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The News in Brief

Thursday, June 14
Gov’t claims Progress against Asian Stink Bug Achieved

The government of Georgia claims that certain progress has been achieved against the Asian Stink Bug, which damaged major portion of harvest in the west Georgia last year.

The Head of Georgia’s National Food Safety Agency, Zurab Chekurashvili stated at a special briefing on Wednesday that the first stage of fighting the insect is over.

“Compared to the same period of last year, the number of the insect has been significantly reduced. I would like to thank to all who contributed,” Chekurashvili said.

He stated that the government of Georgia has provided ten times more and modern techniques against the insect this year than it did the last year.

“In order to carry out anti-pest measures, 150 units of high-level specialized techniques are mobilized.In total, activities have been conducted in 382 villages of 22 municipalities,” he said and called on the public to get involved in the fight against the Asian Stink Bug.



Three Youngsters Sew Lips Shut in Protest against Local Police Chief

Three young men have sewed their lips shut as they demand the resignation of the police chief and his deputy in Georgia’s western Chiatura region.

The youngsters say that police chief Lasha Chkhitunidze and his deputy Mikheil Gigauri are abusing people and provoking clashes.

“Since Chkhitunidze and his deputy came in power, young people have been in permanent pressure. We are told that we will be detained and some illegal objects or things will be planted on us, or in our vehicles,” the young people say.

They claim that in some cases police chiefs and officers walk around drunk, causing clashes or verbal disputes with their rude behavior.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs says that the three young men who are demanding the change of law enforcers were detained for disobedience and were also found guilty for petty hooliganism in early June.
(By Mariam Chanishvili)