Indonesia's president cancels China trip as protests continue
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Saturday cancelled a planned visit to China as nationwide protests spread beyond Jakarta, with several region...
MOSCOW, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Protesters in Georgia's Russia-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia declined on Saturday to leave the parliament building which they stormed the previous day, a departure proposed by the region's president as a condition for resigning.
Protesters had occupied the parliament in protest at an investment agreement between the Black Sea region and Moscow.
Russian news agency RIA reported that President Aslan Bzhania had said on Saturday he would resign and hold a snap election once protesters vacated the parliament in Abkhazia's capital Sukhumi, and proposed a vice-president as interim head of state.
"When they leave the building, I will write my resignation letter and in the new election we'll see how much support they get," RIA cited Bzhania as saying.
He said he planned to run in that election.
Bzhania, quoted by Russian news agencies, later told a government meeting held in his native coastal village of Tamysh, that order would be restored. He said protesters only controlled the parliament and government buildings they had occupied.
"The situation will stabilise, everything will return to a legal framework," RIA news agency quoted him as saying. "We have a president, we have laws. We have a homeland that we all must serve."
Abkhazia's interior ministry and security service issued statements saying they would obey orders from the president.
Protesters said in a statement that the occupation was not against Abkhazia's close ties with Russia, but accused Bzhania of "trying to use these relations for his own selfish interests (and) manipulating them for the sake of strengthening his regime".
TASS news agency quoted a representative of the protesters, Adgur Ardzinba, as saying they would remain in place until the president resigned.
Moscow said on Friday it was following the "crisis situation" with concern and urged Russian citizens to avoid travel to Abkhazia.
Russia recognised Abkhazia and another breakaway region, South Ossetia, as independent states in 2008 after defeating Georgia in a five-day war. It maintains military bases in both regions and props up their economies.
Most of the world recognises Abkhazia as part of Georgia, from which it broke away during wars in the early 1990s.
A powerful eruption at Japan’s Shinmoedake volcano sent an ash plume more than 3,000 metres high on Sunday morning, prompting safety warnings from authorities.
According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico on Saturday.
The UK is gearing up for Exercise Pegasus 2025, its largest pandemic readiness test since COVID-19. Running from September to November, this full-scale simulation will challenge the country's response to a fast-moving respiratory outbreak.
A Polish Air Force pilot was killed on Thursday when an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training flight ahead of the 2025 Radom International Air Show.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit opened in Tianjin on 31 August, gathering leaders from across Eurasia and the Global South.
Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, held a meeting with Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, on August 31 in Tianjin, China.
Relations between Russia and China have reached an “unprecedentedly high level,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, highlighting both the economic and strategic dimensions of the partnership.
Türkiye on Saturday marked the 103rd anniversary of Victory Day, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailing it as a symbol of the nation’s struggle for independence, resilience and freedom.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has arrived in China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping for a working visit on 30 August.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment