All posts tagged: Georgia (country)

Trump Organization to Partner on New Skyscraper in Tbilisi, Georgia, WSJ Reports

Trump Organization to Partner on New Skyscraper in Tbilisi, Georgia, WSJ Reports

Published by Sam Flores

April 18 (Reuters) – The Trump Organization ⁠and ⁠its partners plan to ⁠build a new skyscraper in Tbilisi, Georgia, ​the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.  The 70-story building, “Trump ‌Tower Tbilisi”, will be a ‌mixed-use project that would be the tallest ⁠building in ⁠the capital of Georgia, the report said, citing a ​representative of the Trump Organization’s partners on the project.  Reuters could not verify the report. The Trump Organization did not ​respond to a Reuters request for comment.  In February, the ⁠Trump Organization ⁠signed a similar ⁠deal ​to build its first tower in Australia, in a project worth ​A$1.5 billion ($1.07 ⁠billion) The Tbilisi tower would include luxury residences, retail and hotel-style amenities, the report said.  It is being designed by the architecture firm Gensler and backed by a consortium ⁠that includes Georgia real-estate firm Archi Group and Biograpi Living, ⁠which is part of a Georgian conglomerate, according to the  WSJ.  Trump’s family business, known as the Trump Organization, announced in January the president’s investments, assets and business interests would be held in …

Orthodox Georgians Bid Final Farewell to Longstanding Patriarch

Orthodox Georgians Bid Final Farewell to Longstanding Patriarch

Published by Sam Flores

TBILISI, March 22 (Reuters) – ⁠Large ⁠crowds of Orthodox ⁠Christians gathered in the centre of the ​Georgian capital on Sunday to mourn Ilia II, ‌the spiritual leader who led ‌the church through nearly half a ⁠century of ⁠Georgia’s often tumultuous history. Ilia II, born Irakli Ghudushauri-Shiolashvili, ​died on Tuesday in hospital aged 93, having served as patriarch in the overwhelmingly Orthodox country for 49 ​years. “He was a friend, he was a father, ⁠he was ⁠a leader,” said ⁠mourner ​Nino Kajaia. “This is the end of an era.” Georgians of ​all ages, some ⁠holding flowers and candles, gathered along the Tbilisi river embankment to bid farewell as Ilia II’s funeral cortege made its way to the ⁠Sioni Cathedral, where the patriarch was laid to rest. Many wept ⁠and clapped as the car bearing his coffin drove by, shouting “I love you, patriarch!” Georgia adopted Christianity as its state religion in the early fourth century, and remains deeply religious to this day. Ilia II became patriarch in 1977 and led the church through the Soviet ⁠period …

Georgia Arrests Two Foreigners Trying to Purchase Uranium

Georgia Arrests Two Foreigners Trying to Purchase Uranium

Published by Sam Flores

TBILISI, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Georgia has ⁠detained ⁠two people who attempted ⁠to purchase $3 million worth of uranium and ​a cache of a radioactive isotope found in nuclear weapons testing ‌programmes, the national security ‌service said on Thursday. Two foreign nationals from unspecified ⁠countries were ⁠arrested in the city of Kutaisi, the State Security ​Service said in a statement. “They were planning to illegally purchase nuclear material uranium and radioactive substance Cesium 137 for $3 million and ​illegally transport it to the territory of another country,” ⁠it said. It ⁠said other foreigners had ⁠been ​arriving in Georgia in recent weeks with the aim of ​purchasing and transporting ⁠the nuclear and radioactive materials, without elaborating further. The statement did not specify the quantity of materials the individuals were attempting to procure. There were no details on the ⁠substances’ origin or potential destination. Cesium 137 is a radioactive isotope present ⁠primarily in the aftermath of nuclear weapons testing and nuclear power plant accidents such as the Chernobyl disaster in then-Soviet Ukraine in 1986. The security of …

Georgians Set Decorative Tree Ablaze to Usher in Hope for New Year

Georgians Set Decorative Tree Ablaze to Usher in Hope for New Year

Published by Sam Flores

TEZERI, Georgia, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Outside a wooden ‌cabin ​in central Georgia, local villager ‌Natia Gedenidze places an ornamental tree no more than ​one metre (3.28 ft) tall in the packed snow, and with the swift strike of ‍a match, sets it ablaze.  “This ​is the Georgian Christmas tree with which we celebrated the New Year,” ​she said. “Now ⁠that the New Year celebrations are over, we burn and throw away everything old and we greet the New Year with new hopes and new love.” Made by stripping back the branches from dried walnut or hazelnut trees, the “chichilaki”, as ‌the trees are known, are designed to look like the beard of ​the fourth-century ‌Saint Basil, who was ‍known ⁠for caring for the poor and destitute. Popular in western Georgia but found throughout the country, chichilaki are traditionally put on display in homes on Georgian Orthodox Christmas, on January 7, and are ceremonially burned on Epiphany, which falls on January 19, to symbolise the shaking off of the previous year’s woes. Another villager, Mariam …