Merkel: Onus on social media platforms

BERLIN • German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that social media platforms needed to take responsibility for the content on their networks.

"Everyone who operates such big platforms should be responsible for certain standards being adhered to on them," she told a news conference.

REUTERS

Syria rebels evacuate Israel border area

BEIRUT • Syrian rebels began evacuating the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights yesterday, a witness and a war monitor group said, leaving for the rebel-held north in a surrender deal that restores President Bashar al-Assad's control of the frontier.

With a Russian-backed government offensive closing in, the rebels have agreed to either accept the return of state rule, or leave for Idlib province in the north.

REUTERS

Macron aide who hit protester to be fired

PARIS • President Emmanuel Macron's Cabinet chief Patrick Strzoda was questioned by investigators on Thursday after a video emerged of a top Elysee security aide violently striking a man during a protest in May, a source close to the inquiry said yesterday.

The aide, Mr Alexandre Benalla, was taken in for questioning yesterday and the President's office has said he will be fired over the incident, which came to light only this week.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE