KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia on Monday began enforcing rules barring millions of children younger than 16 from having social media accounts, joining a global effort to tighten online safety protections for young users.

The rules require social media platforms with at least 8 million users including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, to implement age-verification systems and block users under 16 from creating accounts.

Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission said Monday that age verification for existing users will be rolled out progressively over the next six months.

Users identified as under 16 will have a month to download or transfer their data, including photos and videos, before any restrictions, suspensions, or other actions are applied, it said in a statement.

Companies that fail to comply could face penalties of up to 10 million ringgit ($2.5 million). But parents whose children manage to bypass the law will not be penalized.

The government said the measures are aimed at protecting children from harmful content, cyberbullying and platform features designed to encourage excessive use.

Other countries including Australia,Brazil and Indonesia have introduced or announced age-based restrictions or requirements for children’s access to social media. Countries including Britain, France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand and South Korea are also studying or developing similar approaches.

The regulator said the rules are not intended to prevent children from accessing digital technology.

“These measures help strengthen the protection of children in the online environment, while providing added reassurance to parents in navigating increasingly complex digital risks,” it has said.

Platforms are required to improve user safety, discourage excessive use and take action against underage accounts and harmful content.

Technology companies have yet to detail how they will comply with Malaysia’s new requirements.

Clara Koh, Meta’s director of public policy for Southeast Asia, had cautioned in April that Malaysia’s blanket under-16 ban could backfire by driving teenagers away from protected apps and into unregulated corners of the internet.

She said Meta has launched “teen accounts” for those under 18 that limits contact, screen time and exposure to inappropriate content.

Malaysia’s curbs come as governments face growing pressure to address concerns about social media’s impact on children’s mental health and online safety.

In March, a U.S. jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay millions of dollars in damages in a case alleging that platform design features contributed to harm suffered by a young user.

How two Malaysian families see the changes

Kuala Lumpur parents Saravanan Ganasan and Jayaradha Veerasamy — whose children are 12 and 15 — approve of the changes. They already banned their kids from using social media, believing minors lack the psychological capacity to cope with it.

The couple ban unsupervised scrolling on TikTok and Instagram. Devices are kept out of bedrooms, screen time is limited to common areas, and their son is not allowed to lock his phone with a password.

“Exposure is what we fear,” Saravanan said. “The wrong kind of exposure will do damage to the mind.”

Aadhavan Saravanan, 15, said he believes he would be addicted to social media if allowed full freedom. “Social media is like, a luxury and it’s not a necessity,” he said

The couple said the restrictions have forced their children to develop offline life skills. Instead of scrolling, Aadhavan reads books in a backyard mango tree and repairs broken household appliances, while their daughter cooks and does crafts.

“A lot of parents are very scared that children get bored,” the kids’ mother, Jayaradha, said. “But boredom is actually very good because they start thinking out of the box.”

But Shaun Hew, who lives in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Cheras, feels the new restrictions go too far.

Hew believes social media offers an outlet for his kids to spend time productively, as long as there is proper adult oversight. His 11-year-old son uses platforms to learn cooking and his daughter, 14, uses YouTube for exam revision.

He worries a sudden cutoff could cause teenagers to rebel and find unregulated ways to bypass internet blocks.

Some voice concerns over privacy and safety

Some critics contend that Malaysia’s move could increase the risks of data privacy breaches and expand state surveillance.

“It is very much following the trend but in a way that is raising alarms due to requiring a government ID for age verification,” said Benjamin Loh, social science lecturer at Monash University in Malaysia.

Loh also said experiences elsewhere suggest age-based restrictions have yet to prove consistently effective. Without penalties on parents, families can easily bypass the law by creating accounts for their children, he said.

“This is a major gap that unless regulators are willing to fix, will result in the law having little effect in stopping children from using social media,” he added.

“It pains me to see health workers who have already died because of Ebola while serving others… this is the risk which comes with the profession, but your commitment and coming back again to serve means a lot,” Tedros told the four nurses, three men and one woman, at Sunday’s ceremony where they all received certificates recognising their recovery.

Nobody seems to know what’s going on with Greece’s borders this summer — not even its most senior tourism officials.

Greece has rejected reports that British passport holders will be exempt from biometric screening system at its airports during peak season.

The EU’s new Entry-Exit System, or EES, began operating at Greek airports and other entry points on April 10 as part of a Europe-wide rollout, replacing passport stamps with biometric data collected through photos and digital fingerprints.

Greek officials visiting the UK had suggested the requirement would be waived this summer for travellers from Britain, an important market for Greece’s tourism industry.

Greece’s tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said the government did not want visitors ‘burdened’ by bureaucracy and promised that Brits would be ‘fast-tracked’ through the system.

The Greek Embassy went further. It said that as of April 10, 2026, British passport holders were exempt from biometric registration at Greek border crossings.

