## France seeks to ban social media for children under 15

Authored by lemonde.fr

France will make a fresh attempt to protect children from excessive screen time, proposing a ban on social media access for children under 15 by next September, according to a draft law seen by AFP.

Australia this month imposed a social media ban on under 16s, in a world first.

Read more Subscribers only After French school supervisor stabbing, questions arise over social media ban for under-15s.

One would make illegal "the provision by an online platform of an online social media service to a minor under 15."

An ban on mobile phone use in preschools and middle schools came into force in 2018, but is rarely enforced.

France meanwhile ran foul of European Union rules with a law calling for a "digital legal age" of 15, passed in 2023, that has since been blocked.

The French upper house, the Sénat, this month backed an initiative for the protection of teenagers from excessive screen time and social media access, which includes a requirement for parental authorization for children between 13 and 16 to register with social media sites. »

### Bay Area homeowners are hiring a sword-wielding man to help them kick squatters out of empty properties: ‘The average squatter has no melee experience’

Authored by the-independent.com

A sword-wielding man is offering his services to homeowners in Northern California who want help evicting squatters from empty properties.

In an interview with The Oaklandside, Jacobs said his experience with martial arts was unfamiliar to most squatters when it came to evictions.

Under California law, squatters can acquire title to a building after five years, typically much faster than in other states. »

### Chechen leader urgently hospitalised in Moscow

Authored by pravda.com.ua

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin's protégé and head of Chechnya, was urgently hospitalised in Moscow on the night of 24-25 December.

Quote from the source: "In Moscow, they barely managed to resuscitate him, after which he returned home and has not appeared in public since.".

More details: It is reported that earlier this year, Kadyrov had already been hospitalised at a private clinic in Grozny. »

### Boebert says Trump vetoed Colorado water bill as 'retaliation' for Epstein files

Authored by washingtonexaminer.com

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) suggested President Donald Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill to make building a water pipeline in Colorado easier as “political retaliation” for forcing a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Trump vetoed the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, which was sponsored by Boebert, Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO), and Colorado’s two Democratic senators.

It would complete a decadeslong plan for a water pipeline to serve nearly 50,000 people in Boebert and Hurd’s districts in southeast Colorado. »

### Governor Meyer Announces First Round of Medical Debt Relief, Nearly $19 Million Eliminated for more than 18,000

Authored by news.delaware.gov

Undue Medical Debt acquires the most burdensome medical debts in bulk for a fraction of their face value, meaning one dollar can erase $100 of medical debt on average.

To date, Undue Medical Debt has abolished $18.8 million in medical debt for 18,145 individuals across Delaware.

Undue Medical Debt purchases bundled medical debt portfolios from hospitals and commercial debt buyers for pennies on the dollar and then abolishes that debt entirely. »

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