DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, DFWatch–The Central Election Commission in Georgia has confirmed the list of candidates for the by-elections on April 27.
The two major political blocs in Georgia presented their majoritarian candidates one week ago.
The election is needed because three
TBILISI, DFWatch–Michael Aastrup Jensen and Boriss Cilevics from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will arrive in Georgia on Monday for a five-day visit.
On Monday, the co-rapporteurs have planned to hold meetings with Prime Minister Bidzina
TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s president Mikheil Saakashvili is on an official visit to Turkey, and has already held meetings with the Turkish prime minister and ethnic Georgians living in the northern industrial city Bursa.
After meeting with the prime minister,
TBILISI, DFWatch–Friday a round table discussion was held about the rehabilitation of historic Rabati castle in the south of Georgia, but it ended without agreement.
Representatives of the Culture Ministry, arts experts, archeologists, clerics, as well as the Secretary
TBILISI, DFWatch–Parliament has finally passed the bill about common courts after months of discussions. But the law still requires the president’s signature in order to come into force, which it is expected that President Mikheil Saakashvili will refuse to provide.
TBILISI, DFWatch–The de facto government of Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia has released six Georgians who were detained for ‘illegally crossing the border.’ Two of them have been detained since September 19, 2012.
Malkhaz Titvelashvili and Givi
TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian government on Friday defended Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili after he was listed in an article in the Guardian as one of the people who own secret companies registered on the British Virgin Islands.
The reason he didn’t disclose
TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia will conduct a population census November 5-19, 2014.
An action plan is already ready and preparations for the census will start in 2013.
Minister for Regional Development and Infrastructure Davit Narmania and Head of the National
TBILISI, DFWatch–The number of prisoners in Georgia was reduced by 56.2 percent in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, according to the Ministry of Corrections.
The number of prisoners has been a cause of alarm during the last years.
TBILISI, DFWatch–The course of one of the main rivers in Georgia will not be changed, the energy minister said at a meeting with members of President Saakashvili’s party on Thursday.
Mtkvari is the longest river in Georgia, and crosses the whole country from west