WORLD NEWS
Australian teens bid farewell to social media as world-first ban comes into force: ‘See you when I’m 16’
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Australia started enforcing a world-first prohibition on social media for children under 16 on Wednesday, compelling platforms to lock out young users or risk heavy financial penalties.
The measure, which took effect at midnight, requires 10 of the largest social networks, including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X/Twitter, to keep under-16s away or face fines of up to A$49.5m (£26.5m), making it one of the world’s toughest digital restrictions.
The prime minister hailed the start of the ban as “a proud day”, insisting that Australia had shown countries everywhere that online harms did not need to be accepted as an inevitable feature of modern childhood.
“This will make an enormous difference,” Anthony Albanese claimed. “It’s one of the biggest social and cultural changes that our nation has faced. It’s a profound reform which will continue to reverberate around the world.”
But in the hours before the law came into force, many young users posted mournful public farewells. “No more social media,” one teenager said on TikTok, “no more contact with the rest of the world.”
Other users added hashtags such as “#seeyouwhenim16”.
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Anthony Albanese speaks during an official function to mark the start of Australia’s social media reform at Kirribilli House in Sydney on 10 December 2025 (AFP via Getty)
The ban is expected to affect over a million accounts.
The prime minister posted a video message encouraging children to use the summer break from later this month to “start a new sport, new instrument, or read that book that has been sitting there for some time on your shelf”.
Though the prohibition has been welcomed by some parents’ groups and child safety advocates, major technology companies and civil liberties organisations have warned that it could compromise privacy, encourage children to lie about their age and push young people onto riskier platforms.
The law arrived after a year of political debate in Australia over whether governments could realistically enforce age limits on platforms that played a critical role in social life, education, entertainment and communication.
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Australia’s prime minister has urged teenagers to start a new sport or read a book (AFP via Getty)
The Albanese government argued the intervention was necessary, citing research linking heavy social media use among younger teens to harmful content, bullying, misinformation and damaging effects on body image.
Other countries have already signalled interest in adopting similar rules. Officials in Denmark, New Zealand and Malaysia have cited the Australian model as a potential blueprint, signalling a wider shift towards tighter age controls in the digital sphere.
Julie Inman Grant, the American-born former tech executive who heads Australia’s online safety watchdog, said demands for stricter measures were rising across the world.
Elon Musk’s X was the latest major platform to confirm it would comply with the ban.
“It’s not our choice – it’s what the Australian law requires,” the firm said. “X automatically offboards anyone who does not meet our age requirements.”
Meta said the ban could send youngsters to less regulated platforms, making them less safe. “We’ve consistently raised concerns that this poorly developed law could push teens to less regulated platforms or apps. We’re now seeing those concerns become reality,” the American company said in a statement.
Platforms say they will use a combination of tools – like behaviour analysis to estimate user age – and age estimation technologies involving selfies to enforce the ban.
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A teenager holds a mobile phone displaying a message from social media platform Instagram after their account was locked for age verification on 9 December 2025 (AFP via Getty)
They may also require identification documents or linked bank details to verify a user’s age.
Supporters of the ban say such measures are overdue but critics point out that the required data collection risks creating new privacy problems.
For social media firms, the implementation of the ban marks a new era of stagnation as user numbers flatline and time spent on platforms shrinks, studies show.
Platforms say they earn little from advertising to under-16s but warn the ban disrupts a pipeline of future users.
Just before the ban took effect, 86 per cent of Australians aged eight to 15 used social media, the government said.
As of Wednesday morning, several platforms were still in the process of applying the restrictions.
Tests by The Guardian showed that Twitch, Reddit and YouTube continued to permit accounts registered with the birth date of an under-16, while other major platforms had already blocked registration attempts.
Twitch said it was completing testing while YouTube said it was phasing in the changes. Reddit had yet to issue a statement.
Communications minister Anika Wells said that the ban would mark “the moment that sparked a movement”, arguing that industry competition could one day revolve around user safety in the same way that car manufacturers compete on safety standards.
“Big tech could compete, like airlines, like auto manufacturers, to have the best safety record to offer their users,” she said, according to The Guardian.
Richard Waterworth, who served as TikTok’s general manager for the UK and Europe between 2019 and 2024, said the ban risked backfiring.
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A teenage boy displays a message from Snapchat after his account was locked for age verification in Sydney as the ban is implemented (AFP via Getty)
He told BBC Radio 4 that although the intention was laudable, the policy represented “a magical thinking solution”.
