from france, team ai and salome nashed.eryone goes wild for the teams. but then something very odd happens. cheering quietens down. it's the vision assistance race, and it happens in complete silence. whispers: forthis part you have to... ..read the name of the object, find it on the floor amongst all the others, pick it up and put it in the bowl. although salome and the other pilots are using many different types of tech, including 3d cameras, phones on sticks and hand—held forced feedback kit to complete a wide variety of tasks, most of the devices also talk their pilots through the course. on the second run, i was more confident. but something very stupid happened. it happened that the bluetooth of the audio cask was disconnected. i feel very thankful towards the team members. they supported me all along. now to brain computer interface. go! here, paralysed pilots are controlling virtual objects on a screen — with their minds! this is notjust about going forwards or stopping. these pilots have to do distinct things with

and we will find out how salome, sammy and owen get on later in the programme.side the arctic, for much of the year, svalbard is a white wonderland. but with heavy snowfall, there also comes the risk of avalanches. and that can endanger the communities that live here. as you can see, longyearbyen sits at the bottom of two steep—sided mountains, and increasingly it's come under the threat of avalanches. around the world, these hazards occur in mountainous regions when a mass of snow builds up on an incline then suddenly flows downhill. in 2015 a devastating avalanche swept into town causing the loss of two lives. two years later, an avalanche struck again, severely damaging homes here. it has been dangerous. we had two big avalanches going straight into town and of course people died, so it was quite serious. above longyearbyen, physical barriers have been erected to hold back the snow and a huge protective wall has been built. and they've also turned to tech. so here we can see one of our stations. an early warning system that uses snow sensors and mobile techno

also it is expected salome zourabichvili will travel internationally. mention that she will be at the at the inauguration of president trump so this will continue to simmer as an issue. is the hope that from the opposition by exerting this pressure, by continuing with the country not functioning properly at keeping these protests going, that somehow the georgian dream individual politicians will peel that pressure and it will cause some sort of break within the party? there already are fissures and the country in the end, all the shots are called, a lot of people inside the georgian dream are baffled by what is going on and not comfortable with where things are going at all. just a reminder of our main news today. this crash in south korea, this is the moment of this plane landed at the airport, came down onto the runway without its landing gear, and then crashed into a perimeter wall around the airport and burst into flames as you can see there. the forensics teams are on the site as you would imagine. we can show you some live pictures now. they are s

i think we - will see governmental clash and the aim of salome zourabichili this to organise new fearat the protesters have, which is to release all of the political prisoners detained during the last three weeks, and there are more than 400. many of them are talking about the torture, and the threats of rape. me and my colleagues have interviewed some of them and all of them are talking about it the public defenders office of georgia also put that in their report.— of georgia also put that in their reort. ., ~' ,, . their report. thank you so much for speaking _ their report. thank you so much for speaking with _ their report. thank you so much for speaking with us. _ their report. thank you so much for speaking with us. i - their report. thank you so much for speaking with us. i know- their report. thank you so much for speaking with us. i know it l for speaking with us. i know it is very early there in georgia bell. thank you very much. france's interior minister has warned of a potentially heavy number of casualties after cyclone chido hit its overseas territory mayotte on saturda

um, also, it is expected that salome zurabishvili will travel internationally.ll be at the inauguration of president trump. so this will continue. this will continue to simmer, at least as an. issue, i suppose, is the hope that from the opposition then that by exerting this pressure, by continuing, as you say, with not the country not functioning properly and keeping these protests going, that somehow the georgian dream individual politicians will feel that pressure and it will cause some sort of break—up within the party. then there already are fissures and the country is, in the end is all the shots are called by bidzina ivanishvili. and i think it's fair to say that lots of people inside the georgian dream are very rattled by what's going on. they're not comfortable with where things are going at all. azerbaijani president ilham aliyev has told state television that the passenger plane that crashed in kazakhstan, killing 38 people, was damaged due to an accidental shooting from the ground in russia. president aliyev said he regretted that "some circles" in ru

