• Saudi's MBS skips G7 meeting, urges for int'l recognition of Palestinian state and to hold Israel responsible for its crimes
• Saudi king hospitalised for 2nd time, follows rumours of assassination attempt on prince

• Predatory Sparrow: The terrorist attacks of an Israel-linked hacker group
• Weary Israeli army 'not ready' for war on Lebanon
• Israeli businessman murdered on video in Egypt is alleged to be Mossad spy, follows IDF seizure of shared border crossing

She joined Columbia University in 1972-1973 where Zbigniew Brzezinski, at the time director of the Trilateral Commission, trained her on Soviet politics and Cold War diplomacy.^[11]

She has said that choosing a career in diplomacy was linked with hopes to one day being instrumental in helping Georgia.^[4]

From her first marriage to Iranian-American World Bank economist Nicolas Gorjestani, Zourabichvili has two children: Kéthévane (France 24 journalist^[12]) and Théïmouraz (a French diplomat^[13]).

In 1992, Zourabichvili was appointed First Secretary to the Permanent Mission of France to NATO in Brussels, before becoming Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the Western European Union, still in Brussels, from 1993 to 1996.^[20]

In 1996 and 1997, she held the post of Technical Adviser at the Cabinet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. In 1997-1998, she was Inspector at the MFA, still in Paris, before she was appointed Under-Director of Strategic Affairs at the Management of Strategic Affairs, Security and Disarmament of the MFA, a post she leaves in 2001 to become director of International and Strategic Affairs at the General Secretariat of National Defense. She also works with the Bureau of Strategic Affairs of NATO.^[19]

Ambassador to Georgia[edit]

Between 2003 and 2004, Zourabichvili was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Georgia.^[20]

The Georgian 'foreign agent' law is "incompatible" with membership of the bloc, its ambassador in Tbilisi has said

The European Union has suspended the process of Georgia's accession to the bloc, the EU's ambassador to the former Soviet republic, Pavel Gerchinsky, told Russian media on Tuesday. A €30 million ($32.5 million) payment allocated to the Georgian Defense Ministry has also reportedly been frozen.

The envoy cited Tbilisi's controversial 'foreign agent' law as the reason behind the move. After the legislation was adopted last month, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Georgia that its potential accession to the bloc was in jeopardy.

Formally titled the Transparency of Foreign Influence Act, the new law requires NGOs, media outlets, and individuals who receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as entities "promoting the interests of a foreign power" and to disclose their donors. Those who fail to comply will face fines of up to $9,500. The bill came into force despite opposition protests and a veto by Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili.

"The intentions of the current Georgian government are unclear to EU leaders. The Transparency of Foreign Influence Act is clearly a step backwards. [...] Also, the anti-Western, anti-European rhetoric is completely incompatible with the declared goal of joining the European Union. Unfortunately, as of now Georgia's accession to the European Union has been suspended," Gerchinsky said, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

While opponents of the law have described it as at attack on democracy and "Russian" because Moscow has similar legislation, its supporters have noted it is similar to what numerous Western nations, including the US, have in place.

Borrell said last month that Georgia will not progress with its EU accession unless its government changes its policies.

Georgia will hold parliamentary elections in October, and Gerchinsky expressed hope that a new government in Tbilisi, "whatever it may be," will again "begin serious work" toward EU integration.

The former Soviet republic applied for EU membership in March 2022, shortly after the start of the Ukraine conflict. In May of last year, the European Council agreed to allocate €30 million to boost Georgia's defense sector. The European Council granted Tbilisi candidate status last December.

Georgia has introduced a set of bills against propaganda and gender reassignment

The speaker of the Georgian parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, has announced a sweeping initiative aimed at protecting traditional family values, in a move branded by critics as another Russia-inspired crackdown.

The set of proposals includes a ban on gay marriage and the adoption of minors by homosexual couples. In addition, the ruling Georgian Dream party seeks to ban LGBTQ and incest propaganda aimed at minors, and to prohibit broadcasters and advertisers from airing intimate same-sex scenes. Reassignment surgery and changing gender in official documents would also be banned under the proposals.

