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Instagram and Facebook have a problem with underage users — there’s too many of them. Parent company, Meta, aims to root out under-13s with an age-profiling AI. This plays into a debate about a teenage social media ban.

Fast forward to 2026, and the bloc has shelved the mandatory reduction regulation for good. What’s more, in an effort to remove regulatory burdens for companies, the EU’s executive body is now considering approving most pesticides permanently.

Congo’s Health Ministry has logged 131 suspected deaths and 513 potential cases in the latest outbreak in the country’s east. The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting on Tuesday in Geneva.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry said the drills would test its readiness to deploy nuclear weapons. Ukraine decried the exercise as Russia “de facto legitimising the proliferation of nuclear weapons worldwide.”

At least four people were killed and more than 30 injured during protests that erupted across Kenya on Monday, as a crippling public transport strike fueled anger over a sharp rise in fuel prices linked to the Iran war and disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz. Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said in a televised briefing a number of people were also injured. “We lost ‌four Kenyans ‌in ​today’s violence, which also ​saw more than 30 ⁠people ​injured,” ​he said. Last week, Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority raised retail fuel prices by 23.5%, doubling down on last month’s 24.2% hike. Kenya is one of many African countries which depend on fuel imports from the Gulf, suspended amid the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The number of executions worldwide reached its highest level in more than four decades in 2025, driven largely by a sharp increase in Iran, Amnesty International said.

Cuba has also discussed plans to use drones to attack US targets such as the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, according to Axios news outlet.

The human rights group Amnesty International confirmed that at least 2,707 people were put to death in 2025 but said the actual number was much higher. Despite these figures, there are indications of possible progress.

France is pursuing its own investigation into the Epstein affair, looking at potential crimes committed in the EU country or involving French nationals tied to the US sex offender.

Extensive testing, contact tracing, and quarantine procedures are still needed to contain the outbreak, WHO says. However, it has stressed that the current outbreak is vastly different to the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Delhi is proud of its carefully balanced ties with rival nations in the Middle East. But this diplomatic strategy might be reaching its breaking point.

Chinese authorities can now retaliate against foreign firms that move factories to countries like Vietnam or India, or reshore production back home. They could also face fines and supply chain blacklisting if they comply with United States and European Union export controls or sanctions targeting Chinese entities.

Chinese authorities can now retaliate against foreign firms that move factories to countries like Vietnam or India, or reshore production back home. They could also face fines and supply chain blacklisting if they comply with United States and European Union export controls or sanctions targeting Chinese entities.

Massive crowds of protesters marched in cities across Argentina, including the capital Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Mendoza and Tucuman, on Tuesday. The protesters called for the government of libertarian President Javier Milei to implement a university funding law at the center of a lengthy political standoff. In Buenos Aires, the march culminated at the Plaza de Mayo, where the presidential palace is located, and spilled onto surrounding streets. Organizers estimated that some 600,000 students, university staff, union members and opposition supporters attended the protest in the capital with 1.5 million taking part countrywide. “It’s very clear this government is determined to defund public education,” Sol Muniz, a 24-year-old law student at the University of Buenos Aires at the march, told the Associated Press. “University is a source of pride for us. It is the best thing we have.” “I’m here to defend public education,” 18-year-old literature student Renata Lopez told the AFP news agency. She held a copy of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a novel that depicts a future dystopian society that has outlawed books. The novel “speaks to our current reality,” Lopez said. “Defunding education isn’t something alien, it isn’t dystopian. It’s something that’s happening.”

A trial has begun against five activists accused of attacking a German branch of Israeli arms maker Elbit Systems in September 2025. The first hearing opened in a high-security court in Stuttgart on April 27, but was aborted within minutes after defense attorneys objected to the fact that they were unable to communicate confidentially with their clients. Elbit Systems is one of Israel’s largest arms manufacturers with subsidiary factories in several countries. The company manufactures drones, command-and-control, and telecommunications equipment for several other militaries, including the German Bundeswehr. Germany is Israel’s second biggest arms supplier. The defendants, who hold UK, Irish, German and Spanish citizenship, have been charged with trespass, destruction of property, membership of a criminal organization and use of symbols of terrorist organizations. They have been held in separate prisons since their arrest on September 8, 2025, and face several years in prison if found guilty.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday hinted that the Ukraine war could soon end. Speaking to reporters after marking Russia’s Victory Day parade, Putin said: “I think that the ‌matter is coming to an end.” The comment was made in response to a question about whether Western help to Ukraine went too far. The Russian leader said: “They started ratcheting up the confrontation with Russia, which continues to this day. I think it is heading to an end, but it’s still a serious matter.”

As reports of xenophobic attacks in South Africa continue, Nigeria said it would repatriate its citizens who want to leave.

