⚡️Georgian Dream Chair Irakli Kobakhidze has welcomed the possibility of the resumption of flights between Georgia and Russia, citing its ‘importance’ to Georgians.

This came in response to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s praise of the Georgian government’s ‘courage’ for not joining sanctions against Russia.

‘When it comes to alleviating the situation of our citizens, any such decision is welcome for us,' Kobakhidze said, adding that Russia’s 2019 suspension of flights to Georgia had ‘damaged the citizens of Georgia’.

⚡️Audio alleged to be a recording of Nika Melia, the chair of Georgia’s opposition United National Movement (UNM), criticising and using obscene language against former president Mikheil Saakashvili, has been circulating on Georgian social media since Monday. The UNM has dismissed the recording as ‘fabricated’.

The origin and authenticity of the 44-second recording, alleged to date to 2021, remains unconfirmed.

While Melia does not name the individual he describes as ‘such a dick’, Georgian media and political commentators have assumed that Melia is referring to the third president of Georgia and founder of the UNM, Mikheil Saakashvili.

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⚡️ Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched an investigation into an alleged attack on former Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Vano Merabishvili, by the son-in-law of conservative campaigner Gia ‘Utsnobi’ Gachechiladze.

Speaking to Rustavi 2 on Wednesday, Giorgi Sharashidze confirmed that he ‘physically contacted’ Vano Merabishvili on Monday.

‘There was a confrontation between me and Vano Merabishvili at a pharmacy in Vake. I can't even call it a confrontation, because Mr Merabishvili ran away in the very first seconds’, said Sharashidze.

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⚡️Daghestani police beat participants of a protest on 2 January, who were demanding the punishment of the alleged killers of a 19-year-old man. The following day, a video was published in which the victim’s father claimed his demands had been fulfilled, and called on people to refrain from further protests.

19-year-old Magomed-Ali Sultanov was killed on 10 November 2022 in the Kayakentsky district of east Daghestan. A friend of his was severely beaten in the same incident.

Two days later, Daghestan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs announced on their Telegram channel that the suspect in the death of the 19-year-old had been detained and that ‘all legally-required measures have been taken’. The statement added that suggestions that the guilty party had not been detained were ‘groundless’.

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⚡️Tbilisi State University elects new rector uncontestedTbilisi State University (TSU) Academic Council have elected Jaba Samushia as the university's rector. Samushia’s election was controversial as he ran unopposed. In October, Samushia similarly became acting rector with no rivals for the position.

On Monday night, the May Student Movement unsuccessfully tried to blockade the venue in which the council was meeting. Earlier this year, the student group launched a campaign to change the process of electing a rector, demanding that all academic staff take part in the vote rather than only the 38-member Academic Council.

Critics describe Samushia as loyal to the government. The elected rector represented the ruling Georgian Dream party on Tbilisi City Council from 2014 to 2017.

? TSU

⚡️MP remains on hunger strike calling for Saakashvili to be freedDespite warnings from doctors that her condition was 'extremely serious', United National Movement MP Ana Tsitlidze said today that she will continue her protest until Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili pardons ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili. Tsitlidze is on her 12th day of hunger strike.

Other UNM members led by Giorgi Mumladze held protests outside the office and home of Salome Zurabishvili with the same demand over the weekend and on Monday morning.

? Screengrab from Georgian Public Broadcaster report.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has dismissed Minister of Culture Anar Karimov from his post.

Karimov, who served as minister for almost two years, previously proposed the removal of Armenian inscriptions on religious monuments in territories that came under Azerbaijan's control in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

? Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture

⚡️A court in Daghestan has dismissed a case against a local fashion designer who was charged under Russia’s queer propaganda law, after she organised a fashion show in which a man and a 17-year-old boy wore makeup.

Elnara Askerova, 23, organised the show on 18 October in the Daghestani capital, Makhachkala.

The show included two male models wearing shiny clothes and make-up, leading to outrage among some conservatives.

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⚡️Ukraine authorities reject Georgian Dream’s allegations of 'special operation'Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, has criticised allegations by Georgia's ruling party that Ukraine's government was involved in Georgian ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili’s return to Georgia.

On Tuesday night, Nikolenko described the accusation as an attempt to avoid ‘responsibility for gross violations of human rights in Georgia’, and expressed disappointment that Georgian authorities were using the war in Ukraine to achieve 'narrow domestic political goals’.

He also reiterated President Zelensky’s call earlier that day to transfer Mikheil Saakashvili to a hospital outside of Georgia for treatment.

Soon after Zelensky’s appeal, Georgian Dream chair Irakli Kobakhidze and the party’s parliamentary leader Mamuka Mdinaradze accused the Ukrainian government of 'sending Saakashvili to Georgia' and attempting to 'involve Georgia in war'.

The court hearings deliberating Saakashvili's appeal for treatment outside of Georgia is expected to resume tomorrow.

⚡️Azerbaijan's Penitentiary Service has confirmed that jailed activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev is on hunger strike. Hajiyev announced his hunger strike on 15 December, in protest against his arrest, which he maintains is politically motivated.

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