Police and protesters clashed in the ex-Soviet state of Georgia amid protests against a controversial foreign agents law. Anger was not just limited to the streets, though, as a fistfight even broke out in parliament over the legislation. The draft law, which has received its initial backing in Parliament, would require any organization that gets more than 20% of its funding from abroad to register as foreign agents or face heavy fines. Opponents have compared the bill to a draconian Russian law that has enabled the Kremlin to crack down on dissent in the media and civil society. The Georgian government has faced increasing international criticism in recent years over perceived backsliding, and pro-European Georgians fear that the bill, if passed, would damage their country's chance of joining the EU. The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the law is incompatible with EU values and standards. The bill has the backing of the ruling Georgian Dream Party, so it's expected to pass, though the country's president has backed protesters and said she'll veto it.
Back in September 2022, a series of underwater explosions in the Baltic Sea caused significant damage to the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which connect Russia to Germany. It's still a largely unsolved mystery. However, this week, an explosive story broke first in The New York Times, saying that new intelligence suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the sabotage. But first, let's go back to September last year, within the wider context of the war in Ukraine. The bombing of the pipeline, unsurprisingly, fueled a huge amount of speculation as to who was responsible in the immediate aftermath, the likes of Ukraine and Poland, without evidence pointed towards Russia, who in turn accused the U.K. without evidence, too. For the record, Russia and the U.K. deny any involvement. There was also speculation that it could have been the Americans, but they, too, deny it. The incident is still being investigated, notably by Sweden and Denmark, as the explosions were within their exclusive economic zones. So what's new? Well, according to multiple media outlets, new intelligence seen by US and European officials suggest that a pro-Ukrainian sabotage group carried out the brazen attacks on the pipeline. German investigators, according to the newspaper Die Zeit, believe a team of six people carried out the attack using a yacht hired by a company registered in Poland and owned by two Ukrainians.
The New York Times cited US officials as saying that they think the team was made up of Ukrainians and or Russian nationals who oppose Russia's President Vladimir Putin. It's important to note that The New York Times said US officials say they have no evidence suggesting that the Ukrainian government was involved or that the perpetrators were acting on the government's orders. Following the report, Ukraine denied any involvement and Russia said it wants an independent international inquiry. Obviously the intelligence details are still sketchy and we don't know how much weight intelligence services are putting on the new information. Investigating parties have drawn no conclusions and no one seems to know that much more about the potential perpetrators or who may have directed them than we've outlined here. Nevertheless, any suggestion of direct or indirect Ukrainian involvement does make things a bit awkward between Ukraine and its allies, particularly Germany. Governments on both sides of the Atlantic are remaining cautious and saying that the best thing to do is wait for the investigations. To conclude, though, who knows how long that might take?
Five women are suing the US State of Texas over its near-total ban on abortion, saying they were denied the procedure despite a serious risk to their lives. It's the first time that pregnant women have taken action against anti-abortion laws passed since the Supreme Court overturned and removed the constitutional protection for abortion rights last year. Texas, the second most popular state in the US, bans abortion with the sole exception of when the mother's life is at risk. There is no exception for rape or incest. The lawsuit, which is backed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, states that despite the exception, doctors are refusing to carry out abortions, even in extreme circumstances, due to fear of prosecution and the potential of huge fines losing their medical licenses and up to 99 years in prison. Four of the five women suing the state ultimately left Texas to get abortions in other states.
In Thailand today, a man has been jailed for selling calendars with rubber ducks on it. Since 2020, the yellow rubber duck has become a symbol of protest for pro-democracy protesters. Thailand has strict laws that state that anyone who defames insults or threatens the king or his close relatives can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. And it was under this law that the man was arrested. In the cartoons, on the calendars, ducks depicted the king in one image. A yellow duck is surrounded by dogs and is wearing royal sashes. Above the duck are the words. Very brave, very talented. Thank you. Another image shows six ducks in riot gear titled Royal Calendar Special Edition. A spokesperson at Human Rights Watch has said that this case sends a message to all Thais and to the rest of the world that Thailand is moving further away from not closer to becoming a rights respecting democracy.
