Protests erupted for a third consecutive night in Tbilisi on Saturday following the Georgian government’s announcement to suspend negotiations for European Union membership, leaving 44 people hospitalized, including 27 protesters, 16 police officers, and one journalist. Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the Georgian Parliament, voicing anger over the decision. The protests turned violent, with participants throwing stones, setting off fireworks, and burning an effigy of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party. Police responded with water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Government’s Defense Amid Growing Tensions Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze dismissed allegations that Georgia had abandoned its European integration efforts. “The only thing we have rejected is the shameful and offensive blackmail,” he said during a briefing on Sunday. Kobakhidze blamed opposition politicians for orchestrating the unrest and warned of strict legal repercussions for any law violations. Kobakhidze also downplayed the U.S. State Department’s announcement of suspending its strategic partnership with Georgia, describing it as an attempt by the outgoing administration to complicate the transition for the incoming U.S. leadership. EU and U.S. Criticism The EU issued a joint statement Sunday, with foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and enlargement commissioner Marta Kos condemning Georgia’s decision. They described the move as a departure from the pro-European aspirations of most Georgians, urging authorities to respect democratic freedoms and the right to peaceful assembly. The protests come in the wake of the EU’s decision to withhold financial support for Georgia earlier this year following the passage of a controversial “foreign influence” law, which critics argued undermines democratic freedoms. Read: Georgian protesters clash with police for second night after EU talks suspended The U.S. State Department also criticized the suspension of EU talks, expressing concerns about democratic backsliding in Georgia and supporting protesters’ rights to express dissent peacefully. Opposition Calls for Elections Opposition leaders have accused the Georgian Dream party of rigging the October 26 parliamentary elections with alleged support from Russia. They claim the elections undermined Georgia’s aspirations to join the EU, leading to widespread protests and an opposition boycott of parliament. Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili, in an interview with The Associated Press, accused the government of steering the country toward becoming a “quasi-Russian” state. “We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again,” she said. European Aspirations at Stake Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December 2023, contingent on meeting the bloc’s recommendations. However, the country’s accession talks were paused earlier this year amid concerns over democratic backsliding. Protesters continue to demand a renewed commitment to EU membership and democratic reforms, highlighting the growing divide between the government and a population largely supportive of European integration. Read more: Georgia's ruling party picks former soccer player as its presidential candidate As tensions persist, the Georgian government faces mounting international and domestic pressure to address the crisis and reassert its commitment to democratic principles. Source: With inputs from agencies 

Stunned residents tried to salvage belongings, and rescue crews pulled survivors from beneath collapsed houses Friday in the aftermath of a tornado-spawning storm system that killed at least nine people as it barreled across parts of Georgia and Alabama. The widespread destruction came into view a day after violent storms flipped mobile homes into the air, sent uprooted trees crashing through buildings, snapped trees and utility poles and derailed a freight train. Those who emerged with their lives gave thanks as they searched the wreckage to find anything worth saving. “God was sure with us,” Tracey Wilhelm said as she looked over the shattered remnants of her mobile home in Alabama's Autauga County. She was at work Thursday when a tornado lifted her mobile home off its foundation and dumped it several feet away in a heap of rubble. Her husband and their five dogs scrambled into a shed that stayed intact, she said. Rescue workers later found them inside unharmed. A search crew also found five people unharmed but trapped in a storm shelter after a wall from the adjacent house fell onto it, Autauga County Coroner Buster Barber said. Someone inside had a phone and kept calling for help. Read more: 48 deaths reported in US from massive storm The National Weather Service, which was working to confirm the twisters, said suspected tornado damage was reported in at least 14 counties in Alabama and 14 in Georgia. Temperatures were forecast to plunge below freezing overnight in hard-hit areas of both states, where more than 30,000 homes and businesses remained without power at sundown. The twister blamed for killing at least seven people in rural Autauga County left damage consistent with an EF3 tornado, which is just two steps below the most powerful category of twister. The tornado had winds of at least 136 mph (218 kph), the weather service said. Downtown Selma, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) to the southwest, also sustained severe damage before the worst of the weather moved across Georgia south of Atlanta. At least 12 people were taken to hospitals, Ernie Baggett, Autauga County’s emergency management director, said as crews cut through downed trees looking for survivors. About 40 homes were destroyed or seriously damaged, including several mobile homes that were launched into the air, he said. “They weren’t just blown over," he said. "They were blown a distance.” In Selma, the city council met on a sidewalk using lights from cellphones and declared a state of emergency. A 5-year-old child riding in a vehicle was killed by a falling tree in central Georgia's Butts County, said Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director James Stallings. He said a parent who was driving suffered critical injuries. Elsewhere, a state Department of Transportation worker was killed while responding to storm damage, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said. He gave no further details. Kemp surveyed some of the worst storm damage by helicopter. In some areas, he said, rescue teams had to dig into collapsed homes to free trapped survivors. “We know people that were stranded in homes where literally the whole house collapsed, and they were under the crawl space,” Kemp told reporters. The governor said the storm inflicted damage statewide, with some of the worst around Troup County near the Georgia-Alabama line, where more than 100 homes were hit. At least 12 people were treated at a hospital in Spalding County, south of Atlanta, where the weather service confirmed at least two tornadoes struck. The storm hit Spalding County as mourners gathered for a wake at Peterson's Funeral Home in Griffin. About 20 people scrambled for shelter in a restroom and an office when a loud boom sounded as a large tree fell on the building. “When we came out, we were in total shock," said Sha-Meeka Peterson-Smith, the funeral home's chief operational officer. "We heard everything, but didn’t know how bad it actually was.” The uprooted tree crashed straight through the front of the building, she said, destroying a viewing room, a lounge and a front office. No one was hurt. The tornado that hit Selma cut a wide path through the downtown area. Brick buildings collapsed, oak trees were uprooted, cars were tossed onto their sides and power lines were left dangling. Several people had serious injuries, Selma Mayor James Perkins said, but no deaths were reported. Read more: Storms, tornadoes slam US South, killing at least 7 people Kathy Bunch was inside the Salvation Army Service Center in Selma when tornado sirens sounded. She huddled in a back room and prayed as a loud roar passed through the brick building. “It took the roof off. It busted the windows,” Bunch said. “And I’m just grateful to God to be alive.” Workers in Selma used heavy machinery to scoop up splintered wooden framing and mangled siding Friday as utility poles leaned at odd angles and power lines sagged in the street. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey visited the city and pledged to ask President Joe Biden to expedite a major disaster declaration to get aid flowing. Officials said federal assistance will be critical for communities such as Selma, where nearly 30% of the city's 18,000 residents live in poverty. Located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Montgomery, Alabama's capital, Selma was a flashpoint of the civil rights movement where state troopers viciously attacked Black people who marched non-violently for voting rights across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965. Three factors — a natural La Nina weather cycle, warming of the Gulf of Mexico likely related to climate change and a decades-long eastward shift of tornado activity — combined to make Thursday’s unusual tornado outbreak, said Victor Gensini, a meteorology professor at Northern Illinois University who studies tornado trends.

