Category Archives: Georgia

Claims of crime expose rift in Georgia’s pro-Trump fake elector group

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Admission reveals potentially major fracture in the group as prosecutors near the end of their investigation

A new legal filing has exposed a potentially major fracture among a group of so-called “fake electors” in Georgia, who sought to aid Donald Trump in overturning the 2020 election results in a scheme now under criminal investigation.

According to a court document filed on Tuesday, a group of people involved in the scheme recently told state prosecutors that another one of the fake electors committed crimes that they were not involved in.

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Gaunt and ghostly, Georgia’s jailed ex-president nears death in hospital

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Mikheil Saakashvili warned of Putin’s ambitions 15 years ago. Now he tells of torture by a regime that panders to Moscow

Locked up in a Tbilisi hospital, Mikheil Saakashvili is slowly wasting away.

“I am asking to be transferred to Poland, as it is crystal clear that in Georgian hospital I will die,” Georgia’s former president wrote in response to questions from the Observer last week. His answers were scrawled in blue ballpoint pen on sheets of paper, passed to his lawyers.

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Man found dead eaten by bed bugs in Atlanta jail, lawyer says

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Family of Lashawn Thompson call for criminal investigation after his death in custody in filthy jail cell

An Atlanta man died in a local jail after being eaten alive by bed bugs, alleges a lawyer representing the man’s family.

The family of Lashawn Thompson, 35, is calling for a criminal investigation into Thompson’s death and for the closure and replacement of a local jail after alleging that Thompson died in custody from bed bugs in a squalid jail cell.

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Majority-Black town fights to stop land being seized for gravel quarry rail link

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Residents of Sparta, Georgia, are trying to stop the Sandersville railroad and its influential owners from building a spur to a quarry

A majority-Black rural community in Georgia is battling to stop a railroad company from seizing private land for a new train line they say will cause environmental and economic harms.

Residents of Sparta, a poor community of 1,300 people located a hundred miles south-east of Atlanta, are opposing the construction of a rail spur that would connect a local quarry to the main train line, enabling the gravel company to vastly expand mining that already causes dust, debris and noise pollution.

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Two tigers briefly missing after Georgia zoo damaged by tornado

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The Pine Mountain Animal Safari lost two of its big cats after it sustained weather damage, but found them a few hours later

Two tigers briefly went missing from a Georgia zoo after a tornado struck the state on Saturday night and damaged the facility’s infrastructure.

In a Facebook post on Sunday morning, the Troup county’s sheriff’s office announced that it received a report from the Pine Mountain Animal Safari that a “tiger … is unaccounted for inside the park”.

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Why did protesters in Georgia oppose the ‘Russian law’ bill?

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Critics of withdrawn ‘foreign agents’ bill feared it would undercut bid for EU membership

Thousands of people took to the streets in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, this week after parliament backed a draft law which critics, who called it a “Russian law”, said would limit press freedom and undercut Georgia’s efforts to become a candidate for EU membership.

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Georgia drops bill on ‘foreign agents’ after two nights of violent protests

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After criticism law was similar to Russian legislation used to stifle dissent, ruling party says it will withdraw bill

Georgia’s ruling party has said it will drop its bill on “foreign agents” after fierce opposition culminated in two nights of violent protests and criticism that the draft law would limit press freedom and undercut the country’s efforts to become a candidate for EU membership.

The Georgian Dream party said in a statement it would “unconditionally withdraw the bill we supported without any reservations”. It cited the need to reduce “confrontation” in society.

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Protesters and police clash in Georgia for second day over ‘foreign agents’ law

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Police fire teargas at protesters rallying against ‘Russian law’ critics say could harm efforts to join EU

Police in the Georgian capital Tbilisi used tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades late on Wednesday as they moved to break up the second straight day of protests against a “foreign agents” law which critics say would limit press freedom and undercut the country’s efforts to become a candidate for EU membership.

Thousands of people clashed with police o taken to the streets of Georgia’s capital for a second day to rally against a “foreign agents” law that critics say would limit press freedom and undercut the country’s efforts to become a candidate for EU membership.

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Police use water cannon in Georgia to disperse protests at ‘authoritarian’ law

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Critics of ‘foreign agents’ law say it could dash Tbilisi’s hopes of joining the European Union

Police in the former Soviet state of Georgia have used water cannon and teargas in an attempt to disperse thousands of people who rallied on Tuesday night after parliament gave its initial backing to a draft law on “foreign agents” which critics say represents an authoritarian shift.

Some protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at police in the centre of the capital Tbilisi, as demonstrators warned that the draft law could hurt the south Caucasus country’s hopes of EU membership.

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Activists and groups gear up for week of action against Georgia’s ‘Cop City’

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Protest comes less than two months after police shot dead activist defending forest under threat by proposed project

A broad range of individuals and activist organizations, from a local rabbi to Black Voters Matter, Atlanta-area residents and people from across the US, are gearing up for a “week of action” this week to defend a forest south-east of the city in Georgia, as part of a movement protesting a project dubbed “Cop City”.

The protest comes less than two months after police shot and killed activist, Manuel Paez Terán, or “Tortuguita”, one of dozens camped in the forest. The fatal shooting of an environmental protester, the first of its kind in US history, raised the movement’s profile nationally and internationally.

