- Barnier promises compromise from France's embattled new govt
- Zelensky arrives in US to explain war plan to Biden
- Barca rout Villarreal but Ter Stegen hurt, Atletico draw at Rayo
- Darnold shines for Vikings, Steelers and Eagles win
- Atletico held to draw at Rayo Vallecano
- Marseille stun Lyon with 95th-minute winner after early red card
- Gabbia ends AC Milan's derby pain with late winner against Inter
- Surging Ko claims LPGA Queen City crown in spectacular style
- 'Impossible': Alcaraz shoots down Federer comparisons after Laver Cup win
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote
- Verstappen says 'silly' swearing row could hasten F1 exit
- Calls for Israel and Hezbollah to step back from the abyss
- Israel and Hezbollah urged to avoid 'catastrophe'
- Colombia battles fires as drought fuels Latin American flames
- Pressure piles on new French government from day one
- Arteta proud as Arsenal salvage point from 'impossible' task
- Barca rout Villarreal in thriller but Ter Stegen hurt
- Roma stroll past Udinese as fans protest De Rossi sacking
- Horschel outduels McIlroy to win PGA Championship play-off
- Audiences summon 'Beetlejuice' to top of N. America box office for third week
- Stones salvages point for Man City against 10-man Arsenal
- Egypt fears 'all out' regional war: foreign minister to AFP
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory, Stuttgart outclass Dortmund
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote: projections
- Olympic champion Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Horschel's eagle beats McIlroy in PGA Championship play-off
- Mourners at commander's funeral express loyalty to Hezbollah
- Norris hails his 'mega' McLaren after dominant win at Singapore
- Monaco beat Le Havre to join PSG at the top of Ligue 1
- Scholz's party narrowly leads far-right AfD in east German state vote: exit polls
- New leftist president vows to 'rewrite Sri Lankan history'
- UN adopts pact to tackle volatile future for mankind
- Leclerc hails Ferrari fightback from torrid Singapore GP qualifying
- Belgian Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Sosa rescues point for Forest against Brighton
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory over Wolfsburg in seven-goal thriller
- Swiss voters reject environment, pensions reforms: official results
- No fairytale ending for Ricciardo after 13 years in Formula One
- Israel and Hezbollah urged to step back from the brink
- What is the UN's 'Pact for the Future'?
- Norris dominates Singapore Grand Prix to cut Verstappen's title lead
- From bullets to ballots: Sri Lanka's comrade president-elect
- McLaren's Lando Norris wins Singapore GP to narrow F1 title race
- UN adopts pact promising to build 'brighter future' for humanity
- Military escalation not in Israel's 'best interest': White House
- Marxist leader declared Sri Lanka's president-elect
- Classes resume at Bangladesh university at heart of protests
- 'Barely anyone left': Sudan's El-Fasher devastated by fighting
- 'Warrior' Joshua vows to fight on despite Dubois mauling
- Martin extends MotoGP lead as Bastianini wins at Misano and Bagnaia crashes out
Georgia mourns two fighters killed in Ukraine
Georgia mourned Friday two retired military officers who died fighting in Ukraine, in a war that has reminded Georgians of their own conflict with Russia in 2008.
The full-scale offensive on Ukraine unleashed by the Kremlin a month ago sparked an outpouring of solidarity in fellow ex-Soviet country Georgia, with hundreds of Georgians joining the ranks of the Ukrainian army.
Among them were retired military officers Giorgi Beriashvili and David Ratiani, both 53, who were killed on March 17 near the flashpoint town of Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Grief mingled with anger at Russian President Vladimir Putin as thousands of mourners gathered in the Saint George church in downtown Tbilisi on Friday.
"They have died a heroic death, fighting for Ukraine's freedom, for Georgia's freedom," 20-year-old student Lili Gardapkhadze told AFP. "Georgians and Ukrainians will never let Putin steal our freedom."
Painter Shota Gachechiladze, 49, said: "Putin is insane, he is slaughtering thousands of peaceful Ukrainians. He must be stopped."
Nadim Khmaladze, who fought alongside Beriashvili and Ratiani, said their unit came under "hellish" artillery fire on March 17.
He said the pair died while "saving a wounded French fighter who has survived."
- 'Common enemy' -
They fought alongside 40 Georgians and hundreds of combatants from France, Israel, Morocco and other countries who joined the Ukrainian army's International Legion since Russia invaded on February 24, he added.
Another multinational unit, called the Georgian Legion, comprises around 500 Georgian fighters and a similar number of volunteers from across the globe, its commander, Mamuka Mamulashvili, told AFP.
"We, Georgians and Ukrainians, have a common enemy -- Russian imperialism," he said.
Mamulashvili said the Ukraine war "could have been avoided" if the West made the Kremlin "pay a heavy price for its invasion of Georgia in 2008."
In August 2008, Russia launched an assault against Georgia which was battling pro-Russian militia in its separatist region of South Ossetia, after they shelled Georgian villages.
The hostilities marked the culmination of spiralling tensions over Georgia's bid to forge closer ties with the West.
The fighting ended after five days with a European Union-mediated ceasefire but claimed more than 700 lives and displaced tens of thousands of ethnic Georgians.
After the war, Russia recognised South Ossetia, and another separatist region, Abkhazia, as independent states and stationed permanent military bases there.
K.Thomson--BTB