Latest news with #AngelaChristy
Zawya
21-03-2025
- Zawya
Huge fire closes UK's Heathrow Airport, global flight schedules disrupted
Britain's Heathrow Airport said it would be closed all of Friday after a huge fire at a nearby electrical substation wiped out power, disrupting flight schedules around the world. The London Fire Brigade said around 70 firefighters were tackling the blaze in the west of London, which caused a mass power outage at Heathrow, Europe's busiest and the world's fifth busiest, airport. Orange flames could be seen shooting into the sky. The fire brigade said the cause of the fire was not known. According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, scores of flights were already being diverted to other airports, with Qantas Airways sending its flight from Perth to Paris and a United Airlines New York flight heading to Shannon, Ireland. Some flights from the U.S. were turning around mid-air and returning to their point of departure. A United Airlines flight from San Francisco was due to land in Washington, D.C. rather than London. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic diverted flights to nearby Gatwick. "To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March," Heathrow Airport said in a post on X, adding that passengers were advised not to travel to the airport. On the ground, a number of homes and businesses were without power. "Firefighters have led 29 people to safety from neighbouring properties, and as a precaution, a 200-metre cordon has been established, with around 150 people evacuated," the fire brigade said. Fire crews were responding to the accident but there was no clarity on when power may be reliably restored, a Heathrow spokesperson told Reuters in an email, and added that they expect significant disruption over the coming days. Eurocontrol, which manages air traffic control operations across Europe, said on its operations website that no arrivals were being allowed at Heathrow due to the power outage and there were diversion plans in place for flights. Heathrow is one of the busiest two-runway airports in the world with about 1,300 combined take-offs and landings a day, according to its website. "Heathrow is one of the major hubs of the world," said Ian Petchenik, spokesman for FlightRadar24. "This is going to disrupt airlines' operations around the world." (Reporting by Angela Christy in Bengaluru and Jamie Freed; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
USA Today
03-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
TikTok and Reddit under UK investigation for mishandling children's personal data
TikTok and Reddit under UK investigation for mishandling children's personal data Show Caption Hide Caption EU to test Meta, X on disinformation before German election The European Commission has asked social media giants including Meta, X and TikTok to take a 'stress test' ahead of the German election to determine whether they're doing enough to counter disinformation. That's according to an EU spokesperson on Friday (January 24). Britain's privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office, on Monday launched an investigation into how TikTok, Reddit RDDT.N and online image sharing website Imgur safeguard children's privacy. Social media companies use complex algorithms to prioritize content and keep users engaged. However, the fact that they amplify similar content can lead to children being influenced by increasing amounts of harmful material. The watchdog said it is probing how Chinese company ByteDance's short-form video-sharing platform TikTok uses 13–17-year-olds' personal information to suggest content in their feed. Social media and discussion platform Reddit, and Imgur are being investigated over how they assess the age of child users, it said. "If we find there is sufficient evidence that any of these companies have broken the law, we will put this to them and obtain their representations before reaching a final conclusion," the Information Commissioner's Office said in a statement. Children's online privacy: Apple launches 'age assurance' tech as US states mull social media laws In 2023, the ICO fined TikTok 12.7 million pounds ($16 million) for breaching data protection law by using the personal data of children aged under 13 without parental consent. Reddit has been working closely with the ICO and intends to comply with all relevant regulations in the countries in which it operates, a spokesperson from the company told Reuters in an email. "Most of our users are adults, but we have plans to roll out changes this year that address updates to UK regulations around age assurance," the Reddit spokesperson said. ByteDance, TikTok and Imgur did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Britain has passed legislation that set tougher rules for social media platforms, including a mandate for them to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content by enforcing age limits and age-checking measures. Social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are required to "tame" their algorithms to filter out or downgrade harmful material to help protect children under proposed British measures published last year. ($1 = 0.7933 pounds) Reporting by Angela Christy and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Gerry Doyle
