Author: Gulf News Week

Netflix has been sued in Texas over claims it collects data belonging to children and adults in the US state without their consent, and uses “addictive” design to keep them hooked.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the streaming giant of “spying” on citizens saying it “records and monetises billions” of pieces of information about how users behave on the platform, despite suggesting otherwise.”Every interaction on the platform became a data point revealing information about the user,” his office said.Netflix has rejected the claims and says it will challenge them in court, according to a statement shared with Reuters.”Netflix takes our…

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a “social media delay” for children in Europe and has said new legislation could be put forward in months.She told an EU summit in Copenhagen that an expert panel was due to come up with steps on how to protect minors online by July.Several countries in Europe and around the world have already introduced social media bans for minors, and von der Leyen did not rule that out.”The discussion about a minimum age for social media can no longer be ignored,” she said. Australia became the first country in the world…

There is “no sign” of a larger hantavirus outbreak after the evacuation of the last passengers from a disease-stricken cruise ship, the head of the UN health agency has said.But the World Health Organization’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned “the situation could change” and there could still be more confirmed virus cases.The MV Hondius left Spain’s Tenerife island on Monday and is sailing to the Dutch port of Rotterdam. Two flights with the final group of 28 passengers landed in nearby Eindhoven on Tuesday.Three people have died after travelling on the ship. An American and a French national who previously…

Even in Khartoum, where there is no longer fighting, the humanitarian situation is dire.I recently visited Khartoum for the first time since the war started. It quickly became clear to me that the world still doesn’t fully comprehend what has happened there. In the streets of Sudan’s capital, the destruction was apocalyptic. A city that used to have a population of 7 million seemed almost empty as we drove through its districts.The buildings were almost all destroyed or partially flattened by shelling and air attacks, while those left standing were riddled with bullet holes. I had never seen this scale…

Sir Keir Starmer is fighting to stay on as prime minister, as he stares down calls for Labour critics, including some of his own ministers, to quit Downing Street.It comes amid a revolt among Labour MPs and calls from ministers for him to draw up an exit timetable after a disastrous set of elections last week.Here is a summary of what is happening.What’s happening today?Starmer tells cabinet he will ‘get on with governing’ and leadership contest has not been triggeredChris Mason: PM hangs on by a thread as party revoltsWhat’s the mood in the party?Nearly 80 Labour MPs have publicly…

Japanese snack giant Calbee says it will temporarily switch to black and white packaging for some its best-known products as supplies of an ingredient used in ink have been disrupted by the Iran war.The firm says new-style packets for 14 of its products, including crisps and prawn crackers, will start to appear in shops in Japan from 25 May.It marks the latest example of how everyday goods are being impacted after Iran effectively closed the key Strait of Hormuz waterway in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes on the country.In recent weeks, companies around the world have warned that supply…

On a rainy, cold morning Masooda makes her way to a hillside cemetery in north-west Kabul to visit the grave of her younger brother Mirwais.But she doesn’t know exactly where he was buried after he was killed in a Pakistani airstrike two months ago.Instead, she stands at the edge of a mass grave, neatly covered with tiny white stones and roughly marked with grey granite slabs, which is the final resting place of some of the at least 269 people killed in the attack on a drug rehabilitation centre.Exactly how many are in the grave is impossible to say: like…

Almost 200 so-called Russian “shadow fleet” vessels have entered UK waters since the prime minister threatened to intercept them nearly seven weeks ago, BBC Verify analysis suggests.In March, Sir Keir Starmer announced that British armed forces “are now able to board sanctioned vessels that are passing through our waters”.However, BBC Verify has identified 184 UK-sanctioned vessels making 238 journeys through UK waters since then and the government has not publicly stated or offered evidence that any have been boarded.The Ministry of Defence (MoD) say it is “disrupting and deterring” shadow fleet vessels, without providing specific details. One former Royal Navy…

A leading people smuggler, whose network is believed to be responsible for the majority of illegal cross-Channel journeys in recent years, has been unmasked by a BBC investigation.The 28-year-old Iraqi Kurd has evaded arrest for several years by operating under the alias “Kardo Ranya”. He has kept his real name a closely guarded secret, which has frustrated law enforcement agencies in their efforts to issue an international warrant for his arrest.The lack of information about Kardo Ranya’s real name has also made it harder for individual police forces in Europe to track his whereabouts or follow leads beyond their own…

Israel has passed a new law to impose the death penalty and conduct public trials for those involved in the unprecedented Hamas-led attacks and mass hostage-taking in Israel in October 2023.The legislation was passed by 93 votes to 0 in Israel’s parliament – the Knesset – and was unusually jointly sponsored by government and opposition politicians. The remaining 27 lawmakers were absent or abstained.”May everyone see how the victims and their families look into the whites of the eyes of those murderers, rapists and kidnappers,” Yulia Malinovsky, a co-sponsor of the bill, told a news conference ahead of the parliamentary…