The New York Times: Οι στρατιωτικοί ηγέτες των ΗΠΑ υπερασπίζονται τις επιθέσεις σε πλοία στη Βενεζουέλα – Χώρες μποϊκοτάρουν τη Eurovision λόγω της συμμετοχής του Ισραήλ – Η ληστεία σαλιγκαριών στη Γαλλία – Παιδιά και τεχνολογία: από τη διαφημιστική εκστρατεία έως τις αντιδράσεις – Κορυφαίοι στρατιωτικοί αξιωματικοί των ΗΠΑ έδειξαν σε μέλη του Κογκρέσου ένα βίντεο από μια επίθεση του Σεπτεμβρίου σε ένα πλοίο στα ανοικτά των ακτών της Βενεζουέλας και υπερασπίστηκαν την επακόλουθη επίθεση που σκότωσε δύο επιζώντες – Μια πρόσφατη κλοπή έχει συγκλονίσει τη Γαλλία, και όχι, δεν είναι η ληστεία του Λούβρου. Σκεφτείτε σαλιγκάρια, όχι ζαφείρια – Τι τρώνε πριν από τα Χριστούγεννα… στη Βρετανία

Matthew Abbott for The New York Times

Kids and tech: from hype to backlash

By Natasha Singer

Over the last few years, I’ve covered accelerating government efforts to curb young people’s social media use and student phones in schools. I’ve also reported on how some schools are introducing new artificial intelligence chatbots for teaching and learning.

At first glance, banning tech with one hand and encouraging tech with the other may seem inconsistent. But this month, with Australia poised to sharply restrict social media for teenagers and children, I’ve been struck by a familiar pattern.

Gartner, a research and consulting firm, named it the technology “Hype Cycle”: First comes tech enthusiasm, then rapid adoption, and finally disenchantment. Social media and smartphones are at a later stage of the cycle. Classroom A.I. use is just gearing up.

From boon to bane

In 2011, UNESCO, the United Nation’s educational and cultural agency, published an upbeat policy brief encouraging “social media for learning.” At the time, Facebook and Twitter seemed full of promise. The UNESCO brief argued that “social media can help schools allow the real world into their classrooms, and hence prepare students for a real, better future.”

Fast-forward 14 years. The perception of social media has changed a lot. Public concern is mounting over risks — including predators, disturbing content and cyberbullying. Instagram and TikTok have introduced a variety of safeguards and parental controls. Some governments contend that’s not enough.

Now Australia is preparing to institute a landmark social media ban. The new rules will require apps like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to prevent Australians under 16 from signing up for accounts and to deactivate accounts belonging to underage users. Last month, Denmark and Malaysia announced plans to enact similar social media crackdowns.

Peter Malinauskas, the premier of South Australia who helped drive his country’s ban, has described the new rules as a “blunt instrument” that will give parents a new kind of leverage with their children.

“It gives parents the ability to say to their child, ‘Hey, Jenny or Johnny, you’re not allowed to have a social media account because it’s against the law — and the law applies to everyone,’” Malinauskas told me.

Some advocacy groups have raised questions about the ban, noting that it could hinder the benefits of social media, like education and connections with friends, without addressing the manipulative techniques used by some tech firms or the safety risks children face online.

“There’s a lot more we could be doing to get to the underlying systems and make those spaces safer,” says John Livingstone, the policy manager for UNICEF Australia.

A blunt-instrument ban

Kids’ mobile phone use has followed a familiar cycle of enthusiasm and disillusionment.

In the early 2010s, prominent global groups like the World Economic Forum promoted mobile phones as revolutionary new educational tools that could provide students with personalized “anytime, anywhere” learning.

But by 2023, the tide had turned, with groups like UNESCO warning that mobile devices could distract students. By the end of last year, 79 countries had banned or restricted student phone use at school. More countries, including Brazil, Senegal and South Korea, recently moved to do the same. Anecdotally, some schools say the bans have helped increase student concentration in class. But there have been few rigorous studies to suggest the bans improve students’ academic outcomes or mental well-being.

Not everyone agrees on the phone rules. Some experts say schools should educate students about online risks and responsible phone use, rather than rush to impose blanket tech bans.

The A.I. school boom

Desiree Rios for The New York Times

Recently, American tech giants like Google, Microsoft and OpenAI have set their sights on spreading A.I. training in schools worldwide.

But evidence of concrete educational benefits remains thin, and some early studies point in the opposite direction: Relying on A.I. for core tasks like research and writing may weaken critical-thinking abilities.

Iceland is taking a cautious approach, with a research effort this fall in which several hundred teachers are trying A.I. chatbots from Google and Anthropic for tasks like creating lesson plans. No students are involved in the pilot.

With Australia now considering a national A.I. literacy plan, I asked Malinauskas, the South Australia premier, what government leaders had learned from the rush-and-regret cycle of phones and social media.

“I think the lesson from the evolution of social media on mobile phones is that something can happen over time and you don’t realize it’s bad until it’s too late — almost,” he said.

Football: Ranking all 64 teams in today’s World Cup draw.

Ultramarathons: Meet the doctor who breaks records between emergency room shifts.

“I never had a treehouse when I was a kid, a place where you’d be up hanging with your gang. As soon as I walked on the set and met the Muppets and Jim, I had a treehouse.”

— Paul Williams, the 85-year-old songwriting legend who wrote Kermit the Frog’s signature tune, “Rainbow Connection,” and many others, reflecting on his career.

A recent theft has shaken France, and no, it’s not the Louvre heist. Think snails, not sapphires.

About 450 kilograms (990 pounds) of escargot — worth more than $100,000 — were recently taken from a farm in northeastern France, just in time for the prime holiday snail-eating season. The police have no suspects yet, but it’s clear the thieves were escargot-getters. Read more.

What they’re eating before Christmas … in Britain

In Britain, the beginning of the festive season is marked by the arrival of pantomime performances, skating rinks and the supermarket Christmas sandwich, filled with holiday-adjacent ingredients like turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce.

Quality varies widely, and newspapers vie to rank the year’s offerings. The Telegraph gave five stars to the “Fa La La La Fel Wrap” from Marks & Spencer, which features falafel, pickled cabbage and cranberry harissa. An offering from Tesco was deemed “a monstrosity” — “The bread is pappy, the lettuce floppy, the ham artificial, and the less said about the cheese the better” — and given zero stars.

The sandwiches are wildly popular, with an estimated 200 million sold every year. They’re a chance to cash in on the holiday spending frenzy, but also to offer some affordable cheer to people having lunch at their desks, or waiting in the cold for a delayed train. — Desiree Ibekwe

Croustade, a classic French double-layer pie, is perfect for a cold night. The flaky crust holds sweet-tart apples and plums that pair perfectly with a dollop of crème fraîche or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.