MELBOURNE: The Australian government has begun a public education campaign with tips on how to wean children off social media ahead of a world-first national 16-year age limit taking effect in December. Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Friday that information on her agency&#39;s website, esafety.gov.au, explained the new laws and how to navigate them. Starting December 10, platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube could be fined up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) if they don&rsquo;t take reasonable steps to prevent Australians younger than 16 from holding accounts. Messages raising awareness will also be shared starting Sunday across digital channels, television, radio and billboards. &lsquo;We want children to have childhoods&rsquo;&ldquo;We want children to have childhoods. We want parents to have peace of mind and we want young people &mdash; young Australians &mdash; to have three more years to learn who they are before platforms assume who they are,&rdquo; Communications Minister Anika Wells told reporters, referring to the current de facto 13-year age limit for social media accounts based on US privacy legislation. The Australian age restrictions have already proved polarizing, with some experts warning the changes will harm as well as protect children. More than 140 Australian and international academics signed an open letter to the government last year opposing a social media age limit as &ldquo;too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.&rdquo; Despite that warning, the laws passed with resounding support last year. The platforms had a year to figure out how to comply without foolproof technology available to verify ages. &lsquo;Very monumental event&rsquo;Inman Grant said the social media age restriction would be a &ldquo;very monumental event for a lot of young people.&rdquo; Her agency offered checklists and conversation starters about ways to make the transition, such as following an online influencer through a website rather than a social media account, she said. &ldquo;How do we start weaning them from social media now so it isn&rsquo;t a shock on Dec. 10? How do we help them download their archives and their memories and how do we make sure that they&rsquo;re in touch with friends and are aware of mental health support if they&rsquo;re feeling down when they&rsquo;re not tethered to their phones over the holiday period?&rdquo; she added. Australia&rsquo;s move is being watched closely by countries that share concerns about social media impacts on young children. &lsquo;A global challenge&rsquo;&nbsp;Denmark&rsquo;s Ambassador to Australia Ingrid Dahl-Madsen said her government would use its current presidency of the Council of the European Union to push the agenda of protecting children from social media harms. &ldquo;This is something that is a global challenge and we are all looking at how we can manage it best and we are looking to Australia and we will be looking at what Australia does,&rdquo; Dahl-Madsen told Australian Broadcasting Corp in Melbourne on Monday. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s so important that Australia and Demark and the EU &mdash; we share lessons, we compare experiences and we can push forward hopefully practical progress on this,&rdquo; she added. It was about &quot;protecting our children in this digital world that is increasingly complicated.&quot; The Danish government last week proposed legislating an age limit of 15. But Dahl-Madsen said Denmark would consider letting parents exempt their children who were 13-14.Australia has no similar exemption.

Viral

Starting December 10, platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube could be fined up to $33 million if they do not take reasonable steps to prevent Australians younger than 16 from holding accounts.

Australia begins education campaign ahead of social media curbs for children 

COPENHAGEN: Denmark will buy another 16 F-35 fighter jets from the United States, its defence minister said Friday, two weeks after unidentified drones intruded into the Scandinavian country&#39;s airspace. Copenhagen will also buy anti-drone defences worth some 2.1 billion kroner ($320,000 million), after the flights, including over military installations, prompted politicians to point the finger at Russia. The purchase announcement however also comes as EU countries weigh up whether to replace the US-made planes with European alternatives. &quot;We have reached a political agreement to acquire 16 additional F-35 fighter jets... so that we will have more operational fighter jets in the future,&quot; Troels Lund Poulsen told a press conference. The purchase, which will bring the number of F-35s in the Danish air force to 43, is set to cost 29 billion kroner ($4.5 billion). Denmark -- which is accused of Washington of not doing enough to secure the Arctic region -- also said it will pour billions more into security for both the polar region and the north Atlantic. The purchase from the United States comes following President Donald Trump&#39;s repeated comments on acquiring Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory located in a strategic region.

