Page 3 - Lawmakers

Australian lawmakers call for warmer relations with 'self-ruled' Taiwan

On a visit to Taiwan, a delegation of six Australian lawmakers called on Tuesday for warmer relations with the self-ruled island increasingly threatened by Beijing. The visit comes as Australia has been working at recalibrating its relationship with China, which had been tense in the past few years over disputes on the origin of COVID-19. China in response had imposed tariff barriers on several Australian exports, such as barley. Paul Fletcher, a lawmaker with Australia's Liberal Party, lauded the fact that the lawmaker delegation crossed party lines. The two major parties in Australia are both represented and we are here to further the warm relationship between Australia and Taiwan, Fletcher said. They also discussed strengthening economic cooperation with Taiwan, particularly in clean energy, and expressed an interest in Taiwan's semi-conductor industry. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory. Taiwan, with a population of 23 million compared to China's 1.4 billion, has ne

Cut spend by 8%, build wall to avert October 1 shutdown: Kevin McCarthy

McCarthy immediately faced opposition from some GOP ultra-conservatives that could doom the plan

US lawmakers wary of Zuckerberg's Threads but about half have signed up

Members of Congress for now appear to be largely putting those concerns aside rather than risk missing out of a popular new communications tool

Consulate attack: Indian-American bodies condemn incident, seek probe

American lawmakers and several Indian-American community organisations have denounced the recent attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco and called for a thorough probe into the incident so that the perpetrators are brought to justice. While the right to protest is ingrained in the US Constitution, no one has the right to engage in violence, they said in separate statements and tweets on Friday. They also condemned the threats issued to Indian diplomats, including India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, by separatist Sikhs and called on the Biden administration to ensure safety of foreign diplomats. A video by Khalistan supporters, dated July 2 and posted on Twitter, showed the act of arson at the Indian consulate in San Francisco. The video, with the words "violence begets violence" emblazoned over it, also showed news articles related to the death of Canada-based Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, one of India's most-wanted terror

Lawbreakers to lawmakers? Here're candidates with criminal cases in 2023

The parties have to offer the reasons for selection, and not just 'winnability' in line with the ECI directives

Plea in SC against automatic disqualification upon conviction for 2 years

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the "automatic disqualification" of lawmakers upon their conviction and being sentenced to a jail term for two years or more according to section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act. The plea, filed by a Kerala-based social activist, said the immediate reason for approaching the apex court was a recent development related to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a member of Parliament from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, after he was convicted by a court in Gujarat's Surat in a 2019 criminal defamation case. The petitioner, Aabha Muralidharan, has sought a declaration that the automatic disqualification under section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 is ultra vires the Constitution for being "arbitrary" and "illegal". The petition has claimed that an automatic disqualification of people's representatives of elected legislative bodies restrains them from "freely discharging their duties

As AI booms, lawmakers struggle to understand the technology

The inaction over A.I. is part of a familiar pattern, in which technology is again outstripping U.S. rule-making and regulation

S Korean lawmakers impeach interior and safety minister over crowd crush

South Korea's opposition-controlled parliament on Wednesday voted to impeach the country's interior and safety minister, Lee Sang-min, holding him responsible for government failures in disaster planning and the response that likely contributed to the high death toll in a crowd crush that killed nearly 160 people in October. The impeachment suspends Lee from his duties and the country's Constitutional Court has 180 days to rule on whether to unseat him for good or give him back the job. Lee is seen as a key ally of conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose office issued an irritated response to his impeachment, accusing opposition lawmakers of abandoning legislative principles and creating shameful history. Lee issued a statement expressing regret after lawmakers voted 179-109 in favor of impeaching him and said he would defend his case in the Constitutional Court.

Pak EC suspends 271 lawmakers for not submitting financial statements

Pakistan's top election body has suspended the membership of 271 lawmakers across the country for not submitting their statements of assets and liabilities. The statements have to be filed by December 31 every year, and the lawmakers were directed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to submit their financial statements up to June 30, 2022, by January 16, 2023. It also warned that failing to submit the financial statements would result in the suspension of their respective memberships. The ECP said on Monday that those targeted include 136 Members of the National Assembly, 21 senators, and 114 Members of Provincial Assemblies.

