05/02/2026

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Spain, Greece take on digital Wild West

MADRID: Spain and Greece on Tuesday proposed bans on social media use by teenagers as attitudes hardened in Europe against technology some say is designed to be addictive and the measures announced by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez drew fury from Elon Musk. Spain wants to prohibit social media for under-16s, Sanchez said. Greece is close to announcing a similar ban for children under 15, a senior government source said. But Sanchez also said his o 82% of Spaniards support teen ban move

missing out, said Diana Diaz, director of the ANAR Foundation for at-risk children and adolescents. Sanchez said prosecutors would explore ways to investigate possible legal infractions by Musk’s Grok, as well as by TikTok and Instagram, part of Meta. The proposed ban would be implemented as part of a change to an existing Bill on digital protection for minors being debated in parliament, according to a government spokesperson. About 82% of Spaniards said they believed children under 14 should be banned from social media, according to a 30-country Ipsos poll on education published last August. That was up from 73% in 2024. – Reuters

Spain joins five other European countries that he dubbed the “Coalition of the Digitally Willing” to coordinate and enforce cross-border regulation, Sanchez said, without naming the countries, set to hold their first meeting in the coming days. “We know that this is a battle that far exceeds the boundaries of any country,” he said. His office did not respond to a request for clarification. Legislation to ban children under 15 from social media is passing through France’s parliament. Britain is also considering similar measures. Spain’s proposed regulation would give parents clear backing to set limits and would ease social pressure for children worried about

children younger than 16. Governments and regulators worldwide are looking at the impact of children’s screen time on their development and mental wellbeing. “Our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone ... We will no longer accept that,” Sanchez said at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. “We will protect them from the digital Wild West.” The Australia ban “leaves significant gaps that could undermine its goals”, including limitations in age verification technology and users switching to unregulated messaging apps, Snapchat said in a statement on Monday.

government would create a law to hold social media executives personally responsible for hate speech on their platforms. Musk wrote on X: “Dirty Sanchez is a tyrant and a traitor to the people of Spain.” About an hour and a half later, he escalated his criticism: “Sanchez is the true fascist totalitarian.” Representatives of Google, part of Alphabet, TikTok, Snapchat and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Spain’s proposed measures. Spain and Greece join countries such as Britain and France in considering tougher stances on social media, after Australia in December became the first nation to prohibit access to such platforms for

Assassin appeals against life sentence TOKYO: A Japanese man has appealed against his life sentence for fatally shooting former prime minister Shinzo Abe, a district court spokesperson said yesterday. Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, sent shockwaves through Japan after he shot and killed its longest-serving prime minister with a homemade gun in July 2022, while Abe was delivering a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. “An appeal was filed,” said the spokesperson. The Osaka High Court will review the appeal. Yamagami, who admitted to killing Abe, was handed a life term by the court last month, in line with prosecutors’ demands, though his defence had sought no more than 20 years, citing family issues linked to the Unification Church. Media have quoted Yamagami as telling the court he held a grudge against the Unification Church after his mother’s large donations to it caused financial hardship for the family. He took out his anger on Abe after the former prime minister had sent a video message to an event organised by a church affiliate, media said. Founded in South Korea in 1954, the Unification Church is famed for its mass weddings and counts Japanese followers as a key source of income. – Reuters Australia to auction off defence sites SYDNEY: Defence Minister Richard Marles announced yesterday that Australia would be putting up for sale dozens of historic defence sites with a view to raise billions of dollars for the Australian Defence Forces (ADF). Marles said the decision to wholly divest 64 sites and partially divest three was made based on a 2023 audit which found that Australia’s defence “is constrained by the weight of its past when it comes to management of the estate”. Golf courses, rifle ranges and islands, as well as barracks in prime spots in Sydney and Melbourne are among the assets set to be sold. Three have already been divested since the audit’s commissioning. Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil in a press conference spoke of a “shocking waste of taxpayers’ dollars”, with “hundreds of millions of dollars” spent to maintain unused facilities. According to the audit, once staff relocation and other upfront costs are taken into account, net proceeds from the sale of the properties “could potentially reach approximately A$1.8 billion (RM5 billion)”. – Bernama

Penny poses after winning ‘Best in Show’ at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. – AFPPIC

Doberman wins Westminster dog show NEW YORK: Penny, a four-year-old Doberman pinscher, won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show on Tuesday, capturing the most prestigious dog show prize in the United States. “We saw a dog that knew that it had to perform for Andy, and I think that’s the bond we get,” Jason Hoke, the television commentator for Fox Sports, said on the broadcast of the event. “We saw that with this perfect show the dog put on.

and Wager, a smooth fox terrier from the terrier group. “They always say, ‘What a great lineup,‘ but this is one that will go down in history,” Best in Show judge David Fitzpatrick, himself a breeder, owner and handler who has won Best in Show twice, told the crowd before announcing the winner. Judges, looking for each breed’s ideal standard, examine the dogs’ mouths and place their hands over the animals’ bodies, checking for muscle tone before watching the dogs run through their paces. Dobermans, which have a reputation as police dogs, have now won the top prize five times. The breed was developed for protection in the late 19th century by Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann, a German tax collector. It was later used in police and military service, notably by the US Marine Corps in the Pacific theatre of World War Two. – Reuters

Penny cut a majestic stance in the final round of judging, when the finalists of seven groups competed at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The champion of the working group beat more than 3,000 dogs from all 50 states and 17 countries that competed in the 150th annual event. The winners of each of the 202 competing breeds advanced to compete for one of seven group titles, with each group winner moving on to the finals. Penny’s handler Andy Linton, who has spoken publicly about his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, also handled the winning Doberman named Indy the last time the breed won Best in Show, in 1989.

“The dog was giving it back to Andy because Andy has had his own struggles and that’s what dogs do, that unconditional love,” Hoke said. Penny was bred by Theresa Connors-Chan and Gregory Chan, two of the co-owners along with Francis Sparagna and Diana Sparagna. Second place, known as Reserve Best in Show, went to Cota, a five-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever from the sporting group. The other finalists were Zaida, an Afghan hound from the hound group; Cookie, a Maltese from the toy group; JJ, a Lhasa Apso from the non-sporting group; Graham, an old English sheepdog from the herding group;