Facebook Germany to tackle fake news

FRANKFURT • Facebook has said it would update its social media platforms in Germany within weeks to reduce the dissemination of fake news.

Justice Minister Heiko Mass has repeatedly called on Facebook to respect German defamation laws, stricter than those in the United States.

REUTERS

Mother pleads guilty to killing kids in lake

SYDNEY • A 37-year-old mother pleaded guilty yesterday to murdering three of her children and attempting to kill another by plunging her car into an Australian lake.

Akon Guode, who came to Australia after fleeing war in South Sudan, drove her car into the water on the outskirts of Melbourne in 2015, killing her one-year-old son and four-year-old twins. Guode and her five-year-old daughter were pulled from the sinking vehicle.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Jailed for sexual assault on student

DALLAS • A former Texas teacher impregnated by a 13-year-old student has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Alexandria Vera, 25, faced up to 30 years behind bars after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child in November. Prosecutors say Vera and the teen had sex almost every day for nine months.

WASHINGTON POST

Lights go out at Piccadilly Circus

LONDON • The iconic lights that illuminate London's Piccadilly Circus were turned off yesterday for renovations, the first time since World War II they have gone dark, except for power cuts and funerals.

The billboards have displayed illuminated advertisements for more than a century, but will not be switched on again until the autumn, when a new permanent single screen will be unveiled in place of the current six screens.

The new screen will display high-definition video streams as well as social media feeds from advertising brands.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE