Category Archives: World News

Madrid plans to limit computer and tablet use in primary schools to two hours a week

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Teachers will be banned from setting homework involving screens in effort to tackle ‘risks’ of intensive use of IT at young age

The regional government of Madrid has unveiled plans to limit the use of computers and tablets in primary schools to a maximum of two hours a week in an effort to tackle “the risks associated with the early, intensive and inappropriate use of information technology”.

Under the proposals, to be enacted in September, teachers will also be banned from setting homework involving screen use.

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Sales of Vietnamese doll plunge over face marking like China’s ‘nine-dash line’

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One version of Baby Three doll appears to bear a mark resembling the shape of the ocean border on which China bases its illegitimate claim to most of the South China Sea

Regional tensions over the South China Sea have tanked the sales of a popular children’s doll in Vietnam after it was put under investigation and accused of being unpatriotic because a design marking appeared to resemble China’s “nine-dash line”.

The Baby Three doll is Chinese-made and had reportedly been hugely popular among children and Gen Z in Vietnam earlier this year. Between September, when it first gained popularity, and December the dolls reportedly generated US$1.6m in sales.

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Indonesia passes controversial law allowing greater military role in government

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Activists in world’s third-largest democracy warn the legal changes signal a return to military dominance in civilian affairs that characterised Suharto years

Indonesia has ratified controversial changes to its military law allowing armed forces personnel to hold more civilian posts, a move that analysts fear could usher in a resurgence of the military in government affairs.

Activists in the world’s third-largest democracy have criticised the revisions, warning they signal a return to Indonesia’s “New Order” era, when the country was led by former authoritarian ruler Suharto, who stepped down in 1998.

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Women in business held back by mobile data’s cost in developing world – report

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Nearly half of female entrepreneurs surveyed by Cherie Blair Foundation for Women do not have regular internet access

The cost of a mobile data package is all that is holding back many female entrepreneurs in developing countries, according to recent research.

While social media marketing is reported to be crucial by female business owners who have access to it, 45% of women in business in low- and middle-income countries said they did not have regular internet access because of the expense and connection issues.

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Foreign minister ‘strongly condemns’ China’s executions of four Canadians

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Mélanie Joly says Ottawa would ask for leniency for other Canadians facing the same fate

Canada has strongly condemned the execution of four of its citizens who were put to death in China on drug-smuggling charges, amid lingering diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

The minister of foreign affairs, Mélanie Joly, said on Wednesday that all four were dual citizens and were executed earlier this year. She added that Ottawa would ask for leniency for other Canadians facing the same fate.

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Ontario’s police force using ‘growing ecosystem’ of Israeli spyware – report

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Findings raise questions about extent and scope of Canadian authorities’ use of cyberweapons

Researchers have uncovered “possible links” between Ontario’s provincial police force and an Israel-based military-grade spyware maker called Paragon Solutions, raising questions about the extent and scope of Canadian authorities’ use of cyberweapons.

The new findings were published by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, which tracks and identifies digital threats against civil society, and come three years after a parliamentary committee in Canada called for Ottawa to update the country’s privacy laws in the wake of press reports that the national police force had been using spyware to hack mobile phone devices. No laws were ever passed to address the controversy.

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British couple held by Taliban due in court on unknown charges, family say

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Peter Reynolds, 79, and wife, Barbie, 75, expected to appear in Kabul on Thursday after detention last month

A British couple in their 70s imprisoned by the Taliban are due in court in Kabul on Thursday but have not been informed of the charges, their family has said.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife, Barbie, 75, who run a training business in Afghanistan, were detained last month when they travelled to their home in Bamiyan province.

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EU accuses Google and Apple of breaking its rules, risking Trump clash

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Tech companies could be fined billions if EU finds they have breached the Digital Markets Act

The European Commission has accused the US tech companies Google and Apple of breaking its digital rules, in a landmark action that could escalate transatlantic tension with Donald Trump.

The US president has sought to exert pressure on the EU to back away from tougher regulation of American technology groups, warning that he could retaliate by imposing tariffs on foreign companies.

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First thing: Russia attacks Ukraine hours after partial ceasefire agreed in Putin-Trump call

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Zelenskyy says he will contact US president to discuss the call with Russian leader following the attack. Plus, dolphins welcome Nasa astronauts back to Earth

Good morning.

Russia attacked Ukraine with kamikaze drones and S-300 surface-to-air missiles overnight, Ukrainian authorities said, hours after Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he would sign up to a partial and temporary ceasefire.

What has Volodymyr Zelenskyy said? The Ukrainian president said he would reach out to Trump today to discuss the call with Putin, adding that the “next steps cannot be done without us”.

What could be repealed? One of the most consequential actions will see the EPA reconsider a landmark 2009 finding that greenhouse gases harm human health, which has been used to underpin laws aimed at addressing the climate crisis.

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Value of Elon Musk’s X ‘rebounds to $44bn purchase price’

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Dramatic reversal of fortune for platform since billionaire owner became key ally of Donald Trump

The value of Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has reportedly soared back to the $44bn he paid for it, in a dramatic reversal of fortunes since the billionaire became a key ally of Donald Trump.

Investors valued the site formerly known as Twitter at $44bn (£33.9bn) in a secondary deal earlier this month, in which they exchange existing stakes in the company, according to a Financial Times report.

