World
Georgia signs controversial 'foreign influence' bill into law
- The speaker of Georgia’s parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, signed the divisive “foreign agents” bill into law after the legislature dismissed the veto of President Salome Zourabichvili.
- The bill, known as the “Russian law” by critics, requires certain media and nonprofit organizations to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.
- Georgia’s opposition United National Movement has described the bill as part of efforts by the ruling Georgian Dream party to drag the country into Russia’s sphere of influence. Georgian Dream rejects these claims.
The speaker of Georgia’s parliament said he gave the final endorsement on Monday to a divisive “foreign agents” bill that has prompted weeks of protests by critics who say it will restrict media freedom and jeopardize Georgia’s chances of joining the European Union.
Shalva Papuashvili signed the bill into law after the legislature, controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party, dismissed the veto of President Salome Zourabichvili.
The bill, which was approved by Parliament last month, requires media, nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofit groups to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.
RUSSIA NOT ‘BLUFFING’ WITH NUCLEAR THREATS AS BIDEN GREENLIGHTS LIMITED MILITARY STRIKES, MEDVEDEV SAYS
Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with the governing party, vetoed it, accusing the governing party of jeopardizing the country’s future and “hindering the path toward becoming a full member of the free and democratic world.”
The government argues that the law is needed to stem what it deems to be harmful foreign actors trying to destabilize the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million, but many Georgian journalists and activists say that the bill’s true goal is to stigmatize them and restrict debate ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
Opponents have denounced the legislation as “the Russian law” because it resembles measures pushed through by the Kremlin to crack down on independent news media, nonprofits and activists. Critics say the measure may have been driven by Moscow to thwart Georgia’s chances of further integrating with the West.
Demonstrators gather at the Parliamentary building during an opposition protest against the foreign influence bill in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 28, 2024. The Georgian parliament has signed into law the “foreign agents” legislation that has fueled Western concerns and sparked massive protests for weeks. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Monday again dismissed the criticism as “unnecessary emotions that had only an artificial basis.”
“Now the law has already come into force and we all have to act pragmatically, with a cool mind and put aside unnecessary emotions,” he said.
Over the weekend, the opposition United National Movement said that a crowd of masked men attacked its central offices in Tbilisi, smashing windows and damaging property. It alleged that the attackers were linked to the ruling party. The Interior Ministry has opened a probe on charges of property damage.
The controversial legislation is nearly identical to one that the ruling party was pressured to withdraw last year after massive street protests. Renewed demonstrations again gripped Georgia as the bill made its way through parliament this time. Demonstrators scuffled with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them.
Papuashvili, the parliament speaker, reaffirmed after signing the bill that its main purpose is to “increase the resistance of the political, economic and social systems of Georgia to external interference.” “If non-governmental organizations and mass media want to participate in the decision-making process and influence the life of the Georgian people with funding from foreign governments, they must meet the minimum standard of transparency — the public must know who is behind each actor,” he said.
Georgia’s Civil Society Foundation, a non-government group, said Thursday that it was preparing to challenge the legislation in the country’s constitutional court.
The European Union’s foreign policy arm has said that adoption of the law “negatively impacts Georgia’s progress on the EU path.”
The EU offered Georgia candidate status last December, while making it clear that Tbilisi needs to implement key policy recommendations for its membership bid to progress.
Following parliamentary approval of the bill last month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that travel sanctions would be imposed on Georgian officials “who are responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia.” He voiced hope that the Georgian government will reverse course and “take steps to move forward with their nation’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic aspirations.”
The opposition United National Movement has described the bill as part of efforts by Georgian Dream to drag the country into Russia’s sphere of influence — claims the ruling party angrily rejects. Georgian Dream was founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a former prime minister and billionaire who made his fortune in Russia.
Russia-Georgia relations have often been rocky since Georgia became independent after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
In 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which had made a botched attempt to regain control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Moscow then recognized South Ossetia and another separatist province, Abkhazia, as independent states and strengthened its military presence there. Most of the world considers both regions to be parts of Georgia.
Tbilisi cut diplomatic ties with Moscow, and the regions’ status remains a key irritant even as Russia-Georgia relations have improved in recent years.
Israeli strikes killed one journalist and wounded another in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, rattling a tenuous cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said the Israeli military had targeted the journalists in the town of Tayri, where they took shelter in a nearby house after an airstrike struck a vehicle in front of the car they were traveling in. About an hour and a half later, a second strike hit the house they were hiding in, according to a statement by a Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which employed the journalist who was killed.
The Lebanese Red Cross said its teams came under fire while trying to evacuate the journalists from the house, forcing them to withdraw. The rescue crews were targeted by a warning strike and machine-gun fire, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Zeinab Faraj, a photojournalist, was rescued from the house. The other journalist, Amal Khalil, who was a reporter for Al-Akhbar, remained trapped under rubble for hours before emergency medics recovered her body, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense.
