Day: April 16, 2024

On Monday, tensions reached a boiling point in the Georgian parliament as lawmakers from opposing parties engaged in physical altercations. The catalyst for this heated confrontation was the ruling party’s determination to push forward a highly contentious bill concerning the labeling of organizations as “foreign agents.” This proposed legislation has drawn sharp criticism from Western nations and has been met with widespread protests within Georgia itself. The bill’s advancement has fueled concerns about potential infringements on civil liberties and democratic principles, prompting passionate debate both within the parliament and among the public. The scenes of chaos and violence within the parliamentary chambers underscore the deep divisions and political turmoil surrounding this controversial issue, raising questions about the future direction of Georgia’s governance and its relationship with the international community.

The incident prompted a wider brawl between several lawmakers, an occasional occurrence in Georgia’s often raucous parliament. Footage showed Elisashvili being greeted with cheers by protesters outside the parliament building.

Georgian Dream said earlier this month it would reintroduce legislation requiring organizations that accept funds from abroad to register as foreign agents or face fines, 13 months after protests forced it to shelve the plan.The bill has strained relations with European countries and the United States, who have said they oppose its passage. The European Union, which gave Georgia candidate status in December, has said the move is incompatible with the bloc’s values.

Georgia’s government said Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze held a meeting on Monday with the EU, British and US ambassadors at which they had discussed the bill.In a statement, Kobakhidze defended the draft law as promoting accountability, and said it was “not clear” why Western countries opposed it.Georgian critics have labeled the bill “the Russian law”, comparing it to similar legislation used by the Kremlin to crack down on dissent in Russia.

In reply to an X user, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said that unfortunately, “a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.”

New Delhi: In a dampener for new X users, Elon Musk has announced they may be charged for posting content on the social platform. In reply to an X user, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said that unfortunately, “a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots. “Current AI (and troll farms) can pass ‘are you a bot’ with ease,” Musk posted.He further said that the onslaught of fake accounts also uses up the available namespace, “so many good handles are taken as a result”.

“Elon Musk Eases Concerns Over New X User Fees, Revealing Three-Month Grace Period for Free Write Access”

In October last year, the platform began charging new unverified users $1 per year in New Zealand and the Philippines.Earlier this month, Musk-led platform announced a mega purge of spam accounts.

Several X users lost followers as the social media platform kicked off the exercise to remove bots.The action came as spam and porn bots swarmed the platform in the past few months, leaving users flummoxed. Musk had announced that a system purge of bots and trolls was underway.X has not shared about how many bots are currently there on the platform.

“At least four individuals, including Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church, were injured during a service that was being live-streamed in the western Sydney suburb of Wakeley on Monday. The attack occurred, resulting in injuries to multiple worshippers, highlighting the severity of the incident.”

“Australian police confirmed on Tuesday that the knife attack during a service at an Assyrian church in Sydney, which injured a bishop, was indeed a terrorist act fueled by suspected religious extremism. The announcement underscores the gravity of the incident and raises concerns about religiously motivated violence in the region.”

Police arrested a male teenager at the scene on Monday and were forced to hold him at the church for his own safety as the crowd of worshippers gathered outside.”We believe there are elements that are satisfied in terms of religious motivated extremism,” New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb said during a press conference.

After consideration of all the material, I declared that it was a terrorist incident.”Police said there was “a degree of premeditation” as the male attacker travelled to the church, far from his home, with a knife. But Webb said police at this early stage of the investigation believe the attacker was acting alone.Emergency crews said they attended around 30 people after the clash outside the church, and seven were taken to hospitals with injuries. Several police were hospitalised with injuries and 20 police vehicles were damaged, Webb said.It was the second major stabbing attack in just three days in Australia’s most populous city after six people were killed and 12 injured in a knife attack at a beachside mall in the Bondi area on Saturday.

“Taliban’s Political Wing Leader, Suhail Shaheen, announced to The Hindu that the organization has formed a commission, in collaboration with the Justice Minister, aimed at returning properties to Hindu and Sikh individuals who were unlawfully deprived of their homes and businesses by powerful figures over past decades.”

“A senior official from the Taliban’s ‘Justice Ministry’ revealed on Monday that the group maintains ongoing communication with Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan who were displaced and had their properties seized by warlords. The official, in a written statement to The Hindu, affirmed the Taliban’s commitment to upholding the property rights of minority communities in Afghanistan. Emphasizing their dedication, the statement highlighted the Taliban’s specific focus on safeguarding the rights of Hindus and Sikhs within the nation.”

“Hafez Barakatullah Rasuli, spokesperson of the Taliban’s ‘Justice Ministry,’ announced that technical boards overseeing the identification and verification of usurped lands, operating under the commission’s supervision across central and provincial levels, remain in constant communication with Hindu and Sikh compatriots whose lands were unlawfully seized. Rasuli assured that properties would be returned to members of the Hindu and Sikh communities following a thorough process of identification and verification of their claims. This commitment underscores the Taliban’s ongoing efforts to address the grievances of minority groups affected by property seizures.

The Taliban’s restructuring of the Afghan justice system drew criticism in the past as it was perceived to be violative of the “due process of law”. However, recent proclamations from the ‘Justice Ministry’ regarding restoring the rights of the minority communities have drawn attention.The Taliban maintain that Hindus and Sikhs played a crucial role in maintaining commercial ties of the country with the region and that they served a unique purpose in the urban centres of Afghanistan till the 1980s when political disturbances prompted them to immigrate.