Better Believe It......Because They Actually Happen(ed) Collection 80
New York City Bans A.I. in Elementary and Middle Schools


A new policy announced by the Department of Education bars younger students from using artificial intelligence, but stops short of a moratorium.

During the upcoming school year, younger students will be barred from using artificial intelligence, though its use will be permitted in high schools. Photo Credit: Sara Messinger for The New York Times


By Matthew Haag


When New York City public schoolchildren return to the classroom next week, younger students will be barred from using artificial intelligence. No individual screens will be allowed until third grade. And teachers will not be able to ask A.I. to grade assignments.

Those rules on technology use are part of a sweeping new policy announced on Wednesday by the city’s Department of Education that will place strict limits on digital devices and A.I. tools in the city’s school system — the nation’s largest — particularly for its elementary and middle-school students.

Still, some parents and groups that had called for a two-year moratorium on A.I. in schools said that the guidelines were disappointing.

Under the rules, about 600,000 students in the city’s schools — about two-thirds of all students in New York City public schools — will not be allowed to use A.I. until they enter high school, and even then, it will be permitted only in specific cases.

The department is also recommending caps on screen time, such as limiting middle schoolers to no more than 45 minutes a day. So-called companion chatbots, which offer emotional and mental support, will be banned in all grades.

City leaders framed the new rules as one of the most restrictive policies on technology in the classroom in the country, one they said protects younger children but also carefully exposes older students to a technology that has quickly evolved. They will be in place for at least the upcoming school year and could be extended or amended after that.

“The tech industry wants us to believe that A.I.-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a news conference on Wednesday. “We do not see it that way.”

Kamar Samuels, the schools chancellor, said that the department would be removing or altering nearly 40 apps with A.I. features that are currently used by students for math, reading and other subjects.

“They learn best when they are wrestling with hard problems, when they’re getting it wrong, when they’re trying again and finally getting it right,” Mr. Samuels said on Wednesday. “No app, chatbot, or algorithm can replicate that productive struggle for a child.”

Full story at The New York Times (September 2026)



UNICEF estimates 20 million children suffered online sexual abuse in one year


By Olivia Le Poidevin


A child uses a laptop at a school in Caracas September 23, 2009. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/FILE PHOTO


GENEVA, Sept 3 (Reuters) - About 20 million internet-using children across 21 countries were subjected to sexual exploitation or abuse on digital platforms in a single year, with most cases occurring ‌on social media platforms, a new report by the U.N. children's charity said on Thursday.

More than one in five children aged 12 to 17 across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe experienced at least one form of sexual abuse or exploitation on online platforms in the year before being surveyed, the UNICEF report estimated.

Roughly 15 million children in the countries surveyed were exposed to unwanted sexual content, 9 million were pressured into sexual conversations or sharing sexual images, and 4 million had sexual images shared without their consent, the report found.

The number of children subjected to ⁠this abuse globally is certain to run into many tens of millions, it said.

The research, which UNICEF described as one of the largest studies of its kind, was based on national representative surveys collected between 2020 and 2025 of around 21,000 internet-using children in the 21 countries, which included Kenya, Pakistan, Brazil and Serbia.

SOCIAL MEDIA FOCUS

Almost 60% of reported abuse occurred on social media platforms, led by Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, while 14% took place in online gaming, the report found.

A spokesperson for Meta, opens new tab, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, said the surveys go as far back as 2020, before the company introduced protections UNICEF recommends such as automatically defaulting teens into private accounts and preventing adults from messaging teens they are not connected to. It added that it defines WhatsApp as a private messaging app and not a social media platform.

"While the report doesn't provide any specific evidence of abuse, we'll continue to ‌fight child ⁠exploitation aggressively across our apps and support law enforcement in prosecuting the criminals behind it," the Meta spokesperson said.

Snapchat pointed Reuters to a blog post by Global Head of Platform Safety Jacqueline Beauchere, who said the company was actively combating online sexual extortion through proactive detection, account removals, user reporting tools and safety features designed to protect vulnerable users.

TikTok said it has built a range of safeguards to protect minors, including restricting certain features for younger users, making accounts for under-18s private by default, and ⁠using technology to detect potentially predatory behaviour.

The UNICEF report said more than half the cases involved someone the child already knew, including friends, relatives or romantic partners, while 38% of children first encountered the perpetrator online.

Fewer than 1% of cases involving children were reported to the police, a social worker or a helpline, according to the research.

The report ⁠also highlighted growing concerns over artificial intelligence. Across nine countries where data was collected, an estimated 1.1 million children reported having AI-generated sexual images or videos created depicting them.

