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The News in Brief

Wednesday, November 4
Saakashvili pays official visit to Qatar

President Saakashvili is paying a three-day working visit to the state of Qatar. The President and a Georgian delegation will hold meetings with the Qatari authorities and negotiations with potential investors. These negotiations will aim at attracting investments to Georgia and intensifying relations with the country.

Qatar is one of the biggest exporters of energy sources in the world. The President and the Government delegation will hold meetings with the investment and commerce unions of Qatar, which have already shown an interest in making investments in Georgia in the sectors of real estate, banking and agriculture. (Rustavi 2)



Parliament restores Konstantine Gamsakhurdia’s MP mandate

The Parliament of Georgia voted for restoration of Konstantine Gamsakhurdia’s MP mandate unanimously. The restoration of the mandate was the first issue on the agenda of yesterday’s session. Konstantine Gamsakhurdia will sit as an independent Deputy and not join any faction.

The deadline for applying to the Parliament Chairman for the restoration of previously renounced MP mandates is 1 January, 2010. Konstantine Gamsakhurdia is the only one of the MPs elected in May 2007 who renounced their seats to ask to retake his seat as yet. (Interpressnews)



Flooding in Kakheti leaves three districts without water

The districts of Akhmeta, Lagodekhi and Kvareli, in the Kakheti region, have been left without a water supply as the result of flooding in the region. Restoration works still cannot be carried out because of the continuing rain.

Parts of the Akhmeta, Lagodekhi and Gurjaani districts were also left without an electricity supply. Georgian energy system workers have partially restored this.

Due to the continued bad weather the loss caused by the flooding can’t be quantified yet. (Interpressnews)



Relatives of the kidnapped ask for help

The relatives of six Georgian nationals kidnapped from the Kaspi region village of Lamisqana two months ago have asked the Government to intensify its attempts to secure their release. The relatives and villagers rallied in the regional centre yesterday in protest. They said the captives are still being held in the Tskhinvali isolator even though their pre-trial detention term has expired.

The South Ossetian separatists detained the six Georgian nationals two months ago on charges of “crossing the border of South Ossetia illegally.” (Rustavi 2)



Four more H1N1cases in Georgia

Four new cases of H1N1 have been reported in Georgia. According to Paata Imnadze, the Director of the National Centre for Disease Control, one of the infected persons arrived from Great Britain, one from Turkey and two from Ukraine. 31 cases of H1N1 have been reported in Georgia in all.

Imnadze says that the National Centre for Disease Control takes all the measures recommended by the World Health Organization to combat the spread of H1N1. Georgia also has enough medicine in store to address the virus. (Interpressnews)



Borjomi-Kharagauli Park receives grant

Mr. Giorgi Khachidze, Minister of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia, Mr. Giorgi Shonvadze, Head of the Agency of Protected Areas and Mr. David Morrison, Executive Director of the Caucasus Protected Areas Fund, have signed a grant agreement under which the Borjomi-National Park will receive a grant worth EUR 277,000 for the rehabilitation of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park’s Administration and Visitors’ Centre.

The Caucasus Protected Areas Fund was established to support protected areas in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Its founders were the Ministry of Economic Development of Germany (BMZ) and Reconstruction Credit Bank of Germany (KFW), the World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International (CI). (The Messenger)



Labour Party leader gives recommendations to Government

Labour Party leader Shalva Natelashvili has called upon the Georgian Government to prepare a lawsuit against Russia.

Natelashvili told journalists yesterday that the UN International Court is beginning to discuss the lawsuit brought by Serbia which demands the nullification of the recognition of Kosovo. He asserted that several EU member states have supported this lawsuit, and therefore the opposition party calls on the Georgian Government to do so too. He also urged the Georgian authorities to draft another lawsuit against Russia, in which the Government will demand a denunciation of the Russian recognition of Georgia’s breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. (Rustavi 2)



Famous actress dies

Famous Georgian movie and theatre star Dodo Chichinadze has died at the age of 85. The actress, who charmed many Georgian and foreign audiences, played many memorable roles in Georgian films such as Davit Guramishvili, The Suspended Song, the Cricket, Bashi Achuki and others.

For many years Chichinadze was the leading actress at the Kote Marjanishvili Drama Theatre.

A few months ago the Tbilisi Municipality created a star for her outside the Rustaveli Theatre. (Rustavi 2)



Tbilisi street renamed after Russian journalist

One more street has been renamed in Tbilisi. Novorosiisky Street has been named after Russian journalist Olga Konskaya, who died a while ago. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili attended the presentation yesterday. The husband of the late journalist, Andrey Nekrasov, was also present at the ceremony.

Andrey Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya shot a documentary about the Georgia-Russia war which described the chronology of the war without bias. Olga Konskaya died soon after the movie was premiered.

Tbilisi City Hall made the decision a few days ago to rename the street, in Tbilisi’s Gldani-Nadzaladevi district. (Rustavi 2)