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Albania to shut down TikTok for 1 year, says platform promotes violence among children

TIRANA, ALBANIA —  Albania’s prime minister said Saturday the government will shut down the video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following…

Trump wants US to dominate AI as industry weighs benefits, risks

Generative artificial intelligence companies are racing to build on the popularity of programs like ChatGPT, but AI regulation has not kept pace with the technology. Now, an incoming administration could favor U.S. domination over risk mitigation. Tina Trinh reports. Source:…

France adds first nuclear reactor in 25 years to grid

PARIS —  France connected the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor to its grid on Saturday morning, state-run operator EDF said, in the first addition to the country’s nuclear power network in 25 years. The reactor, which began operating in September ahead…

Rising butter prices give European consumers and bakers a bad taste

PARIS —  Pastry chef Arnaud Delmontel rolls out dough for croissants and pains au chocolat that later emerge golden and fragrant from the oven in his Paris patisserie. The price for the butter so essential to the pastries has shot…

Scientists observe ‘negative time’ in quantum experiments

TORONTO —  Scientists have long known that light can sometimes appear to exit a material before entering it — an effect dismissed as an illusion caused by how waves are distorted by matter. Now, researchers at the University of Toronto,…

US flu season is under way, as cases surge in some areas and vaccinations lag

NEW YORK —  The U.S. flu season is under way, withcases surging across much of the country, health officials said Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted sharp increases in several measures, including lab tests and emergency room…

Security and economic woes plague West Africa, as key elections loom

Leonardo Santos Simão, highlighted upcoming presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau, and the adoption of constitutional reforms amid a strained political environment in Gambia. He also commended recent successful elections in Ghana and Senegal, noting the signing of a…

Sudan’s El Fasher siege: UN humanitarians killed as refugee crisis intensifies

In a new report, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) has detailed the catastrophic humanitarian situation unfolding in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state. The city has been under siege for seven months by fighters from the…

Syria: Rights investigators call for protection of evidence, including mass grave sites

A team from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Syria visited former prisons and detention centres, including the notorious Sednaya and the Military Intelligence Branch 235 prisons. It is the first time the team has been able to…

Gaza is now a graveyard and there’s no escape, say UN aid teams

“The world is not seeing what’s going on with these people, it’s impossible for families to shelter in these conditions,” said Louise Wateridge, from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Speaking from Nuseirat in central Gaza after heavy winter rains…