Europe

Americas

Denmark will buy 16 more U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets and anti-drone systems worth billions, boosting security in the Arctic and North Atlantic amid drone incursions and regional tensions with Russia

Denmark to buy 16 more US-made F-35 fighters after drone flights

LONDON: Denmark lost a fraud case in London&#39;s High Court on Thursday, in a blow to the country&#39;s efforts to recover 12.1 billion kroner ($1.9 billion) from a massive tax fraud scandal. The Danish tax authority, known as Skat, brought the case to recover funds from defendants it said fraudulently claimed tax rebates using so-called &quot;cum-ex&quot; scams. The schemes involve buying and selling shares around the time of dividend payments so quickly that the tax authorities are unable to identify the true owner, making it possible to illegally claim tax credits. London&#39;s High Court ruled Thursday that the Danish tax authority had failed to prove it was &quot;misled&quot; by these tax rebate claims. &quot;Its controls for assessing and paying dividend tax refund claims were so flimsy as to be almost non-existent,&quot; the judge Andrew Baker said in his decision. The main defendant was Solo Capital Partners, a London-based hedge fund founded by British trader Sanjay Shah, who was sentenced to 12 years in jail in Denmark last year. Shah was convicted of running a nine-billion-krone &quot;cum-ex&quot; scam between 2012 and 2015, and the Danish court ordered that assets worth 7.2 billion kroner be confiscated from him. In that case, the prosecution showed that dummy companies controlled by Shah pretended to own shares in Danish companies and received tax rebates for which they were not eligible. The ruling in Britain has dealt a blow to Denmark&#39;s attempts to recoup funds. The Danish tax authority said Thursday&#39;s ruling was a &quot;source of surprise.&quot; In May 2023, a Dubai court ordered Shah to pay&nbsp;Denmark&#39;s tax authority more than $1.2 billion. &quot;Cum-ex&quot; scams, which take advantage of a loophole in European tax laws, have been uncovered in several EU countries. According to Bloomberg estimates, the scams have cost European taxpayers up to 150 billion euros ($176 billion).&nbsp;

Denmark lost a fraud case in London's High Court, in a blow to the country's efforts to recover 12.1 billion kroner ($1.9 billion) from a massive tax fraud scandal