the outgoing president, salome zourabichvili, left the presidential palace, but insists she is stillpresident. translation: six years ago i swore allegiance to you on the constitution. and this allegiance will not change. wherever i am, in the palace or outside the palace, i will come out of here to you, and i will be with you. legitimacy comes from one source. and that source is you. and where there is no trust of the people, there will be no legitimacy. a short time ago, i spoke to tinatinjaparidze, who is a geopolitical risk analyst at eurasia group. she described what she thinks might be next for georgia. i wish i could agree with... that this is it, this is the reality and the cards that the georgian people have been dealt and now that we are awakening in this new reality, we have to accept it. if nothing else, what we observed earlier was a split screen reality in motion. on one side we have the georgian dream's de facto parliament that conducted a closed—door ceremony to... its candidate, mikhail kavelashvili, which is a real life... of its... and on the other hand we see thou

act, which will prohibit us recognition of the legal dick tutorial regime in georgia and recognize salome zora beach. bailey as the only legitimate leader in georgia until such a time is free and fair elections are held. so i think given that we've got this cross party support for sanctions and possibly salamis or be speedy, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out from the us perspective. coming to you or not. once we've had you repeatedly is consistently saying that they support . so they should be that they won't be surprised selections that she's been cooling for. the both take state school a certain bit states in particular have given her the support. however, i just wonder how much that was on paper. and i say this because is salumi 0 be should be really felt, but she had to be disputed backing to view of i'm not sure she went to the less the presidential palace. i think you're right now is by fractured. we know that certain countries like hungry on in cleveland hope, russel hans in regards to georgia and i think that tells you in north as well the us may be supporting it as t

obviously, as president salome zourabichvili quite clearly, she has a popular mandate.or her. while in contrast, mikheil kavelashvili, he has been appointed by one political party and sworn in in a parliament with an isolated party without any public support, without any public participation and diplomats not present. the contrast between these two presidents is quite clear. ~ ., these two presidents is quite clear. . . . , , , these two presidents is quite clear. . . . ,, , . clear. what happens next? we have seen _ clear. what happens next? we have seen these _ clear. what happens next? we have seen these largely i have seen these largely peaceful protests, but are there fears georgia could once again slide into violence, do you think? i again slide into violence, do you think?— again slide into violence, do you think? again slide into violence, do ou think? ., ., _, , you think? i mean, of course we ho -e it you think? i mean, of course we hope it will— you think? i mean, of course we hope it will not _ you think? i mean, of course we hope it will not slide _ you thi

legally we understand that this is a strange situation, salome zourabichvili, she has legitimacy fromeam goes and concedes and it wants new elections and freeze everyone he has been detained illegally, i don't think mikheil kavelashvili or anyone else will be able to unify society. thank you for your time. while negotiations continue to try to secure a ceasefire between israel and hamas, the humanitarian situation for hundreds of thousands of civilians remains dire. israel says it doesn't target civilians and is dismantling terrorist networks, but for parents like gaza resident amal alabadla it means caring for a young family in a war zone. with amal�*s husband working in the west bank, amal has been raising their children alone. she's been sharing her story with the bbc. translation: good morning. i'm 37 years old. i'm an architect and a wife. the 7th of october, 6am was sleeping. i was in bed. i had a dream, i dreamt of war. i was hearing the sounds around me in my dream and then this is happening for real. my husband told me, you do not know what is happening, get a car and go to t

all of this is happening with the incumbent president, salome zurabishvili, who earlier today walkedt the protest area and she was cheered by the crowd. she has said that she won't be stepping down, and she won't be leaving her office because she considers the current parliament illegitimate and anti—constitutional. and the main demand from the protesters here in the streets, from the opposition and president salome zurabishvili, is to hold new elections to, they are saying this is the only way out of the current political crisis. reyhan, just in terms of this vote by the georgian parliament, this has been a change to the way that georgian presidents are elected. can you just help us to understand how that has been changed because, of course, previously this would have been a popular vote, whereas now it's an electoral college? that's right. mikheil kavelashvili is the first president to be elected via the electoral college, but he's the third presidential candidate who has been nominated by the ruling georgian dream party. this party has been in power since 2012, and two previous pr

