In 2020, Atlanta police investigated 157 homicides, up from 99 the year before. That was the most the city had seen in more than two decades, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The next year was worse. Shootings climbed right along with the killings. Even CNN couldn't ignore it. It reported that by early July 2020, Atlanta had logged 282 shooting incidents, up 19% from the same point a year earlier, citing Atlanta police data. By June 2021, the number of people shot in the city was up another 38%.

More than 200 officers left the Atlanta Police Department in 2020 alone. Then-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms did not have the backs of the Atlanta police, nor did she have the backs of Atlanta's most vulnerable citizens who depended on her for their safety. Her tenure as mayor left the city reeling as crime exploded and hundreds were killed. That is a serious dereliction of duty.

And as the bodies piled up, what did Bottoms offer? She pointed to the pandemic. She pointed to gun laws. In a national television interview, she pointed at Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for reopening Georgia's bars and nightclubs. Meanwhile, residents of Buckhead were so fed up that they launched a movement to break away from the city altogether.

'CONCERNING': EX-BIDEN OFFICIAL UNDER FIRE AS PAY-TO-PLAY ALLEGATIONS EMERGE IN TOP GUBERNATORIAL RACE

With that list of failures, she wants to convince Georgians she's the right candidate to be governor. Folks, that's a terrible idea, and it would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that, on her watch, hundreds ended up in the cemetery. Georgia cannot afford to risk this. Atlanta's families found out the hard way what kind of mayor they had.

Bottoms spent part of her early childhood traveling the world as the daughter of a famous R&B singer. Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson spent his in Atlanta's Techwood Homes, America's first public housing project, where his family relied on welfare. He didn't learn about struggling neighborhoods from the newspapers. He lived it. He never met his father, and his mother was a waitress with a sixth-grade education. At 13, he entered foster care, moving through five foster homes and 13 schools before the right foster family came into his life and showed him what love and stability looked like.

GOP GOVERNOR CANDIDATE SKIPS DEBATE AGAINST FORMER BIDEN ADVISOR, REPLACED BY EMPTY PODIUM

From there, he built Jackson Healthcare from the ground up into one of the largest healthcare staffing firms in the country, a company that now reports more than $3 billion in annual revenue. A man who once depended on public assistance, lived in the projects and went through multiple foster homes can speak to the issues that affect everyday Georgians from lived experience. That sets him apart in a way Bottoms can't match.

Jackson's public safety plan reads like it was written by someone who has listened to cops and crime victims. I hear from those families constantly through the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety, which I founded after my innocent brother Christian was murdered in Chicago.

FLORIDA-LED OPERATION RESCUES 163 CHILDREN AROUND GLOBE IN HISTORIC STATE SWEEP, HUNTS SUSPECTED PREDATORS

What they ask for is simple: evidence that gets processed, offenders who stay off the street and leaders who take trafficking seriously. Jackson's plan answers all three. He has pledged to invest in additional certified crime labs so evidence stops sitting on shelves while victims wait and dangerous offenders stay on the street. His plan calls for a statewide law enforcement division with one mission: ending child sex trafficking in Georgia. He has promised tax relief for law enforcement officers and veterans.

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Georgia has a clear choice on Nov. 3. One candidate has already been tested by a crime crisis and answered with failure after failure. The other has spent a lifetime proving that where you start doesn't determine where you finish, and he has a plan to make every Georgia neighborhood safer.

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Georgia doesn't need a governor who wants the title. It needs one who is willing to put in the work. That's Rick Jackson.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM GIANNO CALDWELL

Poteva finire molto peggio di come poi sono andate le cose nell’incontro ravvicinato che una signora ha avuto in Georgia con un grande squalo bianco. La donna, infatti, incuriosita dall’animale, mentre si trovava al largo di Tybee Island aveva allungato una mano per accarezzare lo squalo, quando questo improvvisamente si è girato per cercare di azzannarle la mano.

“Un attimo prima Jen, una delle nostre veterane, stava accarezzando uno squalo bianco selvatico come se fosse il cane di famiglia, e un attimo dopo quello squalo si è girato di scatto e si è avventato contro di lei” ha raccontato Jimmy Lee Armel, che faceva parte del programma di marcatura degli squali bianchi Knot Lucky con il quale si trovava anche la donna che è riuscita a sventare per poco l’aggressione dello squalo.

Armel ha affermato che la donna non è mai stata in pericolo immediato perché l’equipaggio aveva la situazione sotto controllo e lo squalo non si è avvicinato abbastanza da poterla ferire. La donna si trovava a bordo della nave che fa parte del programma Knot Lucky, che cattura, marca e rilascia gli squali bianchi per aiutare i ricercatori a studiarne i movimenti e il comportamento.

L'articolo “Stava accarezzando uno squalo bianco selvatico come se fosse il cane di famiglia e un attimo dopo quello squalo si è girato di scatto e si è avventato contro di lei”: le immagini dell’attacco proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Former US president comes to Georgia to support Jon Ossoff for US Senate and Keisha Lance Bottoms for governor

Barack Obama, speaking at a Wednesday campaign rally in suburban Atlanta, offered a closing argument for Democrats in the final week of the midterm election campaign.