Denmark loses $1.9 billion London tax fraud case

BERLIN: The Danish defense ministry said on Saturday that drones were seen at several military sites from Friday night to Saturday. Earlier this week, similar sightings in Denmark briefly closed airports and raised security concerns. Several local media reported that one or more drones were seen near or above the military Karup Air Base, which is Denmark&rsquo;s biggest military base.&nbsp;The defense ministry refused to confirm the sighting at Karup or elsewhere and said that &ldquo;for reasons of operational security and the ongoing investigation, the Defense Command Denmark does not wish to elaborate further on drone sightings.&rdquo;&nbsp;The ministry clarified later to public broadcaster DR that reports of additional drone activity at Skrydstrup Air Base and the Jutland Dragoon Regiment referred to sightings that did not occur overnight from Friday to Saturday. Its earlier statement seemed to imply that timing and was widely reported.&nbsp;The ministry could not be reached immediately for confirmation, but a press release on its website referring to the incidents at the base and barracks was dated Thursday, though it did not directly confirm the sightings took place that day.&nbsp;Anxiety and suspicion across DenmarkTensions have been running high in Denmark in recent days after various drone activity, and hundreds of possible sightings reported by concerned citizens could not officially be confirmed. Nonetheless, the public has been asked to report all suspicious activity to police.&nbsp;On Saturday, DR and several other local media reported that in Karup, there were drones in the air both inside and outside the fence of the air base at around 8 pm Friday, quoting Simon Skelkj&aelig;r, the duty manager at the Central and West Jutland Police.&nbsp;DR said that for a period of time the airspace was closed to civil air traffic, but that did not have much practical significance as there is currently no civil aviation in Karup.&nbsp;The repeated unexplained drone activity, including over four Danish airports overnight Wednesday into Thursday and a similar incident at Copenhagen Airport, has raised concerns about security in northern Europe amid suspected growing Russian aggression. The goal of the flyovers is to sow fear and division, Danish Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard said Thursday, adding that the country will seek additional ways to neutralize drones, including proposing legislation to allow infrastructure owners to shoot them down.&nbsp;For the upcoming European Union summit next week, the Danish defense ministry confirmed on X that the country&#39;s government had accepted an offer from Sweden to &ldquo;lend Denmark a military anti-drone capability,&rdquo; without giving further details.&nbsp;Drones also spotted in northern GermanyIn neighboring Germany, several drones were reported in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which borders Denmark, from Thursday into Friday night.&nbsp;The state&#39;s interior minister, Sabine S&uuml;tterlin-Waack, said that &ldquo;the state police are currently significantly stepping up their drone defense measures, also in coordination with other northern German states,&rdquo; German news agency dpa reported. She did not provide any further details, citing the ongoing investigations.&nbsp;German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters on Saturday afternoon that his ministry is working on new anti-drone rules that aim to detect, intercept and if needed also shoot down drones.&nbsp;NATO conferences discusses &lsquo;escalatory&rsquo; and &lsquo;reckless&rsquo; airspace violationsLater on Saturday, Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the chair of NATO&rsquo;s Military Committee, said at a NATO meeting in Riga, Latvia, that &ldquo;multiple allies, including Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Romania have experienced airspace violation by Russia. These acts are escalatory, reckless and endanger lives.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;Russia bears full responsibility for these actions,&rdquo; Dragone said. &ldquo;Today, I express full and unequivocal solidarity with all allies whose airspace has been breached. The alliance&rsquo;s response has been robust and will only continue to strengthen,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;&ldquo;The immediate priority today is clearly air defense,&rdquo; the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, said. &ldquo;Russia continues a pattern of provocations, most recently recklessly violating the airspace of Poland and Estonia. And here I really want to thank and welcome NATO&rsquo;s immediate response commencing Eastern Sentry,&quot; he said in reference to the operation to protect NATO&#39;s eastern flank.&nbsp;&ldquo;This serves as a tangible example of NATO&rsquo;s decisive response.&rdquo;

Denmark reported renewed drone sightings over military bases, fueling security fears after earlier incidents shut airports. Similar activity was reported in Germany, while NATO condemned Russian airspace violations as reckless provocations.

Danish defense ministry reports renewed drone sightings at military facilities

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: All traffic at Denmark&#39;s biggest airport in Copenhagen has been closed after drone sightings, police said on Monday, according to Reuters. &quot;(The airport) is currently closed for take-off and landing, as 2-3 large drones have been seen flying in the area. The time horizon is currently unknown,&quot; police said in a statement posted on social media X. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-3" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-3&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1970235925994074441&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fmedia-library%2F&sessionId=b0934304d0dccc2dc5d31d4e755d5a42b993341a&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 446px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>Copenhagen Airport, the busiest in the Nordic region, halted operations at 20:26 local time (18:26 GMT), according to flight tracking service FlightRadar.&nbsp; In a post on X, Flight Radar24 said: Per the latest update via Eurocontrol, Copenhagen Airport will remain closed through 0700 UTC 23 Sep. 50 flights have been canceled so far, 50 flights have been diverted, and approximately 20 further flights are likely to divert over the coming hours.&nbsp; <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-4" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-4&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1970243287698284896&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fmedia-library%2F&sessionId=b0934304d0dccc2dc5d31d4e755d5a42b993341a&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 744px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div>An airport spokesperson said police were working to identify the drones but declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation, Reuters reported.

Copenhagen Airport closed due to drone sightings, halting takeoffs and landings. 50 flights were canceled and 50 diverted. Police are investigating the drones, with operations expected to resume by 07:00 UTC on September 23.

Articles tagged with "Denmark"

Australia begins education campaign ahead of social media curbs for children

Denmark to buy 16 more US-made F-35 fighters after drone flights

Denmark loses $1.9 billion London tax fraud case

Danish defense ministry reports renewed drone sightings at military facilities

Drone sightings halt traffic at Denmark's Copenhagen airport