Georgian police clear protesters against foreign agent bill
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Riot police in Georgia waded into demonstrators and cleared them from around part of the ex-Soviet state’s parliament on Tuesday as lawmakers debated a bill on “foreign agents” that the opposition denounces as authoritarian. The bill would require organisations receiving more than 20 per cent of their funding from abroad to register […]
Protesters rally, lawmakers brawl as Georgia debates “foreign agent” bill
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Thousands of Georgians protested on Monday and lawmakers came to blows as ruling party legislators gave the initial go-ahead for debate on a bill on “foreign agents” that has been criticised by Western and domestic critics as Russian-inspired. More than 5,000 demonstrators massed outside Georgia’s Soviet-built parliament building, demanding the government withdraw […]
Snapshot: Trinity Gergeti Church, Kazbegi, Georgia
See IMAM GOZAL’s image…
Savannah plans a supersized 200th anniversary celebration of its beloved St Patrick’s Day parade
Savannah, Georgia, US AP There was no green beer, no pickup trucks towing parade floats or throngs of tourists in gaudy green outfits. Instead, just a few dozen of Savannah’s early Irish immigrants marched a half-mile from a hotel near the riverfront to attend a special service at what then was the city’s only Roman […]
Russian activists abroad pin hopes on Yulia Navalnaya
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Like many other young Russians, Anastasia Panchenko’s political awakening came courtesy of Alexei Navalny. Left reeling by his sudden death, she is looking now to his widow Yulia to take on the mantle of Russian opposition leader. Since Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony last Friday, Panchenko has been coming most […]
Georgian woman ordered detained for defacing Stalin icon in Tbilisi
Reuters A court in Georgia has ordered five days’ detention for a woman who defaced a religious icon depicting Soviet leader Josef Stalin, an act which ignited large protests last month in the capital Tbilisi, her lawyers said. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association confirmed in an email to Reuters that Natalia Peradze, also known as […]
US warns of Russian effort to tilt 2024 elections in Europe against Ukraine
Washington DC, US Reuters The United States believes Russia will conduct “information operations” aimed at turning opinion in Europe against Ukraine as countries across the continent go to the polls this year, the head of the State Department’s office for disinformation said on Thursday. Dozens of countries worldwide will elect new leaders in 2024, including […]
Protest in Georgian capital amid anger over “desecration” of Stalin icon
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters A large protest was held in Tbilisi on Saturday to demand harsh punishment for a woman accused of defacing a religious icon depicting Soviet dictator Josef Stalin which was recently-installed in the Georgian capital. The suspect is alleged to have splashed paint on the icon, which was on display in the city’s […]
Defacing of Stalin icon exposes deep divisions in his home country Georgia
Tbilisi. GeorgiaReuters Georgian authorities are investigating the defacing of a recently-installed icon in Tbilisi’s main cathedral depicting Josef Stalin, a case that has exposed deep divisions in Georgia over the former Soviet dictator’s legacy in his homeland. An unknown culprit splashed paint on Tuesday on the icon, which has been displayed in Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity […]
Lifestory: Meet the Eastern Orthodox bishop who loves animated movies
Bishop Isaiah is the unlikely founder of a successful animation film festival that takes place every September in a rural community in Georgia. CLÉMENT GIRARDOT, writing for Religion News Service, reports…