Author: DFWatch staff - Page 205

Contest for journalists ‘Leaders of Participation’

July 3, 2016 by DFWatch staff

The Other Space Foundation and DF Watch invite journalists to participate in the contest ‘Leaders of Participation’ for the best journalistic work about participatory budgeting in the context of participatory democracy in Georgia.

Two flights diverted from Tbilisi airport as city braces for more extreme weather

July 2, 2016 by DFWatch staff

TBILISI, DFWatch–A thunderstorm led to two planes being diverted from Tbilisi airport on Friday. One year ago, extreme flooding caused massive damage.

DFWatch spoke to one of the passengers of a flight that should have landed in Tbilisi but was diverted

Georgians may get visa-free travel to Europe by late September: Steinmeier

July 2, 2016 by DFWatch staff

TBILISI, DFWatch–The European Union will begin offering visa-free short-term travel to Georgians in the end of September, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday during a visit to Tbilisi.

Steinmeier said on Friday that the visa-free rules

Road connecting Russia and Georgia will be closed for another two weeks

July 1, 2016 by DFWatch staff

IPN_riger_tergi_landslide_23june_2016 — (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–The road through Dariali Valley in northern Georgia will be open for traffic in about two weeks, Infrastructure Minister Nodar Javakhishvili said on Thursday.

For the moment, the road connecting Russia and Georgia is cut off due to a landslide

Kerry to visit Tbilisi on July 6

July 1, 2016 by DFWatch staff

john_kerry_-_official_portrait — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. (Official photo.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will come to Georgia and have talks with leaders and opposition, before heading for a NATO summit in Warsaw which begins July 8.

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili announced Kerry’s visit on Thursday during a dinner

Was Istanbul airport attack organized by militant with links to Georgia?

June 30, 2016 by DFWatch staff

axmed chataevis 2012-12-06 — Akhmed Chatayev. (Interpressnews.)

akhmed_chatayev_one_leg — Chatayev was missing his left leg and right arm as he appeared outside the court building in Tbilisi in December, 2012. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–The terrorist attack at Istanbul Atatürk Airport on 28 June, which claimed the lives of 44 victims and three suicide bombers and left 239 people wounded, is believed to have been organized by Akhmed Chatayev, a Russian national

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Opinion polls differ wildly 3 months ahead of Georgian election

June 30, 2016 by DFWatch staff

zurab_bigvava — Zurab Bigvava. (Facebook.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Two opinion polls show vastly different levels of support for the two main contenders in Georgia’s parliamentary election, scheduled for October 8.

A poll conducted by Georgian Dream gives the party a lead of 35 percent, with the United National

Another Georgian Islamist militant killed in Syria

June 30, 2016 by DFWatch staff

TBILISI, DFWatch–A 39-year-old man from Pankisi Valley in northeastern Georgia has reportedly been killed fighting on for the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

The death of Omar Margoshvili, reported by Information Centre of Kakheti on Wednesday,

22-year-old Georgian Islamist militant killed in Syria

June 29, 2016 by DFWatch staff

TBILISI, DFWatch–A 22-year-old Georgian man is reported to have died in the Syrian war, fighting alongside one of the Islamist rebel groups.

Information Centre of Kakheti (ICK) wrote on Tuesday that Aslanbeg Borchashvili was from Dumasturi, a village in Pankisi Valley

Georgian parliament gives amnesty to 116 elderly prisoners

June 28, 2016 by DFWatch staff

gubaz_sanikidze — The bill’s author Gubaz Sanikidze says it is a humane act toward elderly people. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian parliament on June 24 passed an amnesty bill which will release female prisoners older than 65 and male prisoners over 70, if they are convicted of lesser crimes.

The bill was proposed by the National Forum faction in parliament