26/03/2026

THURSDAY | MAR 26, 2026

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Britain tests social media bans LONDON: Hundreds of British families will test social media bans, curfews and app time limits to see how they affect children’s sleep, family life and schoolwork. Britain is considering restricting access to social media for children. Nothing is off the table, it has said. Experts have said there is no clear evidence that a ban would be effective. The measures will be tested in the homes of 300 teenagers, the government said, and data from the pilots would inform a consultation launched earlier this month. “We are determined to give young people the childhood they deserve and to prepare them for the future,” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said. “This is why we are listening to parents, children and experts with our consultation, as well as testing different options in the real world. “These pilots will give us the evidence we need to take the next steps, informed by the experiences of families.” – Reuters

Baltimore sues xAI

o Grokfaces regulatory probes

Bear’s skills saved over 100 koalas as the Black Summer bushfires raged across Australia’s eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke. The tail-wagging detective with a “joyful and goofy” personality retires with an extensive list of accolades, including an Animal of the Year award and Puppy Tales Photos Australian Dog of the Year award. He also features in a “dogumentary” called Bear: Koala Hero , and in a book, Bear to the Rescue . Bear will embark on a slower paced chapter on the Sunshine Coast with one of his former handlers, getting belly rubs and playing his favourite game, fetch. – AFP images generated by Grok. Literally zero”. The complaint includes a Grok generated image that Musk shared last Dec 31, depicting the 54-year old in a blue string bikini. Baltimore called it a “public endorsement” of Grok’s ability to generate revealing edits of real people. The 3 million estimate came from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, based on a sample of 20,000 images that Grok generated. Baltimore is seeking an injunction requiring xAI to change Grok’s “exploitative” design features and pay unspecified fines. Last month’s combination of SpaceX and xAI created the world’s most valuable company, worth about US$1.25 trillion (RM4.9 trillion) at the time. – Reuters

Bear, an 11-year-old Australian Koolie, was one of the first dogs in the country to be trained on the scent of koala fur. The International Fund for Animal Welfare called using dogs to detect koalas a “novel” approach. “No one knew if it could be done,” IFAW head of programmes Josey Sharrad wrote in a statement. As a pup, the four-legged hero’s boundless energy made it tough to stay indoors, but he found his true potential in the bush. “He literally went from chewing the walls of a Gold Coast apartment to roaming through the Aussie bush on a mission to save our most iconic species,” Sharrad said. than 23,000 of children, over 11 days around the start of the year. “We’re talking about tech companies enabling the sexual exploitation of children,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. “It’s a threat to privacy, dignity and public safety, and those responsible must be held accountable.” Musk’s xAI faces regulatory probes in several countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and in Australia over Grok. In mid-January, xAI said it restricted image editing in Grok, and blocked users from generating images of people in revealing clothing in “jurisdictions where it’s illegal”. Musk said at the time he was “not aware of any naked underage

immediately responded to requests for comment. The Maryland city said in a complaint filed in Baltimore Circuit Court that xAI is violating its consumer protection statute by promoting Grok as a safe, general purpose artificial intelligence assistant for everyday people. Baltimore said Grok has flooded X users with objectionable content, becoming one of the largest distributors of material depicting nonconsensual sexual activity and child sexual abuse despite promising it bans such content and permits only consensually produced adult nudity. The city also said X, formerly known as Twitter, generated an estimated 3 million realistic-looking sexualised images, including more

BALTIMORE: The city of Baltimore sued Elon Musk’s xAI on Tuesday, claiming its Grok chatbot illegally generates nonconsensual sexually explicit images, including of children. Baltimore, with a population of about 568,000, is the largest city to sue xAI over “deepfakes” attributed to Grok, its lawyers said. Musk launched Grok in 2023 and distributes it through his social media platform X, which like xAI is now part of his rocket and space exploration company SpaceX. Neither SpaceX nor xAI

Rescue dog Bear calls it a day SYDNEY: An Australian dog credited with saving over 100 koalas from bushfires is retiring after a decade of service.

Activists approach Havana carrying humanitarian aid. – R EUTE R SPIC

Aid flotilla arrives in Cuba HAVANA: The first boat of a flotilla carrying medical supplies, food and solar panels reached Cuba on Tuesday to aid the island as a US fuel blockade deepens its energy crisis.

the support of the government, aims to bring relief to Cubans amid a de facto US oil blockade that President Donald Trump launched in January. Critics have slammed the effort as benefiting the government more than ordinary people. Convoy organiser David Adler, a US citizen, said the mission brought urgently needed aid directly to Cubans and showed the world “the human costs of Trump’s siege on Cuba”. “It demonstrated that international solidarity can triumph over forced isolation,” said Adler. As the boat motored across the sea, activist Thiago Avila said other nations should come to Cuba’s aid. – AFP

live” while others waiting for them on the dock chanted “Cuba yes! Blockade no!” “I wish everyone would unite, even Cubans abroad, and come and do the same because it is the people who are suffering,” said Amado Rodriguez, a 59 year-old driver walking near Havana Bay. The first shipments arrived by plane from Europe, Latin America and the United States last week as part of an air and sea mission, dubbed Our America Convoy, to bring some 50 tonnes of aid to Cuba. Two more ships were due to arrive today. Activists say the mission, which had

The Maguro shrimp fishing boat docked in Havana three days later than hoped after battling strong winds, currents and a pesky battery during its journey from Mexico. As they approached Havana’s colonial-era fortification, activists stood on the cabin roof of the boat symbolically renamed Granma 2.0 as a tribute to the yacht used by Fidel Castro’s guerilla fighters to launch their revolution in 1956. They held a sign reading “Let Cuba

Bear on duty last December. – IFAW HANDOUT/AFPPIC