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Championship leader Marc Marquez wins sprint at Austrian MotoGP
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Newcastle held by 10-man Villa after Konsa sees red
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Semenyo says alleged racist abuse at Liverpool 'will stay with me forever'
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In high-stakes summit, Trump, not Putin, budges
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Pakistan rescuers recover bodies after monsoon rains kill 340
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Hurricane Erin intensifies to category 3 storm as it nears Caribbean
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Ukrainians see 'nothing' good from Trump-Putin meeting
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Pakistan rescuers recover bodies after monsoon rains kill 320
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Bob Simpson: Australian cricket captain and influential coach
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Air Canada flight attendants strike over pay, shutting down service
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Air Canada set to shut down over flight attendants strike
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Majority of Americans think alcohol bad for health: poll
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Hurricane Erin intensifies in Atlantic, eyes Caribbean
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Louisiana sues Roblox game platform over child safety
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Kildunne confident Women's Rugby World Cup 'heartbreak' can inspire England to glory
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Arsenal 'digging for gold' as title bid starts at new-look Man Utd
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El Salvador to jail gang suspects without trial until 2027
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Alcaraz survives to reach Cincy semis as Rybakina topples No. 1 Sabalenka
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Trump hails Putin summit but no specifics on Ukraine
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El Salvador extends detention of suspected gang members
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Scotland's MacIntyre fires 64 to stay atop BMW Championship
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Colombia's Munoz fires 59 to grab LIV Golf Indy lead
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Alcaraz survives Rublev to reach Cincy semis as Rybakina topples No. 1 Sabalenka
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Trump offers warm welcome to Putin at high-stakes summit
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Semenyo racist abuse at Liverpool shocks Bournemouth captain Smith
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After repeated explosions, new test for Musk's megarocket
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Liverpool strike late to beat Bournemouth as Jota remembered in Premier League opener
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Messi expected to return for Miami against Galaxy
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Made-for-TV pageantry as Trump brings Putin in from cold
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Coman bids farewell to Bayern before move to Saudi side Al Nassr
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Vietnamese rice grower helps tackle Cuba's food shortage
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Trump, Putin shake hands at start of Alaska summit
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Coman bids farewell to Bayern ahead of Saudi transfer
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Liverpool honour Jota in emotional Premier League curtain-raiser
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Portugal wildfires claim first victim, as Spain on wildfire alert
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Davos founder Schwab cleared of misconduct by WEF probe
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Rybakina rips No.1 Sabalenka to book Cincinnati semi with Swiatek
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Trump lands in Alaska for summit with Putin
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Falsehoods swirl around Trump-Putin summit
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US retail sales rise amid limited consumer tariff hit so far
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Liverpool sign Parma teenager Leoni
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Canadian football teams will hit the road for 2026 World Cup
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Bethell to become England's youngest cricket captain against Ireland
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Marc Marquez seeks elusive first win in Austria
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Trump, Putin head for high-stakes Alaska summit
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Brazil court to rule from Sept 2 in Bolsonaro coup trial
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Deadline looms to avert Air Canada strike
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Spain on heat alert and 'very high to extreme' fire risk
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Taliban mark fourth year in power in Afghanistan
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Man City boss Guardiola wants to keep Tottenham target Savinho

US takes aim at Zuckerberg's social media kingdom
Barring any eleventh-hour intervention, social media juggernaut Meta will stand trial next week facing serious US government allegations that it abused its market power to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp before they could become competitors.
By moving forward, the trial in a Washington federal court dashes any hopes from Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg that the return of Donald Trump to the White House would see the government let up on the enforcement of antitrust law against Big Tech.
The Meta case is being made by the Federal Trade Commission, the powerful US consumer protection agency, and could see the owner of Facebook forced to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, which have grown into global powerhouses since their buyout.
The case was originally made in December 2020, during the first Trump administration, and all eyes were on whether Trump would soften his stance against Big Tech during his second stint in the White House.
Zuckerberg, the world's third-richest person, has made repeated visits to the White House as he tries to persuade the US leader to choose settlement instead of fighting the trial, a decision that would be extraordinary at this late stage.
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson downplayed such possibilities, telling The Verge: "I think that the President recognizes that we've got to enforce the laws, so I'd be very surprised if anything like that ever happened."
Zuckerberg's lobbying efforts have included Trump inauguration fund contributions and overhauled content moderation policies favoring Republicans.
Even so, "I'm not sure Trump is persuaded that Zuckerberg is worthy of redemption," said George Hay, an antitrust law professor at Cornell Law School.
While a White House intervention remains technically possible, it would require both presidential and FTC agreement that the case lacks merit, he added.
The Meta lawsuit represents just one of five major tech antitrust actions initiated by the US government recently. Google was found guilty of search market dominance abuse last August, while Apple and Amazon also face cases.
Zuckerberg, his former lieutenant Sheryl Sandberg, and a long line of executives from rival companies will be taking the stand over a trial that will last at least eight weeks and kicks off on Monday.
- 'Really scary' -
Central to the case is Facebook's 2012 billion-dollar purchase of Instagram -- then a small but promising photo-sharing startup designed for mobile phones that now boasts two billion active users.
An email from Zuckerberg cited by the FTC reveals the concerns: "The potential impact of Instagram is really scary and why we might want to consider paying a lot of money for this."
The FTC argues Meta's $19-billion WhatsApp acquisition in 2014 followed the same pattern, with Zuckerberg fearing the messaging app could either transform into a social network or be purchased by a competitor.
Meta's defense will argue that substantial investments transformed these acquisitions into the blockbusters they are today, bearing little resemblance to their original versions.
They'll also highlight that the FTC initially approved both transactions and shouldn't be permitted a redo.
Recent court setbacks for the FTC -- including failed challenges to Meta's Within acquisition and Microsoft's Activision Blizzard merger -- may strengthen Big Tech's position.
Judge James Boasberg, who will decide and preside over the case, has already cautioned that the FTC "faces hard questions about whether its claims can hold up in the crucible of trial."
N.Schaad--VB