“These are not serious people,” he said of Donald Trump and the Republican party. “And we’re all paying the price for their lack of seriousness.”

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© Photograph: Erik S Lesser/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Erik S Lesser/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Erik S Lesser/AFP/Getty Images

Keisha Lance Bottoms, in her bid for Georgia governor, has faced pointed criticism of her leadership in Atlanta and disappointment in her decision to leave after one term.

© Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

A sei giorni dalle elezioni oltre 35 milioni di americani hanno già votato

Viena, 28 oct (Prensa Latina) El tenista ruso Daniil Medvédev, tercer cabeza de serie, siguió hoy con su accionar indetenible en el Abierto de Viena, tras doblegar al español Daniel Mérida en los octavos de final por 7-6 (7/5) y 6-1.

The post Medvédev sigue con accionar indetenible en Abierto de Viena first appeared on Noticias Prensa Latina.

Former President Barack Obama, the last Democratic president to serve two terms, is increasingly campaigning for his party, acting as a foil to President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration has stepped up efforts to challenge the integrity of elections and assert greater control over how they are conducted. Georgia has been at the center of that debate ever since Trump's false claims about the state's role in the 2020 election. In partnership with the Pulitzer Center, Liz Landers looks at how Georgia is working to restore confidence in the voting process.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) criticized President Trump, saying Sunday he had “become a curse to Republican candidates” ahead the November midterm elections when the GOP is projected to lose the House.  “He has no idea how bad he is doing in GA. And to threaten our state that he would refuse to help…

Gernot Döllner criticised for in-person announcement of major investment in US days before midterm elections

The head of the luxury carmaker Audi is under fire in Germany for appearing at a rally with Donald Trump just days before the US midterm elections, to announce billions of dollars of investment in battleground state Georgia.

Gernot Döllner joined Trump on stage after the US president gave a speech criticised by the head of an elected body of employees at Audi’s parent company, Volkswagen, as being full of “racism, sexism, transphobia [and] contempt for democracy”.

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© Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters

© Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters

© Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters

Citizens want greater democracy, while tourists seek out Soviet-era nostalgia, but could Russia’s war on Ukraine be the ultimate decider of country’s fate?

• Europe live – latest updates

In the heart of Tbilisi’s Armenian quarter, Avlabari Square is where crowds gather for the “Saturday March”. Every weekend, protesters head towards the Bridge of Love, reach Freedom Square and march towards parliament, chanting slogans against Irakli Kobakhidze’s government.

Demonstrators in Tblisi take part in the Saturday March, when pro-European parties and movements march through the historic centre to protest against the policies of the ruling Georgian Dream party, which critics accuse of being pro-Russian.

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© Photograph: Alessandro Gandolfi

© Photograph: Alessandro Gandolfi

© Photograph: Alessandro Gandolfi

Maka Gogaladze’s debut feature looks at generational differences in the context of Georgia’s education system and emphasis on collectivism

The scars imprinted on impressionable young minds can never fully fade away. Aiming her lens at a rocky beach thrashed by crashing waves, Maka Gogaladze opens her intimate film with a painful anecdote from her adolescent years. Through on-screen texts against a stormy sky, the Georgian film-maker recalls the time she dumped all of her poems into the garbage. The impulsive decision was a gesture of rebellion against her domineering mother; Gogaladze had wanted her to feel guilty.

This debut feature would appear, at first glance, to be another act of revolt. Putting her mother in front of the camera, Gogaladze asks probing, at times blunt, questions about the strict education thrust on her in childhood. Together, they talk about piano lessons that ended in tears, and tough academic exams that continued to haunt the director well into her adulthood. Their contrasting personalities are fascinatingly revealed across these conversations in all their tension, yet these sequences also represent a moving effort to reach across generational differences.

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© Photograph: True Story

© Photograph: True Story

© Photograph: True Story

Audi investe 4 miliardi di dollari nel primo stabilimento americano in Georgia: 4.500 posti di lavoro e capacità fino a 200.000 veicoli l’anno.

Audi compie un passo decisivo nella strategia di crescita globale con il progetto del suo primo stabilimento produttivo negli Stati Uniti. L’Azienda intende investire circa 4 miliardi di dollari e creare circa 4.500 posti di lavoro. Il sito sarà progettato per una capacità annua fino a 200.000 veicoli: la costruzione dovrebbe iniziare nel 2027, mentre la produzione è prevista per i primi anni ’30.

Crescere in America per i clienti americani

Gli Stati Uniti sono il secondo mercato premium al mondo e rappresentano per Audi un potenziale di crescita considerevole. Il progetto nasce con SUV premium su misura per i clienti nordamericani e prodotti localmente, all’interno di una strategia di lungo periodo basata su esigenze dei clienti, gamma competitiva e un modello di business più efficiente. La strategia per Audi Stati Uniti punta a una crescita redditizia e sostenibile. Il CEO di AUDI AG, Gernot Döllner, sostiene che le ambizioni per il marchio in America sono molto più grandi e che il potenziale non è ancora stato pienamente realizzato. Secondo il manager, l’obiettivo è costruire un business Audi più solido nel Paese, non soltanto realizzare uno stabilimento, grazie a prodotti premium, un brand più forte e una base produttiva locale competitiva. Avvicinare la produzione alla domanda dei clienti nordamericani è un elemento chiave del progetto. Per un marchio premium, il radicamento locale significa seguire da vicino preferenze, volumi e tempi di un mercato che resta tra i più importanti del settore.

