DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, DFWatch — The Ivanishvili government is reducing the length of compulsory military service from fifteen to twelve months.
Defense Minister Irakli Alasania on Tuesday said this will be the first stage of a reform to reduce the length of military service
TBILISI, DFWatch — A large number of clerics from different Orthodox countries will start gathering in Tbilisi tomorrow to mark the 80-year jubilee of the Georgian Patriarch Illia II.
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople is among the guests arriving in Georgia
TBILISI, DFWatch — Georgian troops serving in Afghanistan will not carry out battle functions after 2014, when the ISAF mission will end, but they will help Afghan security structures and army in military training.
Irakli Alasania, Georgia’s Defense Minister,
TBILISI, DFWatch — The new Georgian government has decided to make child delivery completely free from July 1, 2013.
Dimitry Khundadze, head of the parliamentary committee on healthcare, said on Monday that expenses for child delivery will be completely covered
TBILISI, DFWatch — A traditional Alilo procession was held in Tbilisi on Monday to celebrate Christmas according to the Julian Calendar.
Alilo, which is also a Christmas chant, was organized in each region and city of Georgia, as well as different districts
TBILISI, DFWatch — Parliament will go back to work from mid-January in order to start work on a bill about constitutional amendments which will prevent the president from dismissing the government.
Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s government proposes to change
TBILISI, DFWatch — There are restrictions on road traffic in northern Georgia due to heavy snow fall. There is danger of landslide on the road between Kobi and Gudauri, a resort in Kazbegi the mountains, and along the road Mtskheta-Stepandtsminda-Larsi, due to a snow
TBILISI, DFWatch — A group of supporters of the former government have started gathering signatures in support of President Mikheil Saakashvili.
The group has published a petition on its Facebook page which says that according to the constitution, Mikheil Saakashvili
Tbilisi, DF Watch – Georgia marks Christmas on January 7 by Julian calendar by two major picturesque processions in Tbilisi and many other towns of Georgia.
Alilo, a Christmas chant, is organized almost in each district and regions of the country.
TBILISI, DFWatch — Tbilisi City Court Saturday sentenced former Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili in absentia to preliminary detention. Both his Georgian passport and diplomatic passport have been suspended.
He left Georgia after the National Movement’s election