RUSSIA’S UPPER HOUSE PASSES ‘ FOREIGN AGENT’ MEDIA LAW

MOSCOW: The Russian parliament’s upper house on Wednesday backed a law that would require international media outlets to register as “foreign agents,” following US pressure on the Kremlin-backed RT television channel. The legislation, which parliament’s lower house unanimously backed in a fast-tracked vote last week, would allow Moscow to target foreign media outlets in a similar way it has gone for NGOs that receive international funding. Many NGOs have closed in response to the intense scrutiny. Under the new legislation, US and other foreign media would have to present themselves as such on all paperwork and submit to intensive scrutiny of staffing and financing. The legislation will come into effect when it is signed by President Vladimir Putin.

SKYPE JOINS LIST OF APPS ON CHINA BLACKLIST

SHANGHAI: Skype has apparently joined the lengthening list of internet tools on China’s blacklist, disappearing from download stores with Apple saying on Wednesday it was ordered by the government to remove certain apps. Skype is no longer available for download from the Chinese Apple Store or popular Android sites, with Chinese web-users saying it had been gone for weeks. “We have been notified by the Ministry of Public Security that a number of VoIP [voice over internet protocol] apps do not comply with local law, therefore these apps have been removed from the App Store in China,” Apple said in an emailed statement. The company did not specify which laws such apps were found to have violated. China has tightened its already stringent online policing this year, including enacting new rules that require tech companies to store user data inside the country as well as imposing fresh restrictions on what is permissible content.

GUNFIRE, EXPLOSIONS DURING GEORGIA SPECIAL FORCES RAID

TBILISI: Explosions and gunfire were heard in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Wednesday as armed counter-terrorist units raided a multi-storey apartment bloc on the outskirts of the city. Georgia’s state security service said that unspecified suspects opened fire on its counter-terrorist units that were conducting a special operation on the outskirts of Tbilisi. The terse statement did not provide further details. Rustavi-2 television station reported that at least one soldier was hospitalized with gunshot wounds. An Agence France-Presse reporter on the scene heard multiple explosions and heavy gunfire in an area cordoned off by police.