Accounts held by users under 16 must be removed on apps that include TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and Threads under ban * How is Australia’s social media ban affecting you and your family? * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia has enacted a world-first ban on social media for users aged under 16, causing millions of children and teenagers to lose access to their accounts. Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and TikTok are expected to have taken steps from Wednesday to remove accounts held by users under 16 years of age in Australia, and prevent those teens from registering new accounts. Continue reading...

Paramount says its offer “provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion to WBD shareholders” Back in China, car sales have fallen for the second month running. Retail vehicle sales fell about 8% to 2.1 million units in November, according to data published by the China Passenger Car Association today. This shows a 22% slump in sales of gasoline cars, with new-energy vehicle sales rising 4.2% for the month. “Usually the trend at the end of the year is that the car market should get stronger and stronger from October. But the retail sales in November compared to previous years is unusual.” “Mortgage rates continue on the downward trend and November was particularly fruitful for fixed rate cuts. The re-pricing by lenders led to the average five-year fixed rate dropping below 5% for the first time in over two years and sits at its lowest point since before the ‘mini-Budget’ in September 2022, alongside its two-year counterpart. Continue reading...

Chernobyl unable to stop radiation leak after Russian drone strike, UN watchdog warns

Appointment marks a rapid political transformation for a former Tory donor and potential candidate for MP The formerly Conservative-supporting boss of the supermarket Iceland is to be made a Labour peer when the party appoints another 25 representatives to parliament’s upper house later this month. Keir Starmer will appoint Richard Walker to the House of Lords, the Guardian understands, the culmination of an unusual and rapid political transformation for someone named as a prospective Tory MP candidate a little over three years ago. Continue reading...