outgoing pro—western president, salome zoura—bishvili, called the election, "a tragedy", and has vowedy. there have been demonstrations against the georgian dream—led government for the last 17 days. the protests erupted in november, when georgia's government announced it was putting accession negotiations with the european union on hold until 2028. a majority of georgians support the country eventually joining the eu. opposition parties say the election of kavelashvili undermines that goal and is a victory for russia. for more, i spoke to ian kelly, a former us ambassador to georgia. what more do we know about the new president mikheil kavelashvili and how he might approach this role? yes, well, thanks for having me. we actually do know quite a bit about him. as you mentioned, he is an ex— footballer. his politics really are at the fringe of georgian politics. he has really, i think, engaged in very anti—western rhetoric, very illiberal politics. that is a sign that georgian dream doesn't want to run with any political consensus with other political forces in georgia. if this is mostl

and recognize salome zora beach. bailey as the only legitimate leader in georgia until such a time is free and fair elections are held, i think was pretty t. here's what the donald trump think it had been when he who was re elected in november that that could be a reset for relations with georgia. however, i think you only have to look at some of his appointees, particularly mike waltz, who's going to national security advisor who is not keen on jordan dreams found the this is ethan. i'm a should be an e. c has supported it. so i think given that we've got this cross policy support for sanctions and possibly some of these are be speedy. it'll be interesting to see how that plays out from the us perspective. coming to europe, not one we've had your pin need is consistently saying that they support so basically means that they won't be suppressed selections, which has been cooling for the both take state school as soon as it states in particular have given her the support. however, i just wanted how much that's who's d

now we've seen the new gratian of new president and salome 0. basically, the former president to doesn't accept to support in present, even the presidential policy will weak noise. these protests, i think in the next 24 hours, we will see whether that's the case. no. right now it feels like it's about to explode, but anything could happen. i think it's a watch this space. what has been the reaction on the west so far to be on folding events in georgia? what was the in the us because the boynton administration is just placed fresh needs sanctions on the phone disability and i found the old georgian dreams and we've also been hearing from one us congressman. now this is a republican, so the other side of the political divide, and this is joe wilson who has said that he has invited us so low. mean sort of a should be to donald from single who ation in january. i think seeing that in his point, to be sure to meet elected winter to miss music in georgia, that she was the that to represent suicide in georgia. i got the new gratian and he's also now tr

well, at least, salome is a dedicated, you know, died in the will to stock george. and you know, she pinero, a life, she never worked for nato, she never worked for the you. and she's not from some of the country. why don't you? she's just the real deal. what she, she was born in georgia, right? least come to president. she was born in paris, france. oh jesus, she didn't work for nate or like that to she. she did for years with the you and yours. this was looking pretty green. i guess it was turned off for the party. of course the place was saturated with the you close gun party, anything to get out of the, you know, probably take a few bits, a was a cash to transfer as well. you know, hyundai, that old mr. gunter reading. so you might remember him and he got slapped around in kind the star and have trouble back in 2014. he turned up, i guess was probably in need of the russian speaker. no completely dedicated to the you could not see. cause he was spotted on the streets as well. a guy approach them in russian which a lot of george's majority can speak anybody over

political commentator salome, you are still with us, we are grateful for your analysis.of events and choreography of mr barnier handing in his recognition. == handing in his recognition. -- resignation. _ handing in his recognition. —— resignation. like what happened in 1962— resignation. like what happened in 1962 with the prime minister at the — in 1962 with the prime minister at the time, will hand his resignation to emmanuel macron, he will_ resignation to emmanuel macron, he will accept or reject it, it's— he will accept or reject it, it's very— he will accept or reject it, it's very likely he will accept it's very likely he will accept it and — it's very likely he will accept it and then you will have to find — it and then you will have to find a — it and then you will have to find a new prime minister. we absolutely don't know and what timetine — absolutely don't know and what timeline we are talking about, we don't — timeline we are talking about, we don't know if it's a days or if it's— we don't know if it's a days or if it's months or weeks, we absolutely do no

