Monday, April 6, 2026

Georgia turns to the delicate question of choosing a new patriarch

TBILISI, March 28 – After the burial of Patriarch Ilia II last Sunday, debate in Georgia has shifted from national mourning to the question of who will eventually lead the country’s powerful Orthodox Church. The core official message so far is that the decision belongs to the Holy Synod, while church officials have also tried … Read more

Foreign nationals among nine arrested in drug crackdown

TBILISI, March 28 – Georgian law enforcement authorities said Saturday they had arrested nine people on drug-related charges in a multi-region operation. According to the ministry, the arrests were carried out at different times by officers from the Central Criminal Police Department as well as police units in Adjara, Tbilisi, and Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti. The ministry … Read more

Man arrested after fatal assault in Dusheti

TBILISI, March 28 – Georgian police have arrested a man in connection with a fatal assault in the mountainous Dusheti municipality, after what the Interior Ministry described as a domestic dispute turned deadly. The ministry said officers from the Mtskheta-Mtianeti Police Department’s Dusheti district division detained a 39 year old suspect on suspicion of intentional … Read more

Tbilisi activist gets two days in jail for sidewalk protest

TBILISI, March 26 – A Tbilisi court on Thursday sentenced activist Mariam Madzgharashvili to two days of administrative detention for a protest on a sidewalk, as reported by Interpressnews. Tbilisi City Court found Madzgharashvili guilty of an administrative offense, a fast-track public order penalty system left over from the Soviet Union. Georgia’s political opposition has … Read more

State Department envoy meets Tbilisi’s opposition

TBILISI, March 26 – A U.S. State Department envoy met with the Georgian opposition on Thursday, on a trip that also includes contacts with the government, the private sector and civil society groups. The visiting official was identified as Peter Andreoli, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. According to Interpressnews, the … Read more

Georgia toughens rules for soldiers who quit contracts early

TBILISI, March 25 – Georgia’s Defense Ministry has submitted amendments to parliament that would tighten the rules for people leaving military contracts early, including automatic transfer into eight months of compulsory national service in many cases. According to Interpressnews, the proposed changes would be made to Georgia’s Defense Code and would affect several issues linked … Read more

Woman dies of suspected food poisoning from home preserves

TBILISI, March 24 – A 30-year-old woman has died in eastern Georgia after what local reports described as suspected poisoning from a preserved food product, while her husband and child were also hospitalized, Interpressnews reported on Tuesday. The case was reported from Gurjaani municipality, in Georgia’s wine-growing Kakheti region. According to Interpressnews, the woman is … Read more

Georgia scores higher on freedom and happiness

TBILISI, March 24 – The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party said Tuesday that the country recorded its highest ever score in the latest World Happiness Report. GD officials claimed the latest ranking results covering 147 countries, compiled by Oxford University, highlight a strong progress in living conditions and public confidence in the South Caucasus nation. … Read more