International
Australia passes historic law banning minors under 16 from social media
Australia approved a historic law on Thursday that bans minors under the age of 16 from accessing social media, one of the strictest measures in the world to keep teenagers away from platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X.
After being approved by the lower house of Parliament the previous day, the Senate voted in favor of the groundbreaking legislation on Thursday. Soon, social media companies will be required to take “reasonable steps” to prevent teenagers from having accounts on their platforms.
Tech companies, facing fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (32.5 million U.S. dollars) for non-compliance, have labeled the legislation as “rushed,” “problematic,” and “vague.”
Center-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is seeking re-election next year, campaigned in favor of the law and called on parents to support it.
Albanese described social media as “platforms where peer pressure is exerted, sources of anxiety, channels for scammers, and, worst of all, a tool for online predators.”
“I want to see children away from their devices and on football fields, at swimming pools, and on tennis courts,” Albanese said in an interview in September.
On paper, this ban is one of the strictest in the world, but it remains unclear how social media companies will enforce the prohibition.
International
Biden urges no harm to U.S.-Mexico-Canada relations amid Trump’s tariff threat
President Joe Biden called on Thursday for the preservation of the relationship between the United States and its partners, Mexico and Canada, following former President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on these countries when he returns to the White House in January.
“The last thing we need to do is start ruining those relationships,” Biden said to reporters when asked about Trump’s proposed tariffs.
“It’s counterproductive,” the outgoing president stated.
Biden expressed hope that Trump would “reconsider” the plan once he assumes the presidency at the end of January.
The future president threatened last Monday to impose a 25% customs duty on all goods Mexico exports to the U.S. if the government of Claudia Sheinbaum does not stop irregular migrant flows and drug trafficking at the shared border.
The warning also extended to Canada, the third partner in the North American free trade agreement, the USMCA.
In response, Sheinbaum sent a letter to the magnate on Tuesday, stating that migration and drug consumption issues cannot be resolved “with threats” and that if the U.S. imposes tariffs, Mexico would take similar measures.
However, on Thursday, following a phone call with Trump, Sheinbaum ruled out an “tariff war” with the United States.
During his campaign, Trump presented the tariffs as a cornerstone of his economic policy. The idea aims to fund tax cuts, encourage companies to set up in the U.S., and use the tariffs as leverage for future trade negotiations.
International
Chilean President Boric denies sexual harassment allegations, trusts justice system
Chilean President Gabriel Boric stated on Thursday that he trusts the justice system to do its job regarding the allegations against him of supposed sexual harassment of a woman ten years ago and the distribution of intimate images, accusations that the president strongly denied.
“The government spokesperson and my lawyer have already clearly addressed the complaint. Let the institutions do their work, and let the government govern,” Boric told the press during a housing delivery event in Santiago. This was the first time the 38-year-old president publicly commented on the investigation against him, albeit briefly.
Boric has been accused by a woman, whose identity remains confidential, of sexual harassment and the improper sharing of intimate images, according to his lawyer Jonatan Valenzuela, who made the announcement on Monday.
In a video statement, the Chilean prosecutor’s office confirmed that it is investigating the president as a “defendant” for the alleged distribution of those images, but did not mention the sexual harassment accusation.
The government, for its part, dismissed the allegations as unfounded. Presidential spokesperson Camila Vallejo, who addressed the issue on Tuesday, stated that the action lacked “merit” and claimed that, on the contrary, it was the complainant who allegedly “systematically” harassed Boric through emails.
The legal action was filed on September 6, more than a decade after Boric and the complainant crossed paths during a professional internship in Punta Arenas, the president’s hometown.
At that time, Boric was 27 years old, had finished his law studies, and was already a prominent figure as a student leader. In 2014, he was elected as a deputy for that region.
Central America
Guatemalan migrant José Yovanny Bocel Conoz repatriated for burial 13 years after being killed in Mexico
The family of Guatemalan migrant José Yovanny Bocel Conoz will finally be able to lay him to rest in Guatemala. His body was repatriated from Mexico on Thursday, 13 years after he was killed by members of organized crime in that country.
The body arrived on an Aeromexico cargo flight from Mexico City to Guatemala City, confirmed Rosmary Yacs, the family’s lawyer.
In 2012, when Mexico claimed to have identified the deceased, they sent the family a body. They honored, woke, and buried it, but later learned that the body they received was not that of the young man, who was 17 years old at the time of his death.
Bocel Conoz left his community in Camanchaj, in the municipality of Chichicastenango, Quiché, a poor, indigenous area in the west of Guatemala, headed for the United States in 2011. The young man wanted to find work and support his family, who lived in extreme poverty, but his journey was cut short.
A week after beginning his journey, the migrant made his last communication with his family, telling them he was in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and would soon cross the border. He was never heard from again.
At that time, organized crime targeted migrant groups, presumably to force them to join their ranks or extort their families by demanding ransoms in exchange for leaving them alive.
It is now known that Bocel Conoz was kidnapped, tortured, and killed by unknown assailants in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, and his body ended up in a mass grave.
The family’s lawyer told The Associated Press that the process has been complicated and difficult for them. “It’s a serious violation of their rights,” she said.
When Bocel Conoz’s body arrives in his community, the family will not hold a wake. The pain and the memory of what happened have been so great that they do not want to go through that again and have decided to bury him immediately, said Yacs.
“Finally, today we hope the family can close this chapter. It hasn’t been easy,” she added.
Australia passes historic law banning minors under 16 from social media
Biden urges no harm to U.S.-Mexico-Canada relations amid Trump’s tariff threat
Chilean President Boric denies sexual harassment allegations, trusts justice system
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
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