Bangladesh's Walton has expanded its business in the eastern European country Georgia by exporting smart TVs. The company hopes that the export will pave the way for expanding its TV business in other eastern European countries like Armenia and Azerbaijan. Also read: Walton TV gets good response in Romania Samin Yasar, the market in-charge of Walton Global Business Division in Georgia, said: "This year, a famous Georgian electronics marketing company has partnered with us to distribute Walton TVs to its market. In June this year, the Georgian company received the first shipment of Walton TVs. The second shipment of Walton TVs will be sent to Georgia very soon." "Also, Walton TVs are now available on Georgia's e-commerce platforms." Read Walton TV gets good response in Romania Syed Al Imran, vice-president of Walton Global Business Division for Europe, said: "Walton started exporting TVs to the European market in 2019. Since then, it has successfully expanded its TV export to around 16 countries in western and central Europe, including Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Italy, and Romania."

A weakened but resilient Tropical Storm Elsa killed at least one person in Florida on Wednesday and injured several others when a possible tornado struck a campground at a Navy base in southeast Georgia. The National Hurricane Center said Elsa still packed 45 mph (72 kph) winds more than nine hours after making landfall along Florida’s northern Gulf Coast. The storm’s center was sweeping over eastern Georgia by 2 a.m. Thursday. Elsa will move over Georgia Thursday morning, over South Carolina and North Carolina later in the day, pass near the eastern mid-Atlantic states by Thursday night and move near or over the northeastern United States on Friday. Elsa seemed to spare Florida from significant damage, though it still threatened flooding downpours and caused several tornado warnings. The coasts of Georgia and South Carolina were under a tropical storm warning. Forecasters predicted Elsa would remain a tropical storm into Friday, and issued a tropical storm watch from North Carolina to Massachusetts. Authorities in Jacksonville, Florida, said one person was killed Wednesday when a tree fell and struck two cars. The National Weather Service reported 50 mph (80 kph) wind gusts in the city. The tree fell during heavy rains and no one else was injured, according to Capt. Eric Prosswimmer of the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department. “Now is a time to remember ... that weather is unpredictable,” Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said during a news conference Wednesday evening as he urged drivers to stay off the road. “This is really early in the (hurricane) season. We’re just outside of the July 4th holiday, we’ve had our first storm and, unfortunately, we’ve had a fatality.” Read:Elsa weakens to a tropical storm as it takes aim at Florida In nearby Camden County, Georgia, a possible tornado struck a park for recreational vehicles at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. About 10 people were injured and taken to hospitals by ambulance, said base spokesman Scott Bassett. The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear. He said some buildings on the base appeared to have been damaged as well. Sergio Rodriguez, who lives near the RV park, said he raced to the scene fearing friends staying at the park might be hurt. The area was under a tornado warning Wednesday evening. “There were just RVs flipped over on their sides, pickup trucks flipped over, a couple of trailers had been shifted and a couple of trailers were in the water” of a pond on the site, Rodriguez said in a phone interview. Cellphone video he filmed at the scene showed trees bent low among scattered debris. He said ambulances arrived and began treating dazed people trying to understand what had happened. “A bunch of folks had lacerations and were just banged around,” Rodriguez said. “A majority of folks were in their trailers when it happened.” Earlier in the day, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told a news conference that no major structural damage had been reported as Elsa came ashore. “Clearly, this could have been worse,” the Republican governor said, though he cautioned that many storm-related deaths happen after the system passes. The hurricane center said parts of Florida could see up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of total rain accumulation from the storm. There was also a risk of flooding in Georgia and South Carolina, which