mr kavelashvili has been labelled illegitimate" by current leader salome zurabishvili and the pro—western poison english water supplies during the period known as the troubles in northern ireland is among the revelations in the latest release of irish state papers. each year, documents relating to the near 30—year conflict are declassified, as our ireland correspondent sara girvin reports. every year the irish state papers are released, and every year they give us a glimpse of previously secret government files dating back decades. this release details a threat received in 1999 to poison england's water supplies on behalf of what was called the republican revenge group. it threatened to introduce weedkiller into drinking water through fire hydrants unless the british government announced its intention to withdraw from what was described as occupied ireland. the plans may appearfar fetched, but the threat was taken seriously. it was thought most people who drank contaminated water would suffer nothing worse than a stomach upset, but media representatives were asked by the government not to

georgian presidents because the first president of independent georgia had anti—soviet background and salomeli, the incumbent president, she is highly qualified diplomat. as a journalist has already mentioned, mikheil kavelashvili is not considered as legitimate president of georgia by the thousands of georgian citizens. mikheil kavelashvili is a man who is quite unfriendly to media. me and my colleagues, i will say about my story with him, i tried to take an interview with him when he was an mp at georgian parliament. it was in april, i guess and he did not answer. he didn't answer and he never answers. he is quite unfriendly to the human rights organisations in media and to his colleagues from the oppositional party. he is a footballer and he has no diploma. it is proved that he has no higher education, which is something very special and respected for the thousands of people in georgia. and i would like to emphasise that when government, the georgian dream, when they called him as any nominee for the presidency, they said that the major criteria as his loyalty to georgian dream, to the re

the outgoing president, salome zourabichvili, has left the presidential palace but insisted she is stillon: six years ago, i swore allegiance i to you on the constitution. and this allegiance will not change. wherever i am, in the palace or outside the palace, i will come out of here to you, and i will be with you. legitimacy comes from one source. and that source is you. and where there is no trust of the people, there will be no legitimacy. meanwhile, the new president mikheil kavelashvili addressed parliament after being sworn in. translation: georgia has faced numerous storms over _ the centuries and our people, having endured many hardships, have achieved what once seemed impossible in their quest to protect their homeland and dignity. they have fought tirelessly against the world's largest empires and countless enemies for millennia, surviving and preserving the values upon which our nation was built. everyone knows we are one of the most distinctive and historic nations whose formation began in ancient times. let's speak to tinatinjaparidze, who is a geopolitical risk analyst at e

current president salome zurabishvili has vowed to remain in office, saying unfair elections mean sheds the only legitimate office left in the government. weeks of protests have been met with violent repression throughout the country. well, let's get some more on this, jill dougherty, adjunct professor at georgetown university and former cnn moscow bureau chief, joins us now from tbilisi. hello. thank you for joining me. this has been a wild few months in georgia. i first started to look into georgia because of the anti-lgbtq laws that were put forward in june. then suddenly it's election time and everything has just gone crazy. i've seen a protest on social media and they must be occurring almost daily. for what? the past few weeks now, the current president is now refusing to leave, but she's supposed to hand over power tomorrow. let's unpack all of this. um, mikhail kavelashvili is supposed to be taking over as president tomorrow. jill, will it happen? >> well, actually, nobody knows at this point, but it's a very, um, let's say tense and kind of unpredictable time. so essentially,

salome zourabichvili's term is due to end in two weeks' time, but she says she will not stand down becausea dream party announced on thursday that it will put talks with the eu on hold until 2028. a quick warning these pictures coming up may have some flashing images. this is the scene now live in tbilisi. earlier police used water cannon and tear gas against demonstrators who turned out in their thousands near the parliament building in the capital for a third night running. police say 107 people have been arrested. there you can see the scene shortly after 7.00 in the morning

salome zourabichvili's term is due to end in two weeks' time. �*illegitimate'. the ruling georgia dream party announced on thursday that it will put talks with the eu on hold until 2028. our correspondent in tbilisi, says the protesters plan to remain on the streets. she gave us an update a short while ago: we are about one kilometre away from the parliament building which has been the focal point for clashes between the police and protesters overnight. this is the third night that the protests have continued. they were sparked by the government's decision to put georgia's accession talks with europe on hold. and the protest has now moved to the europe on hold. and the protest