Eleni Skarveli, Director of the Greek National Tourism Organisation in the UK, said the move would ‘ensure a smoother and more efficient arrival experience in Greece’ and slash waiting times.

He said that Brits would no longer need to complete extra EES procedures.

That position even matched UK government advice.

The Foreign Office told travellers that Greek authorities would not collect biometric data from UK visitors under the new system.

Current travel guidance from the FCDO states: ‘Greek authorities have indicated that they will not collect biometric data (fingerprints and photos) for UK travellers as part of EES. Follow the advice of authorities on the ground.’

However, European and Greek authorities later clarified that suspension of the system will be permitted only during ‘periods of high passenger traffic’.

Exemptions do not apply to any country or nationality, they added.

‘We have not received any further update or clarification as to whether, for example, specific nationalities are temporarily exempt from the relevant procedure,’ a spokesperson for the Greek Foreign Ministry told AP.

Metro has approached the Greek Foreign Ministry, the Greek Tourism Ministry and the UK Foreign Office for comment.

Given that thousands of UK travellers arrive daily on islands such as Corfu, Crete and Rhodes, the idea of scrapping EES checks had been welcomed.

It also led some to believe other Mediterranean countries could follow suit for the busy summer period.

Travellers already reported queues of up to two hours at passport control since EES started rolling out in some European countries late last year.

But airline groups have warned that these waits could double to four hours as holiday traffic increases into the summer season.

Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs at Abta, the travel agent and tour operator association, said: ‘What we have said to customers is that, because of the checks, you might need to prepare for delays with extra water and snacks.’

In April, holidaymakers were left vomiting and fainting in a queue from hell at Milan’s Linate airport.

Around 100 easyJet customers were stranded due to delays caused by new EU border checks.

The airline said the disorder was ‘outside of our control’ and even delayed takeoff by almost an hour to try to give passengers extra time to board.

Still, plenty of Brits were forced to find alternative routes home after some only discovered they had missed their flight once it had taken off without them.

What is the EU’s new Entry/Exit system?

The entry and exit system (EES) is a digital system that replaces passport stamping at border control across the European Union.

People with passports from non-EU countries, including the UK, are required to use the system once it launches.

Most travellers from outside the EU, known as third-country nationals, will be required to register their passport details and biometric data when crossing into an EU country for the first time.

Biometric data includes fingerprints and facial pictures. Borders are likely to be kitted with self-service kiosks where passengers can input this information.

This data, as well as the entry and exit details, will be stored for subsequent visits.

Future visits will only require a verification of the biometric data, which can speed up the process.

Border officials will then also ask extra questions about accommodation, whether travellers have enough money for the trip, insurance and a return ticket.

Children are not exempt from the checks, although children under 12 do not need to give fingerprints; however they will also need to have their face scanned.

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An international team of scientists has shed new light on how coastal seaweed forests help lock away planet-warming carbon.

Large seaweeds, known as macroalgae, absorb vast amounts of atmospheric CO2. Previous research estimated that between 4m and 44m tonnes of macroalgae-derived carbon sink each year to depths of up to 200 metres, where it can remain for at least a century.

Now researchers from Germany, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Denmark and the UK have tracked 8,000 seaweed rafts growing off southwest Greenland for the first time.

Using satellite imagery, computer modelling and ocean current monitoring devices, they found that offshore currents can carry seaweed hundreds of kilometres. As surface waters cool, the floating vegetation is driven below the surface, where it breaks down and sinks, transporting carbon to the deep ocean.

“Our findings illustrate a tangible oceanic conveyor belt that links thriving coastal macroalgal forests with the deep ocean’s carbon reservoir,”said Prof Ana Queirós, marine climate change ecologist and climate change lead at Plymouth Marine Laboratory. “Recognising these natural transport and mixing pathways enhances how we understand macroalgae’s vital role in the Earth’s carbon cycle.”

Main image: Mathilde Cureau

Euphoria season three, episode eight, In God We Trust, spoilers ahead.

After seven years, three seasons and countless twists, Euphoria has come to an end with a ‘devastating’ finale, leaving fans shattered.

After years of wondering whether Sam Levinson’s popular – if not controversial – HBO series would return for a third season, against all the odds, it finally started airing earlier this year.

The cast – many of whom are now high-profile Hollywood stars – all returned, including Oscar nominee Jacob Elordi (Nate), Emmy winner Zendaya (Rue), Sydney Sweeney (Cassie), Alexa Demie (Maddy) and Hunter Schafer (Jules).

Set post-high school, in the new season, Rue’s past addiction caught up to her, thrusting her into the life-and-death drug cartel world; Nate and Cassie are trapped in a miserable marriage; Jules is attending art school, and Maddy is trying to make it in LA.

Up until this point, the show has already made quite a splash.

