Tbilisi, Georgia News

The Georgian Foreign Ministry declared on Monday that the presidential elections held in its former republic of Abkhazia on Saturday were "illegitimate and illegal." The vote was the first since Russia recognized Abkhazia's independence in August 2008 after a brief war with Georgia.

The competition is organized to mark the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis.

Diggers tore into a Soviet World War Two memorial in Georgia on Thursday to make way for a new parliament in the former Soviet republic, angering Russia and opponents of pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Georgia said on December 15 that fourteen of its citizens remain in illegal detention in breakaway South Ossetia.

The Georgian government condemned breakaway Abkhazia's December 12 presidential election as invalid, but the Georgian official in charge of relations with Sukhumi indicated that Tbilisi is nevertheless relatively content with the outcome.

Russia halted gas supplies to ally Armenia after bombs were found under a pipeline in the volatile southern region of Ingushetia, but Armenia said it had enough reserves to supply consumers.

A convicted Iranian arms trafficker received a five-year prison sentence from a federal judge in Delaware Monday after being snared in a global undercover investigation targeting Iran's clandestine arms acquisition network.

Pacific atoll once famed for exporting bird droppings is to recognise Russian-backed Abkhazia and South Ossetia for A 31m aid The barren Pacific island state of Nauru, which is to recognise Russian-backed breakaways from Georgia.

A 27-year-old man died in a Georgian hospital after he was diagnosed with A/H1N1 virus, becoming the first citizen of the former Soviet state to die of swine flu , the health minister said.

They reiterate the Georgian government, as well as the international society does not recognize the so-called elections.

Popular reports claim that Beria, who was the Communist Party kingpin in the Caucasus during the early 1930s, built an underground labyrinth of tunnels stretching several city blocks between his residence , the headquarters of the Communist Party of Georgia , and the former Soviet Georgian secret police headquarters .

The World Trade Organization commended Georgia as one of the world's fastest reforming economies, but the organization noted that the country continues to suffer from the double whammy of the 2008 Russian invasion and the global financial meltdown.

Armenian minority say incident illustrates their limited rights in the country. By Lela Iremashvili in Tbilisi and Hasmik Hambardzumyan in Yerevan The collapse of an Armenian church in Tbilisi has angered Georgia's Armenians and provoked accusations that the government is not protecting ethnic minority rights.

Georgian animators are hoping a local television makeover of The Simpsons will mimic the American animated series' two decades of success.

GEORGIA: TBILISI CHARGES MOSCOW WITH "PIRACY" 12/07/09 Georgia is condemning Russia's plans to send three patrol boats to guard maritime traffic off southern Abkhazia's Black Sea coast.

The event aimed to summarize all LEAPs projects implemented by REC Caucasus since 2003, assess the result achieved and outline the areas of future interventions for strengthening local environmental planning in the South Caucasus.

"A lot of opera is about sex and death," said Franc Roddam, a director, producer and publisher from the U.K., prior to the screening of the film Aria as part of the 10th Tbilisi International Film Festival on Friday, December 4. Following the showing Roddam answered questions about the film's production and his directing techniques.

Georgia on Tuesday denied entry to the head of the Russian State Archive and a Russian analyst as they arrived in Tbilisi to attend a conference, prompting four other Russians from their delegation to pull out of the event in protest.

Tens of thousands of Meskhetians apply to come home, but Georgian officials accused of not doing enough to help them.

Tbilisi handed over five Ossetians to the South Ossetian side on December 2 through mediation of Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, authorities in breakaway South Ossetia reported.