Full story at Reuters (September 2026)



UiTM student dies, 8 hospitalised after endurance challenge


Police say a preliminary investigation found that the students had suffered heat-related issues, including a lack of oxygen.

The Universiti Teknologi Mara branch in Jengka, Pahang, said all participants were required to undergo health screenings before the programme began, and health checks before each activity. (Facebook photo)


PETALING JAYA: A Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) student has died, while eight others were hospitalised after suffering heat-related symptoms while taking part in an endurance challenge at the UiTM Jengka campus in Maran, Pahang, on Thursday.

Fadhlan Fakhry Solana Fellimal, 21, died at Hospital Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah in Temerloh yesterday afternoon, Berita Harian reported.

The Malay daily reported Maran police chief Wong Kim Wai as confirming that Fadhlan and another student received treatment at Hospital Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, while seven others were treated at Jengka Hospital.

Wong said a preliminary investigation found that the students had suffered heat-related problems, including a lack of oxygen, while taking part in the endurance programme.

“Further details will be provided after we receive the post-mortem report,” he said.

Separately, the UiTM branch in Pahang said the university would ensure full assistance for Fadhlan’s family.

The university said the Komander Kesatria Endurance Challenge is conducted annually involving participants from UiTM campuses nationwide and had been scheduled to take place at the Jengka campus from Sept 2 to 8.

It said the organisers have decided to cancel all outdoor activities scheduled for today.

Full story at Free Malaysia Today (September 2026)



Children of 9/11 to finally get a major health study


By Nancy Lapid


New York City firefighters and other emergency personnel battle building blaze after the World Trade Center buildings collapse September 11, 2001. Three hijacked planes slammed into the [Pentagon] and New York's landmark World Trade Center on Tuesday, demolishing the two 110-story towers that symbolize U.S. financial might. REUTERS/Anthony Correia/File Photo


Sept 10 (Reuters) - When hijacked planes brought down the World Trade Center's twin towers on September 11, 2001, roughly 25,000 children were living ‌or attending school nearby in lower Manhattan, and thousands more were in surrounding neighborhoods. Some were infants and toddlers, while others were still in the womb.

Even though they were exposed to the massive toxic cloud and settling dust containing pulverized concrete, glass fibers, asbestos, and other pollutants in the days and weeks after the towers fell, very few of these children were enrolled in the government-funded follow-up health studies of WTC survivors. Those were mainly for first responders and other adults.

As a result, there was no means of tracking chronic illnesses, including cancers, cardiovascular diseases and reproductive health outcomes, that may only now be emerging as those ⁠children reach their 30s and early 40s, scientists say.

Major questions remain about whether exposure to the toxins and the trauma on 9/11 and afterward increased their long-term health risks, according to scientists.

To address these gaps, Congress announced in 2022 that it would fund a study of these individuals to be conducted with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention oversight.

Last month, the CDC said it will be seeking applications from researchers, opens new tab to set up the World Trade Center Youth Research Coordinating Center and identify and track a Youth Research Cohort.

The agency has specified that study participants will have been 21 years old or younger, or in utero, and living below 14th Street in Manhattan or anywhere in Brooklyn on and after 9/11.

A cohort of similarly aged but unexposed individuals will be recruited for comparison.

It is not clear how many participants the CDC hopes to recruit, but an agency spokesperson said it expects to spend up to $50 million in total program funding. The estimated start date for the project is July 1, 2027, the ‌spokesperson said.

Full story at Reuters (September 2026)



Man jailed after threatening to behead son's teacher in French village


By Paul Kirby


The father was given a fast-tracked hearing in Toulouse. NurPhoto via Getty Images


A man has been given a six-month jail term in France after he threatened to behead a female primary school teacher who had disciplined his son at a village primary school.

The 47-year-old was sentenced after a fast-track hearing on Thursday, six days after the events unfolded in Le Fauga, a village with a population of about 2,600 just outside the southwestern city of Toulouse.

The teacher has been granted official protection and has gone on sick leave.

French Education Minister Edouard Geffray said: "No teacher should be afraid to do their job. Attacking one of them is attacking the entire institution."

Over the summer, Geffray steered through a law aimed at protecting staff from a "significant risk" to their safety or health from a member of a student's family.

The minister said this case would trigger one of the first uses of the decree.

The case revives terrible memories in France of the beheading of a teacher in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine six years ago. Samuel Paty was murdered in a jihadist attack outside his school by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee.

In Le Fauga, the teacher's colleagues did not go into work on Monday because of what had happened the previous Friday.

