The messenger logo

The News in Brief

Friday, April 2
Washing of the feet rite performed at Holy Trinity Cathedral

The rite of the washing of the feet has been performed at the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II washed the feet of 12 priests, as Christ did for his 12 apostles on Holy Thursday. He also delivered a short sermon.

Holy Thursday, also known as Maundy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, and the Thursday of Mysteries, is the holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter which commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with His Apostles. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, and is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday. (Interpressnews)



Doku Umarov claims responsibility for Moscow blasts

Doku Umarov, the Chechen rebel leader, has said that his group was behind the twin suicide bombings on the Moscow subway on Wednesday and threatened more attacks in the Russian heartland. His video address emerged on the internet yesterday.

He said that the bombings had been carried out to avenge the killing of "poor Chechens" by Russian security forces in February and warned Russia to prepare for more. In a video message posted on a Chechen rebel website, he said he had personally ordered the operation. Doku Umarov had ordered the twin suicide bombing in Moscow to "destroy infidels".

On Monday two female suicide bombers killed at least 39 and injured more than 60 in attacks on the Moscow subway. The video was posted just hours after a double bombing killed at least 12 people in Russia's North Caucasus. Twelve people, including nine police officers, were killed in two blasts on Wednesday in the town of Kizlyar in the volatile North Caucasus region of Dagestan. (Rustavi 2)



Duma ratifies border control document with puppet regimes

The Russian Duma has ratified an agreement about the "protection of the borders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia". The document says that the Russian Federation will "assist" the occupied regions in protecting their "borders", training border guards and constructing border service buildings.

The Georgian authorities have already assessed the document signed and ratified by Russia as a continuation of the occupation of Georgia. They say that any such agreement is a legal nonsense. (Rustavi 2)



Dimitri Shashkin awards Professor Vajha Menteshashvili the Diploma of Honour

Minister of Education and Science Dimitri Shahskin has visited the Georgian Technical University and awarded the Full Professor of the Department of Machine-Building of the Faculty of Transportation and Machine-Building, Vajha Menteshashvili, with the Technical University Diploma of Honour to mark his long pedagogical and scientific work.

Vajha Menteshashvili has been teaching at the Technical University for 50 years. He has published more than 60 scientific-pedagogical works, written 12 of them and holds two patents in Georgia.

The Minister familiarised himself with the rehabilitation work being conducted at the University. The facade of the administration building was renovated as part of this work. The conference hall was equipped with a simultaneous translation device and modern furniture. The education rooms of the 4th building were also renovated. The gym of the second building was repaired, new bathrooms with cloakrooms provided and the training rooms also refurbished.

The Minister visited one of the best research centres of bio-nano ceramics and the materials of nano composites in Transcaucasia. The Chairman of this research centre is the board member of the International Ceramic Federation and European Ceramic Society, Zviad Kovziridze. The centre works in several fields.

The partners of the centre are the University of Bremen, the bio-medical engineering lab of Japan's Tohoku University and the University of Manchester. Georgia, with the help of this centre, will take third place after the USA and Japan at the third world congress in Osaka (Japan) to be held on November 15-18, 2010. Georgia will supposedly announce an innovation in the treatment of cancer with particles of ceramics. (Interpressnews)



Russian President arrives in Dagestan unexpectedly

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Thursday to discuss the security situation in the region following the recent terrorist attacks, RIA Novosti reported.

Two explosions on Wednesday in the town of Kizlyar, near Dagestan's border with Chechnya, killed 12 people and left 29 injured. The blasts occurred just two days after two deadly suicide bombings hit the Moscow metro, killing at least 39 people and injuring dozens more. (Interpressnews)



NDP disapproves of Liberty Institute project

The National Democratic Party of Georgia disapproves of the project prepared by the members of the Liberty Institute NGO regarding the model of the state governance and says it will do its best to hinder the discussion and adoption of it.

Tengiz Sharmanashvili, head of the state commission working on the reform of the Constitution and a member of the NDP, explained why his party would not support it. He said the assertions that the document was an analogue of the American model of state arrangement was a lie, because it only included insignificant elements of the American model.

"In the project prepared by Mr. Ramishvili the role of the Georgian Orthodox Church is ignored. Unlike in the current Constitution, any other confession can also sign a constitutional agreement with the Government under this plan, which is entirely unacceptable for us. We also disapprove of the state adopting a federal structure. Mr. Ramishvili thinks the country must consist of states. These will be artificially created territorial entities, which will encourage separatist activities in the country. As for the functions of the President, according to this project, the President will be elected by Parliament. On one hand this seems so simple, but on the other hand, this model does not correspond to either the Parliamentary or Presidential model of rule," Sharmanashvili said. (Rustavi 2)



Police arrest murder suspect

Officers of the Tbilisi Police Main Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have detained the several times convicted Evgeni Kalandadze - born 1961- who is suspected of murdering Davit Bdeian – born 1960. The murder took place on TsinamZgvrishvili Street and was committed with a knife.

The detainee has already pleaded guilty. An investigation is being conducted by officers of the Tbilisi Police Main Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs under Article 108 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. (Rustavi 2)