Author: Madea Tsintsadze

A prominent rights group in Georgia is sounding the alarm over the use of political violence and intimidation during the run up to the country’s October 26 parliamentary elections. The Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), a Tbilisi-headquartered NGO, has documented numerous “incidents of violence, verbal confrontations, and obstruction of campaigning” since the start of the election season in August, according to a September 30 press release. A majority of the recorded incidents involved actions taken against opposition politicians challenging the incumbent Georgian Dream party. “Conducting elections in a peaceful and safe environment should be a priority for the country,” the GYLA assessment…

The Atlanta City Council is planning a vote Monday on whether to approve millions of dollars for the development of the controversial Atlanta Public Safety Training Center less than a week after law enforcement arrested three organizers of a bail fund for people protesting the facility’s construction. The meeting is expected to draw dozens, if not hundreds of critics who plan to rally and speak out against the proposed project they’ve nicknamed “Cop City.”  Monday’s vote is whether the City Council should give $31 million for the development of the $90 million training center. The Atlanta Police Foundation is to foot the…

Kyiv (8/07 – 62.5) Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv was hit in renewed strikes by Russian terror attacks with rockets against Ukrainian targets. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 41 civilians dead, seven of them children, and many others were injured. Search parties combed the debris and continued to look for the killed and injured. Volunteers are searching for the destroyed children hospital on the ground. Nurses and doctors are working to save and evacuate patients and visitors. Cries of young patients are heard rising from the debris with emergency services not reaching them. The Russian terror attack comes…

New York. (11 June – 31) US federal agents have arrested eight Tajikistan nationals in the US on terrorism charges. The arrests, carried out by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, spanned across Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia. These actions coincide with recent alerts from US intelligence officials about a terrorist plot. ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, is designated as a terrorist organization by numerous countries and international organizations, including the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union. The ability to surveillance certain foreign targets has been a subject of intense debate in Congress,…

The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is hearing witnesses in connection with the information presented a month ago by the Minister of Defense of BiH Zukan Helez about the existence of military camps in which there are also persons from Russia on the territory of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity. The minister said in November that he has evidence for the claims that there are military training camps in the area of Rogatica, in eastern BiH, and in the area of the mountain Maglic, of which he claims to have photographs. He has not yet published the evidence.…

Former President of Ukraine and Verkhovna Rada deputy Petro Poroshenko announced on December 1 that he was not allowed to leave the country on a foreign business trip. The Security Service of Ukraine said that Poroshenko planned to meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Russia was going to use this meeting against Ukraine. “Therefore, the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada did not provide permission for a foreign business trip to the Ukrainian deputy, who was supposed to become an instrument in the hands of the Russian special services,” the department said in a statement. Poroshenko said that the permission to go on a…

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, in a ranting speech before a presidential election campaign, cast Moscow’s military action in Ukraine as an existential battle against purported attempts by the West to destroy Russia. Putin, who has been in power for more than two decades and is the longest-serving Russian leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, is expected to soon declare his intention to seek another six-year term in a presidential election next March. “We are defending the security and well-being of our people, the highest, historical right to be Russia — a strong, independent power, a country-civilization,” Putin said, accusing the U.S.…

Moscow has become a key ally for Myanmar’s military regime, providing it with weapons and diplomatic support. Myanmar coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has met Russia’s navy chief as the two countries prepared to hold their first ever joint maritime exercises off Myanmar’s Andaman coast. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, in a front-page report, showed Min Aung Hlaing saluting an honour guard of Russian sailors from Moscow’s Pacific Fleet. The paper said Min Aung Hlaing was then taken on board the antisubmarine destroyer Admiral Tributs where Russian navy chief Admiral Nikolai Evmenov explained the ship’s capabilities…

More than 200,000 Georgians will get part of a $15 million margin refund this month after their power company sent out checks. According to Jackson Electric Membership Corporation, 235,000 current and former members of the company will get a portion of their money back as a margin refund check in December. Since its founding in 1938, Jackson EMC said the December refunds will put the company’s returns to customers at a total of $204 million. “Jackson EMC operates at cost, which means our primary focus is member service, not profits. Crossing the $200 million mark in returned margin refunds this…

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday named the first woman chief of staff as the current officeholder prepares to leave to work for Georgia Power Co. Kemp said Lauren Curry will take over the post on Jan. 15, when Trey Kilpatrick departs. The Republican governor said Curry, currently deputy chief of staff, will be the first woman to fill that role for a Georgia governor. Georgia Power, the largest unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., is hiring Kilpatrick as senior vice president of external affairs. Curry was earlier chief operating officer and director of government affairs and policy for Kemp. She’s…