Collective effort essential for achieving prosperity, says Nepal's PM

Nepal's newly-appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' said on Monday that collective effort was essential for achieving prosperity as he exuded confidence that the new parliament will be successful in meeting the expectations of the people. Speaking at the first meeting of the House of Representatives after the November general elections, Prime Minister Prachanda also said that the parliament should be taken as an "examination centre" by the lawmakers. President Bidya Devi Bhandari had called the first session of the new Parliament on January 9. Prachanda told the lawmakers that the people had elected them on the condition that "we deliver good governance and prosperity, and to make it meaningful, parliament should be taken as an examination centre," My Republica newspaper reported. He stated that all political parties should stand together to fulfill the common promises of good governance and prosperity made to the people during the elections. He also made it clea

19 state legislatures have less than 10% women lawmakers: Govt data

Women representation in parliament and most state legislatures across the country is below 15 per cent with 19 of state assemblies having less than 10 per cent women lawmakers, according to a government data. The state legislatures which have more than 10 per cent women lawmakers are Bihar (10.70), Chhattisgarh (14.44), Haryana (10), Jharkhand (12.35), Punjab (11.11), Rajasthan (12), Uttarakhand (11.43), Uttar Pradesh (11.66), West Bengal (13.70) and Delhi (11.43). According to the data presented by Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju in the Lok Sabha on December 9, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have less than 10 per cent women legislators. In the recently held Gujarat assembly elections, 8.2 per cent of the elected representatives are women, whereas, in Himachal Pradesh, only one woman has been elected this time. According to the data, the share of women MPs

For the first time, women outnumber men in New Zealand's parliament

For the first time in New Zealand's history, a majority of lawmakers are women. Soraya Peke-Mason from the liberal Labour Party was sworn in to Parliament on Tuesday, replacing former Speaker Trevor Mallard, who left to become ambassador to Ireland. With the resignation of another male lawmaker, it has tipped the balance in Parliament to 60 women and 59 men. Whilst it's a special day for me, I think it's historic for New Zealand, Peke-Mason told reporters. The milestone places New Zealand among a half-dozen nations in the world that this year can claim at least 50% female representation in their parliaments, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Other nations include Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates. Globally, about 26% of lawmakers are women, according to the union. New Zealand has a history of strong female representation. In 1893, it became the first nation to allow women to vote. Current Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is the nation's third fema

US lawmaker introduces bill to ban Chinese app TikTok on govt devices

The bill also looks to prohibit the installation and use of TikTok at military installations and national security agencies CIA, NSA, FBI, etc

FB whistleblower forms non-profit for training lawyers against Big Tech

Haugen, a whistleblower who exposed Facebook and testified in front of lawmakers about illegal activities, is raising up to $5 million to kick off a nonprofit organisation that will train lawyers

Ukrainian Parliament votes to extend martial law for 30 days until May 25

The presidential proposal on the prolongation of the martial law was supported by 300 lawmakers in the 450-seat assembly, Xinhua news agency reported, citing Zheleznyak's statement on Telegram

US lawmakers refer Amazon to DOJ for potential criminal conduct

A bipartisan group of members of the US House Judiciary Committee has sent a stinging letter to alert the Department of Justice to "potentially criminal conduct by Amazon and its senior executives".

Instagram CEO faces lawmakers amid anger over potential harm

The CEO of Facebook's Instagram is facing lawmakers angry over revelations of how the popular photo-sharing platform can harm some young users and demanding that the company commit to making changes.

United States lawmakers reach agreement to fund govt until Feb 18

The Congress has until midnight on Friday to pass a measure that would continue funding federal government operations during the pandemic

Authorities call fatal stabbing of UK lawmaker David Amess terrorist act

A long-serving member of Parliament was stabbed to death Friday during a meeting with constituents at a church in England, in what police said was a terrorist incident. A 25-year-old man was arrested in connection with the attack, which united Britain's fractious politicians in shock and sorrow. Counterterrorism officers were leading the investigation into the slaying of Conservative lawmaker David Amess. In a statement early Saturday, the Metropolitan Police described the attack as terrorism and said the early investigation has revealed a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism. Amess, 69, was attacked around midday Friday at a Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea, a town about 40 miles (62 kilometers) east of London. Paramedics tried without success to save him. Police arrested the suspect and recovered a knife. They did not identify the suspect, who was held on suspicion of murder. Police said they believed the suspect acted alone, and were not seeking anyone else in ...

Lawmakers, Indian Americans welcome nomination of Garcetti as Indian envoy

Powerful US lawmakers and eminent members of the Indian-American community have welcomed the nomination of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as the country's next envoy to India