Briefly

EUROPE

Landmark law on way to curb Big Tech

Negotiators from the European Parliament and European Union member states agreed on Thursday on a landmark law to curb the market dominance of US tech giants such as Google and Apple. The Digital Markets Act has sped through the bloc's legislative procedures and is designed to protect consumers and give rivals a better chance to survive against the world's powerful tech juggernauts. Once implemented, the law will give Brussels unprecedented authority to keep an eye on decisions by the giants.

AUSTRALIA

Great Barrier Reef hit by mass bleaching

Australia's spectacular Great Barrier Reef is suffering mass bleaching as corals lose their color under the stress of warmer seas, authorities said on Friday, in a blow widely blamed on climate change. The world's largest coral reef system is showing the harmful effects of the heat, said the Reef Authority. Aerial surveys detected coral bleaching at multiple reefs across a large area of the system, "confirming a mass bleaching event, the fourth since 2016", it said in a report.

UNITED STATES

Inventor leaves behind his GIF to the world

Stephen Wilhite, the inventor of the internet-popular short-video format the GIF, has died. He was 74. His wife, Kathaleen, said on Thursday in a phone interview that he died of COVID-19 on March 14. Wilhite, who lived in Milford, Ohio, won a Webby lifetime achievement award in 2013 for inventing the GIF, which decades after its creation became omnipresent in memes and on social media.

Xinhua - Agencies