Vakhtang (Buba) Kikabidze, a Georgian singer and actor universally loved across the former Soviet Union, has died at the age of 84, drawing the curtain on an era.
Amid rising local and international demand, Georgia seeks to start new energy projects and revive old ones. But will they survive the usual controversies?
A vaunted meeting to discuss shipping Turkmen gas to Turkey and Europe ended without a breakthrough. But Uzbekistan is buying. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.
The government has been facing calls, including from its American and European allies, to ensure that the former president is being adequately treated. But it accuses Saakashvili of faking his condition.