“Everybody who talks about it seems to acknowledge that it’s not going to work as intended, that there are lots of loopholes,” he said.
Young people, he warned, would simply misrepresent their age and, therefore, lose access to tools designed to keep them safe on platforms.
Children who bypass the restrictions “won’t have access to safety tools”, he said, such as the ability to link accounts to parents or receive age-appropriate recommendations. “I think it’s going to have a lot of unintended consequences, and unfortunately, I don’t think that’s necessarily a win for safety.”
Mr Waterworth also raised privacy concerns about age-verification technologies. “You have to collect data, biometric data, in order to do that and so that is a challenge,” he said. Many people, he added, would not want Big Tech firms “holding their biometric data”.
Andy Burrows, head of the Molly Rose Foundation, named after a teenager who died after exposure to harmful online content, said the UK should avoid copying Australia.
An outright ban might push children to gaming platforms or encrypted messaging sites where monitoring was even more difficult, Mr Burrows argued. “The quickest and most effective response to better protect children online is to strengthen regulation that directly addresses product safety and design risks, rather than an overarching ban.”
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Sydney teenager Noah Jones shows a warning on his phone that says he cannot access a social media site (AP)
While some Australian teens said they planned to spend more time outdoors or meet friends in person, others worried the ban could sever support networks, especially for groups relying on online communities.
“It is going to be worse for queer people and people with niche interests, I guess, because that’s the only way they can find their community,” said Annie Wang, 14. “Some people also use it to vent their feelings and talk to people to get help. So I feel like it’ll be fine for some people, but for some people it’ll worsen their mental health.”
Social media was a big part of people’s lives today, Nick Leech, 15, told the Australian Associated Press, “and taking that away so suddenly is going to definitely cause some issues”.
Ryan Angler, 14, said the ban made him aware of how much he depended on social apps for everyday communication.
“I just wanted to meet up with all my friends but I couldn’t really because I don’t have their numbers before we lost social media,” he told Melbourne newspaper The Age.
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The government said there would be a period of trial and error, but that it was determined to meet the long-term goal (AFP via Getty)
After being locked out, he began collecting their phone numbers at school. “I have just been riding around on my bike, playing games on my computer and lying down on my bed because I couldn’t do anything.”
Tania Kaniz, a teaching assistant and mother of two boys, said the ban had dominated conversation at her school.
“They all have it – especially TikTok, if you see it, my God,” she said. As phones are already banned during school hours, she cannot tell whether students are circumventing the new rules. “I think they are, but they don’t want to share it with us,” she said.
At a Sydney event marking the launch of the ban, Mr Albanese praised political rivals for supporting the policy and described a campaign by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp newspapers in favour of the ban as “the most powerful use of print media I have seen for a very long period of time”.
He conceded that the rollout would not be flawless. “We’ll work through it,” he said.
To enforce compliance, the eSafety Commissioner will require the 10 major platforms to provide information on user numbers before and after the ban.
Ms Inman Grant said the platforms should expect a period of trial and error as the law settled in. As some teenagers gloated about bypassing the restrictions, she said it would inevitably occur, but the government was committed to the long-term goal.
The push for the ban was influenced by families whose children were harmed by online content.
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Albanese cooks sausages on a barbecue during an official function to mark the start of Australia’s social media ban in Sydney on 10 December 2025 (AFP via Getty)
Wayne Holdsworth, a Melbourne father whose son died by suicide after being bullied online, said the ban would help prepare teenagers to handle digital spaces when they became eligible at 16.
“Our kids will be looking down with pride, with the work that we’ve done, we have only just started,” he told the Guardian.
Emma Mason, whose 15-year-old daughter Tilly Roswarne died in 2022, said the ban was not the end of the struggle.
“It’s not going to be perfect, it’s an evolving space, but, good God, it’s a good day to be an Australian,” she said.
Australia’s ban comes as governments around the world grapple with how to regulate social media for young people. Many countries currently rely on parental-consent systems or child-specific settings on devices and apps, though enforcement varies widely.
In the US, federal law prohibits online services from collecting any data from children under 13 without parental consent. In Europe, policymakers are working on plans for continent-wide age-verification rules.
France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Malaysia have all taken steps towards age restrictions of their own, though none has imposed a full legal ban like Australia.