The threat was made after the man had been called in for a chat with the school, according to Toulouse education chief Karim Benmiloud.

Le Fauga Mayor Jean-Marie Puig told BFMTV that the man's son had been disruptive in class and he had been sent to another class to calm down.

The child continued to misbehave in the second classroom and the teacher later told him off for acting up.

The teacher was later threatened by the father, who according to the mayor had waited for her "outside the school and apparently threatened to cut off her head if she'd been a man".

The parent subsequently apologised, however a judicial complaint was made and he went before a judge in Toulouse on Thursday afternoon.

Full story at BBC News (September 2026)



High Court acquits 15‑year‑old of Bandar Utama school murder, rules unsound mind


A police car is seen at a Bandar Utama school were a student was fatally stabbed on Oct 14, 2025. Photo: Bernama


SHAH ALAM, Sept 14 — The High Court today acquitted and discharged a 15-year-old boy of the charge of murdering a female student at a secondary school in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, last year.

Judge Adlin Abdul Majid then ordered the teenage boy to be placed at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak, beginning today, for a period to be approved by the Sultan of Selangor.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, the teenager’s lawyer Kitson Foong said the court held that his client was of unsound mind at the time of the incident.

“The respondent (the teenage boy) was found to be of unsound mind at the hour, date and time of the incident in October (2025). Accordingly, the defence successfully raised Section 84 of the Penal Code. The court recorded an acquittal on the ground of insanity,” he said at a press conference after the proceedings.

He said the court’s findings established that there was medical insanity, which gave rise to a finding of legal insanity in respect of his client.

AThe teenager’s lawyer Kitson Foong said the court held that his client was of unsound mind at the time of the incident. Photo: Bernama


Foong informed the media that the court also accepted the testimony of Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Dr Ian Lloyd Anthony, who confirmed that the teenager was suffering from severe and aggressive schizophrenia.

“The schizophrenia caused him to lose his sense of self. He believed he was a god. He said he heard voices and instructions from someone. The prosecution did not dispute this,” he said.

He said the teenager would begin receiving treatment for the disorder and noted that the recovery process would take time.

The lawyer said the judge had reminded the teenager to recognise that his actions had resulted in the loss of a life, and to be grateful for the second chance given to him.

Full story at Malay Mail (September 2026)



Stanford Used A.I. to Swap Black Student for Hispanic Student in a Photo


Universities have been accused of doctoring photos to showcase diversity in the past. In this case, a Black woman replaced a Hispanic young man, who said it was upsetting to be “erased.”

The first photograph, showing Billy Ramirez on the far right, was posted to a Stanford social media account in 2024. The second image, showing a banner on Stanford’s campus this week, was taken by Mr. Ramirez. In it, he was replaced by an image of a Black woman.


By Alan Blinder


Billy Ramirez had collected a plate of noodles at a Lunar New Year party in 2024 when a Stanford University photographer snapped a picture of him alongside two other students.

The university’s dining service posted the photo online the next day. But when Stanford used the image on banners last week, a Black woman had replaced Mr. Ramirez. The other students’ appearances had been altered so that they appeared thinner.

“To see me erased like that so easily was kind of very upsetting,” Mr. Ramirez, who is Hispanic, said in an interview on Tuesday.

Mr. Ramirez, a senior who is majoring in human biology, said there was “a comedic element” to the matter. Nevertheless, he said that he was frustrated by Stanford’s move, which he learned about from a friend.

Stanford acknowledged in a statement on Tuesday that it had used artificial intelligence to change the original image.

“Stanford’s A.I. policy is clear: The use of A.I. in producing or altering images of Stanford people, events, research, facilities or achievements is strictly prohibited,” the university said. “Both the alteration and lack of disclosure in this case violate that policy. We are working with Residential and Dining Enterprises to provide additional training and ensure proper review of all materials.”

The other students in the original photograph — an Asian woman and a man Mr. Ramirez said was also of Hispanic descent — did not respond to emails on Tuesday.

The Stanford University campus in California. Photo Credit: Jim Wilson for The New York Times


The episode comes as colleges and universities, largely because of pressure from the Trump administration, are weighing how and whether to embrace diversity efforts on their campuses. The New York Times reported in March that the Justice Department had begun examining admissions practices at Stanford’s medical school. The next month, the Education Department said it had opened an inquiry into whether Stanford had illegally used race to discriminate in a teacher training program.

The altered photo, first reported by The Stanford Review, also underscores how A.I. misuse is unfolding on campuses and the lengths to which some colleges and universities go to portray themselves as welcoming.

And it is not the first time a school has ended up in a tempest over manipulated photography.

