Australian Explorers Set New Record for Deepest Cave

The cave site of Panga ya Saidi, in Kenya's Kilifi County is
seen in this undated photograph.  Mohammad Javad Shoaee/Handout via
REUTERS
The cave site of Panga ya Saidi, in Kenya's Kilifi County is seen in this undated photograph. Mohammad Javad Shoaee/Handout via REUTERS
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Australian Explorers Set New Record for Deepest Cave

The cave site of Panga ya Saidi, in Kenya's Kilifi County is
seen in this undated photograph.  Mohammad Javad Shoaee/Handout via
REUTERS
The cave site of Panga ya Saidi, in Kenya's Kilifi County is seen in this undated photograph. Mohammad Javad Shoaee/Handout via REUTERS

A team of Australian cave explorers descended in a 400-meter-deep cave chain in Tasmania region, bringing a new record to their country, according to the German News Agency.

“The team successfully connected a newly discovered cave, named ‘Delta Variant,’ to the Niggly/Growling Swallet Cave system, taking the record for Australia’s deepest known cave to an anticipated 401 vertical meters. The team entered Delta Variant right before noon, on Saturday.

After first negotiating a difficult horizontal section, they descended down the ropes that had been fixed over the last six months.

When they reached the end of the last rope they tied, they descended another 35m, and reached the bottom of Delta Variant, breaking through into the Niggly System.

The team then exited via the Niggly System to achieve the first system traverse using this entrance,” Southern Tasmanian Caverneers said in a statement.

The team faced very challenging conditions with high water levels and spent over 14 hours underground.

“Making the connection between Delta Variant and Niggly is a momentous achievement for the caving community, but also adds to our scientific understanding of the extensiveness of Australia’s karst systems,” said team member Ciara Smart.



New Europe Push to Curb Children's Social Media Use

(FILES) The TikTok logo is seen outside the Chinese video app company Los Angeles offices on April 4, 2025 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)
(FILES) The TikTok logo is seen outside the Chinese video app company Los Angeles offices on April 4, 2025 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)
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New Europe Push to Curb Children's Social Media Use

(FILES) The TikTok logo is seen outside the Chinese video app company Los Angeles offices on April 4, 2025 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)
(FILES) The TikTok logo is seen outside the Chinese video app company Los Angeles offices on April 4, 2025 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)

From dangerous diet tips to disinformation, cyberbullying to hate speech, the glut of online content harmful to children grows every day. But several European countries have had enough and now want to limit minors' access to social media.

The European Union already has some of the world's most stringent digital rules to rein in Big Tech, with multiple probes ongoing into how platforms protect children -- or not, said AFP.

There are now demands for the EU to go further as a rising body of evidence shows the negative effects of social media on children's mental and physical health.

Backed by France and Spain, Greece has spearheaded a proposal for how the EU should limit children's use of online platforms as fears mount over their addictive nature.

They will present the plan on Friday to EU counterparts in Luxembourg "so that Europe can take the appropriate action as soon as possible", Greek Digital Minister Dimitris Papastergiou said.

The proposal includes setting an age of digital adulthood across the 27-country EU, meaning children will not be able to access social media without parental consent.

Since the proposal was published last month, other countries have expressed support including Cyprus and Denmark -- which takes over the rotating EU presidency in July.

Danish officials say the issue will be a priority during their six-month presidency.

France has led the way in cracking down on platforms, passing a 2023 law requiring them to obtain parental consent for users under the age of 15.

But the measure has not received the EU green light it needs to come into force.

France also gradually introduced requirements this year for all adult websites to have users confirm their age to prevent children accessing inadequate material-- with three major platforms going dark this week in anger over the move.

Also under pressure from the French government, TikTok on Sunday banned the "#SkinnyTok" hashtag, part of a trend promoting extreme thinness on the platform.

Real age verification

Greece says its aim is to protect children from the risks of excessive internet use.

The proposal does not say at what age digital adulthood should begin but Papastergiou said platforms should know users' real ages "so as not to serve inappropriate content to minors".

France, Greece and Spain expressed concern about the algorithmic design of digital platforms increasing children's exposure to addictive and harmful content -- with the risk of worsening anxiety, depression and self-esteem issues.

The proposal also blames excessive screen time at a young age for hindering the development of minors' critical and relationship skills.

They demand "an EU-wide application that supports parental control mechanisms, allows for proper age verification and limits the use of certain applications by minors".

The goal would be for devices such as smartphones to have in-built age verification.

The European Commission, the EU's digital watchdog, wants to launch an age-verification app next month, insisting it can be done without disclosing personal details.

The EU last month published draft guidelines for platforms to protect minors, to be finalized once a public consultation ends this month, including setting children's accounts to private by default, and making it easier to block and mute users.

Those guidelines are non-binding, but the bloc is clamping down in other ways.

EU investigations

It is currently investigating Meta's Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok under its mammoth content moderation law, the Digital Services Act (DSA), fearing the platforms are failing to do enough to prevent children accessing harmful content.

In the Meta probe, the EU fears the platform's age-verification tools may not be effective.

And last week, it launched an investigation into four platforms over suspicions they are failing to stop children accessing adult content.

Separately, the EU has been in long-running negotiations on a law to combat child sexual abuse material, but the proposal has been mired in uncertainty, with worries from some countries that it would allow authorities to access encrypted communications.

The legal proposal has pitted proponents of privacy against those working to protect children -- and despite repeated attempts, it has failed to get EU states' approval.