Three Met Office weather warnings remain in place today as Storm Bram continues to batter the UK – with the national weather agency warning of a ‘danger to life’ in places
SOURCE PAGE
The richest 10 percent of the world’s population now owns three-quarters of all personal wealth, according to the newly released World Inequality Report 2026.
Income is not much different, where the top 50 percent of earners take home more than 90 percent, while the poorest half of the world receives less than 10 percent of total income.
The report, which has been published annually since 2018, notes that the 2026 edition arrives at a critical time. Worldwide, living standards are stagnating for many, while wealth and power are increasingly concentrated at the top.
(Al Jazeera)
The differences between wealth and income inequality
Wealth and income levels do not always go hand in hand. The wealthiest are not necessarily the highest earners, highlighting the persistent divide between what people earn and what they own.
Wealth includes the total value of a person’s assets-such as savings, investments or property, after subtracting their debts.
In 2025, the wealthiest 10 percent of the world’s population owned 75 percent of global wealth, the middle 40 percent held 23 percent, and the bottom half controlled only 2 percent.
Since the 1990s, the wealth of billionaires and centi-millionaires has grown by about 8 percent each year, almost twice the rate of the bottom half of the world’s population.
The wealthiest 0.001 percent – fewer than 60,000 multimillionaires – now control three times more wealth than half of humanity. Their share has climbed from almost 4 percent in 1995 to more than 6 percent today.
The poorest have made small gains, but these are overshadowed by the rapid accumulation at the very top, resulting in a world where a tiny minority holds extraordinary financial power, while billions still struggle for basic economic security.
Income is measured using pre-tax earnings, after accounting for pension and unemployment insurance contributions.
In 2025, the richest 10 percent of the world received 53 percent of global income, the middle 40 percent received 38 percent, and the bottom 50 percent earned just 8 percent.
For example, if the world comprised 10 people and total global income was $100, then the richest person would receive $53, the next four people would collectively earn $38, and the remaining five people would divide $8 among them.
How is wealth and income divided regionally?
Inequality looks very different around the world. A person’s birthplace remains one of the strongest factors in determining how much they earn and the wealth they can build. However, the regions also include poor and wealthy countries, and figures in the report are averages.
In 2025, the average wealth of people in North America and Oceania, which the report has grouped together, stood at 338 percent of the world’s average, making it the wealthiest region globally. Income share stood at 290 percent of the world’s average, also the highest in the world.
Europe and East Asia followed, remaining above the world average, while vast parts of sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Middle East remained far below the global average.
(Al Jazeera)
Global inequality paints a stark picture, but the scale of wealth and income gaps can vary widely from one country to another. While some nations show slightly more balanced distributions, others reveal extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.
Which countries have the highest income inequality?
South Africa has the highest levels of income inequality in the world. The top 10 percent earn 66 percent of total income, while the bottom half receives only 6 percent.
Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Colombia show a similar trend, where the richest 10 percent receive nearly 60 percent of earnings.
European countries offer a more balanced picture. In Sweden and Norway, the bottom 50 percent earn about 25 percent of total income, while the top 10 percent receive less than 30 percent.
Many developed economies, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, fall in the middle. The top 10 percent earn roughly 33-47 percent of total income, while the bottom half takes 16-21 percent.
In Asia, income distribution is mixed. Countries like Bangladesh and China have a more balanced structure, whereas India, Thailand, and Turkiye remain top-heavy, with the richest 10 percent earning more than half of all income.
The table below shows where income is divided most unequally.
Which countries have the highest wealth inequality?
When it comes to wealth inequality, once again, South Africa tops the list. The top 10 percent control 85 percent of personal wealth, leaving the bottom 50 percent with negative shares – meaning their debt exceeds assets.
Russia, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia show a similar pattern, with the richest grabbing 70 percent or more, while the poorest receive barely 2–3 percent.
European countries such as Italy, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands are relatively more balanced. Here, the middle 40 percent capture about 45 percent, and the bottom half takes a slightly larger share, though the top 10 percent still dominate. However, Sweden and Poland’s bottom 50 percent have negative shares in wealth.
Even wealthy nations like the United States, UK, Australia, and Japan are far from equal. The top 10 percent earn more than half of the total income, while the bottom half is left with just 1–5 percent.
Emerging economies in Asia – including China, India and Thailand – also show stark inequalities. The richest 10 percent control roughly 65 – 68 percent of wealth, highlighting a persistent concentration at the top.
