The News in Brief
Monday, December 31
Patriarch preaches the importance of God, country and people
The Patriarch of Georgia, Ilia II, preached about the importance of God, country and people at a church service held on December 30. The patriarch said the biggest question for people remains whether financial well being or spiritual development is the most important in life. He said we must never lose contact with the homeland and remember our predecessors. The patriarch spoke about the uniqueness of human beings, the creation of God and wished the Georgian population a happy New Year and Christmas. The U.S. ambassador in Georgia Richard Norland also attended the service.
(IPN)
Snow Forecast for New Year
Snow is forecast in Eastern Georgia for New Year. Svetlana Nioradze from the Monitoring and Prognostication centre for the National Agency of the Environment told InterPressNews that on 31 December and 1 January, it will be snowing in most regions of Eastern Georgia, mainly in Tbilisi and Kakheti. Frosts are forecasts as well.
(IPN)
Ministry of IDPs discovers suspicious stores
The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia, has discovered five illegal depots where food products and other things of primary use intended for the people damaged by the August war in 2008 were stored. Minister Davit Darakhvelidze said that according to the conclusions of the ministry audit, the state budget allocated 15 million GEL for this humanitarian aid. However, only part of it was distributed. Products worth an estimated 3.5 million GEL were left in the stores and became useless.
The minister presented video and photo materials to media, which will be sent to the prosecutor’s office for investigation. Davit Darakhvelidze has also called on law enforcement to investigate the inspections carried out by the Chamber of Control in that period, because nothing has been said about the depots and the products stored there.
(Rustavi 2)
6-year-old child survives by miracle
Nikoloz Ghachava, a 6-year-old child survived by a miracle. The boy fell off from the 9th floor of a block of apartments in Gldani district of Tbilisi. In her Facebook post, first lady Sandra Roelofs said the boy instinctively grasped the washing line close to the window. After hearing his screams, neighbors came out and helped to cover the place where he would eventually fall with blankets. When he no longer could hold the line, he fell and miraculously survived, he was taken to the hospital for examination. “I visited him two days ago in the Iashvili Chlldren's Hospital and all that I could notice was a deep red line over his belly, where the line had held him...Nikoloz got a Saint Nicholas icon from me and a book to read, I also promised to send him and his two little brothers presents and food for New Year, as the family is rather poor,” reads Roelofs’ post.
(The Messenger)
Tourism Agency head resigns
Head of the Tourism National Agency has resigned. Maia Sidamondize says it was not a political but rather a personal decision. She plans to continue her activities in the private sector. It has not been reported who will be appointed on this position by the government of Georgia.
(Rustavi 2)
The Patriarch of Georgia, Ilia II, preached about the importance of God, country and people at a church service held on December 30. The patriarch said the biggest question for people remains whether financial well being or spiritual development is the most important in life. He said we must never lose contact with the homeland and remember our predecessors. The patriarch spoke about the uniqueness of human beings, the creation of God and wished the Georgian population a happy New Year and Christmas. The U.S. ambassador in Georgia Richard Norland also attended the service.
(IPN)
Snow Forecast for New Year
Snow is forecast in Eastern Georgia for New Year. Svetlana Nioradze from the Monitoring and Prognostication centre for the National Agency of the Environment told InterPressNews that on 31 December and 1 January, it will be snowing in most regions of Eastern Georgia, mainly in Tbilisi and Kakheti. Frosts are forecasts as well.
(IPN)
Ministry of IDPs discovers suspicious stores
The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia, has discovered five illegal depots where food products and other things of primary use intended for the people damaged by the August war in 2008 were stored. Minister Davit Darakhvelidze said that according to the conclusions of the ministry audit, the state budget allocated 15 million GEL for this humanitarian aid. However, only part of it was distributed. Products worth an estimated 3.5 million GEL were left in the stores and became useless.
The minister presented video and photo materials to media, which will be sent to the prosecutor’s office for investigation. Davit Darakhvelidze has also called on law enforcement to investigate the inspections carried out by the Chamber of Control in that period, because nothing has been said about the depots and the products stored there.
(Rustavi 2)
6-year-old child survives by miracle
Nikoloz Ghachava, a 6-year-old child survived by a miracle. The boy fell off from the 9th floor of a block of apartments in Gldani district of Tbilisi. In her Facebook post, first lady Sandra Roelofs said the boy instinctively grasped the washing line close to the window. After hearing his screams, neighbors came out and helped to cover the place where he would eventually fall with blankets. When he no longer could hold the line, he fell and miraculously survived, he was taken to the hospital for examination. “I visited him two days ago in the Iashvili Chlldren's Hospital and all that I could notice was a deep red line over his belly, where the line had held him...Nikoloz got a Saint Nicholas icon from me and a book to read, I also promised to send him and his two little brothers presents and food for New Year, as the family is rather poor,” reads Roelofs’ post.
(The Messenger)
Tourism Agency head resigns
Head of the Tourism National Agency has resigned. Maia Sidamondize says it was not a political but rather a personal decision. She plans to continue her activities in the private sector. It has not been reported who will be appointed on this position by the government of Georgia.
(Rustavi 2)