13/03/2026

FRIDAY | MAR 13, 2026

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Construction of ICE detention centre halted

Demands for media age bans in UK LONDON: Britain’s media and privacy regulators yesterday demanded that major social media platforms do more to keep children off their services, warning that companies were failing to enforce their own minimum age rules. Britain has been weighing tougher curbs on children’s access to social media, with the government considering barring under-16s from such platforms, mirroring a move by Australia. Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said they have grown increasingly concerned about algorithmic feeds that expose children to harmful or addictive content. “These online services are household names but they are failing to put children’s safety at the heart of their products,” said Ofcom CEO Melanie Dawes. “That must now change quickly or Ofcom will act.” In the latest implementation phase of Britain’s Online Safety Act 2023, Ofcom told Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta, as well as Roblox, Snapchat, ByteDance’s TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube to show by April 30 how they would tighten age checks, restrict strangers from contacting children, make feeds safer and stop testing new products on minors. The ICO separately issued an open letter to the same platforms, calling on them to adopt “modern, viable” age-assurance tools to stop those aged under 13 from accessing services not designed for them. “There is now modern technology at your fingertips, so there is no excuse,” said its CEO Paul Arnold. Ofcom can fine companies up to 10% of their qualifying global revenue while the ICO can issue fines of up to 4% of a company’s global annual turnover. The ICO last month fined Reddit nearly £14.5 million (RM76 million) for failing to introduce meaningful age checks and for processing children’s data unlawfully. – Reuters Bodies found in search for missing Chinese tourists SYDNEY: Australian police have recovered two bodies during a search for two Chinese backpackers who went missing in a flood-hit region in the country’s east, local media reported yesterday. The bodies, believed to be those of the missing Chinese tourists, were found inside a car, national broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp reported, citing police. Police divers and emergency personnel were expected to be at the scene in the Gympie region of Queensland state yesterday to confirm the identities of the bodies, ABC News said. Australian police said the 26-year-old man and 23-year-old woman had been travelling to North Burnett in Queensland, about 380km northwest of Brisbane, the state capital. Major flood warnings remained in place in parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory after incessant rains caused rivers to burst their banks, cutting off rural towns and forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate. A helicopter rescued two people from a car stuck in crocodile-inhabited waters at a creek crossing near the town of Katherine in the Northern Territory, television footage showed on Wednesday. Authorities have urged residents to avoid driving through floodwaters, warning that crocodiles have been sighted in inundated suburbs around Katherine. – Reuters

o We will not let them rush through proper legal process in haste to ramp up deportations: Attorney- general

legal process in their haste to ramp up deportations,” he said. In a separate development, one in three Americans said they made some sacrifice last year, such as skipping a meal or rationing medicine, to cover healthcare costs, according to a survey released yesterday. High healthcare costs, especially compared with peer nations, represent a significant portion of many Americans’ strained budgets, prompting some to choose to drive less to save on gas, cut back on electricity and borrow money to make ends meet. Gathered from responses by 20,000 participants last year, the West Health-Gallup Centre survey estimates that more than 82 million Americans resorted to at least one sacrifice to pay medical bills. The most vulnerable and uninsured were most likely to cut corners, but 11% of well-off households also reported making tradeoffs. “When families across every income level are forced to choose between medical bills and paying their heating or electric bill, that is not a personal budgeting problem, it is a systems failure,” said West Health Policy Centre president Tim Lash. – Reuters

WASHINGTON: A federal judge in Maryland issued a temporary restraining order on Wednesday to halt construction work on an immigration detention centre after the state had sued citing environmental concerns. Maryland Attorney-General Anthony Brown had argued that President Donald Trump’s administration had not conducted a proper environmental review or received public input. The federal government spent more than US$100 million (RM393 million) on a 54-acre (21.8ha) warehouse in Maryland’s Washington County to convert it into a detention centre capable of holding 1,500 people at a time, he said in February when the state sued. US District Judge Brendan Hurson granted Maryland’s request for a restraining order to immediately pause construction for up to 14 days while the court considers Maryland’s broader legal challenge. “The state has shown that the defendants likely failed to comply with their obligations

under (the National Environmental Policy Act 1969). The defendants do not appear to have taken a ‘hard look’ at the potential environmental consequences of their plans for the Williamsport Warehouse.” The US Homeland Security Department, which has federal oversight of immigration and of which the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is a part, has previously said it was willing to work with state officials to expand detention capabilities. The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and deportation drive have received widespread condemnation from rights advocates over what they call violations of free speech and due process rights. Brown cast the ruling as a win. “Although temporary, this ruling stops the construction of this massive immigration detention centre while our lawsuit continues to play out in court. We will not let the department and ICE rush through the proper

PAYING RESPECTS ... Firefighters laying flowers during a memorial ceremony in Kerzers, western Switzerland on Wednesday, a day after six people were killed in a bus fire that was seemingly started by a disturbed man on board who set himself alight. – AFPPIC

Venezuela names new Hydrocarbons minister CARACAS: Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Wednesday appointed a new Hydrocarbons minister, a key position in the oil-rich nation that she previously held under ousted leader Nicolas Maduro. It is the latest shakeup in Venezuela’s leadership under Rodriguez, who assumed power in January following the deadly US military raid that seized Maduro and his wife from the country.

rapidly rising prices, adding that the reserves would be replenished afterwards, German Press Agency reported. “We will do that and then we will fill it up,” he said on Wednesday, noting that the move would push prices down. The International Energy Agency (IEA) had earlier announced that it would release a record amount of oil into global markets. The 32 member countries, including the United States, will release 400 million barrels of crude oil, according to the IEA. The US Energy Department said it plans to release 172 million barrels starting next week over a period of roughly four months. According to the government, the US strategic petroleum reserve is the world’s largest emergency stockpile of crude oil. – AFP

She has made restoring Venezuela’s sanction-crippled oil industry a priority, in line with Washington’s aims, seeking to boost the country out of a years-long economic crisis. Under US pressure, including a naval blockade in the Caribbean, Rodriguez has pushed through legislative reforms to open up the sector to private investments. The Trump administration has meanwhile granted sanctions waivers to six energy giants to operate in the country. In the United States, Trump said he will release strategic oil reserves to stabilise

The appointment comes shortly after visits by US President Donald Trump’s Energy and Interior chiefs to discuss ramping up oil and gas output following Maduro’s removal. Petroleum engineer Paula Henao will be tasked with “continuing to boost our country’s energy engine and strengthening the sovereign development of the national oil, gas and petrochemical industry”, said Rodriguez. Henao has more than 20 years of experience with the Venezuelan state-owned company PDVSA and was previously serving as deputy minister in charge of oil.