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Israel launches Gaza airstrikes on second day of resumed offensive

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Gaza health officials say five killed in two strikes as Israeli evacuation order may suggest plans for ground operations

Israel has launched a new wave of airstrikes in Gaza on the second day of its resumed offensive in the devastated Palestinian territory.

The attacks were far less intensive than the massive strikes early on Tuesday morning, which killed more than 400 and shattered the relative calm since a 19 January ceasefire paused the 18-month war.

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Scientists hail ‘avalanche of discoveries’ from Euclid space telescope

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Data from European Space Agency’s mission has allowed researchers to create detailed catalogue of 380,000 galaxies

Astronomers are predicting an “avalanche of discoveries” after the first major release of observations from a European space telescope built to study the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that comprise the bulk of the universe.

The European Space Agency’s Euclid mission has captured images of 26m galaxies, covering 10bn years of cosmic history. They give researchers unprecedented insight into the forces that shape the cosmos and the galaxies it holds.

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Istanbul mayor arrested days before likely presidential nomination

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Ekrem İmamoğlu of CHP opposition party detained alongside 100 others accused of corruption and links to terror groups

Turkish police have arrested the mayor of Istanbul, detaining the primary challenger to the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in dawn raids that also ensnared 100 politicians, businesspeople and municipal officials accused of corruption and links to terror groups.

Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor, released a video statement as police gathered outside his residence in Istanbul, speaking to the camera as he put on a shirt and tie before his arrest. In a caption accompanying the video posted to social media, he wrote: “This is a blow to the will of the people.”

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Israeli strikes latest bloody chapter in war of extraordinary civilian casualties

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International rules of combat to deter impact on noncombatants have been loosened or ignored – and other regimes may follow

It is a casualty rate that would have unimaginable before the start of the Israel-Hamas war. More than 400 Palestinians have been reported killed after 10 hours of resumed Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday, including, according to one early report, at least six members of one family in an attack on a car east of Khan Younis.

Though it is too soon to determine how many noncombatants died in attacks that Israel says were directed at Hamas military commanders and political officials (casualty totals from Gaza’s health ministry do not distinguish combatants from the uninvolved), the likelihood is that civilians will have been killed in large numbers.

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So bold are Putin’s ceasefire demands, it’s hard to believe he is entirely serious

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The extraordinary demands of the Russian leader to weaken Ukraine would make a mockery of any peace deal

Donald Trump began his conversation with Vladimir Putin with a simple demand: a 30-day ceasefire on land, sea and air which Ukraine has already signed up to, as an initial measure on which to build towards a peace.

Instead, what the US president got from Putin were questions, half-offers and limited concessions – and, above all, an extraordinary demand from the Russian leader to weaken Ukraine that would make a mockery of any peace agreement.

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Netanyahu banks on political dividends as he restarts Gaza war

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Israeli prime minister bows to pressure from far right over majority who prioritise deals to bring back hostages

As the ceasefire in Gaza extended from days into weeks, and newly freed hostages began sharing grim details of their captivity, Benjamin Netanyahu’s political room for manoeuvre seemed to shrink.

He was caught between the far-right parties propping up his government, keen to return to war in Gaza, and the majority of Israelis who prioritised the fate of the remaining hostages over the “total defeat” of Hamas demanded by their prime minister.

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Mexico City introduces ‘bloodless bullfighting’ in win for animal rights activists

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Activists celebrate move, but note that ‘a bull event without violence does not mean one without suffering’

Mexico City’s congress has voted to ban traditional bullfights and replace them with a new form of bloodless spectacle, marking the latest episode in a years-long legal battle to outlaw the practice in the capital.

Animal rights activists celebrated the move on Tuesday – even if it wasn’t the total ban on bullfighting they had been pushing for.

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Trump waging ‘sickening’ psychological war, deported Venezuelan’s lawyer says

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One detained man’s lawyer says he is gay artist who had fled persecution in his home country, not a gang member

A lawyer for one of the Venezuelan immigrants sent from the US to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador has accused the Trump administration of waging a “sickening” campaign of psychological warfare against asylum seekers and migrants.

“In my 15 years of representing people in removal proceedings in the United States, this is the most shocking thing that I’ve ever seen happen to one of our clients,” said Lindsay Toczylowski, a California-based lawyer for the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) group.

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France preparing ‘survival manual’ for every household, report says

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Booklet to give guidance on preparing for ‘imminent threats’ including armed conflict and natural disaster

The French government is reportedly planning to send a “survival manual” to every household in the country with instructions on how to prepare for an “imminent threat” including armed conflict, a health crisis or a natural disaster.

If approved by François Bayrou, the prime minister, the 20-page booklet will be sent to households before the summer, French media reported.

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Hungary bans Pride events and plans to use facial recognition to target attenders

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Amnesty International describes legislation as ‘full-frontal attack’ on country’s LGBTQ+ community

MPs in Hungary have voted to ban Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attenders and potentially fine them, in what Amnesty International has described as a “full-frontal attack” on the LGBTQ+ community.

The legislation – the latest by the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and his rightwing populist party to target the community – was pushed through parliament on Tuesday. Believed to be the first of its kind in the EU’s recent history, the nationwide ban passed by 136 votes to 27 after it was submitted to parliament one day earlier.

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