“Australia at midnight (1300 GMT) on Wednesday became the first country in the world to ban social media for children under 16, blocking them from platforms including TikTok, Alphabet’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook. Ten of the biggest platforms were ordered to block children or be fined up to A$49.5 million ($33 million) under the new law, which was criticised by major technology companies and free speech campaigners, but praised by parents and child advocates. The ban is being closely watched by other countries considering similar age-based measures as concerns mount over the effects of social media on children’s health and safety. ‘While Australia is the first to adopt such restrictions, it is unlikely to be the last,’ Tama Leaver, a professor of internet studies at Curtin University, said.” (12/09/25)
“A bomb explosion killed more than 30 people and wounded 20 others in eastern Congo following a dispute between the Congolese army and a pro-government militia, despite a deal signed in Washington and touted as a major step toward peace in the country. Residents and civil society leaders told The Associated Press that the FARDC, the Congolese army’s acronym, and Wazalendo, which has been helping the army combat the insurgents, clashed before they felt the blast in the town of Sange in South Kivu Sunday evening. … The explosion came less than a week after a U.S.-brokered peace agreement was finalized in an attempt to stop the ongoing war between the Congolese armed forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group in the eastern part of Congo.” (12/08/25)
“A planned news conference on Tuesday by Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado was canceled after a several-hour delay, a day before the award ceremony in Oslo. Machado, who last appeared in public 11 months ago, had been due to hold a traditional news conference the day before the formal award ceremony. But the lunchtime event was delayed without explanation, until the Norwegian Nobel Institute said three hours after the scheduled time that ‘it will not take place today.’ ‘María Corina Machado has herself stated in interviews how challenging the journey to Oslo, Norway, will be,’ the institute said in an email. ‘We therefore cannot at this point provide any further information about when and how she will arrive for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.’ The institute did not specify whether the news conference would take place at a later point.” (12/09/25)
“President Trump’s former personal lawyer Alina Habba stepped down as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey on Monday. Habba was recently disqualified from the role last week after an appeals court found that she was serving unlawfully. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X the Justice Department will seek further review of the ruling and is ‘confident’ the decision will be reversed. Habba said Monday she will continue to serve as Bondi’s senior adviser for U.S. attorneys.” (12/08/25)
“President Trump on Monday unveiled $12 billion in aid to US farmers, as the agricultural sector deals with the fallout from his sweeping tariff policies. Trump and other top administration officials discussed the package at a roundtable event with farmers at the White House. … Trump said the money for farm relief would come from a ‘small portion’ of tariff-related revenues.” (12/08/25)
“Israeli forces raided the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday morning, in the latest assault on the body by Israeli authorities. Troops stormed the premises, carried out searches and confiscated the phones of security guards, witnesses told Palestinian news agency WAFA. The Jerusalem Governorate said security guards were detained during the raid, which occurred during the early hours of the morning. … ‘The unauthorised and forcible entry by Israeli forces is an unacceptable violation of UNRWA’s privileges and immunities as a UN agency,’ said agency spokesperson Tamara Alrifai.” (12/08/25)
“Bitcoin attempted a late weekend rally, but even those small gains were mostly reversed in early U.S. action Monday, with the price quietly settling in near the $90,000 area for the remainder of the day. Trading around $90,500 as U.S. stocks closed, bitcoin was lower by about 1% over the past 24 hours. Altcoin majors also struggled to hold on to their gains. … While the crypto action was muted, long duration government bond yields spiked amid fears of trouble in Japanese bonds spilling over to the other markets. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield surged to 4.19%, its highest level in about three months, while U.K. and other European countries’ government debt also sold off.” (12/08/25)
“Congress is using its marquee defense [sic] bill to force the Pentagon into turning over videos of strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats off the coast of Latin America. Lawmakers plan to withhold a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon provides them with the videos. The demand, quietly tucked into the final draft of the annual defense [sic] policy bill, calls for ‘unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command’ to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. Congressional leaders released their final draft of the defense [sic] bill Sunday, which is expected to be approved — without changes — by the House later this week and then the Senate.” (12/08/25)
“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the leaders of France and Germany discussed the ‘positive progress’ made to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine, Downing Street said on Monday. ‘The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war,’ said a spokesperson for Starmer.” (12/08/25)
“For six months, Apple distributed an app called ICEBlock that allowed users to alert people when they saw Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But after the Trump administration complained that the app endangered officers, Apple removed it. On Monday, the app’s developer, Joshua Aaron, sued top Trump administration officials, accusing them of pressuring Apple to stifle his free speech and his right to create, distribute and promote ICEBlock. The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claimed that Attorney General Pam Bondi abused the government’s power when the Justice Department contacted Apple and demanded it remove the app, which she said she had done in a statement to Fox News in October. She said that Apple removed the app after her request.” (12/08/25)