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced an updated version of her country’s regional strategy in Vietnam last weekend, underlining Tokyo’s growing reliance on Southeast Asia at a time of intensifying great-power rivalry. Takaichi met her Vietnamese counterpart, Le Minh Hung, on Saturday in Hanoi, where the two leaders oversaw the signing of six cooperation agreements, including on disaster-resilient rural development, climate-resilient infrastructure and satellite data exchange. The visit came as Japan and Vietnam look to deepen their “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” which has become increasingly important to both sides. The two governments agreed to work toward raising Japanese investment in Vietnam to $5 billion (€4.3 billion) per year and bilateral trade to $60 billion by 2030, according to Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry. Bilateral trade exceeded $50 billion for the first time last year, while Japan remains one of Vietnam’s largest sources of foreign investment. Japan and Vietnam also share concerns about China’s territorial claims and military activity in the East and South China Seas.

A blast at a fireworks factory in China has killed 21 people and wounded 61 others. President Xi Jinping has called for a thorough probe.

An explosion ripped through a fireworks plant in the central Chinese province of Hunan, leaving at least 21 people dead, state media reported Thursday, A total of 61 people are reported to have been injured in the incident.

President Putin has unilaterally declared a two-day truce amid commemorations of the end of World War II in Moscow. Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy proposed his own truce starting a couple of days earlier.

At least two people were killed after a car drove through a crowd in the eastern German city of Leipzig, authorities said. Around 20 other people were hurt, including three who were seriously injured. Police said the suspect was a 33-year-old German male who was apprehended inside the vehicle after it came to a stop. “The driver has been arrested; there is currently no further danger from him,” they said.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he has told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in a phone call that Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping and abandon its nuclear weapons program.” “I emphasised that Germany supports a negotiated solution,” Wadephul said in a post on X about the call. “As a close US ally, we share the same goal: Iran must completely and verifiably renounce nuclear weapons and immediately open the Strait of Hormuz, as also demanded by” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Iran virtually closed off the strait — a vital waterway for the transport of oil, gas and fertilizer — after the US and Israel launched attacks on it on February 28 and has so far not reopened it despite the current ceasefire, causing economic disruption across the globe. However, it denies wanting to produce nuclear weapons and says its uranium enrichment activities, which are viewed with suspicion by many Western countries, are for civilian purposes only.

Nigeria has summoned South Africa’s acting high commissioner to a meeting at the foreign ministry on Monday, citing growing anti-African migrant protests. The move comes just over a week after Ghana’s foreign ministry held talks with South Africa’s acting high commissioner in Accra to protest several alleged “xenophobic incidents” involving Ghanaians. Meanwhile, news outlet City Press reports that South African trucks and citizens could be prevented from entering neighboring Mozambique on Monday, as protests were expected at Ressano Garcia in retaliation for xenophobic marches, statements and attacks against immigrants in South Africa. The developments come only days after South Africa’s police ministry vowed to crack down on anyone carrying out xenophobic attacks against Ghanaians and other foreign nationals, or found participating in or inciting xenophobic acts.

North Korea on Sunday rejected US allegations of cybercrimes originating from there, calling them “absurd slander” and denying it poses a cyber threat, state media KCNA reported. In 2024, a United Nations panel estimated that North Korea-linked cyberattacks have stolen over $3 billion (€2.56 billion) in cryptocurrency since 2017, funds believed to support Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development. The country has been dubbed “the world’s most prolific cyber-thief” by a cybersecurity firm.

The Iran war and resulting blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have focused minds on international shipping. Russian officials are promoting the Northern Sea Route (NSR), an Arctic sea lane running along their country’s northern coast. President Vladimir Putin said in April the route’s importance as “the most safe, reliable and efficient path is becoming ever more obvious.” It is the shortest maritime route between Asia and Europe. But it’s frozen for much of the year, and comes with significant political considerations. DW asked an environmental foundation which has studied the route — how realistic is this vision of the NSR as a new major shipping passage?

Austrian police detained a 39-year-old man in connection with an attempted blackmail case in which rat poison was placed in jars of baby food produced by the German brand HiPP, a spokeswoman for the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Eisenstadt told Germany’s DPA news agency on Saturday. The APA news agency cited police as saying that the suspect was arrested in Burgenland, a state in southern Austria. Earlier, the Austrian tabloid newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported that the suspect had been arrested in the state of Salzburg, which borders Germany. The prosecutor’s office has confirmed that the suspect has been detained in Austria. His identity has not been disclosed for tactical reasons relating to the ongoing investigation. Police have stated that he is currently being questioned.

