Georgia
Georgia's most powerful man suggests an apology for 2008 war with Russia
TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia’s most powerful man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, suggested that the South Caucasus country could apologise to Ossetians for the 2008 war with Russia that led to Moscow recognising two rebel Georgian regions, Georgian media reported.
Russia recognised South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states after Russian troops repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in a five-day war in 2008. Most of the rest of the world continues to recognise the territories as Georgian.
Ivanishvili, a billionaire ex-prime minister who is the lead candidate of the ruling Georgian Dream party in an Oct. 26 election, said the “criminal regime” of former President Mikheil Saakashvili triggered the war on the orders of foreign powers, according to Georgian public broadcaster 1TV.
“Immediately after the October 26 elections, those who instigated the war will face justice”, Ivanishvili said, adding that Georgians would then “apologise” for the war. He was speaking at a campaign event in the town of Gori, which was briefly occupied by Russia during the 2008 war.
Saakashvili is serving a six-year prison sentence for abuse of power and could not be reached for immediate comment.
His United National Movement (UNM) party said that Ivanishvili’s remarks were a national shame that served the interests of Russia and said the statement was treacherous, according to Interpress News.
A small and mountainous country that gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia is being courted by the West, Russia and China and many Georgians say the country is at a crossroads as it heads into next month’s election.
South Ossetia, about 100 km (60 miles) north of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, broke away from Georgia in a 1991-92 war that killed several thousand people. The area’s ethnic Georgian population was mostly expelled from the province.
The majority of those now living in South Ossetia are ethnically distinct from Georgians. They say they were forcibly absorbed into Georgia under Soviet rule.
An EU-commissioned report published in 2009 said that Georgia triggered the war when it attacked South Ossetia’s Tskhinvali with heavy artillery on the night of Aug. 7 to Aug. 8, 2008. Russia responded with overwhelming force, which the report said went beyond reasonable limits.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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Caroline Fenton, Jason Fitz & Adam Breneman react to the biggest games from Week 3 including Georgia narrowly scraping by Kentucky to avoid an upset and Alabama running circles around Wisconsin. Plus, is there any shred of hope left for Florida State after a 0-3 start?
The trio share three things they learned this weekend, from Notre Dame’s playoff chances after a bounce back win and Texas’ dominance with or without their starting QB.
Finally, Caroline, Fitz & Adam buy and sell CFB stock including stock up on Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and a surprising stock down on LSU, even after their comeback win against South Carolina.
(00:26) Georgia vs Kentucky
(9:06) Alabama vs Wisconsin
(16:43) Sky is falling for Florida State
(24:45) Sky is falling for Florida
(27:33) One thing we learned
(43:45) Stock up/stock down
🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube
Check out all the episodes of the College Football Power Hour and the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts
Georgia
College football live scores, updates, highlights: Georgia at Kentucky, UTSA at Texas and more
Week 3 doesn’t look very appetizing on the surface, but you never know when there’s going to be a seismic upset.
Saturday started off a bit chalky with No. 4 Alabama blowing out Wisconsin after Badgers QB Tyler Van Dyke suffered an injury on the opening drive. No. 6 Missouri continued that with a nervy come-from-behind home win over No. 24 Boston College.
No. 16 LSU also needed to rally on the road against South Carolina after falling behind 17-0 early. The Tigers did just that, earning a crucial SEC win as the Gamecocks’ game-tying kick sailed wide as time expired.
Perhaps the most notable result of the day was yet another disastrous Florida State loss.
Follow the rest of the day’s action below.
Live113 updates
The Georgia Bulldogs (2-0, 0-0 SEC) travel to meet the Kentucky Wildcats (1-1, 0-1) Saturday at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC/ESPN+). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s college football odds around the Georgia vs. Kentucky odds, and make our expert college football picks and predictions.
The top-ranked Bulldogs play their 1st true road game of the season in the SEC opener. Georgia roughed up a ranked Clemson team 34-3 on a neutral field in Atlanta on Aug. 31, easily covering a 10.5-point spread as the Under (50) cashed. Then, the Dawgs thrashed FCS Tennessee Tech 48-3 last Saturday, failing to cover as a 54.5-point favorite as the Under (68.5) again hit.
The Wildcats opened with a 31-0 win over Southern Miss to cover as 24.5-point number in the opener as the Under (49) cashed, but it was annihilated at home in the conference opener by South Carolina, falling 31-6 as a 9.5-point favorite as the Under (40.5) again cashed.
Georgia has won 14 straight in this series dating back to Nov. 21, 2009, and Kentucky has won at home against the Dawgs since Nov. 4, 2006. QB Brock Vandagriff, who played for UGA on the 2021 and 2022 national title teams, was 3 1/2 the last time the Wildcats beat the Dawgs at home.
– US LBM Coaches Poll: Conducted by the American Football Coaches Association and USA TODAY Sports
Stream select live college football games and full replays: Get ESPN+
Georgia at Kentucky odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of college football odds. Lines last updated at 10:45 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Georgia -3000 (bet $3,000 to win $100) | Kentucky +1250 (bet $100 to win $1,250)
- Against the spread (ATS): Georgia -23.5 (-105) | Kentucky +23.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 44.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Georgia at Kentucky picks and predictions
Prediction
Georgia 38, Kentucky 17
Moneyline
Georgia (-3000) will cost you 30 times your potential return, which means you’d need to risk $100 for every $3.33 won. It shouldn’t need to be said, but there is no value in betting such heavy favorites, no matter how certain a victory looks to be.
PASS.
Against the spread
Although KENTUCKY +23.5 (-115) was hot garbage last week, and it struggled to move the ball, this is a rivalry game, and teams tend to bring their best when facing the best.
Kentucky suffered just a 16-6 loss against Georgia in the most recent game in Lexington Nov. 19, 2022, and while the Wildcats haven’t been the Dawgs in a while, they are 4-1 ATS in the past 5 meetings.
The concern is that Georgia -23.5 (-105) is nasty on defense, so UK needs to be much better than it was last week when South Carolina moved the ball well on the ground against it.
Over/Under
OVER 44.5 (-110) might be the best play on the board.
While Georgia’s defense is strong, as usual, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least to see the Dawgs do the heavy lifting and get this one across the finish line with little help from the Wildcats.
While the Under is 2-0 for both teams to date, this is an awfully low number.
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
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