australian politics

SOCIAL MEDIA BAN
There’s been a lot of talk lately about banning Aussie kids under 16 from social media and now both sides of politics have thrown their support behind the idea, but not everyone’s on board. Yep, it’s the big issue everyone is talking about. Peter Dutton, the leader of the opposition, has just announced he would ban people who are under 16 from accessing social media, if he’s successful in the upcoming election next year. Something our PM, Anthony Albanese also said he would support back in May. The reason? Well, research says that using social media can be pretty bad for our mental health, especially for young people. It can have negative impacts on body image, contribute to cyber bullying and expose kids to inappropriate content. But while many politicians and parents agree with the ban, not everyone is convinced. Some people think we need to put the pressure on the social media companies themselves, to make these spaces safer. Then there are others who believe it’s actually really important for young people to learn from social media. Either way, nobody’s sure if, or even how exactly age restrictions on social media can work. So , we’ll have to wait and see.

TAYLOR SWIFT EARTHQUAKE
Taylor Swift’s has been shaking things up with her eras tour in Scotland. Literally. The pop star’s concerts in Edinburgh have been breaking Scottish attendance records. And all of the tens of thousands of dancing fans have actually set off earthquake monitors in the city! With experts even able to tell which song was playing by how big the measurements were. These Swift quakes also happened at the Eras concerts in Australia too. Which just goes to show that Swifties really know how to shake it off. Hehe, anyone?

ELON MUSK PAY PACKAGE
Elon Musk has also been busy breaking records. The Tesla CEO has just had the largest pay package in U.S. corporate history, approved by Tesla shareholders totalling $84 Billion! Which could buy him around 1.5 million of his Tesla cars. But the cash isn’t in his pocket just yet! It still has to be approved by a court in the U.S. state of Delaware, where the company is based. Which blocked the payment back in January, calling it “unfathomable”.

BEAR IN A CAR
Location: Canada. Situation: Bear stuck in car. A bit of a freaky situation to find yourself in, especially if it’s your car. Luckily, wildlife authorities swung by to detain the nuisance bear, but it did leave behind quite the trail of destruction. This bear is no stranger to Kayla – who owns the car – according to her, it’s broken in multiple times in the past, and reckons it must be opening the door using its mouth.

CAT AI APP
Location: Japan. Situation: An app that can tell you when your cat is in pain. Trained on 6000 images of cats, its developers say it can detect when your cat is feeling crook with 95% accuracy! So far, it’s been used by 230 thousand customers across Japan.

DOG RESCUE
Location: The US. Situation: A rescue operation to save a trapped puppy! The 12 week old pup slipped into this open floor vent after jumping off a bed, and was stuck there for 3 hours. It’ll make sense when you see how small he is. It was a full scale operation, involving the Sherrif’s department, a local handyman, and the puppy’s owner. In the end, they decided the only way to reach him was to go downstairs and cut through the ceiling!

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