TBILISI, August 9 – A planned Georgian law to protect national values is drawing warnings that it could restrict criticism of public figures, writers and other cultural icons. The package, whose exact wording has not been specified, is expected to be introduced when parliament begins its autumn session. Georgian Dream lawmaker Archil Gorduladze said work … Read more
TBILISI, August 6 – Georgian police have detained two teenage girls in the investigation into the fatal beating of teacher Giga Avaliani, nearly ten months after the attack and after several other defendants had already been convicted. The two were detained on Wednesday night, Interpressnews reported. The first girl, reportedly 16 years old, is a … Read more
TBILISI, August 5 – Large parts of Georgia lost electricity again on Wednesday evening, marking the country’s third major power outage in less than two weeks. The Georgian State Electrosystem said the latest shutdown happened during technical work at the Enguri hydropower plant following the nationwide grid failures of July 24 and July 25. According … Read more
TBILISI, August 5 – Georgia’s opposition United National Movement has scrapped its top leadership posts and replaced them with a temporary governing council as part of a reform process. The decision was approved at a party congress on Wednesday, Rezonansi reported. The posts of party chair, secretary general and other senior leadership positions were abolished. … Read more
TBILISI, August 5 – Georgia says it is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Nauru after the Pacific island state ended its ties with the Russian-backed authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said on Wednesday that Nauru’s government made the decision on July 21. He described it as a victory for … Read more
TBILISI, August 4 – Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has accused opposition politicians and activists of using “Russophobia” as a political tool, triggering a sharp backlash just days before the anniversary of the 2008 war with Russia. In a social media post on Tuesday, Kobakhidze argued that many of today’s most vocal anti-Russian figures had … Read more
TBILISI, August 4 – Georgian security officials have arrested two company directors accused of supplying horse meat to public kindergartens while billing it as beef. The alleged fraud involved kindergartens in the municipalities of Marneuli and Kareli, the State Security Service said on Tuesday. According to the agency, the companies BGM 1 and Georgian Meat … Read more
TBILISI, August 4 – Georgia’s ruling party is preparing possible new legislation to protect “national identity”, a move supporters say is needed to defend traditional values and critics warn could deepen social divisions. The Georgian Dream initiative follows the creation of several groups in recent days claiming to defend Georgian identity, national unity, traditions and … Read more
TBILISI, August 3 – Georgia says it is ready to continue political dialogue with the United States and wants to rebuild the countries’ strategic partnership “from a clean sheet,” Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili said. Her comments followed criticism from the US Embassy over Georgia’s creation of a unit to combat hate speech. According to Rezonansi, … Read more
TBILISI, August 3 – The planned deep-sea port at Anaklia has moved to its next stage of construction, as the first dredging vessel arrives in the project’s maritime zone. The planned new port at Anaklia, on Georgia’s Black Sea coast, is considered a major step toward enhancing the country’s role in transiting cargo between Europe … Read more