Two political allies of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s party have resigned from their official posts, following a US indictment that has linked them to the Sinaloa cartel. Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya and the mayor of the state capital of Culiacan, Juan de Dios Gámez Mendivil, both stepped aside on Saturday, although they denied the charges against them. Rocha Moya is the highest-ranking official named in the US indictment, where he has been accused of protecting the powerful Sinaloa cartel and helping it smuggle drugs into the United States, allegedly taking in millions of dollars in bribes. “My conscience is clear,” Rocha Moya said. “To my people and to my family, I can look you in the eye because I have never betrayed you, and I never will,” he added. He said he stepped down as a temporary leave of absence to defend himself against what he called “false and malicious” allegations and to cooperate with the Mexican government’s investigation. Rocha Moya has implied that the accusations against him are an attempt to harm the left-leaning Morena party. “I will not allow myself to be used to harm the movement to which I belong — one that has improved the lives of millions of Mexican men and women,” Rocha Moya said.

Mali is investigating several soldiers suspected of involvement in coordinated attacks by jihadi and separatist fighters across the West African country last week, authorities said late Friday. The rebel alliance, made up of JNIM, a group linked to al-Qaida, and Tuareg rebels, launched its largest assault in over a decade on April 25 as part of efforts to topple Mali’s military government, which seized power during the pandemic. The near-simultaneous assaults, in more than half a dozen locations, including near the capital Bamako, killed several people, including Defense Minister Sadio Camara and several members of his family.

The Belgian government signed on Thursday a Letter of Intent to acquire Electrabel’s (ENGIE) entire nuclear operations in the country. Such a move would reverse the phase-out of nuclear energy legislation adopted in the early 2000s amid safety concerns. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever stated that the country is aiming to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and gain greater autonomy in managing its own energy supplies.

India’s pharmaceutical industry, the backbone of global generic drug supply, is coming under pressure as the Iran war disrupts energy markets and trade routes. India is the largest producer of generic drugs, which are cheaper pharmaceutical products made to match brand-name drugs in quality and performance as well as safety. The country’s $50 billion (€46.44 billion) pharmaceutical sector supplies roughly 20% of global generic drug volumes, with more than half of its exports going to highly regulated markets including the United States and the EU, according to figures from the Indian Brand Equity Foundation. Indian manufacturers also supply about 47% of all generic prescriptions filled in the US, reporting from the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science shows.

Germany’s Friedrich Merz says Iran has appeared more resilient than the US expected and warned that the conflict is escalating without a clear exit strategy. He said an “entire nation” has been humiliated by Tehran.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/62998193

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/62998193

Energy companies in Ukraine and Hungary have both said that oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline from Russia via Belarus have restarted. Hungary and Slovakia expect the first supplies to arrive by Thursday.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/62998088

A draft law in the UK to create a “smoke-free generation” by banning smoking for anybody born after 2008 has cleared both houses of parliament. Only the king’s signature remains for it to become law.

Canadian PM Mark Carney has vowed to reduce his country’s reliance on the US by strengthening the economy and inking trade deals with others.

Exit polls put Rumen Radev’s new, left-leaning, pro-Russian party far ahead following Bulgaria’s eighth

Shandian completed the 21-kilometer (around 13-mile) course in Beijing’s Yizhuang district with a time of 50:26, while Lightning achieved a time of 48:19.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/62828241

The United Kingdom and the European Union have finalized an agreement allowing Britain to take part in the bloc’s Erasmus+ student exchange scheme.

The plane crashed in a mountainous forest area not far from Crimea’s capital, Simferopol. Since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine, incidents involving Russian military planes have occurred frequently.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.world/post/44941399

Cheng Li-wun’s visit to China, expected to take place in April, would be the first by a sitting leader of Taiwan’s main opposition party in a decade.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/61655076

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/61655076

At Tomas Bata University in the city of Zlin in Czechia, researchers are cooperating with the Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences on the development of a lab-grown model of the human small intestine that could transform how new drugs are tested.

Satellite images show more than 2,000 Chinese fishing vessels forming a vast blockade near Japan, highlighting Beijing’s growing use of maritime militias.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/61641006

ZenDis, the German Center for Digital Sovereignty, has created an alternative to US software for public sector agencies in Germany, which are increasingly vulnerable to blackmail under the 2018 US CLOUD act.

Two sailboats had gone missing while sailing from Mexico to Havana to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Cuba. The Mexican Navy located the vessels and escorted them to port.

Researchers in Spain have developed corneal implant material made from fish scales, offering a potential solution to global donor shortages. Early lab and animal tests found that the tissue supports corneal cell growth and is highly compatible with human implantation. Though human trials are still pending, the technology could become a promising alternative for patients with vision‑threatening corneal disease.

Dozens of legal scholars have called on the German government to condemn the US operations in Iran and Venezuela. They argue that if violations of international law go unpunished, the rule of law erodes.

Flixtrain is on the move. The private German railway company plans to launch new routes across Europe and order 65 new trains for €2.4 billion. We travel from Hamburg to Cologne to see what its service is like.