DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, March 23 – Georgia has cut tobacco use over the past decade, but health advocates say the country is now facing a wave of teenage use of e-cigarettes. That warning came on Monday from the Tobacco Control Alliance, which said overall smoking prevalence in Georgia remains high at 24.8%. The group also said use … Read more
TBILISI, March 23 – Georgia on Sunday buried Patriarch Ilia II, following a week of mourning for the country’s long-time spiritual leader. Ilia II died late on March 17 at the age of 93. The Holy Synod later decided that he would be buried on Sunday, March 22, at Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi, in line … Read more
TBILISI, March 20 – Muslims in Georgia marked the Eid al-Fitr holiday on Friday, gathering for prayers in Batumi and other mosques across the Adjara region after completing a month-long fast. Since early morning, worshippers assembled at the Central Mosque in Batumi, where they held holiday prayers to mark the occasion. The celebration came after … Read more
TBILISI, March 19 – The imprisoned former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili has asked to be taken to the funeral of Patriarch Ilia II, saying he wants to attend as both a friend of the late church leader and as Georgia’s third president. Saakashvili announced the request on social media on Wednesday, stating that he had … Read more
TBILISI, March 19 – Georgia’s mourning for Patriarch Ilia II moved into a public phase on Wednesday and Thursday, as the late church leader was transferred to Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi (pictured) and the cathedral was opened around the clock for mourners. Ilia II, who led the Georgian Orthodox Church for nearly half a … Read more
TBILISI, March 18 – Ilia II, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia and one of the most influential figures in the country’s modern history, died Tuesday night at the age of 93, church and state officials said. The official announcement was made at the Caucasus Medical Center by Metropolitan Shio, the patriarchal locum tenens. According to … Read more
TBILISI, March 16 – Nearly three months after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze criticized high retail markups, lawmakers are pressing supermarket chains to explain how shelf prices are actually formed. At the parliamentary commission’s seventh working session on Monday, representatives of large retail operators including Carrefour, Ori Nabiji, Nikora and Daily Group were called in to … Read more
TBILISI, March 14 – Georgian police are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found inside a car outside of Tbilisi on Friday, according to Interpressnews. The news agency reported that the body was discovered in a vehicle in the village Tabakhmela, about 10km south of the Georgian capital, and that the dead … Read more
TBILISI, March 13 – A fresh political fight broke out in Georgia after the OSCE published its long-awaited report under the so-called Moscow Mechanism, saying the country experienced a drop in democratic standards during the period under review. The report, which was made public Thursday evening, examines developments in Georgia since the spring of 2024. … Read more
TBILISI, March 12 – One of the two oil tankers that caught fire overnight near Iraq was carrying 22 Georgian crew members. All of them were safely evacuated, according to Georgian media reports. Interpressnews, citing Greek media, reported that the vessel was the Zefyros, a Maltese-flagged tanker owned by a company in Greece. The report … Read more