Day: August 4, 2025
Parents can use them to manage permissions for text and voice chat, friend requests, content rating, and set filters for mature language. Additional restrictions are in place for users under thirteen, who are automatically assigned a cabined account, meaning that parents must consent before their child can access certain features in Fortnite.
By most macroeconomic indicators, Azerbaijan has navigated the first half of 2025 with a cautious but effective monetary policy. While much of the global economy continues to grapple with inflationary pressure and volatile capital flows, Baku has managed to preserve its currency stability and grow its reserves. The Central Bank’s recent figures reveal a pattern worth analyzing.
General-Colonel Karim Valiyev, First Deputy Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan and Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, received Admiral Navid Ashraf, Commander of the Pakistan Navy, and his delegation during their official visit to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry of Defense.
Tea Tsulukiani brought down the curtain on Georgian Dream’s investigative commission on August 4, concluding a six-month work with a 430-page document, expected to be made public in early September and used in the ruling party’s stated intention to ban all major opposition parties.
The commission, established in the one-party parliament in February under the leadership of former Justice and Culture Minister Tsulukiani, was initially formed to investigate alleged crimes committed under the United National Movement rule (2003-2012). But its scope was expanded in April to cover current and former officials from 2003 to the present, effectively targeting nearly every major opposition party, which GD brands as “the collective UNM.”
“I hope this document will be useful to investigative bodies, courts, and NGOs,” Tsulukiani said during the final session, adding that the commission report may assist in “seeking additional information in various directions” and enable “real analysis and research.”
The report is expected to be damning, with GD leaders repeatedly signaling their intention to submit the report to the Constitutional Court as part of their campaign to ban the UNM and what they call “successor parties.” The appeal is expected to follow the widely boycotted local elections scheduled for October 4.
The ruling party leaders have openly declared plans to seek the banning of all four major opposition parties that crossed the 5% threshold in the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections: the United National Movement, the Coalition for Change alliance, the Lelo/Strong Georgia coalition, and For Georgia, led by former Georgian Dream Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia.
The Commission’s work has already led to the jailings of eight opposition figures, among them six active political leaders – Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Zurab Japaridze, Giorgi Vashadze, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze – who defied commission summons. Giorgi Gakharia agreed to testify twice, but remains abroad as he faces two separate probes over his actions from his tenure as interior minister in 2019.
The commission chair detailed the contents of the document, claiming it uncovers “torture and inhuman treatment in the penitentiary system,” “murders and violence committed by state agenicies,” “violations of property rights and business racketeering,” “attacks on media freedom,” “grave privacy violations,” “the August 2008 war,” “use of the war propaganda,” and “ongoing attempts to violently overthrow the constitutional order,” which Tsulukiani claimed have persisted since 2012.
The report draws on 46 commission sessions, testimony from 139 witnesses, and a total of 775 testimonies. Tsulukiani said the commission also reviewed national and international court rulings and reports from international organizations.
The report will now be sent to the Parliament Bureau, which is expected to schedule a plenary session in early September for its presentation and adoption. “Until the Parliament hears this conclusion, naturally, we cannot conduct discussions about it with third parties,” Tsulukiani noted.
Tsulukiani closed the session by thanking the public for listening and monitoring the commission. “And I know some, who, during the course of the sessions, it can be said without exaggeration, cried when listening to those very many victims, to that misfortune that Mikheil Saakashvili brought upon his homeland, upon the people,” Tsulukiani concluded.
Also Read:
Is Abkhazia ready to fight as Russia’s ally?
“War is not far off, and Abkhazia must start preparing for it,” says Abkhaz veteran Aslan Kobakhia.
He points to Ukrainian drone strikes near the Psou–Adler crossing close to the Abkhazia–Russia border as a warning sign.
In the past ten days, Ukrainian drones have struck near Abkhazia twice, leaving residents deeply concerned. Local politicians are increasingly calling for the region to prepare for the worst.
Hero of Abkhazia Aslan Kobakhia, a veteran of the Abkhaz–Georgian war and former artillery commander, issued an emotional warning during a recent roundtable on national security.
“We talk about strategic partnership with Russia. Russia has been at war for four years. Have we once stopped to think about what we’re doing? Singing songs, dancing, holding anniversaries, cutting ribbons.
What if Gudauta is hit tomorrow?” he asked, referring to the Abkhaz town that hosts Russian military installations.
Kobakhia believes the main threat doesn’t come from Ukraine, but from Georgia, which is currently conducting large-scale military exercises involving U.S. forces.
He also pointed out that similar joint exercises between Azerbaijan and Turkey were held shortly before the outbreak of the Second Karabakh War.
In response to the Georgian military drills, Kobakhia proposed that Abkhazia conduct its own exercises:
“We have a training ground up in the mountains, everything we need. But unless we revise the budget, everything we’re saying is just empty talk.
We should have shifted to a wartime footing four years ago. We haven’t taken even half a step in that direction.
The war is already on our doorstep. It will affect us whether we like it or not. We have no other allies — only Russia. But Russia won’t fight for us. No one’s going to hand us aircraft, air defences, or armoured vehicles. Why would anyone give anything to freeloaders?”
According to Kobakhia, Abkhazia hasn’t held proper military exercises in over a decade. He claims the Ministry of Defence has become a “club of retired war buddies”, and that since the death of the republic’s first president, Vladislav Ardzinba, the authorities have done little to build a real army — merely “pretending it exists.”
Now, he argues, it’s time to get serious — especially as a new generation of officers trained at Russian military academies is available.
Toponyms, terminology, views and opinions expressed by the author are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of JAMnews or any employees thereof. JAMnews reserves the right to delete comments it considers to be offensive, inflammatory, threatening or otherwise unacceptable.
News in Abkhazia