salome zourabichvili's term is due to end in two weeks' time.tand down because the current parliament is what she calls "illegitimate". the ruling georgia dream party announced on thursday that it will put talks with the eu on hold until 2028. our russia editor steve rosenberg sent this report from tbilisi, and a warning — it contains distressing images. as night fell in tbilisi, they were building barricades using anything they could find. people here are angry that the ruling party have suspended georgia's bid tojoin the european union. they believe that russia is pulling the strings. i am protesting here against our government, who is pro—russian, and they don't want to have any relationship to europe or usa. and i am here for my freedom, for my future. suddenly, fireworks, aimed right at the parliament building. we could see a room inside ablaze and figures who climbed up to the windows looking, perhaps, for a way in. most of the protesters i've spoken to here say they won't give up. they will keep coming out onto the streets until they can

salome zourabichvili's term is due to end in two weeks' time but she says she will not stand down becausethursday that it will put talks with the eu on hold until 2028. a quick warning — these pictures coming up may have some flashing images. this is the scene now live in tbilisi. we have a few different views of the streets there and the protests still going on. it is sam now in tbilisi in georgia. 5am now in tbilisi in georgia. a much smaller crowd now than earlier when we saw

on december 29th, the inauguration will take place and from the moment of taking the oath, madame salomÉlonger have the position of president. despite mounting grievances and growing protests, the reaction so far in georgia to yesterday's unprecedented election has been largely restrained. unlike the violent demonstrations we've seen recently. but as cnn's former moscow bureau chief jill dougherty puts it, that could change in the weeks leading up to the inauguration i think it's really a crisis point. >> there's no question. we already know that they've been in a constitutional crisis, and that's obvious, because if you have two people vying for the same position and claiming that they they should be there, that is a real problem. and i think it's going to truly become a crucial time would be the 29th of december, and that is when the new president, who was just elected by, i should say, by the parliament, which is considered illegal by the opposition and the existing president, that is when he's supposed to be inaugurated. so you could have the western leaning president. her name is sa

. >> yeah, kim, i actually was right at the presidential palace when, um, her name is salome zourabichviliwho is the existing president. up until that moment, i was inside the palace gates as she came out to speak, and it was actually a dramatic moment because she was dressed in a white coat, a red shirt, kind of echoing the georgian flag. there were there was a very large crowd that was outside of the gates of the palace, and she began to speak to them. she spoke for about a half an hour, and to set the scene. this is literally a five minute walk from the parliament building, where at that very moment, the other president, chosen by the recently elected parliament, was being inaugurated. so president zurabishvili said, i am leaving, but i'm taking the legitimacy of the presidency with me. she called the inauguration of the other president a parody and said, as she said many times, that it was illegitimate. and she said that the current government, which is controlled by the georgian dream party of power, is trying to divide us just as the russians did. and then she went on to say that in

the president of georgia, salome zourabichvili, has been among those criticising the strong police responseith the ruling georgia dream party, and is on the side of the protesters. she says last month's elections were rigged, the current parliament is illegitimate and has vowed to stay in herjob when her term ends in a couple of weeks. in an interview with the bbc on monday evening, she called for more western support. you are calling on western countries to back what you are calling a national movement in your country, referring to the protesters on the street. what exactly are you asking the eu and the us today? well, the same thing they have been doing now for more than 30 years since the independence of georgia, which is to support us in our path towards european integration, euro—atlantic integration, which is enshrined in our constitution and has been supported by our partners, but also the georgian population, more than 80% of them. all over this year, whatever was happening, including the war or the occupation of our territories. that determination has never flinched, and today also

