Student elections suspended

KUWAIT: A decision to indefinitely suspend student elections at universities and colleges was taken by the Government Universities Council at a meeting attended by Education Minister Nader Al-Jallal on Monday. The ban came after student elections allegedly turned into tribal and sectarian disputes, threatening to divide the society. The Universities Council said the decision came after the student union movement witnessed a “deviation” from its original goals, signaling that the election process has ceased to serve the public interests of Kuwaiti students and “no longer helps to strengthen the democratic principles”.

Instagram rolls out teen accounts

SAN FRANCISCO: Meta on Tuesday announced the creation of “Teen Accounts”, designed to better protect underage users from the dangers associated with Instagram. Under the new policy, users aged 13 to 15 will have private accounts by default, with tighter safeguards on who can contact them and what content they can see. Teens who want a public profile and fewer restrictions – because they want to become influencers, for example – will need to obtain permission from their parents. Under-18 Instagram users will be notified to close the app after 60 minutes each day. The accounts will also come with a default sleep mode that will silence notifications overnight. — Agencies

Court pauses ‘bulldozer justice’

NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court ordered authorities on Tuesday to pause demolishing private property as punitive action against people accused of criminal activity, condemning the so-called “bulldozer justice”. In a hearing last week, the court said the practice amounted to “running a bulldozer over the laws of the land”. “Alleged involvement in crime is no ground for the demolition of a property,” the judges added. Rights groups have condemned the tactic as an unlawful exercise in collective punishment, often targeting India’s minority Muslim community. – AFP