The messenger logo

The News in Brief

Thursday, April 14
Georgia Ranked 8th Defense Budget Spender

Proportionally, Georgia has the 8th highest defense budget in the world, Newsland informs, based on the SIPRI report.

Russian news agency Newsland writes that USA tops the list of military spending as a proportion against the total state budget, China is in second place, followed by UK, France and Russia.

World military spending reached $1.6 trillion in 2010 according to SIPRI.

SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. (Interpressews)



Christian-Democrats have two initiatives in connection with Defender’s report

Christian -Democrats on the basis of Public Defender's report have two initiatives.

Zaza Gabunia, member of Christian-Democrats, chairman of Human Rights Defense Committee of Tbilisi city council said during the press conference, the first initiative touches on the question of orphanage habitants' human rights protection and allocation of special staff for its supervision. This will prevent a crisis situation in the establishments. The second initiative is about shifting this establishment from federal to municipal management.

"The last report of the Ombudsman showed the grave situation in prisons, orphanages and houses for the elderly. Cases of violence from the service staff in these establishments are frequent. Harmful conditions for people's health; facts of discrimination against children and its exploitation; problems with a timely supply with medicines for elders and a lack of psycho-social rehabilitation are common, "- Gabunia said.

These initiatives will be sent to Public Defender, the Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights and to international organizations. (GHN)



Georgian Party leader fined in Paris airport

The leader of the Georgian Party Levan Gachechiladze was detained in Paris airport for his misbehavior on board a plane. A stewardess of the Tbilisi-Paris flight, Maia Kupatadze revealed the details of the incident to journalists yesterday. She said, "Gachechiladze was drunk when he got on board... The captain warned him several times and called for decent behaviour however, he did not obey".

The plane leader reported the details of the incident via special report, and Gachechiladze was detained in the airport. Reportedly, the opposition leader was released after paying a fine. (Rustavi 2)



Minister attends pre-tests at public school

The Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Dimitri Shashkini and the Head of National Examinations observed the proceeding of the pre-test at Tbilisi Public School ¹ 51. The 12th graders took a pre-test in History and Geography.

The National Examinations Center under the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia is organizing the pre-test of the High School Exams at 326 schools of Georgia. The schoolchildren will take pre-tests in 8 subjects.

The aim of the pre-test is to check the computer system's readiness for high school exams. So far the system has worked without any serious flaws. All 12th graders have the opportunity to work in equal conditions. (Rustavi 2)



Georgian nationals kill two in Turkey

Georgian nationals killed two people in Turkey on Monday. Turkish newspaper The Star has reported the details of the murder, according to which, three Georgian nationals killed the owner of the hotel Bakhari in Istanbul and his girlfriend after a long-running dispute with them.

Reportedly, they had clashed earlier on the day of murder too. The hotel owner Nustar Shakar and Roza Ismailova were shot dead from a pistol gun. The murder suspects have escaped and Turkey`s police are still searching for them. (Rustavi 2)



National Democratic Party to Protest on Mother Language Day

The youth organization of the National Democratic Party will stage a protest on Mother Language Day tomorrow.

The party’s press office informs that Young National Democrats will place posters in Tbilisi saying: “Let’s take care of mother language”.

Procession will be held from 12:00 from the party’s office to the monument of Mother Language. The young demonstrators will make a statement after the procession. The National Democrats will spread flyers regarding the protection of Georgian language and the importance of the day of April14.

Young National Democrats will give flowers to the nonconformist women Tamar Chkheidze and Marika Baghdavadze, who took part in 14 April protest in 1978 (Interpressnews)



Georgia moves up 16 places in Coca-Cola FIFA World Ranking

FIFA's official web page has published the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola world rankings. Georgia is in 56th place, its highest position since 2002. Current coach Temuri Ketsbaia took over in the autumn of 2009 when Georgia were languishing in 125th place.

However, an excellent run of results including victories against Slovenia and Croatia has helped Georgia to rocket up the rankings.

The top ten teams are Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, Argentina, England, Uruguay, Portugal, Italy and Croatia. (Interpressnews)