Def Min sting, Deputy Min Homophobic meat head, more Mokhe, Khajimba says chill on “integration”, UNM rally planned, Misha R2 interview, EU Geo Visa process ok, NDC meets with PM, violence against women discussion, Republicans want process, Iranian MPs visit, Zug Interior blast, WB doing biz number, Aeroflot back, Gharibashvili to Abkhaz and Ossets, French Def Min tnx for Congo troops, Russians hack GoG sites says NYT, more Alaval Dasavali beating stuff, US Embassy fixes church, brother booted from marshutka, Arveladze with Timoshenko, new UAE flights, parliament wants to keep Interior crawling around telecom servers.
The MEME this week is a map by website Project Youth that’s been floating on facebook. It’s Europe according to Georgians. Link: http://bit.ly/1wjgPH0
THINGS TO READ
Eric Livny and Lasha Labadze write for the ISET economist blog, this week on the fight against crime in Georgia. They note that while crime is allegedly on the rise since the summer, MIA crime stats show otherwise. From anecdotal experience, people do not trust the MIA stats. Link: http://bit.ly/1rQIhX4
Will Cathcart writes for the Daily Beast on Top ISIS’s Commander — and Pankisi Gorge native — Abu Omar al-Shishani. Link: http://thebea.st/1vampHa
Russia and Caucasus analyst Nina Jobe has a response and critique of Cathcart’s Daily Beast piece, which she says has a lot of sensationalism and loads of story gaps and inconsistencies. Link: http://bit.ly/1wPwmjh
Michael Cecire also has a piece on Pankisi Chechens fighting in Syria. He says its not an issue of Islamist radicalization in the valley, but advises the Georgian government to invest in Pankisi and poverty-alleviation programs. Link: http://bit.ly/1wLJ5jv
More on this Pankisi trend: analyst Joanna Paraskuk has a blog called Chechens in Syria, where she documents all things related to Caucasus fighters there. Link: http://bit.ly/1rFy5zR
A post in Liz Fuller’s RFE/RL blog Caucasus Report, addressing some statements in Misha’s Rustavi 2 interview. Link: http://bit.ly/1ubxqxE
The latest CRRC blogpost, on physical exercise in Georgia. Link: http://bit.ly/108Mjmj
Check out the Flickr account of Tbilisi-based photographer Onnik Krikorian for pictures from this year’s Tbilisoba. Link: http://bit.ly/1zlnens
A letter by various NGOs but mainly TI, calling for the Deputy Minister for Diaspora Issues to resign, for publicly using hate speech. Link: http://bit.ly/1tndSnR
The New York Times piece on Russia and China and cyber-spying, targeting Georgia and others. Link: http://nyti.ms/1zJheGn
According to journalist Robert Beckhusen, writing for Medium, the Baltic states are studying battle tactics from Georgia’s 2008 war in preparation for possible Russian tanks coming their way. Link: http://bit.ly/ZQWrQJ
Tbilisi-based BBC journalist Rayhan Demytrie has a podcast on Iraq’s Kurds fleeing to Georgia. Link: http://bit.ly/1sK9IEP
Joseph Alexandre Smith writes for Georgia Today on Tbilisi’s only English-language Georgian Orthodox church service. Link: http://bit.ly/1tol01G
Monica Ellena writes for Business New Europe on Tbilisi’s building frenzy. Link: http://bit.ly/13oTdGd
An article in Vestnik Kavkaza summarizing some of the Mokhe events. Link: http://bit.ly/106PjzS