Audi Georgia: perché il Middle Georgia Mega Site

La scelta della Georgia si basa su forza lavoro qualificata, una rete consolidata di fornitori automotive e una solida infrastruttura logistica. Lo Stato è considerato recettivo per gli investimenti industriali e l’area “Middle Georgia Mega Site” garantisce flessibilità e spazio per successive espansioni del sito. Lo stabilimento sarà progettato sulle future esigenze produttive Audi, con attenzione a efficienza, flessibilità e capacità di rispondere ai cambiamenti della domanda e alle esigenze dei clienti. La disponibilità di spazi consente inoltre al sito di crescere nel tempo, adattandosi a scenari di mercato in evoluzione.

Un impianto da zero con processi avanzati

Gerd Walker, membro del Board per la produzione e la logistica di AUDI AG, sottolinea che partire da zero permette di sviluppare fin dal primo giorno processi altamente efficienti e flessibili, integrare tecnologie avanzate e costruire una rete di fornitori locali solida. L’ambizione dichiarata è fissare un nuovo standard di riferimento per la produzione premium e rafforzare la rete globale Audi. Con circa 4.500 posti di lavoro previsti, il progetto aprirà opportunità per fornitori, prestatori di servizi e partner regionali, con effetti che vanno oltre i cancelli dello stabilimento. Il caso mostra come un investimento industriale possa generare un indotto esteso sul territorio.

Tempi e tappe del progetto

Il percorso prevede l’avvio dei lavori nel 2027 e la produzione nei primi anni ’30. Nel frattempo il progetto dovrà consolidare la filiera di fornitori locali e le competenze della forza lavoro, elementi che i vertici indicano come centrali per la competitività dello stabilimento. Il calendario lungo è coerente con la natura del progetto: un impianto nuovo, costruito da zero, che richiede una pianificazione dettagliata di processi, tecnologie e logistica prima dell’avvio della produzione.

Il sostegno dello Stato

Il Governatore della Georgia, Brian P. Kemp, rivendica la reputazione dello Stato come luogo in cui le aziende globali possono costruire il proprio futuro. Per Kemp la scelta di Audi rappresenta un passaggio cruciale in questo percorso e un’occasione per generare prosperità economica duratura e contribuire alla prossima generazione dell’industria automobilistica americana.

Investire negli USA per la competitività globale

Una presenza più forte in Nord America permette ad Audi di operare a livello globale in modo più bilanciato e resiliente, riducendo l’esposizione ai rischi commerciali e valutari e aprendo ulteriori opportunità di crescita redditizia. La Germania e l’Europa restano la spina dorsale industriale del marchio, grazie a competenze ingegneristiche, capacità tecnologiche e know-how locale. Manfred Döss, Presidente del Consiglio di Vigilanza di AUDI AG, sostiene che il futuro dell’azienda non sarà garantito solo dalla riduzione dei costi o da una maggiore efficienza. Serve il coraggio di investire e di prendere decisioni che plasmeranno l’azienda nei decenni a venire, e l’investimento americano è proprio questa determinazione. Il caso Audi sembra indicare una tendenza più ampia: i grandi costruttori premium stanno rivedendo la geografia della produzione per restare vicini ai mercati di riferimento e ridurre le vulnerabilità legate al commercio internazionale.

L'articolo Audi in Georgia: 4.500 posti di lavoro e produzione dal 2030 proviene da Affaritaliani.it.

VW investment, creating 4,500 jobs in Georgia, comes amid Trump’s damaging tariffs, intense Chinese competition and costly shift towards EVs

Audi has said it will spend $4bn (£3bn) to build its first factory in the US, as its parent company, Volkswagen, struggles with the impact of steep tariffs imposed by Donald Trump.

The German brand’s chief executive, Gernot Döllner, joined Trump on stage at a campaign rally on Saturday night to announce the factory in Macon, Georgia, in an unusual move by a big European brand just days before the US midterm elections.

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© Photograph: Friso Gentsch/EPA

© Photograph: Friso Gentsch/EPA

© Photograph: Friso Gentsch/EPA

President Trump announced a new Audi factory Saturday while campaigning in Georgia, a move that arrived almost a week before November’s midterms. “Today, I’m thrilled to announce a massive auto manufacturing investment in the great state of Georgia by a fantastic company,” Trump said during Saturday’s rally.  “Audi has just committed to invest $4.2 billion…

Jackson's path differs from Donald Trump's, and the 72-year-old healthcare magnate and investor brings a vastly different persona to his first campaign. Unlike Trump, who was born to wealth, