AUSTRALIA banned under-16s from social media in a world-first crackdown on Wednesday, declaring it was time to “take back control” from formidable tech giants. A raft of popular apps and websites — Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X among them — face US$33 million fines if they fail to purge Australia-based users younger than 16. Australia becomes one of the first nations to push back so forcefully against tech companies with immense political power, in a move other countries are looking at closely. “Enough is enough,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. “It is one of the biggest social and cultural changes…
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REBEL forces have entered the last government-held city in mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in an offensive that has forced thousands to flee across the border into Burundi, residents say. Heavy artillery and gunfire could be heard in Uvira, with terrified residents describing the situation as chaotic. The escalation in fighting comes despite the peace deal brokered by US President Donald Trump last week between DR Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame to end the long-running conflict. The M23 rebel group said it had “liberated” the city, while UN-backed Radio Okapi quoted residents as saying that rebel…
AT least 22 people have been killed and a further 16 injured after two buildings collapsed in the Moroccan city of Fez. The two four-storey residential buildings that came down early on Wednesday morning contained eight families, state media reports, citing local officials. Several Moroccan news outlets report that the buildings – located in the south-westerly Al Massira suburb of the new part of the city – had shown signs of deterioration for several years. An investigation is now under way. Fez, in north-eastern Morocco, is one of the North African nation’s oldest cities, with parts dating back to the…
CHELSEA’s hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as Super Eagles’s Ademol;a Lookman dazzles for Atalanta who came from behind to win in Bergamo. Both sides went into this game with identical records in the league phase of this year’s tournament, having won three, drawn one and lost one to sit on 10 points. For large parts there was little to separate them in this game, too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in Reece James’ cross. But Atalanta always looked a threat going forwards,…
HAMAS has said the ceasefire cannot move forward while Israel continues its violations of the agreement, with Gaza authorities saying the truce has been breached at least 738 times since taking effect in October. Husam Badran, a Hamas official, called on mediators to increase pressure on Israel to fully implement its existing commitments. “The next phase cannot begin as long as the [Israeli] occupation continues its violations of the agreement and evades its commitments,” Badran said. “Hamas has asked the mediators to pressure the occupation to complete the implementation of the first phase,” he added. The ceasefire, which came into…
SOUTH Korea and Japan separately scrambled fighter jets after Russian and Chinese military aircraft conducted a joint air patrol near both countries. Seven Russian and two Chinese aircraft entered South Korea’s Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ) at approximately 10am local time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday, according to the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul. The planes, which included fighter jets and bombers, were spotted before they entered the KADIZ – which is not territorial airspace but where planes are expected to identify themselves and South Korea deployed “fighter jets to take tactical measures in preparation for any…
GUINEA-BISSAU’s ruling junta, which seized power last month, has said that its leading general will not be allowed to run for president after handing power back to civilians. After ousting outgoing leader Umaro Sissoco Embalo on November 26 in the wake of the presidential vote, the army suspended the electoral process and announced it was taking control of the coup-prone west African country for a period of one year. The junta then raised suspicions that Embalo had orchestrated the coup to keep himself in power by appointing his ally General Horta N’Tam as interim president. In a “charter of the…
THE International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced a Sudanese militia leader to 20 years in prison for atrocities committed during a civil war more than two decades ago. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman had been convicted in October on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region. Known as Ali Kushayb, he was one of the leaders of the Janjaweed, a government-backed group that terrorised Darfur, killing hundreds of thousands of people. Kushayb, aged 76, is the first person to be tried by the ICC for atrocities committed during the civil war. He had argued the…
MANCHESTER United survived a scare at Molineux but eventually secured a victory over bottom-of-the-table Wolves that moved them up to sixth in the Premier League. On a night when a sizeable number of home fans heeded a call to delay their entrance for 15 minutes as a protest against the club’s Chinese ownership, Wolves ended a 540-minute wait for a goal when Jean-Ricner Bellegarde found the corner after David Moller Wolfe’s mis-hit shot had bounced into his path. It made United pay for a series of missed chances either side of a comical effort from skipper Bruno Fernandes after Andre…
ISRAEL’s military has carried out waves of air attacks in southern Lebanon, causing damage to several homes, according to Lebanese state media, as anger mounts over repeated Israeli violations of a ceasefire with Hezbollah agreed upon last year. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported late on Monday that Israeli jets targeted Mount Safi, the town of Jbaa, the Zefta Valley, and the area between Azza and Rumin Arki in “several waves”. There was no immediate report of casualties. The Israeli military, in a post on X, said it struck several sites linked to Hezbollah, including a special operations training compound used…