In 2000, for example, the University of Wisconsin-Madison drew criticism after it added a Black student to the cover of its undergraduate application booklet; white students had filled the original image. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported then that the university would spend about $64,000 — about $123,000 in today’s money — to reprint the booklets.

The 100,000 new brochures, the university decided, would instead feature a sunset photo of a popular spot on campus.

Nearly two decades later, York College of Pennsylvania removed two white students from a photograph for a billboard and replaced them with a man of Asian descent and a woman who was wearing a head covering that appeared to be religious in nature. In statements published at the time by a television station, the college said that the imagery reflected the college’s diversity but that school officials “should have made a better decision” while under deadline pressure.

Full story at The New York Times (September 2026)



India comes up with unique solution to cut junk food consumption in children


It could prove another hurdle for multinational corporations such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Mondelez and Nestle

By Aditya Kalra and Jatindra Dash


A schoolchild inside a grocery shop in Cuttack, Odisha, India, September 18, 2026 (REUTERS)


India is moving to ban the sale of high-fat and high-sugar food items within a 50-meter perimeter of schools in the nation's newest attempt to curb junk food intake amidst rising obesity rates, especially in children.

The new rules would affect family-run stores, restaurants and food stands selling everything from sugary soft drinks and salty chips to greasy samosas and fatty pizzas or burgers close to India's 1.5 million schools.

The proposed restrictions pose an added challenge for global corporations including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Mondelez, and Nestle, which are already navigating proposed policies regarding red warning labels on high fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) items, aligning India closer to regulatory systems in Chile and Mexico.

Local enterprise operators and neighborhood grocers situated near schools have voiced immediate alarm, with twelve shopkeepers in the eastern city of Bhubaneswar projecting revenue declines of at least one-third.

Schoolchildren stand at the front of a grocery shop in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, September 18, 2026 (REUTERS)


Outside one storefront, 15-year-old student Priyanshu Palei purchased two bags of PepsiCo's Uncle Chipps, placing them inside his bag before heading to school. "I will have these during recess," he said, choosing the chips over homemade rice and lentils.

This represents the habit India targets.

Rajit Punhani, the chief executive of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India leading the initiative, explained that the "safe food" school strategy seeks to guide youth away from unhealthful diets early.

"We have to discourage children from having these. We have to inculcate this habit," he told Reuters. "It will not have an impact on businesses in a major way. Shop owners can sell non-HFSS foods," he added, stating rules seek to encourage recipe reformulations.

Although first drafted in 2020, no fixed implementation timeline exists. Amid an ongoing nationwide food safety initiative, the authority published threshold standards for fat, salt, and sugar content in August to determine sales restrictions near and inside schools, accepting public feedback until October 6.

Full story at The Independent (September 2026)



Italy to ban burkas in schools, with 30% cap on pupils with poor Italian


The move comes ahead of Italy’s election next year, in which PM Meloni’s party faces pressure the even further right National Future party


Italy has passed a decree banning face coverings in all schools and capping the proportion of newly arrived foreign pupils with insufficient Italian at 30 per cent per class from the next school year, the government in Rome said on Friday.

The government said the 30 per cent quota applies in primary school to children who do not hold Italian citizenship, were not born in Italy and have not attended an Italian kindergarten for at least two years.

In secondary schools the same rules apply, except that pupils must have attended Italian schools for at least three years – rather than two years of kindergarten – to fall outside the 30 per cent quota.

On face coverings, the decree states that these are not permitted and that the face must be recognisable. The measure is likely aimed primarily at full-face Islamic veils for girls such as the burka and niqab. No government figures were given on how many children the rule could affect.

“Organising classes so that they are, let’s say, balanced, is a tool that benefits everyone and promotes integration,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said.

She had already announced the controversial rules the previous week at a youth event held by her far-right Brothers of Italy party. Her Cabinet has now adopted the measures by decree.

Meloni has led Italy’s three-party coalition of far-right and conservative parties since 2022. The 49-year-old ran a successful election campaign at the time on a promise of a tough line against migrants.

Italy’s Prime Minister and leader of the far-right party Brothers of Italy gestures during a press conference in Rome in 2024. Photo Credit: AFP


The new rules do not only affect children. Parents with significant language difficulties may also be required to take Italian lessons if communication with the school is impaired.

The decree provides that schools must notify youth welfare offices if parents have significant language difficulties. Social services can then offer free Italian courses.

Anyone who fails to comply with the newly enacted rules faces a fine. Italian media report fines of between €200 and €1,000 (US$228-US$1,139) that could be imposed on parents.

Full story at South China Morning Post (September 2026)