WORLD NEWS
‘Grand social experiment’: Australia’s social media ban turns heads globally, with mixed results | Social media ban
The BBC blogged about it, News Corp boasted about it and the New York Times questioned its effectiveness.
Australia’s world-first laws stopping children accessing social media until they turn 16 turned heads globally, with mixed and nuanced results.
In the UK, the BBC ran a live blog canvassing the views of teenagers, exploring how success will be judged and hearing from critics who suggested the ban could “isolate vulnerable teenagers and push children into unregulated corners of the internet”.
In the Times, the former Conservative education minister Lord John Nash wrote that Australia was taking a “brave stand” alongside Malaysia and other countries looking at similar bans. He is pushing for the UK to adopt the Australian model.
Are Australian kids breaking the law if they sneak on to social media? – video
News agency Reuters summarised moves afoot in Britain, China, Malaysia, the US, the European Union and various European countries to implement various age-based measures.
In the US, Politico ran an exclusive with potential 2028 Democrat presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel, who is a fan of the ban. He told the outlet that “anything that allows us to keep focus on improving academic standards and protecting our children on a public health basis is going to be a priority”.
It was a “grand social experiment”, the New York Times said before the ban came into place.
Once the ban took effect, it ran a piece noting that Australia’s experience could be a template for other countries, or a “cautionary tale”. And while proponents have talked about the suicide and mental health risks of social media, the Times reported an ABC survey found three in four children polled intended to keep using it.
In a separate piece, it quoted Amnesty International questioning the effectiveness of blanket bans. “A ban simply means they will continue to be exposed to the same harms but in secret, leaving them at even greater risk,” the organisation said in a statement.
The Danish digital affairs minister, Caroline Stage Olsen, told CNN that Denmark’s aim of banning social media for children under 15 was about keeping children safer, and said there was “not that much” pushback there.
Al Jazeera spoke to a range of experts and heard: how difficult it will be to enforce; that banning things doesn’t work on its own; that the age verification methods “are often inaccurate” or can be circumvented; that harms occur on platforms not covered by the ban; and that for many young people, social media access can be “not only beneficial but life-saving”.
“Research undertaken in Australia and other countries has shown that the impact of social media on young people is complex and varies widely,” its coverage noted.
What the local papers said
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on some of the bumps the ban will meet along the way. Teens are plotting workarounds, it said, and there’s a high court challenge under way. Its latest polling shows while most voters support the policy, most are also sceptical it will work.
Over at the Australian Financial Review, a front-page teaser read “It’s the algorithm, stupid: Under 16s ban misses mark”.
The Australian was relatively understated, with a news piece on both the ban and the responsible minister’s travel travails, and an inset piece about how “disgruntled teenagers” plan to get around the ban with makeup, their parents’ IDs and hidden networks.
Australia’s News Corp tabloids, on the other hand, were beating their own drums. The Daily Telegraph’s front page trumpeted that the “world-leading laws” were the result of News Corp’s Let Them Be Kids campaign as well as the “bravery of the parents whose children have died as a result of social media”.
The paper’s editorial sounded like a Walkley award entry, tracing how its campaign persisted in the face of blowback from enormously wealthy tech companies to usher in a “rational new era in social media regulation”.
It was a similar vibe at the Herald Sun, promising kids a safer and brighter future thanks to the paper’s campaign.
Tell that to the lobbyists at 36 Months, South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas (and his wife, Annabel West), US psychologist Jonathan Haidt, former opposition leader Peter Dutton and eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, who played major roles along the way.
Brazil’s lower house of Congress voted Wednesday to approve a bill that could significantly reduce former President Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence.
If the Senate also agrees to the bill, his 27-year sentence could be reduced to just over two years.
The decision comes less than a month after Bolsonaro started serving his 27-year sentence for trying and failing to start an uprising against his successor, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, after losing the 2022 election.
Brazil’s ex-president Bolsonaro taken into custody
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Lawyers say Bolsonaro needs ‘surgical procedures’
Separately, Bolsonaro’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize his release so he can undergo “surgical procedures.”
They said the 70-year-old needs “immediate hospitalization.”
They also urged the court to allow the ex-president to serve his sentence at home for “humanitarian” reasons.
He is currently being held at a federal prison in Brasilia, the capital.
Ruckus in Brazil Congress
There was chaos in Brazil’s Congress as the lower house discussed the bill that could reduce Bolsonaro’s prison sentence.
