Georgia
Georgia: Clashes outside parliament on third protest night – DW – 12/01/2024
Georgians protesting the government’s decision to delay European Union membership talks clashed with security forces outside parliament in the capital Tbilisi on Saturday evening.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets for the third night in a row. The protests, which have seen over a hundred arrested, have been the biggest since the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in October’s contested parliamentary elections.
What happened at the protests?
Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and used water cannons in an effort to disperse the rallies. Protesters outside parliament used fireworks, with flames reportedly seen coming out of a parliament building window.
Some of the protesters set up barricades on Tbilisi’s main avenue. Others on the steps of parliament burned an effigy of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Dream party’s founder and Georgia’s richest man.
“I am afraid — I won’t hide it — that many people will get injured, but I am not afraid to stand here,” 39-year-old Tamar Gelashvili told the French AFP news agency near the parliament building earlier in the day.
The Interior Ministry said that “the actions of some individuals present at the protest became violent shortly after the demonstration began.”
“Police will respond appropriately and in accordance with the law to every violation,” it said.
Protests also took place in various other cities across Georgia.
Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze had accused the pro-EU opposition of plotting a revolution, while the State Security Service said political parties were trying to “overthrow the government by force.”
EU membership is a highly popular goal in the former Soviet republic. Tbilisi is flooded with EU flags, often placed by residents at their own windows.
“The people of Georgia are trying to protect their constitution, trying to protect their country and the state, and they are trying to tell our government that rule of law means everything,” protester Tina Kupreishvili told the Reuters news agency outside parliament.
rmt/wd (AFP, Reuters)
A Griffin, Georgia man is now under arrest, charged in connection with a cold case homicide investigation in New Jersey, prosecutors say.
It’s been nearly 37 years since 42-year-old Mauricio Cuadra was shot during an apparent home invasion; now, authorities say 62-year-old Joseph Quiros-Soto is charged with his murder.
Officials say on Aug. 9, 1989, the officers with the Bayonne Police Department responded to reports of a home invasion and shooting at an apartment on the 400 block of Avenue C. Inside the home, they found Cuadra suffering from a gunshot wound. Cuadra died shortly after.
The case remained a mystery until 2024, when Quiros-Soto confessed to the murder to police in Locust Grove, Georgia, saying that he had become a born-again Christian, NJ.com reports.
Police told the outlet that he gave the detectives details of the crime and allowed visiting Hudson County authorities to take a DNA sample, which matched a stain on the victim.
Authorities were eventually able to obtain a warrant for the Georgia man’s arrest. On May 27, 2026, deputies with the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office arrested Quiros-Soto at his home in Griffin, charging him with murder and murder during the commission of a burglary.
Quiros-Soto is being detained in Georgia, awaiting extradition to New Jersey.
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball has made the super regionals in the NCAA Tournament and will face a team its already played four times.
The No. 14 national seed Bulldogs (43-17) are matched up with No. 3 Georgia (49-12). The best-of-three series will take place in Athens, Georgia, because Georgia is the higher seed.
The super regionals run from June 5-8, and the winner will make the College World Series.
MSU is 0-4 against Georgia this season, getting swept at Dudy Noble Field and then losing a fourth time in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. Georgia won the SEC regular season and tournament championships.
Both teams made it through their regionals without a loss. Mississippi State blew out Louisiana 19-5 on May 31, while Georgia defeated Liberty.
MSU has played Georgia only once in postseason history, losing in the 1990 College World Series.
Mississippi State baseball history in super regionals
Mississippi State has played in 10 super regionals and won five of them. It has won three straight super regionals. MSU is 2-4 as the visiting team in super regionals.
New Mississippi State coach Brian O’Connor is 7-2 in super regionals.
NCAA baseball tournament schedule
- Super regionals: June 5-8
- College World Series: June 12-22
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Georgia football landed a pair of commitments Sunday for its 2027 recruiting class.
Wide receiver Taurean Rawlins from Mount Vernon School in Atlanta posted on his X account on May 31 that he’s pledged to the Bulldogs.
Georgia also picked up a commitment from offensive tackle DJ Dotson from Hattiesburg, Miss., he posted on his Instagram account.
Both are rated 3-star prospects.
“I loved the support and love they showed towards me and my family,” Dotson said in a text message to the Athens Banner-Herald.
The 6-foot, 175-pound Rawlins is rated the No. 58 wide receiver in the 2027 class and the No. 478 overall prospect.
Rawlins had 67 catches for 1,395 yards and 17 touchdowns last season, according to MaxPreps.
Rawlins and Dotson give Georgia 10 commitments for this cycle.
Rawlins is the first wide receiver commitment. He also had offers from Ohio State, Florida and Michigan.
Georgia signed four wide receivers in its 2026 class: Craig Dandridge, Ryan Mosley, Dallas Dickerson and late addition Tre Shields.
Rawlins’ coach at Mount Vernon is former Georgia star wide receiver Terrence Edwards.
The 6-foot-7, 330-pound Dotson is rated as the nation’s No. 85 offensive tackle prospect and the No. 851 overall prospect.
He picked Georgia over Ole Miss, LSU and Georgia Tech, according to 247Sports.
Georgia also has offensive line commitments in its 2027 class from Kelsey Adams from Langston Hughes, Abram Eisenhower from Lowndes and Ty Johnson from Mount Pleasant, S.C.
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