Georgia
Georgia footballers protest against Tbilisi’s ‘foreign influence’ bill
Leading players in Georgia’s national men’s football team have come out in support of pro-EU protests sparked by a controversial “foreign influence” bill criticised for mirroring a repressive Russian law.
Riot police have clashed in recent nights with large rallies of people protesting outside the parliament building in Tbilisi against a controversial “foreign influence” bill, which it is claimed will hamper the country’s application for EU membership.
Jaba Kankava, the captain of Georgia’s national football team, which has recently qualified for Euro 2024, its first major tournament, posted a picture on Instagram of two protesters staring down riot police on Tuesday night, adding: “Fuck Russia.”
A host of other national team players, including Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a winger for Italy’s Serie A club Napoli, and Giorgi Mamardashvili, who is a goalkeeper for Valencia in Spain’s La Liga, also posted what appeared to be coordinated messages on social media.
They wrote: “Georgia’s path is to Europe. The European way unites us!! Forward to Europe!! Peace to Georgia.”
David Kezerashvili, who served as Georgia’s defence minister at the time of the 2008 Russian invasion of the country, said: “The footballers’ decision to back the protests may prove to be a decisive intervention, coming just weeks after millions took to the streets to celebrate their Euro 2024 qualification.
“People understand the economic benefits and freedoms that membership of the European Union would bring to a country like Georgia, and they resent those aspirations being sabotaged. Seeing police in balaclavas take violent action against well-meaning protesters has dark echoes of Georgia’s Soviet past. This is driving a wedge between Tbilisi and Brussels.”
Under a draft bill introduced to parliament on Monday, organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad will be required to register as being agents of foreign influence, with fines for those who do not comply.
The law has been likened to Russian legislation under which journalists, politicians, rights organisations, environmental groups, LGBTQ support networks and others have been obliged to label themselves as “foreign agents” when they publish.
The legislation has provoked violence inside and outside the parliament building. Footage broadcast on Monday on Georgian television showed Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s parliamentary faction and a driving force behind the bill, being punched in the face by the opposition MP Aleko Elisashvili while speaking from the dispatch box.
Crowds of about 10,000 people protested outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Monday and Tuesday night, when they clashed with riot police.
Despite the protests, 83 out of 150 deputies voted in favour of the bill on Wednesday, which must pass two more readings before becoming law. The ruling Georgian Dream party says the legislation is needed to promote transparency and combat “pseudo-liberal values” imposed from abroad.
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, has described the law as “not consistent with Georgia’s EU aspiration and its accession trajectory”, and called for it to be withdrawn. The EU gave Georgia candidate status in December.
The Georgian president, Salome Zurabishvili, who is at loggerheads with the ruling party, has backed the protesters, denouncing the proposed bill as “a Russian strategy of destabilisation”.
A similar bill targeting “foreign agents” was dropped last year after two nights of mass protests.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Wednesday that Russia had nothing to do with the foreign agent bill, which he described as “normal practice” for a government that wished to “protect themselves from outside influence”.
He claimed that the law was being used to “provoke anti-Russian sentiments” and that “it is unlikely that these impulses are being fed from within Georgia”.
“They’re probably coming from the outside,” he said.
Georgia
Georgia Tech Athletics Receives a Pair of $10 Million Gifts
THE FLATS – Two generous, anonymous families have each given $10 million gifts to support Georgia Tech athletics’ Full Steam Ahead initiative and the Yellow Jackets’ football program, Tech vice president and director of athletics Ryan Alpert has announced.
“We’re incredibly grateful to these two generous families for their investments in Georgia Tech athletics and a championship-level football program,” Alpert said. “Led by these families, their relentless investments in our mission and their belief in our upward trajectory, support of Georgia Tech athletics and Tech football are at unprecedented levels.”
With these transformative gifts, Georgia Tech athletics is well on to set a new fundraising record in the 2026 fiscal year, as donor participation is up 21% in just six months since the fiscal year began on July 1.
Additionally, in just 14 months since the public launch of Full Steam Ahead in October 2024, Tech athletics has received nearly $90 million in new commitments to the initiative. In total, nearly $400 million has been raised towards Full Steam Ahead’s $500 million goal, which is a part of the Institute-wide Transforming Tomorrow campaign.
Georgia Tech continues to display its commitment to fielding nationally prominent, championship-level athletics programs. Notably, Tech athletics has committed to making more than $150 million in investments to its football program over the next several years, which includes the opening of the Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center in the spring (a state-of-the-art facility that will benefit Georgia Tech’s full body of 300-plus student-athletes), a renovation of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field that will be completed prior to the 2027 season, a continued pledge to provide maximum revenue sharing to student-athletes and significant new resources devoted to expand and enhance staff.
To fulfill these commitments, enhanced engagement and support from the Georgia Tech community is vital.
“We still have progress to make to achieve our goal of consistently competing for championships at the highest levels of intercollegiate athletics,” Alpert continued. “Never in the history of college athletics has success been so closely tied to resources, and now is the time to seize the opportunity to take advantage of the great momentum and energy that we’re experiencing on The Flats.
“Every member of the White and Gold community can play a part. We urge fans to get in the game. Whether it be through gifts to the A-T Fund, purchasing tickets and merchandise, corporate sponsorships – every manner of support is vital to the success of Tech athletics.”
For more information and to make a year-end gift to the A-T Fund, visit atfund.org.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
Fourth Quarter
Less than two weeks remain for the Georgia Tech community to take advantage of the A-T Fund’s year-end Fourth Quarter Initiative, which gives supporters the opportunity to receive four A-T Fund priority points for every $100 donated to the Athletic Scholarship Fund through Dec. 31. The Athletic Scholarship Fund provides direct support for student-athletic scholarships and is one of the A-T Fund’s highest annual priorities, as it helps bridge the gap between endowment returns and scholarship costs.
Fourth Quarter gifts to the Athletic Scholarship Fund will provide donors with four A-T Fund priority points per $100 donated, which is double the two points normally allotted per $100 given. A-T Fund priority points are used to allocate benefits such as seat locations and parking for Georgia Tech athletics home events, as well as access to tickets for away games and postseason events, including ACC and NCAA Championships, bowl games and the College Football Playoff. To contribute to the Fourth Quarter Initiative and begin collecting four A-T Fund priority points for every $100 donated, click HERE. For more information, visit atfund.org/4th-quarter.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram and at www.ramblinwreck.com.
Georgia
DA Fani Willis appears before Georgia Senate panel
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testifies before a Georgia State Senate committee in Atlanta as she ends her year-long legal fight over a subpoena and defends her actions in the Trump election interference case.
Posted
Georgia
One of Georgia Tech’s best, Haynes King readies for Yellow Jackets finale
A day after receiving ACC honors, Tech’s senior quarterback refocuses on BYU and the bowl game.
Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King (center) and his family react during a senior night event prior to his final home game Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, against Pittsburgh at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. (Hyosub Shin AJC)
As Haynes King’s time in Atlanta and as a member of the Georgia Tech football program wanes, the inimitable quarterback is soaking in the last few days with teammates while basking in the glow of winning a pair of individual ACC awards.
King was presented two trophies Tuesday — one for being named the ACC player of the year and the other for being named the ACC offensive player of the year — during halftime of Tech’s basketball win over Marist at McCamish Pavilion. The senior was joined by Tech coach Brent Key, Tech athletic director Ryan Alpert, Tech President Angel Cabrera and the ACC’s senior vice president for football, Michael Strickland.
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