the incumbent, salome zourabichvili, is refusing to step down, describing his election as illegitimateay,�* although arrangements could fall through at the last minute. there have been just 10 exchanges this year, the lowest number since the full—scale invasion in 2022. ukraine doesn�*t publish numbers of prisoners of war being held by russia, but the total is thought to be over 8,000. will vernon reports. a christmas concert for ukrainians exhausted by war. dancer liliya keeps her pain hidden. her boyfriend bohdan was captured by russian forces two and a half years ago. she hasn�*t heard from him since. translation: the christmas holidays are a painful time. . if you want to celebrate, then you should. but without forgetting that we need to support our soldiers. bohdan is very kind. he really loves cats, just like i do. liliya still sends messages to bohdan�*s phone... messages for him in the future. ..knowing he can�*t see them. translation: i miss him a lot. he needs to be saved and have his freedom back. freedom for ukrainians held by russia, that�*s what liliya and thousands of ot

salome zourabichvili's term is due to end in two weeks' time, but she says she will not stand down becausee'. the ruling georgia dream party announced on thursday that it will put talks with the eu on hold until 2028. a quick warning these pictures coming up may have some flashing images. this is the scene now live in tbilisi. earlier police used water cannon and tear gas against demonstrators, who turned out in their thousands near the parliament building in the capital for a third night running. police say 107 people have been arrested. 0ur russia editor,steve rosenberg sent this report from tbilisi,

mr kavelashvili has been labelled illegitimate by current leader salome zourabichvili and the pro—westernber one magnus carlsen has quit a major tournament — all over a pair ofjeans. the grandmaster was told that his denim attire was a no—go. the tournament's governing body said he couldn't continue playing unless he swapped them for something more formal. but carlsen made an unexpected move, he pulled out on the spot. he later put this picture of his offending outfit on social media — captioning it "ootd", that's an abbreviation for outfit of the day. the chess federation said has defended its decision to take a tough line on the jeans. in a statement, they said their regulations including the dress code, are designed to ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants. so, is this a case of fashion overfunction, orjust another pawn in the game of chess politics? to answer that, i'm joined by our europe regional editor, paul moss. tell us what happened, paul. i'm still struck by that statement from the organisers, saying that the dress code was to ensure fairness for all particip

salome zourabichvili, the president, demanding, along with the opposition and these protesters, new electionse just keeping an eye on the live shot there because the protests are ongoing. sir eltonjohn has revealed that he's lost his eyesight, after an eye infection. the singer appeared at the premiere of the devil wears prada musical last night, which he wrote the score for. he said he couldn't see the stage but "enjoyed listening" to the production, as charlotte gallagher now reports. sir eltonjohn, music and entertainment royalty. seen here meeting the king less than two weeks ago. he has retired from touring but hasn't retired from show business. this is his latest project. the devil wears prada, the musical. sir elton composed the music for the show, but at last night's opening gala, revealed he wasn't able to see the performance as he has lost his eyesight. i haven't been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, i've lost my eyesight. so it's hard for me to see it, but i love to hear it. and boy, it sounded good tonight! last week, the 77—year—old spoke to an american

president salome zourabichvili yesterday restated her refusal to accept the legitimacy of the governmentiamentary election which kept his georgian dream party in office. mr kobakhidze has also praised police for cracking down on protesters, who he said were acting on foreign orders to undermine the state. riot police used tear gas and water cannon for a second consecutive night in the centre of tblisi, where pro—eu demonstrators have set up barricades — following the government's decision to suspend moves towardsjoining the european union. they're expected to gather later today. now, georgia's prime minister kobakhidze has denied suspending eu accession talks — when asked by the bbc�*s russia editor steve rosenberg. european union has already accused georgia of on democracy.— accused georgia of on democracy. accused georgia of on democra . , , ., democracy. this is not true. it is a lie. democracy. this is not true. it is a lie- you — democracy. this is not true. it is a lie. you are _ democracy. this is not true. it is a lie. you are comparing - is a lie. you are comparing georgia _ is

a rally outside parliament was addressed by the pro—western president, salome zurabishvili , who toldshvili, who�*s known for his nationalist, anti—western views. the protesters claim his election was illegal and some of them showed him the red card, saying this was the only language he understands. the shortlist for the academy awards 2025 will be announced on tuesday — and one film vying to be included is india�*s official pick for the best international feature film category. lost ladies is a satire, about a young man who brings the wrong bride home. meanwhile, his wife ends up lost, having to fend for herself. 0ur reporter, sadia khan, sat down with bollywood superstar aamir khan who co—produced the film to discuss his hopes for an oscar and his career. the film is about female empowerment. there is a strong male character. why was it important to back a film about the patriarchy? this is a great script that talks about an important issue. women are subjected to a lot of challenges. all over the world, notjust in india. women have a raw deal in life. welt that— she is a story that