"Today, the parliamentary majority is initiating a package of bills on Family Values and Protection of Minors, which consists of one main bill... and 18 related bills that amend various laws, civil code, labor code, education legislation and so on," Papuashvili said at a government briefing on Tuesday.

According to Papuashvili, the proposed bill may be passed in its first reading as early as this month.

Western media have already branded the proposals a "Russian-style crackdown," pointing at how Moscow has increasingly tightened its legislation on "LGBT propaganda" since the early 2010s, first banning its dissemination among minors and ultimately expanding the prohibition to adults in 2022. Last November, the Russian Supreme Court designated the "international LGBT public movement" as an extremist group.

On Monday, Papuashvili signed into law a controversial bill on foreign agent transparency, after lawmakers voted last week to override a veto by President Salome Zourabichvili. It requires NGOs and media organizations that receive at least 20% of their funding from abroad to disclose this fact to the public.

Opponents of the new law, including the president, have branded it "Russian" and an attack on democracy. Supporters have countered that it is similar to what some Western countries, including the US, have in place.

The actions taken by Tbilisi against so-called 'foreign agents' will "fundamentally alter the US relationship with Georgia," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said during a briefing on Monday. Washington has launched a review of its ties with the South Caucasus nation, which is an EU and NATO hopeful, he added.

In 2018, Georgia amended the constitution to explicitly define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The ruling party now wants to introduce further changes, which would require support from the opposition to achieve a three-quarters majority vote in the parliament.

Georgia applied to join the EU in 2022 and was granted candidate status a year later. The bloc's members have repeatedly criticized the treatment of the LGBTQ community in the country, where pride events are regularly met with threats and counter-protests.

• New law 'pushing Georgia away from EU' - Borrell
• US scraps military drills with NATO hopeful
• US postpones military exercise with Georgia, citing 'false' accusations of coup efforts and attempt to open '2nd front against Russia'
• Ukrainization of Georgia will not happen - prime minister The comment to the article has links to several others related to the situation in Georgia as it has developed since the beginning of the year.

a video filmed from a distance by a witness, was probably an AIM120 fired by a NASAM missile system or an interceptor fired by the MIM-104 Patriot missile system. Western donors have provided those US-developed weapons to Ukraine.

© X.com

Russian forces do not target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed

© Getty Images / Sergei Chuzavkov; SOPA Images; LightRocketDestroyed building of the Okhmatdet children's hospital in Kiev

Moscow has vehemently denied responsibility for the tragedy at the Okhmatdet children's hospital in Kiev, after a missile hit the facility on Monday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has insisted that the incident was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Peskov stressed that Russia "does not strike civilian targets" and that all strikes carried out by the Russian military are exclusively aimed at "critical infrastructure facilities and military targets that are somehow related to the regime's military potential."

Regarding Ukraine's accusations that Moscow intentionally hit the hospital in Kiev, Peskov pointed to the official statement by the Russian Defense Ministry, which "absolutely rules out that there were strikes on any civilian targets. It states that we are talking about the fall of an anti-missile."

The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday that it had conducted a large-scale attack using long-range high-precision weapons to strike Ukrainian military industry facilities and aviation bases. The attack was said to be in response to Kiev's continued attempts to cause damage to Russian energy and economic facilities.

The ministry stated that all the intended targets were hit and rejected Kiev's claims of Russian missiles striking civilian facilities as "absolutely untrue."

"Numerous published photos and video footage from Kiev clearly confirm the fact of destruction due to the fall of a Ukrainian air defense missile launched from an anti-aircraft missile system within the city," the ministry said.

It also accused Kiev of attempting similar "hysterics" in the past, especially before large international summits, such as the NATO gathering in Washington that kicked off on Tuesday. The Russian Defense Ministry suggested that the incident at Okhmatdet is being used by the Ukrainian authorities to ensure continued funding and the continuation of the conflict.

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