Tbili - French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was in Georgia on Saturday for talks on boosting the defences of the ex-Soviet nation aspiring to join NATO despite Moscow's objections. "Georgia has a mission to join the Alliance," Le Drian told reporters.

Tbili - US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday welcomed the Syrian army's declaration of a 72-hour ceasefire but said he was working with Russia and others to try to transform it into a lasting truce.

Tbili - The United States and Georgia signed a security deal Wednesday designed to shore up the former Soviet republic's defences against Russia as it waits to join NATO.

Tbili - Georgia has arrested three of its nationals and three citizens of Armenia for trying to sell the radioactive substance uranium-238, the ex-Soviet country's security services said Monday.

Tbili - Georgia's eccentric billionaire, former premier Bidzina Ivanishvili, has come under fire from environmentalists for uprooting a rare giant tree and transporting it by boat to his private park.

Tbili - A political scandal has rocked pro-Western Georgia after a sex video of an opposition party member was posted online and other politicians received similar threats, just months before parliamentary polls.

Hammonton - No fewer than 10 mystery sonic booms were reported yesterday between southern New Jersey along the East Coast to Long Island New York, according to scientists with the U.S. geological survey (USGS).

Tbili - Georgia on Thursday welcomed the International Criminal Court's inquiry into alleged war crimes committed during its 2008 war with Russia over Moscow-backed breakaway South Ossetia region.

Tbili - Georgia's parliament confirmed Wednesday former foreign minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili as the country's prime minister, six days after Irakli Garibashvili's surprise resignation from the post.

Tbili - Georgia's president on Friday nominated vice premier Giorgi Kvirikashvili as the new head of government after the surprise resignation of Irakli Garibashvili.

Tbili - Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili resigned on Wednesday after two years in power, with the ruling coalition struggling to boost its popularity ahead of parliamentary polls next year.

Tbili - Georgia on Friday stripped former leader and reformer Mikheil Saakashvili of his citizenship as he had acquired a Ukrainian passport to serve as governor of the strategic Odessa region.

Tbili - Georgia has arrested four of its nationals on suspicion of having links with the Islamic State group, the ex-Soviet country's officials said Tuesday.

Tbili - Staff at Georgia's most popular TV station on Friday promised to resist government pressure after a court ordered a change of management at the opposition channel.The ruling ratcheted up tensions in the ex-Soviet country of 4.

Tbili - Georgia said Saturday it had launched a probe into controversial media reports suggesting that exiled former president Mikheil Saakashvili was plotting a coup to overthrow the authorities.

Knoxville - A tiny and rare species of frog living in remote, hidden caves in the heavily forested mountains near Russia and Georgia depends on bats for its survival, according to a recent study.

Tbili - Thousands of protesters rallied in Georgia on Thursday against the government's alleged attempts to silence the country's most popular television channel, raising fears of political turmoil in the Western-backed nation.

Tbili - The head of Georgia's main independent television station on Wednesday accused the government of trying to blackmail him as part of a struggle for control that critics say is aimed at stifling free media in the ex-Soviet state.

Tbili - The prosecutor for the world's only permanent war crimes court Thursday called for an inquiry to be opened into alleged abuses during a swift but brutal 2008 conflict between Georgia and Russia.

Tbili - Azerbaijan on Wednesday deported two activists from Amnesty International in a move the advocacy group denounced as an "attack on freedom of expression" in the lead-up to parliamentary elections.