Congressman Glauber Braga was removed from the chamber by policement for disrupting the sessionImage: Julia Maretto/AFP
Lula-allied leftist lawmaker Glauber Braga disrupted Congress and was forcibly removed by police officers after he denounced a “coup offensive” and occupied the speaker’s chair, according to footage broadcast on local television.
The broadcast was interrupted and the debate was suspended, but the session resumed after order was restored.
Braga said he was exercising his right “not to accept as a done deal an amnesty for a group of coup plotters.”
The bill would not only greatly lower sentences for several crimes, including trying to overthrow the government, but also let about 100 Bolsonaro supporters out on parole who were jailed for the January 8, 2023, attack on government buildings in Brasilia.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
NEED TO KNOW
- Burglars broke into Central Boulevard Veterinary Hospital in Brentwood, Calif., on the morning of Dec. 6, police say
- After attempting to access the hospital’s cash register, the two burglars ran off with a pet’s ashes
- The hospital is asking the thieves to return the ashes so they can get them to the late pet’s owner
Burglars broke into a veterinary hospital in an attempt to breach the hospital’s cash register — and they ran off with a pet’s ashes.
Authorities in Brentwood, Calif., were called to the Central Boulevard Veterinary Hospital at approximately 8 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6, according to the Brentwood Police Department.
“When officers arrived on scene they observed one of the glass doors to the business had been shattered,” the Brentwood Police Department wrote in a statement shared on social media. “Officers checked the business and did not locate any suspects inside.”
Video surveillance footage from the vet hospital places the break-in at 6:00 a.m. on Dec. 6, Brentwood Police confirmed, adding that “two suspects broke the glass door to gain access to the business.”
“While in the business the suspects, both wearing masks attempted to gain access to the cash register but were unsuccessful,” police continued. “The suspects then took specially made bags containing urns with pet ashes. The two suspects then exited the business a few minutes later through the same broken glass door and left the area by unknown means.”
Central Boulevard Veterinary Hospital shared the video footage on social media and encouraged anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of the pet’s ashes to contact them and the Brentwood Police immediately.
“Their actions will cause immeasurable pain to grieving families who have already suffered so much,” the hospital captioned the video. “These ashes hold deep emotional value, and we are desperate to get them back to the people who loved these pets.”
Stock image of police tape.
Getty
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“If anyone finds any pet ashes, urns, paw prints, or containers discarded anywhere in Brentwood or the surrounding areas, please contact us immediately. We are not concerned about anything else that was taken — we just want to return these pets to their homes. No family should have to experience this level of grief again,” the hospital added.
PEOPLE has reached out to the BPD and Central Boulevard Veterinary Hospital for comment.
Police have asked that anyone with information call the department at 925-809-7911.
WORLD NEWS
Autopsy reveals chilling new clues in death of Royal Caribbean passenger who was ‘served 33 drinks’
A Royal Caribbean passenger’s heart stopped nearly three hours after security guards piled on top of him during a drunken rampage caught on video.
Passenger Michael Virgil’s cause of death was ruled a homicide caused by the ‘use of force by others’ that directly contributed to his inability to breathe and his heart stopping suddenly, according to a Los Angeles County Medical Examiner autopsy report obtained by the Daily Mail.
Virgil was caught on camera in a drunken meltdown while on board the Navigator of the Seas in December 2024. The ship had departed San Pedro for a three-day trip to Ensenada, Mexico.
Attorneys for Virgil’s family, who filed a wrongful death suit last week in Florida against Royal Caribbean, allege ship staff served the 35-year-old father 33 drinks over a seven-hour period, causing him to become confused and agitated as he searched for his cabin.
The lawsuit claims the Royal Caribbean crew ‘negligently’ over-served Virgil even though he was visibly intoxicated.
‘The first domino that fell in terms of causing his death was mechanical asphyxiation, and that is where approximately five, maybe more, Royal Caribbean employees were trying to restrain him by putting their full body weight on him,’ attorney Kevin Haynes told the Daily Mail. ‘And they did that for three minutes.’
‘Everyone remembers that very tragic story with George Floyd, and this is similar in the sense that they suppressed someone against their will, restrained him and caused him to stop being able to breathe.’