a rally outside parliament was addressed by the pro—western president, salome zurabishvili , who toldw president was elected by georgia's disputed parliament — the former manchester city footballer, mikheil kavelashvili who's known for his nationalist, anti—western views. the protesters claim his election was illegal and some of them showed him the red card, saying this was the only language he understands. 0ur correspondent rayhan demytrie gave us this update from the georgian capital, tbilisi. we see that people continue to come out to the streets, not only in the capital, tbilisi, but in other parts of the country, because at the moment they feel that this is the only power they have to express their discontent over so many issues that have been happening in this country over the past couple of months, and they believe that the only way to to express their discontent is to take to the streets. last night we saw again, once again, lots of people filling in the main avenue outside the country's parliament. they were holding up the pictures of many of the protesters and journalists wh

president salome zourabichvili on saturday restated her refusal to accept the legitimacy of the government office. mr kobakhidze today denied suspending talks on european union membership, an apparent contradiction of his comments on thursday, that negotiations would not take place until 2028. he also praised police for cracking down on protesters, who he said were acting on foreign orders to undermine the state. riot police used tear gas and water cannon for a second consecutive night on saturday in the centre of tblisi, where pro—eu demonstrators have set up barricades. let's speak now to our correspondent rayhan demytrie whojoins us from tbilisi. talk us through what the prime minister has said today and what he said previously on thursday. today he made a comment about the president. he also in a way denied that the ruling party which he represents, the georgian dream party, put the eu accession talks on hold. that the reason —— that was the reason that brought thousands of people on to the streets in the capital of tblisi and across other cities and towns across other cities and towns

salome zourabichvili's term is due to end in two weeks' time.tand down because the current parliament is what she calls �*illegitimate�*. the ruling georgia dream party announced on thursday that it will put talks with the eu on hold until 2028. police used water cannon and tear gas against demonstrators who turned out in their thousands near the parliament building in the capital tbilisi for a third night running on saturday. police say 107 people have been arrested. our russia editor, steve rosenberg sent this report from tbilisi, and a warning — it contains distressing images. as night fell in tbilisi, they were building barricades using anything they could find.

salome i understand you were down on the streets in georgia what was that like and what with the protestersith the protesters saying? thank you for our protesters saying? thank you for your interest, _ protesters saying? thank you for your interest, the - protesters saying? thank you for your interest, the protest | for your interest, the protest situation in georgia is very intense. lots of protesters on the streets it's been horrible here. what is the most important part of it as the government is trying to target journalists especially, ten were beaten and suspended. so i think we are trying to cover our the deeds and they do not want the world to see what they are doing. because after the most brutal night in georgia and afterjournalists covered and after journalists covered these and afterjournalists covered these clashes with our police, and the demonstrators, a lot of people in georgia, came and they expressed their support to they expressed their support to the demonstrators. so i think thatis the demonstrators. so i think that is why they are so terrified ofjournalists. and also pe

needed that is funds is a manual macro, and interestingly enough to just pro and you present, this is salome, sort of use really was actually born in fonts and raised said did her education. and she met with president michael and just in the last week or so when she was in the power to attend, the reopening of not took them to feed will not she's go, he's simple clearly because he's come out knowing the criticism of the allegations from the reading coffee here in georgia, the georgia dream that the west are you, the, you and other western forces, all the violent protests we get seen over the false 16 days the you does not obliged. europe offers paving the way for equal partnership prosperity and common values. europe does not intimidate, does not use threats. the whole europe does not seek to so chaos. europe does not seek to destabilize or subjugate its neighbors, through war or hybrid means it does not seek to so discord or confusion among its citizens. the european union respects the sovereign will of the people, the history and the identity of nations. for example, the 1000 a year histor