Briefly

AUSTRALIA

Legislation to tackle defamatory posts

Australia will introduce legislation to make social media companies provide details of users who post defamatory comments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday. The government has been looking at the extent of the responsibility of platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, for defamatory material published. The country's highest court has ruled that publishers can be held liable for public comments on online forums, a ruling after which some news companies decided to block their Facebook pages in Australia.

CZECH REPUBLIC

President appoints Petr Fiala as new PM

Czech President Milos Zeman on Sunday appointed Petr Fiala, the leader of the Together coalition that won last month's parliamentary election, as the new prime minister. Zeman, who was discharged from hospital on Saturday after a positive COVID-19 test, appointed Fiala at a socially distanced ceremony at his residence. The coalition came first in the election, narrowly beating the ANO party led by the departed prime minister Andrej Babis.

EUROPE

Britain left out of migration talks

France was hosting a meeting of European ministers on Sunday to discuss ways to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in dinghies, but without Britain, which was excluded following a recent row. The talks were called following the deaths of 27 people last Wednesday as they attempted to cross from France to England in a dinghy that began losing air while at sea in cold winter temperatures.

Agencies - Xinhua