In addition to Ms. Khalil, the two people in the car in front of her were killed in the strikes, Al-Akhbar reported.
Amid the 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon, Israel has continued strikes against what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, citing its right to self-defense. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia group, said that it had fired rockets and drones into Israel on Tuesday in response to what it said were violations of the cease-fire. Earlier on Wednesday, the Lebanese News Agency reported that an Israeli drone strike killed one person and wounded two others in another part of the country.
The Lebanese health ministry called the strikes in Tayri a “blatant double breach, involving both the obstruction of rescue efforts for a civilian known for her media and humanitarian work, and the direct targeting of an ambulance clearly marked with the Red Cross.”
The Israeli military denied in a statement that it had prevented rescuers from reaching the injured journalists, and said the incident was under investigation.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said Israeli forces had spotted two vehicles emerging from a military building used by Hezbollah. The military observed the vehicles cross what the spokeswoman called the forward defense line, determining the move to be a violation of the truce agreement.
The spokeswoman confirmed that the Israeli military had struck one of the vehicles and the building some of the occupants of the second vehicle had taken shelter in.
Ms. Khalil had covered southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah exercises strong control, since at least 2006. In a tribute to Ms. Khalil, a colleague from Al-Akhbar said she embodied the resilience of the southern Lebanese through her relentless reporting, refusing to leave the front lines of war where thousands of Lebanese had been displaced.
“As with every act of aggression, wearing a press vest did not protect those who wore it from the treachery of the Israeli enemy,” Al-Akhbar said in a statement. “Instead, it has become a danger to journalists’ lives, as part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at silencing anyone who seeks to expose the crimes and practices of the occupation.”
In a forceful statement on social media, Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese prime minister, accused the Israeli military of war crimes for targeting journalists and obstructing access to medical aid. He said that Lebanon would pursue action to ensure Israel is held accountable with international bodies.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said that it was outraged by the attack, and that it raised serious concerns of deliberate targeting.
“The repeated strikes on the same location, the targeting of an area where journalists were sheltering, and the obstruction of medical and humanitarian access constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
World
Former Mexican beauty queen found shot dead as investigators examine possible family involvement: reports
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A former Mexican beauty queen was found shot to death in her Mexico City apartment, with investigators examining the possible involvement of her mother-in-law, according to local reports.
Carolina Flores Gómez, 27, was found dead inside an apartment in the Polanco neighborhood, one of the city’s most affluent areas, Reporte Índigo, a Mexico-based news outlet, reported.
Authorities said the death is being investigated as a homicide, after initial findings indicated she suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Emergency responders were called to the scene, where paramedics confirmed she showed no signs of life.
Prosecutors are investigating whether Flores Gómez’s mother-in-law, Erika María, as well as a man described in reports as her partner or husband, may have been involved in her death.
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Carolina Flores Gómez was found shot dead in her luxury apartment April 15 in Mexico City. Her mother-in-law has been named the main suspect in the suspected homicide. (Jam Press)
The man, identified as Alejandro, accused his mother of killing Flores Gómez, Mexican news outlet Azteca Guerrero reported.
The outlet also reported that the woman’s mother-in-law was present at the scene when the gun was fired and that authorities are looking into the timeline of when the incident was reported.
WIDOW, SON OF LATE CHICAGO COMMISSIONER FOUND SHOT DEAD INSIDE HOME IN SUSPECTED HOMICIDE
Mexican prosecutors have opened a homicide with intent case in the death of former beauty queen Carolina Flores Gómez. (Jam Press)
Preliminary reports cited by Mexican news outlet Diario Puntual indicate that a security guard at the building did not hear gunshots, adding uncertainty about how the crime occurred.
Authorities in Baja California, Mexico, also responded to the case, Diario Puntual reported.
CIA PERSONNEL KILLED IN MEXICO CRASH TIED TO CARTEL OPERATION; QUESTIONS MOUNT OVER US ROLE
Former beauty queen Carolina Flores Gómez, 27, was found dead in her Mexico City apartment. (Jam Press)
Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda expressed solidarity with the victim’s family and called for the case to be clarified.
State prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez also said there is coordination with Mexico City authorities to support the investigation.
Flores Gómez previously competed in beauty pageants and was crowned Miss Teen Universe Baja California in 2017.
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The case has drawn attention in Mexico amid ongoing concerns about violence against women, with advocacy groups calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.
The investigation into the matter is open and ongoing.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon killed at least five people on Wednesday, including Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, in what was described as a ‘heinous crime’ by the government.
Published On 23 Apr 2026
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