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The News in Brief

Monday, February 23
“I cannot be without you and you cannot be without me.”- Ilia II

“I cannot be without you and you cannot be without me,” the Georgian Patriarch, now returned from Germany, told the Georgian nation at the Holy Trinity Cathedral yesterday. In his weekly sermon His Holiness thanked the parish for praying for him and said that this had helped him recover.

Ilia II talked about peace and the reintegration of the country in his sermon. He emphasized the importance of bringing up youth correctly and giving them an education. “God grant that peace, joy and love and the solidarity of the country, the nation and the Church reign in Georgia,” the Patriarch said.

Lent starts on March 2 for the Orthodox Church.
(Interpressnews)



Grigol Vashadze meets President of Armenia Serzh Sarkisian

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Grigol Vashadze met President of Armenia Serzh Sarkisian yesterday.

The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that Vashadze held meetings with Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian. Grigol Vashadze gave detailed information to the Armenian side about the situation in Georgia and stated that more active and intensive cooperation between the sides and work on joint documents in certain political, economic and social and cultural affairs were necessary.

The regular political consultations were also held between the Foreign Ministers of Georgia and Armenia. Vashadze’s counterpart Eduard Nalbandian will pay a visit to Tbilisi in March. The Armenian side reaffirmed that it supports Georgian sovereignty and territorial integrity.
(Interpressnews)



Electricity supply to West Georgia fails

The electricity supply to the capital was gradually resumed yesterday after a power failure which blacked out Western Georgia. Domestic electricity was suspended and the metro and traffic lights were also switched off.

The system failure occurred in the Zestaponi district of Western Georgia. It is believed that a strong wind damaged the Kartli 2 500-kilowatt high voltage transmission line. A group of electricians is working on site to specify what exactly caused the accident.
(Rustavi 2)



Two youngsters injured in mine blast in Tskhinvali

Two youngsters have been badly wounded in a mine explosion in the Shanghai district, on the outskirts of the city of Tskhinvali, Russian news agencies inform.

The so-called duty service of the Interior Ministry of the Tskhinvali separatist regime believes that a missile left during the August war last year was accidentally detonated.

The youngsters were badly wounded by the blast and were taken for resuscitation. Separatist law enforcers are at the site.
(Rustavi 2)



Rehabilitation works halted at Enguri hydroelectric power station

Rehabilitation works at the Enguri hydroelectric power station in Gali district have been halted. The workers are protesting against the robbery committed against five German engineers working on technical equipment in the fifth aggregate of the hydroelectric power station.

Seven masked gunmen assaulted the foreign specialists yesterday and seized money from them. They were brutally beaten. One of the engineers was left in bad condition, but he could not be taken from the occupied territory to Zugdidi for a long time.

Russian soldiers are responsible for security in the territory the foreign engineers were working on. The German specialists have demanded an intensification of security.
(Rustavi 2)



Election of Chair of Georgian Lawyers Association not held

The election of the Chair of the Georgian Lawyers Association has been postponed due to an insufficient number of delegates attending to vote. This is the third time the lawyers congress has been unable to conduct its business due to a failure to achieve quorum.

The Association has 3,600 members and according to the law at least 1,700 lawyers must vote to make the process quorate. The Chair of the Association should have been elected from among three candidates, Gocha Svanidze, Nugzar Birkaia and Mamuka Mdinaradze. The inquorate meeting was held in the Basketball Palace of Vere Park.

A delegation of lawyers has asked Parliament to change the law and regulations of the association. The lawyers have given Parliament ten days to adopt amendments to the law.
(Rustavi 2)