Social Media

Staff working at the European Commission have been ordered to remove the TikTok app from their phones and corporate devices. The commission said it was implementing the measure to "protect data and increase cybersecurity". TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has faced allegations that it harvests users' data and hands it to the Chinese government. TikTok insists it operates no differently from other social media. European Union (EU) industry chief Thierry Breton told a news conference that the union's executive is very focused on cybersecurity, declining to provide further details. The ban also means that European Commission staff cannot use TikTok on personal devices that have official apps installed. US state of Indiana sues Chinese-owned TikTok New bill would ban TikTok in the US TikTok denies it could be used to track US citizens

Japanese motor industry giants Toyota and Honda say they have agreed to give their workers in the country the biggest pay rises in decades. They are the latest firms in the world's third largest economy to increase wages as prices jump. Official figures published last month showed Japan's rate of inflation was at its highest level in over 40 years. That has put pressure on businesses and authorities to help people as their spending power shrinks. Each year Japanese firms typically hold pay talks with unions for weeks before announcing their decisions around the middle of March. The car makers have not said why this year's announcements were made earlier than usual. Can the next Bank of Japan boss fix its economy? Toyota in £11.3m deal to develop hydrogen trucks

The development of a new app designed to reduce online viewing of child sexual abuse material has received £1.8m of funding from the EU. It will be tested with volunteers who have sought help because they are drawn to illegal images and want to ensure they cannot act on their desire. Installed on devices such as phones, the app will identify and block harmful images and videos from being displayed. It's hoped it can help combat "growing demand" for child abuse images. The Protech project is a collaboration involving organisations from the EU and UK. The project's app - called Salus - is intended to work in real-time, using artificial intelligence to identify potential child sexual abuse material and stop users from seeing it. It will also use other more conventional techniques to block content. The Internet Watch Foundation, an organisation that works to find, flag and remove child abuse material, will help to train the AI technology developed by the UK company SafeToNet. Tom Farrell of SafeToNet, who worked for 19 years in law enforcement, told the BBC the app was not intended to be a tool to report users to the police: "People who are voluntarily looking to stop themselves seeing child sexual abuse material quite clearly wouldn't use such a solution if they believe that it was going to report them to law enforcement."

Dick Van Dyke said this week his "beautiful" 51-year-old wife helps keep him feeling youthful at 97 years old. The comedy legend admitted "genes" are probably at play in his longevity, but he joked, "Having a beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me — that works." The "Mary Poppins" star married makeup artist Arlene Silver in 2012. The couple first met in 2006 and were friends for years. "My positive attitude, I get that from my wife," Van Dyke told Yahoo! Entertainment in a recent phone interview.

Bentley will end production of its "iconic" 12-cylinder petrol engine in April next year. More than 100,000 W12s have been built at the firm's factory in Crewe, Cheshire over the past 20 years. The British luxury car manufacturer announced on Wednesday it will halt production of the famed W12 engine, launched in 2003, as it moves towards an electric alternative.

LondonCNN — Shamima Begum, who left the United Kingdom to join ISIS at the age of 15, has lost her appeal against the decision to revoke her British citizenship. Judge Robert Jay gave the decision on Wednesday following a five-day hearing in November. The ruling does not determine if Begum can return to the UK, but whether the removal of her citizenship was lawful. Begum, now aged 23, flew to Syria in 2015 with two school friends as a teenager join the ISIS terror group. In February 2019, she re-emerged and made international headlines as an “ISIS bride” after pleading with the UK government to return to her home country to give birth to her son.

A high school student has reportedly stabbed a Spanish teacher to death in a school in the French town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Local prosecutor Jerome Bourrier confirmed the attack to news agency AFP, with local media saying the incident took place in a class on Wednesday morning. Authorities have confirmed that police are on the scene with the local prosecutor. The student has been arrested. The teacher was in her fifties and died of cardiac arrest when emergency services arrived on the scene, local media said. French newspaper Sud Ouest said the attacker entered the classroom while the Spanish teacher was giving a class and attacked her. The French education minister, Pap Ndiaye said in a tweet that his thoughts were with the teacher's "family, colleagues and pupils". He said he was on his way to the school "straight away". Local media reported the student may have been suffering from mental health issues. They said at this at this stage of the investigation there was no suggestion the incident was terror related.