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The trial that began Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, pits Meta against the states of California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey and is expected to last about six weeks. A former engineering director at Meta who has testified before Congress about child safety on Instagram told jurors Wednesday at a landmark trial that the company took a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach on kids under 13 on its platforms. During his second day of testimony, Arturo Béjar said Meta consistently prioritized profits over safety in designing its products, focusing on how often and for how long people used them, even if it was detrimental to their mental well-being. (Ortutay, 8/19)

A man died in custody on Wednesday morning at a medical unit in Manhattan that houses inmates from the Rikers jail complex, the city said in a statement. The man, Christopher Rodriguez, 36, was found “in medical distress in his housing area” at the Outposted Therapeutic Housing Unit at Bellevue Hospital, which is run jointly by the hospital and the New York City Department of Correction. He was pronounced dead at 8:39 a.m., the statement said. He is the sixth person to die in city custody this year and the first at the medical unit. (Fahy and Meko, 8/19)

How dire is New York City’s housing shortage? City officials estimate that about 290,000 new homes would be needed right now to provide roofs for everyone, including residents who are homeless or not living on their own. And that number is only going to grow. In the longer term, New York City would need about 700,000 homes built over the next 10 years to solve the problem, a draft report from city officials has concluded. (McGeehan, 8/19)

Legal experts dispute Abbott’s claims that the ritual washing stations are discriminatory, with some saying his attack fits a pattern of anti-Muslim actions and rhetoric. (Hennessy-Fiske and Boorstein, 8/20)

A woman who started a group that advocates for the mental health of police officers was being sought by authorities Wednesday after a Massachusetts cop was found dead at the home they owned together. Police began searching for Karen Solomon, who also wrote two books about the physical and psychological experiences of first responders, after Worcester police officer Kurt Solomon was found dead Tuesday. The two shared a home and had been married, court records indicated, but authorities declined to discuss their current relationship, citing domestic violence privacy rules. (8/19)

Cody and Kaleigh Brendle grew up near the Jersey Shore, going out on their grandfather's boat on weekends, learning to swim and riding bikes together. "I was the annoying little sister — like, 'Wait for me, wait for me!'" said Kaleigh. She remembered standing by in awe at summer camp as her fearless older brother scaled rock-climbing walls and went down waterslides. "I was like, 'Wow, he's doing all this — maybe I can try.'" (Mehta, 8/20)

The D.E.A., a federal agency, enforces the nation’s laws regulating controlled substances. Its work typically includes large-scale investigations into, for example, drug cartels accused of bringing cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine into the country. But it does work with local law enforcement. In recent years, it helped the Los Angeles Police Department investigate the drugs involved in the death of the actor Matthew Perry. (Feuer, Bryson Taylor and Stevens, 8/19)