were predicted to get 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 centimeters) of rainfall. A couple of tornadoes are possible Thursday morning from southeastern Georgia into the coastal plain of South Carolina. Read:Officials: Storm lashing Florida strengthens into hurricane Valdosta, Georgia, and surrounding Lowndes County came under a flash flood warning as Elsa’s center passed nearby. Some roads and yards flooded, and nearby Moody Air Force Base a reported wind gust of 41 mph (66 kph), said county spokeswoman Meghan Barwick. Scattered power outages were being reported along Elsa’s path Wednesday evening, with about 35,000 homes and businesses on either side of the Georgia-Florida state line without electricity, according to the website poweroutages.us. The storm complicated the search for potential survivors and victims in the collapse of a Miami-area condominium on June 24. Regardless, crews continued the search in the rubble of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, on the state’s southeast coast. The storm also temporarily halted demolition Wednesday on the remainder of an overturned cargo ship off the coast of Georgia. The South Korean freighter Golden Ray capsized in September 2019 off St. Simons Island, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Savannah. Crews have removed more than half the ship since November. Most salvage workers were sheltering indoors Wednesday, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Himes, a spokesperson for the multiagency command overseeing the demolition. Himes said crews would be watching to see if Elsa’s winds scatter any debris from the ship into the surrounding water. The vessel’s remains are open at both ends, like a giant tube on its side, and its cargo decks still contain hundreds of bashed and mangled cars. At the Hillbilly Fish Camp and R.V. Park in the south Georgia town of Waycross, Margie Freitag hunkered down Wednesday after pulling boats out of the water and picking up loose items ahead of the storm. Freitag said she had plenty of supplies after stocking up for the coronavirus pandemic. In Edisto Beach, South Carolina, Wednesday started muggy and overcast. Read:Tropical Storm Elsa moving across west Cuba, then to Florida “The kind of day you can just feel the weather wanting to move in,” Mayor Jane Darby said. The forecast for the barrier island 30 miles (48 kilometers) down the coast from Charleston was similar to a heavy summer thunderstorm – an inch or two (2.5 to 5 centimeters) of rain, winds gusting up to about 40 mph (64 kph) and maybe a little beach erosion. Other South Carolina beaches expected similar conditions, coming mostly overnight to be less of a bother to visitors during an extremely busy summer. “Businesses are struggling with workers in short supply a lot more than they are going to be bothered by this storm,” Darby said. “That’s where the stress is now.” Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard said 13 people were rescued from a boat that had left Cuba with 22 people aboard late Monday. Nine people remained missing. Elsa was also blamed for three deaths in the Caribbean before it reached Florida. Elsa is the earliest fifth-named storm on record, said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami.

A liquid nitrogen leak at a northeast Georgia poultry plant killed six people Thursday and sent 11 others to the hospital, officials said.

Georgians cast high-stakes final votes Tuesday in elections to determine the balance of power in the new Congress, deciding Senate runoff elections sure to shape President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to enact what could be the most progressive governing agenda in generations.

Democrat Joe Biden was on the cusp of winning the presidency on Friday as he opened up narrow leads over President Donald Trump in the critical battlegrounds of Georgia and Pennsylvania.

A judge in Georgia has dismissed a lawsuit by the state Republican Party and President Donald Trump’s campaign that asked him to ensure a coastal county was following state laws on processing absentee ballots.

Beth Moore would typically fit the mold of a Georgia Republican. She attended private school in the affluent, mostly white northern Atlanta suburbs, attended the University of Georgia, practices law and married a Republican.

Beth Moore would typically fit the mold of a Georgia Republican. She attended private school in the affluent, mostly white northern Atlanta suburbs, attended the University of Georgia, practices law and married a Republican.