•UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Children under 16 will be banned from using social media in the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday, saying such platforms were making youngsters “unhappy”.

Some children’s charities welcomed the sweeping change, which is likely to trigger a major fight with US tech giants, but others warned it could make teenagers less safe online.

Starmer, likely to face a leadership challenge in the coming weeks, said social media sites were exposing children to content that is “dangerous” and “designed to be addictive”.

The ban will “include platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X” but not messaging services such as WhatsApp, the government said.

Some young people gave a mixed response to the move.

“I think it’s a good thing, to be honest, because I don’t even remember what age I was when I got Instagram, but it was just way too early,” student Connie Skitt, 19, told AFP in Buxton, central England.

“You’re making friends with people you don’t know. It’s like, not that safe.”But 18-year-old tour guide Tom Warvell expressed concerns that 16 was “a little bit high”, arguing younger teens were “a better age to focus on”.

“Times have changed so it is important for people to still be able to use it.”

•US/IRAN flags

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif­, revealed that both the United States and Iran have reached a landmark peace agreement to the immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

The formal signing ceremony is scheduled to take place on June 19 in Switzerland.

According to Sharif, the agreement is the result of extensive mediation efforts involving several regional and international stakeholders.

He commended both Washington and Tehran for choosing diplomacy over continued conflict and acknowledged the roles played by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye in facilitating the talks.

Zimbabwe has been elected to a non-permanent, two-year term on the United Nations Security Council, the third time the country will be represented on the body mandated to maintain international peace and security.

Voice of Nigeria reports that the other countries that secured seats around the iconic horseshoe table are Austria, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, and Kyrgyzstan.

The five countries were elected by the 193-member General Assembly to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on January 1, 2027.

Austria and Portugal won the two seats allocated to the Western European and other States (WEOG) Group, while Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe were elected from the Latin American and Caribbean Group and the African Group, respectively.

Kyrgyzstan secured the Asia-Pacific seat after defeating the Philippines in four rounds of voting.