It’s been blasted for Cassie’s character arc as an OnlyFans creator filled with a surplus of explicit scenes and not including Labrinth in the soundtrack. Elsewhere, it shocked viewers after Nate was buried alive and ultimately killed by the bite of a venomous rattlesnake.

Now, it’s done it again with the climax of the entire season, revealing that Rue had died from an accidental overdose.

More specifically, crime boss Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), who has been terrorising every episode, gives her spiked fentanyl under the guise of a painkiller.

After watching a dream sequence, we flash back to reality, where she’s lying dead on the sofa.

It’s a tragic ending for one of the most tragic characters on TV, and in her final moments, we see her reunite with her mother and Fezco (Angus Cloud), hug her dad and see her high school sweetheart Jules, all in a poignant imaginary sequence.

Meanwhile, her longtime friend and mentor Ali (Colman Domingo) is left behind to grieve her death and take vengeance, so he grabs his gun and kills Alamo in a showdown.

Needless to say, after three seasons of rooting for Rue to get sober and reclaim power over her life, this is not the happy ending viewers were waiting for (even if some predicted it).

‘My heart is shattered into pieces…’ Moxito wrote on X.

‘Zendaya what an actor you are!!!! She managed to completely convey life leaving her body and peace of being in her father’s arms again. Come get all the awards baby girl!!!’ Bellamy Keppner shared.

‘We watched Rue suffer nonstop, have very little good happen to her, only to pass away in the end is the definition of anticlimactic and stupid writing!

‘She should have gotten a good ending, and this is a horrible end to the show!’ Mr_Tashiduncan complained.

‘Didn’t want this ending for Rue at all. She deserved so so much better. I genuinely cannot stop crying, this isn’t fair,’ Diya echoed.

‘Rue Bennet’s dying scene has me sobbing,’ Blair declared.

‘Rue being dead from the overdose the entire time and this scene with her mom turning out to be one last imagined goodbye before she passed away… yeah, this ending absolutely broke me,’ celebsnapz said.

‘So Rue was already dead from the overdose this whole time? And her reuniting with her mom was just her imagining one final goodbye before dying??? nah this ending completely shattered me,’ sammeyo mourned.

‘Just watched the Euphoria S3 finale “In God We Trust” and I’m speechless… Sam Levinson went full dark. Series finale vibes? Gutted but it felt earned. What a ride. Who else is processing this?’ simzo04 posted.

Ana agreed: ‘I’m sorry, but Rue was never making it out of this story alive. If you expected a happy ending, I don’t think we were watching the same show.’

Rue’s death comes just a week after Nate’s brutal death, a choice creator Sam defended – and his words feel eerily foreshadowing.

‘There’s this kind of funny thing where I know what the audience wants in terms of justice or karma and with that in mind, I always think: “Well, how can I give it to them?”

‘How can I give them what they want, but make it so horrific and anxiety-inducing that by the time it happens, the audience isn’t so sure they wanted it?’ he said.

Euphoria is available to stream on NOW, HBO Max and Sky.

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The M11 between J9 (Little Chesterford) and J9A (Stump Cross) has been closed in both directions since just before 7.30am today (Monday, June 1). This is due to a serious crash between a car and motorbike.

Emergency services, including Cambridgeshire Police, are in attendance. Traffic monitoring site Inrix reports there are “long delays” along the road, as of 9.35am.

It said: “M11 in both directions closed, long delays due to serious accident, a car and a motorbike involved between J9a A11 / A1301 (Saffron Walden) and J9 (the main carriageway). Congestion to four miles northbound, from the exit at J9.”

Diversion routes are in place. These are:

Northbound traffic is advised to follow the hollow circle diversion symbol:

From the M11 J9 northbound off slip, continue on the M11 northbound. Exit the M11 at J10.

At junction take the third exit onto the A505 towards Whittlesford.

Continue on the A505 until reaching the A505/A1301 roundabout, take the third exit onto the A1301.

Continue on the A1301 until reaching M11/A11/A1301 junction; take the first exit onto the A11 northbound.

Southbound traffic is advised to follow the hollow triangle diversion symbol:

Exit the M11 at J9a southbound and join the A1301 northbound.

Continue on the A1301 until the A505 roundabout

Join the A505 westbound and continue towards the M11 J10

Re-join M11 to continue onward journey

CambridgeshireLive is awaiting further information from emergency services.

The Clarkson’s Farm visitor experienced an unexpected incident during her visit, leading Lisa Hogan to step in and lend a helping hand

A portrait artist has opened up about a painful incident that unfolded while attending a sitting at Jeremy Clarkson‘s farm. Louise Pagnell is well-accustomed to meeting celebrities, having produced artwork for numerous high-profile individuals, including Princess Anne.

As part of her work, Louise also painted Jeremy. Yet, while doing so on his farm in 2024, she suffered a back spasm.

