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New Zealand to introduce bill for under-16s social media ban
New Zealand’s government is introducing an Online Safety Bill that would ban under-16s from using social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, requiring companies to verify users’ ages or face fines of up to 10% of their global revenue. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the aim is to protect children from “harmful…
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‘There’s a queue!’: Moment hikers clash at top of Mount Snowdon as huge crowds wait in line to reach summit
Videos filmed at the summit of Mount Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) have captured arguments breaking out as record heatwave crowds queue to touch the metal plate marking the peak, Wales’s highest at 1,085m (3,560ft). One clip, filmed by 27-year-old Marc Screeton from Manchester on 8 August, shows him bypassing a long line of waiting walkers to…
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$1T investment giant Apollo breached after social engineering attack
Apollo Global Management, the $1 trillion investment firm, has disclosed that hackers gained unauthorised access to some of its cloud platforms between 6 and 10 July after a successful social engineering attack. The company reported the breach to California’s attorney general, confirming that intruders spent four days inside its systems and accessed personal data including…
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Iranian rial hits record low amid US economic crackdown
Iran’s rial has slumped to a record low of 2.02 million to the US dollar as Washington unveiled a sweeping new round of sanctions designed to cut off Tehran’s remaining sources of revenue. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that any country continuing economic engagement with Iran risked US retaliation, saying it was “no longer acceptable…
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Taliban governor denies Afghan abuse survivor’s divorce request
A BBC documentary team gained rare access to senior Taliban figures in Afghanistan, capturing an exchange in which an 18-year-old woman, given the pseudonym Tuba, asked provincial governor Abdullah Sarhadi for permission to divorce her husband after months of alleged abuse and beatings. Sarhadi, a former Taliban military commander once held at Guantanamo Bay, urged…
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Minister tells social media firms to remove posts that ‘celebrate’ dangerous driving after A66 crash
Seven people, including two police officers, died after a car being pursued by police collided head-on with a marked armed response vehicle on the A66 near Middlesbrough in the early hours of Saturday. The tragedy prompted the government to demand social media platforms remove videos glorifying dangerous driving, amid concern such content may have influenced…
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Ministers’ Big Tech access, online child-safety alarm, and rising fraud losses dominate
Labour faces scrutiny over 200+ meetings with Big Tech firms as the NCA warns children aren’t safe online and Lloyds reports impersonation scams up 10%; also: a US deputy’s death in prison, a shark-attack survivor’s recovery, Maradona’s Hand of God ball sold at auction, and a Dumfriesshire woodmouse photo.
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Thames Water creditors accused of ‘shuffling deckchairs’ with plan for new board
A consortium of Thames Water’s creditors has proposed installing a new board, including a former Yorkshire Water chief executive and a former Openreach boss, in an attempt to persuade the government against placing the struggling utility into temporary nationalisation. The move is designed to reassure ministers, particularly Andy Burnham, who has pushed for greater public…
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Zambia courts sealed off as election petition deadline looms
Court premises in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, and elsewhere have been sealed off and guarded by police as the deadline approaches for filing a legal petition against the outcome of the recent presidential election. Opposition candidate Brian Mundubile, who took 38% of the vote against incumbent Hakainde Hichilema’s 60%, has said he intends to challenge the…