Michael Virgil, 35, was on board the Royal Caribbean ship with his family in December 2024 for what was supposed to be a three-day trip from Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico
The lawsuit, filed by the Texas-based firm Kherkher Garcia, LLP, claims the cruise line deliberately markets its ‘all you can drink’ beverage packages and ensures every nook and cranny of the ship contains bars.
Haynes said Royal Caribbean staff had the right to refuse service to anyone who was visibly intoxicated but failed to do so, allegedly leading to Virgil’s death.
In a statement to CBS News, a Royal Caribbean spokesperson said, ‘We were saddened by the passing of one of our guests, worked with authorities on their investigation, and will refrain from commenting further on pending litigation.’
Virgil boarded the Navigator of the Seas on December 13, 2024. While waiting for their cabin, he decided to relax at one of the ship’s bars, Haynes told the Daily Mail.
Ship receipts showed 33 drinks were served to Virgil over seven hours, the lawyer said. It is unclear if he consumed all 33.
Haynes said they have requested video footage from Royal Caribbean, but the company has refused to release it.
Video recorded by another passenger showed a visibly drunk and shirtless Virgil punching cabin walls as he searched for his room.
‘His behavior was out of character for him,’ Haynes said. ‘He was scared and acting out of fear. Whatever Michael may have done during that stressful time, fueled by alcohol, it shouldn’t have given him a death sentence.’
Virgil, of Moreno Valley, California was on a trip with his fiancée, Connie Aguilar, their son and other family members
According to the lawsuit filed by Michael Virgil’s family, the 35-year-old was allegedly served 33 drinks while onboard the Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Sea cruise ship
An autopsy report obtained by the Daily Mail showed the cruise ship doctor pronounced Virgil dead about two and a half hours after the altercation with Royal Caribbean security
An autopsy report obtained by the Daily Mail showed the cruise ship doctor pronounced Virgil dead about two and a half hours after the altercation with security.
Virgil’s blood alcohol concentration measured 0.182 to 0.186 percent, roughly double California’s legal driving limit.
‘While not lethal on its own, this level of intoxication can depress respiratory drive, impair coordination and diminish the individual’s ability to respond to distress during restraint,’ the report said.
However, Los Angeles legal analyst Lou Shapiro said the forensic evidence does not support the theory he consumed all 33 drinks, estimating instead six to eight.
According to the autopsy, body compression lasted about three minutes before Virgil was handcuffed and placed on his side or back. He was still breathing when moved to the ship’s medical bay.
Haynes said Aguilar learned of the incident only when her name was called over the ship’s intercom.
When she arrived, she saw Virgil on a gurney with zip ties on his wrists.
A snapshot from a video showed Virgil kicking a cabin door
The lawsuit filed by Virgil’s family claims four or five security guards placed their full weight on Virgil during the incident
‘They assured her, “Everything’s going to be fine, we’re going to give him a sedating injection, just go back to your cabin,”‘ Haynes said. ‘The next phone call she gets, he’s dead.’
Medical records show staff injected Virgil with haloperidol and succinylcholine, a sedative and a muscle relaxer, and used three cans of pepper spray to subdue him, according to the autopsy.
The report found no drugs in his system. It also noted several contributing factors: multiple people compressing his body, an enlarged heart, obesity and an adrenaline surge during the struggle.
The ship was more than three miles offshore when Virgil was pronounced dead at 8:32 pm.
A devastated Aguilar, caring for their autistic son, asked staff to return the ship to Long Beach. ‘They would not do it,’ Haynes said. ‘They put Michael in a refrigerator and continued the cruise for multiple days.’
Royal Caribbean faces another lawsuit involving alcohol and the death of 66-year-old Dulcie White, who went overboard during a Taylor Swift-themed cruise in October 2024.
Haynes said Virgil’s family hopes the lawsuit forces the cruise industry to overhaul training and safety protocols.
‘Misuse’ of a Blue Badge is considered a crime
Blue Badge users must bear in mind an important three-month rule(Image: Getty)
Brits who use Blue Badges, whether behind the wheel or as passengers, are being urged to remember a three-month regulation that could potentially leave them without valid documentation. Disabled parking permits, commonly referred to as Blue Badges, enable people facing mobility challenges or living with disabilities to access parking with greater ease.
According to the Daily Record, recent figures from the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland reveal that upwards of 3.2 million Blue Badge holders exist throughout England and Scotland. Eligibility criteria for Blue Badges were extended in 2019 to include those with non-visible disabilities such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia and epilepsy, allowing more people to park closer to their destinations regardless of whether they’re driving or being driven.