After informing both Jeremy and Lisa Hogan about her pain, Louise remembered how Lisa intervened to assist.

“Lisa Hogan showed me videos of what to do when you’ve got back pain. The day was a write-off,” she told Hello! Magazine.

The Clarkson’s Farm star posed for the portrait to commemorate his 64th birthday, with the piece drawing inspiration from Grant Wood’s legendary 1930 painting, American Gothic.

Publishing a video reel of the painting at the time, Louise wrote: “Clarkson gothic. A portrait (+ rake’s) progress. Happy birthday @jeremyclarkson1”.

The artist’s renowned painting portrays an American farmer clutching a pitchfork, positioned beside a woman before a house.

Louise has subsequently returned to the farm for additional sittings, developing a solid rapport with the former Top Gear host.

During one session, she recounted requesting Jeremy to raise his chin, only for him to respond: “Which one?”

The Top Gear star assumed control of the daily operations at Diddly Squat Farm in 2019 following the retirement of the farmer who had previously managed the land.

His journey in farming has been well documented in the hugely popular Amazon series Clarkson’s Farm, which makes its return for a fifth series on 3 June.

A synopsis accompanying the trailer states: “Clarkson’s Farm is back, and amidst a government budget that sends the UK farming community into uproar, Jeremy decides some big changes are needed to make the farm run more smoothly.

“But while the crops get the high-tech treatment and there’s cutting edge new kit to play with, even bigger developments are heading for Diddly Squat 2.0 that are going to prove much more of a challenge.”

As part of these developments, the farm has embraced new technology to support its daily operations.

Speaking recently about the updates, Jeremy disclosed that farmhand Kaleb Cooper was initially sceptical about the changes.

He told Closer Magazine: “Kaleb was deeply suspicious of all of it. The autonomous tractor especially worried him because he thought it was going to replace him. I quite enjoyed winding him up about that.

“But the technology is amazing. We now have detailed underground soil mapping that tells us exactly where soil quality changes across the farm,” he added.

“It means we only use fertiliser where it’s actually needed, which is much better environmentally.”

Lacey Turner, who plays Stacey Slater, is currently on a temporary break from the BBC soap to spend more time with her family.

However, it’s now been reported that Lacey will be using her newfound free time to take to the Strictly ballroom.

EastEnders legend to join Strictly Come Dancing 2026

According to The Sun, a source told the outlet, “Strictly bosses are delighted to snap Lacey up for the series, especially as she has such a huge fan base from her time on the soap.

“he’s down to earth and viewers will be excited to get to know her personality away from Albert Square.

“She has loved having some quality time off screen to focus on parenting, but feels like now is the perfect time to learn to dance and try something different before she reprises her role in EastEnders.”

Back in 2027, Lacey revealed that she turned down Strictly, sharing, “I have been asked to go on Strictly but I’m rubbish at dancing and I don’t really have the guts.

“I think it’s a great show to do, though, as you learn a new skill.”

The 2026 line-up for Strictly Come Dancing has yet to be announced but is expected to be revealed over the next few weeks.

Shirley Ballas shares verdict on Strictly’s new hosts

Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas has given her verdict on the show’s new hosts.

The 65-year-old ballroom star shared her excitement for the shake-up in a recent interview.

Ballas praised Emma Willis as “a true professional” and called Johannes Radebe “a shining star.”

She also welcomed comedian Josh Widdicombe to the line-up, which was announced earlier this week.

Ballas said: “I’ve worked with Emma (Willis) before on Cooking With The Stars and she is a true professional.

“And who doesn’t love JoJo (Johannes Radebe)?

“He’s a shining star.

“And I’m looking forward to the banter Josh (Widdicombe) is going to bring, he’s a fabulous comedian, I know he’s going to give Craig Revel Horwood a run for his money with the comebacks.”

The new presenters join the long-running BBC show following the departures of Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, who stepped down last year.

Ballas will return to the judging panel when the series resumes in September.

Are you excited for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing? Let us know in the comments.

Emergency services, including the air ambulance, were called to the crash on the A182 Washington Highway near Houghton-le-Spring on Wednesday, May 27, around 2.45pm.

The man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

The road was closed for several hours while the emergency services and crash investigators attended.

The man’s next of kin have been informed.

A spokesperson for Northumbria Police said: “Our thoughts remain with them at this sad time.

“A report is being prepared for the coroner.”

A spokesperson for the Great North Air Ambulance said previously: “Our doctor and paramedic team were activated to an incident at 2.51pm. They flew to scene and arrived within 13 minutes.

“They worked alongside the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS).”

A NEAS spokesperson adedd: “We dispatched one ambulance crew, one rapid response paramedic, one specialist paramedic, one clinical team leader and were supported by our colleagues at Great North Air Ambulance Service.”