one of the things that compounded that was the uncertainty about what the federal government knew about our kids’ medical care and what they were going to do about that,” he said.
Less clear is whether the agreement provides any new protections for doctors and other hospital personnel who provided care at the clinic and have also been targeted by the Trump administration.
The agreement follows similar victories for families seeking to block such disclosures by gender-affirming care clinics elsewhere in the country, including a ruling Thursday for the families of transgender kids who received treatment at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.
“What’s unique here is this was a class action,” said Alejandra Caraballo, a civil rights attorney and legal instructor at Harvard, who was not involved in the Los Angeles case. “I can’t undersell what a major win that is to protect the records of all these patients.”
Some litigation remains ongoing, with families fearful appeals to higher courts could end with different results. There is also Republican-backed legislation moving through Congress to restrict gender-affirming care for youths.
Another father of a transgender patient at Children’s Hospital, who requested anonymity because he fears for his child’s safety, said he was grateful for the agreement, but doesn’t see it as the end of the road. He fears the Trump administration could renew its subpoena if it wins on appeal in cases elsewhere.
“There’s some comfort, but it doesn’t close the book on it,” he said.
In a statement to The Times, the Justice Department said it “has not withdrawn its subpoena. Rather, it withdrew three requests for patient records based on the subpoenaed entity’s representation that it did not have custody of any such records.”
“This settlement avoids needless litigation based on that fact and further instructs Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to redact patient information in documents responsive to other subpoena requests,” the DOJ statement said. “As Attorney General Bondi has made clear, we will continue to use every legal and law enforcement tool available to protect innocent children from being mutilated under the guise of ‘care.’”
Children’s Hospital did not respond to a request for comment.
“This is a massive victory for every family that refused to be intimidated into backing down,” Khadijah Silver, director of Gender Justice & Health Equity at Lawyers for Good Government, which helped bring the lawsuit, said in a statement Friday. “The government’s attempt to rifle through children’s medical records was unconstitutional from the start. Today’s settlement affirms what we’ve said all along: these families have done nothing wrong, and their children’s privacy deserves protection.”
Until last summer, the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles was among the largest and oldest pediatric gender clinics in the United States — and one of few providing puberty blockers, hormones and surgical procedures for trans youth on public insurance.
It was also among the first programs to shutter under coordinated, multi-agency pressure exerted from the White House. Ending treatment for transgender children has been a central policy goal for the Trump administration since the president resumed office last year.
“These threats are no longer theoretical,” Children’s Hospital executives wrote to staff in an internal email announcing the closure of the clinic in June. “[They are] threatening our ability to serve the hundreds of thousands of patients who depend on CHLA for lifesaving care.”
In July, Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi announced the Justice Department was subpoenaing patient records from gender-affirming care providers, specifically stating that medical professionals were a target of a probe into “organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology.”
California law explicitly protects gender-affirming care, and the state and others led by Democrats have fought back in court, but most providers nationwide have shuttered under the White House push, stirring fear of a de facto ban.
Parents feared the subpoenas could lead to child abuse charges, which the government could then use to strip them of custody of their children. Doctors feared they could be arrested and imprisoned for providing medical care that is broadly backed by the medical establishment and is legal in the states where they performed it.
The Justice Department’s subpoena to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles had initially requested a vast array of personally identifying documents, specially calling for records “sufficient to identify each patient [by name, date of birth, social security number, address, and parent/guardian information] who was prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy.”
It also called for records “relating to the clinical indications, diagnoses, or assessments that formed the basis for prescribing puberty blockers or hormone therapy,” and for records “relating to informed consent, patient intake, and parent or guardian authorization for minor patients” to receive gender-affirming care.
According to the new agreement, the Justice Department withdrew its requests for those specific records — which had yet to be produced by the hospital — on Dec. 8, and told Children’s Hospital to redact the personally identifying information of patients in other records it was still demanding.
Thursday’s agreement formalizes that position, and requires the Justice Department to return or destroy any records that provide personally identifying information moving forward.
“The Government will not use this patient identifying information to support any investigation or prosecution,” the agreement states.
According to the attorneys for the families who sued, the settlement protects the records of their clients but also all of the clinic’s other gender-affirming care patients. “To date, they assured us, no identifiable patient information has been received, and now it cannot be,” said Amy Powell, with Lawyers for Good Government.
Cori Racela, executive director for Western Center on Law & Poverty, called it a “crucial affirmation that healthcare decisions belong in exam rooms, not government subpoenas.”
“Youth, families, and medical providers have constitutional rights to privacy and dignity,” she said in a statement. “No one’s private health records should be turned into political ammunition — especially children.”
The agreement was also welcomed by families of transgender kids beyond Southern California.
“This has been hanging over those families specifically in L.A., of course, but for all families,” said Arne Johnson, a Bay Area father of a transgender child who helps run a group of similar families called Rainbow Families Action. “Every time one of these subpoenas goes out, it’s terrifying.”
Johnson said each victory pushing back against the government’s demands for family medical records feels “like somebody is pointing a gun at your kid and a hero comes along and knocks it out of their hand — it’s literally that visceral of a feeling.”
Johnson said he hopes recent court wins will push hospitals to resist canceling care for transgender children.
“Parents are the ones that are fighting back and they’re the ones that are winning, and the hospitals should take their lead,” he said. “Hospitals should be fighting in the same way the parents are, so that their doctors and other providers can be protected.”
