The messenger logo

The News in Brief

Monday, June 11
Georgia retains Rugby European Nations Cup trophy

Saturday, defending champions Georgia trounced Ukraine 33-3 to finish their 2012 European Nations Cup rugby championship with a fifth title.

The tournament game was re-scheduled from April and moved from Ukraine to Georgia.

Georgia won four of their five games in the single round-robin tourney this season, losing only to Spain in Madrid.

Romania finished as runner-up while Spain came in third, followed by Russia, Portugal, and Ukraine.

The Georgian Nationals, known as Lelos in Georgia, will travel to North American for test matches with the United States and Canada in late June.
(Rustavi 2)



Appathurai in Tbilisi for NATO Week

The NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for South Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai, is visiting Tbilisi for NATO Week.

His first meeting will be with Vice Prime Minister Giorgi Baramidze, after which Appathurai and Baramidze will officially open NATO Week, InterpressNews reports.

In addition, the men will meet with government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, experts, journalists, and professors from across Georgia, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps. Deputy Defence Minister of Latvia Janis Sarts will also take part in the meeting.

The main topic of the meetings will be the achievements of the NATO Summit in Chicago; it will be the first extensive discussion with civil society since Chicago.

Baramidze and Sarts met Free University students and to discuss NATO's agenda and politics.

NATO Week will close at Telavi State University on June 16.
(IPN)



Alasania holding meetings in US

Irakli Alasania, Leader of the Free Democrats, met with Senator John McCain, Congressman David Dreier, and Congressman Bill Shuster in Washington on June 7.

Alasania was there to discuss the Georgian election campaign. He invited McCain to visit Georgia before the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for this fall.
(GHN)



Georgia-Turkey-Azerbaijan business forum held in Kars

Approximately 300 businesspersons assembled in the city of Kars in northern Turkey, where the Georgia-Turkey-Azerbaijan business forum was held. The Ministers of Economy of all three countries attended the meeting.

Intensifying foreign trade and improving the investment climate were the major topics on the agenda.

Kars was symbolically selected as the venue for the forum as a main rail line joining the three countries is to be completed within the next few months.
(Rustavi 2)