BRITAIN’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer launched a TikTok account on Monday despite the app being banned from government devices, as he attempts to connect to younger voters. A spokesman for his office said “security mitigations” were in place to operate the Prime Minister’s account. “Tiktok, follow me,” Starmer said in the first video posted on the account which showed him with his wife at the ceremony to switch on Downing Street’s Christmas lights. The second video showed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky embracing Starmer outside his residence at 10 Downing Street, before they joined France’s President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor…
SUDAN’s air force has carried out bombings in which at least 1,700 civilians have died in attacks on residential neighbourhoods, markets, schools and camps for displaced people, according to an investigation into air raids in the country’s civil war. The Sudan Witness Project says it has compiled the largest known dataset of military airstrikes in the conflict, which began in April 2023. Its analysis indicates that the air force has used unguided bombs in populated areas. The data focuses on attacks by warplanes, which only the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is capable of operating. Its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support…
TWO senior military officials taken hostage during Sunday’s attempted coup in Benin have been freed, a government source has told the BBC. It remains unclear how they were released or if other hostages are still being held. Security forces are continuing a manhunt for those involved in the plot, who remain at large. A group of soldiers appeared on state TV early in the morning to announce they had taken over in the West African country, and gunfire was heard near the presidential residence. However, President Patrice Talon later announced that the situation was “totally under control”. Regional power Nigeria…
MUHAMMaD Salah plunged his future at Liverpool into serious doubt after claiming he had been made the fall guy for the Premier League champions’ disastrous form this season. In an explosive outburst, Salah spoke to reporters after being left on the bench for Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Leeds, dropping a bombshell accusation that his relationship with Reds manager Arne Slot is broken. It was the third consecutive game the Egyptian had been axed by Slot, who is struggling for solutions to a run of four wins in 15 games in all competitions for troubled Liverpool. AFP Sport looks at how…
AS Israel and Hamas prepare to move towards phase two of a United States-led blueprint to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, disagreements loom over the as-yet undefined role of an international stabilisation force in the besieged Palestinian enclave. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said on Sunday that the US draft required “a lot of clarifications”. While the group was ready to discuss “freezing or storing” weapons during the ongoing truce, he said it would not accept that an international stabilisation force take charge of disarmament. “We are welcoming a [United Nations] force to be near the borders, supervising the…
GUNMEN in Guatemala killed a small-town mayor taking part in a Christmas parade, and wounded one of his bodyguards, officials said Sunday. Nelson Marroquin, 38, was shot Saturday in the town of Obero, 70 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guatemala City, the National Association of Municipalities said. President Bernardo Arevalo condemned the killing and ordered an investigation. Like many countries in Central America, Guatemala is in the throes of a gang violence epidemic. Its homicide rate — 17.7 per 100,000 people is double the world average, according to the National Economic Research Center. In October, 20 members of the notorious…
BENIN’s President Patrice Talon says the government and armed forces have thwarted an attempted coup in the West African nation and promised to punish those responsible. Talon’s announcement, aired on state television on Sunday evening, came 12 hours after gunfire rang out in Cotonou, the country’s biggest city, and soldiers went on state television to claim they had removed Talon from power. The rapid mobilisation of forces loyal to the government “allowed us to thwart these adventurers”, Talon said in his remarks. “This treachery will not go unpunished.” The attempted coup was the latest threat to democratic rule in the…
SUDAN faces a “massive” humanitarian aid crisis, with millions of starving people being denied access to vital food supplies as fighting rages in the war-torn country, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told Al Jazeera on Sunday that his organisation was assisting five million people across the nation, including two million in hard-to-reach areas, but it was not enough. “The needs are massive. We’re talking about 20 million people acutely food insecure, some six million in starvation,” he said. “It is a massive crisis, and what we’re able to do, which is important,…
A GROUP of military personnel in Benin on Sunday announced that they had ousted President Patrice Talon, who is due to step down next April after 10 years in power. Soldiers calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR), said on state television that they had met and decided that “Mr Patrice Talon is removed from office as president of the republic”. Talon’s whereabouts were unknown and the French Embassy said on X that “gunfire was reported at Camp Guezo” near the president’s official residence. It urged French citizens to remain indoors for security. Meanwhile, the presidency had said President…
EMI Buendia scored with the last kick of the game as Aston Villa stunned Arsenal to move three points behind the Premier League leaders. Leandro Trossard’s sixth goal of the season looked to have earned a point for Arsenal after he cancelled out Matty Cash’s opener. But Buendia struck in the 95th minute as Unai Emery’s side moved into second in the table. Arsenal, who blew Bayern Munich and Tottenham away last month, suffered their first defeat in the league since losing 1-0 at Liverpool in August. Villa Park erupted after substitute Buendia scored to give Villa their seventh straight…