Blue Badges allow people with various mobility issues or disabilities to park more easily(Image: Getty)
Whilst most holders understand their Blue Badge remains valid for three years from the date of issue, many remain unaware that renewal doesn’t happen automatically and applications need to be lodged three months (12 weeks) before expiry to ensure a replacement arrives whilst the existing permit is still legitimate.
Those continuing to display their Blue Badge after it has expired risk facing a hefty £1,000 fine, as presenting an out-of-date Blue Badge is classified as “misuse”. Transport Scotland guidance states: “Misuse of a badge is a crime. You may be prosecuted if you misuse a badge.”
If your Blue Badge is due to expire at the start of the new year, it’s crucial to submit your renewal application promptly to ensure you receive it before the expiry date. This is particularly important given the reduced working hours over the festive season and potential postal delays due to high volumes of mail.
Renewal is not automatic and an application should be made three months (12 weeks) before it expires(Image: Getty)
The replacement badge won’t become valid until the current one expires (it will have a start date on it), so you can keep it safe knowing the transition will be smooth. Each time a renewal application is submitted, eligibility for a Blue Badge is reassessed.
As per guidance from MyGov.Scot: “Your Blue Badge is not renewed automatically. You need to reapply for it every three years.
“Your eligibility will be checked every time you reapply. This is to make sure you can still get a Blue Badge. Your local council processes your application and decides if you can get a Blue Badge.
“You should reapply 12 weeks before your badge expires.” In England, a Blue Badge costs up to £10, in Scotland they are priced at £20, while in Wales they are issued free of charge.
For more information about applying for Blue Badge renewal, visit the Government website here.
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Donald Trump was back on the stump for the first time in months on Tuesday. The polls all say Americans are unhappy with his presidency, and with his economy. Can he reverse the tide?
But before that he was sitting down for a blockbuster interview with Politico. In it, the president eviscerates Europe, and Europe’s leaders.
Even the Pope is getting involved.
What does this mean for the US-European relationship… and is this the beginning of a big, messy break up?
You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.
Email us on trump100@sky.uk with your comments and questions.
WORLD NEWS
Zelenskyy says Ukraine ready to hold polls if US, allies ensure security | Russia-Ukraine war News
Ukrainian leader responds to US President Trump’s suggestion that he is using the war as an excuse to avoid elections.
Published On 10 Dec 2025
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared that his government was prepared to hold elections within three months if the United States and Kyiv’s other allies can ensure the security of the voting process.
Zelenskyy issued his statement on Tuesday as he faced renewed pressure from US President Donald Trump, who suggested in an interview with a news outlet that the Ukrainian government was using Russia’s war on their country as an excuse to avoid elections.
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Wartime elections are forbidden under Ukrainian law, and Zelenskyy’s term in office as the country’s elected president expired last year.
“I’m ready for elections, and moreover I ask… that the US help me, maybe together with European colleagues, to ensure the security of an election,” Zelenskyy said in comments to reporters.
“And then in the next 60-90 days, Ukraine will be ready to hold an election,” he said.
In a Politico news article published earlier on Tuesday, Trump was quoted as saying: “You know, they [Ukraine] talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy any more.”
Zelenskyy dismissed the suggestion that he was clinging to power as “totally inadequate”.
He then said that he would ask parliament to prepare proposals for new legislation that could allow for elections during martial law.
Earlier this year, Ukraine’s parliament overwhelmingly approved a resolution affirming the legitimacy of Zelenskyy’s wartime stay in office, asserting the constitutionality of deferring the presidential election while the country fights Russia’s invasion.
In February, Trump also accused Zelenskyy of being a “dictator”, echoing claims previously made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy and other officials have routinely dismissed the idea of holding elections while frequent Russian air strikes take place across the country, nearly a million troops are at the front and millions more Ukrainians are displaced. Also uncertain is the voting status of those Ukrainians living in the one-fifth of the country occupied by Russia.
Polls also show that Ukrainians are against holding wartime elections, but they also want new faces in a political landscape largely unchanged since the last national elections in 2019.
Ukraine, which is pushing back on a US-backed peace plan seen as Moscow-friendly, is also seeking strong security guarantees from its allies that would prevent any new Russian invasion in the future.
Washington’s peace proposal involves Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not captured, primarily the entire industrial Donbas region, in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv’s aspirations, including its wish to join the NATO military alliance.
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