Australia's highest court on Tuesday began hearing constitutional challenges to the nation's world-first legislation banning children younger than 16 from popular social media platforms.

The seven High Court judges began hearing two challenges to the ban that took effect last year on young children holding accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Kick, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch.

Supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia were hit Monday by problems with freezers and fridges that apparently were caused by cyberattacks, forcing some to dispose of ruined food.

The problems follow a case last month in which attackers remotely took control of refrigeration systems in hundreds of supermarkets and independent stores across France, sending temperatures soaring.

The San Francisco chapter of SEAL (Social and Economic Action for Lebanon) once again turned out for Lebanon on Sunday, October 18, 2026, raising close to $800,000 for Lebanese farmers at its annual benefit gala at the Four Seasons Hotel in Palo Alto.

The nonprofit has worked from the U.S. East Coast for more than a quarter century, and this year marked its fifth consecutive gala in California. More than 200 guests and donors filled the ballroom, hosted by Roula Tamer, chair of SEAL’s board of directors, alongside fellow board members and the event committee.

The European Union opened an investigation into online travel agent Booking.com on Wednesday over alleged failures to tackle fake listings and phishing scams.

Online services for a number of U.K. banks in and around London were disrupted by a Google Cloud outage Tuesday.

The cloud outages began just after 2 a.m. eastern, or 6:08 a.m. GMT.

China and the United States agreed to set up a "communication channel" for artificial intelligence incidents, both sides said, after a Washington summit short on breakthroughs.

The most powerful venture capital firm in Silicon Valley is starting a two-year private school for young people intended to replace college, as some U.S. tech elite question the benefits of a classical university education.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres called Tuesday for AI superpowers the United States and China to start a dialogue on the fast-moving technology's future akin to U.S.-Soviet engagement at the height of the Cold War.

The European Union's top official proposed on Wednesday banning children under 13 across the 27-nation bloc from using social media sites and imposing limits for older teens on accessing the platforms.

The plan outlined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen adds to global efforts to protect young people using platforms such as Instagram and TikTok from online harm.

Top tech firms need to get their powerful artificial intelligence models "under control", the European Union warned Friday after a series of hacks by AI agents.