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Remains found in car in creek identified as US student who went missing in 1976

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Ford Pinto found in Alabama belonged to Kyle Clinkscales, 22, who disappeared nearly 50 years ago

Skeletal remains inside a car discovered in a creek a little more than a year ago belonged to an Auburn University student who had disappeared in 1976, authorities have confirmed, closing the book on a missing person case that had puzzled investigators for nearly five decades.

Kyle Clinkscales, 22, was last seen alive at a bar where he worked in his home town of LaGrange, Georgia, on the night of 27 January 1976. He was planning to drive back to school in Alabama about 35 miles away in his white 1974 Ford Pinto, but he never arrived.

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‘He’s an inspiration’: tributes pour in after Jimmy Carter enters hospice care

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Oldest living US president opted to spend his ‘remaining time’ at home, statement by the Carter Center says

Tributes continue to be made to the former US president Jimmy Carter, after the announcement that the 98-year-old has entered hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, instead of receiving “additional” medical treatment.

Raphael Warnock, the Democratic Georgia senator, said: “Across life’s seasons, President Jimmy Carter, a man of great faith, has walked with God. In this tender time of transitioning, God is surely walking with him.”

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Atlanta residents take fight over $90m ‘Cop City’ police training site to city hall

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Petition to Fulton county superior court seeks halt to building work while appeal against huge police training center is ruled on

Recent mornings at South River Forest, south-east of Atlanta, have begun with workers driving tractors around, clearing paths and felling trees, guarded by more than 100 police officers.

The workers are taking the first steps in building an 85-acre, $90m police and fire department training center planned for the land, called “Cop City” by activists.

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Biden says three objects shot down over US ‘most likely’ private, and not more Chinese spy balloons – as it happened

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The special grand jury empaneled in the Georgia’s Fulton county worried that at least one of the 75 witnesses it heard from may have lied under oath, according to portions of their report released today.

They also determined “by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election,” the jurors wrote in the report’s introduction, which was released along with its conclusion and a brief chapter outlining the perjury concerns.

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Findings in Georgia Trump report could be enough to bring criminal charges

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The partial release of the grand jury report signals the investigation already contains legitimate evidence of perjury

The release of a portion of the Fulton county special purpose grand jury’s report marks a new step toward potential criminal charges holding Donald Trump and his allies accountable for election interference.

Georgia was crucial in the 2020 presidential election, providing a key victory for Joe Biden and drawing the intense focus of Trump and his backers.

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Georgia grand jury report on Trump election pressure to be partially released

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Judge ruled certain sections will be made public this week, including one involving witnesses who may have lied under oath

Portions of a Georgia grand jury’s report on whether Donald Trump and allies committed crimes when they tried to overturn the 2020 election will be made public this week, but the entirety of the report will remain secret until the Fulton county prosecutor decides whether to bring charges, a judge ruled on Monday.

The sections that will be made public are the report’s introduction, conclusion and a section discussing whether some of the witnesses who testified before the special purpose grand jury lied under oath. The section does not identify which witnesses may have lied.

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Judge to rule on releasing Georgia grand jury report into Trump election meddling – live

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Jurors recommended making public the report into efforts to overturn results of 2020 election

A judge in Atlanta will at 12 pm eastern time convene a hearing to determine whether to release a special grand jury’s report into attempts by Donald Trump and his allies to meddle in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

The jurors have recommended making the report public, and Fani Willis, the district attorney in Fulton county, which encompasses Georgia’s capital, is using its findings to determine whether to bring charges in the investigation, which has centered on the attempts by top Trump allies like attorney Rudy Giuliani and senator Lindsey Graham to convince state officials to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state. It’s unclear if Willis is considering charges against Trump in the case. Attorneys for the former president said yesterday they will not attend the hearing, and that Trump has not committed any crimes.

The shift in the U.S. position follows a call on Jan. 17 between President Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in which Mr. Biden agreed to look into providing the Abrams tanks against the judgment of the Pentagon. A senior German official said that the issue had been the subject of intense negotiation between Washington and Berlin for more than a week and appeared to be on the way to resolution.

Military officials have argued publicly that the Abrams tanks require a substantial amount of training and logistics support and therefore aren’t appropriate for this moment in the conflict.

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Biden approves disaster funding after Alabama and Georgia tornadoes

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At least nine people died as survivors tell of hiding in bathtubs and containers as ferocious storms bore down on homes

Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Alabama on Sunday, after at least nine people died in tornadoes that destroyed homes and knocked out power to tens of thousands in south-eastern US states this week.

The president ordered federal aid to supplement regional recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms, winds and tornadoes on 12 January, a White House statement said.

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Biden honors Martin Luther King Jr with sermon: ‘His legacy shows us the way’

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President gave sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and spoke about the need to protect democracy

Joe Biden marked what would have been Martin Luther King Jr’s 94th birthday with a sermon on Sunday at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, celebrating the legacy of the civil rights leader while speaking about the urgent need to protect US democracy.

Biden said he was “humbled” to become the first sitting president to give the Sunday sermon at King’s church, also describing the experience as “intimidating”.

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At least seven people dead as tornadoes slam US south

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First responders search for possibly trapped survivors or further victims in Georgia and Alabama after storm eased Thursday night

First responders are searching for any trapped survivors and any additional victims in on Friday after a massive storm system whipping up severe winds and spawning tornadoes cut a deadly path across the US South the day before, killing at least seven people in Georgia and Alabama.

A twister damaged buildings and tossed cars in the streets of historic downtown Selma, Alabama. Houses were torn off their foundations and property was smashed up and flattened by flying debris and ripped up trees.

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