Author: Goga Akhalkatsi

The Georgian National Tourism Administration on Friday said CNN travel had included the country’s capital city of Tbilisi among its list of European towns and cities that are “magical at Christmas”. The list covers towns and cities ranging from Austria’s Vienna to Sweden’s Gothenburg that “revel in Christmas like no other place”. The travel section of the outlet describes Tbilisi as a “number one festive destination” with a “vast” Christmas tree unveiled on the central Rustaveli Avenue, nearby Christmas Village and markets among festive highlights. The main day of celebration here is December 31, when locals exchange gifts and a wild, impromptu…

According to the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG), Levan Petriashvili, who was illegally detained by the Russian occupation forces near the Tskhinvali occupation line in the village of Ergneti, Gori municipality, is free and in the territory controlled by the Central Government. Petriashvili was detained on May 15. According to Radio Tavisupleba, after his arrest, his friend Archil Basanidze was also illegally arrested for crossing the occupation line, and the de-facto court in occupied Tskhinvali region ordered both of them to be remanded in custody on May 29. Basanidze was released on October 25. To secure Petriashvili’s release from illegal detention, the SSSG actively used the Hotline mechanism,…

More than half of Georgian Dream’s donors have ties to alcohol-producing companies, many of which have received government subsidies, loans, or contracts. This is according to the newsletter published by Transparency International – Georgia, a watchdog. The newsletter provides a quarterly overview of the donations made by political parties from July 1 to September 30, 2023. According to TI-Georgia, altogether the parties received a total of GEL 1,901,299 during the reporting period, four times more than in the previous quarter (GEL 453,336). Georgian Dream got 65% of these donations – GEL 1,238,000, up from GEL 778,000 the previous quarter. The United National…

Brussels (3/12) Governments may be doing great while the people suffer. Bombing of the Nordstream 2 pipeline, carrying cheap Russian natural gas to industry and consumers in Europe, is exerting a cascading effect on companies and employment, eventually to be reflected in rising places and sharpening inflation. Russia is steadily experiencing price increases for a variety of goods and services, Russian media report. Is there obviously not a link to the sanctions placed on Russia and the seizure of Russian funds and savings abroad? Punishment for Russia’s “Special Military Operation” to purportedly protect Russian-speaking citizens in eastern Ukraine from state…

A new public opinion poll commissioned by the International Republican Institute (IRI) and released on November 15 shows strong support of Georgian citizens for EU and NATO membership. The polls also show support towards Georgian Dream party, pro-Western foreign policy and further dialogue with Russia. 54% of respondents said that the country is heading in the wrong direction, while 39% noted that it is going in the right direction. The figures happen to be improved compared to the previous poll conducted in April 2023. 55% of respondents consider economy and unemployment to be the most important problem facing Georgia, based on their first and second…

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday said his country and Georgia could present themselves as a “united, strategically important team in Europe”, Azerbaijani media outlet Trend.az reported. Azerbaijan and Georgia are close partners. Our partnership is not [only] confined to energy”, Aliyev noted, stressing that “significant” issues were discussed during his and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s “regular” visits between the two countries. Azerbaijan “fully” understands Georgia’s desire to join the European Union and wishes “Georgian friends” success in this regard, he added. Aliyev congratulated Georgia on the European Commission’s recommendation to the European Council last month to grant the…

On November 14, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin called for “more energetic work” by the co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions with official Tbilisi to prevent “new aggravations” on the occupation line near Tskhinvali/South Ossetia region. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Galuzin made these remarks while meeting the Co-Chairs of the Geneva International Discussions (GID), from OSCE, EU, and UN. The meeting was held in preparation for the next round of the GID slated for early December 2023. The Russian diplomat’s intervention comes after the Russian occupation border troops shot and killed a Georgian citizen, Tamaz Ginturi, on November 6 near the village…

The Pentagon has quietly ramped up military aid to Israel, delivering on requests that include more laser-guided missiles for its Apache gunship fleet, as well as 155mm shells, night-vision devices, bunker-buster munitions and new army vehicles, according to an internal Defense Department list. The weapons pipeline to Israel is extending beyond the well-publicized provision of Iron Dome interceptors and Boeing Co. smart bombs. It continues even as Biden administration officials increasingly caution Israel about trying to avoid civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. The arms sought by Israel as it fights Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the US…

Women have long been projected to outlive men — not just in the U.S. but around the world, both in more developed and underdeveloped countries. Now that gender gap appears to be growing stateside, with women expected to live nearly six years longer than men, according to new research. The study looked at the contributions of COVID-19 and other underlying causes of death to the life expectancy gender gap from 2010 to 2021. It found that the difference in how long men and women were expected to live increased by 0.23 years from 2010 to 2019 and 0.70 years from 2019 to 2021.…

Everything’s coming up Copilot — including Bing. Today at Microsoft Ignite 2023, the company renamed Bing Chat, the AI-powered chatbot it launched on Bing earlier this year, to Copilot in Bing. Meanwhile, the premium, corporate-focused version of Bing Chat, which was previously called Bing Chat Enterprise, has also been rebranded to Copilot. Why the name changes? Not to cause confusion, Microsoft swears — despite the fact that the company now has roughly a dozen products that share the Copilot brand. “Renaming ‘Bing Chat Enterprise’ to ‘Copilot’ reflects our vision to create a unified Copilot experience for consumer and commercial customers,” Caitlin Roulston, director of communications…