The Messenger - Georgia's English Language Daily

Tensions rise as Russia sends more peacekeepers to Georgian separatist region

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said his country is committed to peace but threatened by Russia in a speech delivered yesterday, after Moscow announced it would deploy more peacekeepers to a Georgian separatist region in response to an alleged Georgian military build-up. (more)

Patriarch blesses more children in effort to increase Georgian fecundity

Continuing an initiative to boost the birth rate in Georgia, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II baptized 100 more newborn babies at Tbilisi’s Sameba Cathedral yesterday. (more)

Georgia blocks Russia WTO membership talks

Tbilisi halted talks on Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization in Geneva on April 28, demanding Moscow reverse its decision to increase ties with Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. (more)

The News in Brief

Words of the Day

The nervous month to come

Last week, Mikheil Saakashvili called on the opposition to stand with the government in unity against the Russian threat. (more)

Iran touts transit potential for Caspian oil

Iran is interested in transiting Caspian oil to the Persian Gulf, a representative of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) said on April 24 at a conference in Baku. (more)

Media reports: Russia to try and convince Azerbaijan to back out of Trans-Caspian project

Russia will try to persuade Azerbaijan to back out of the Trans-Caspian pipeline project when Russian Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov visits Baku next month, the news agency Regnum reports. (more)

Press Scanner

“Kazakhstan is interested in Georgia’s agricultural products” (more)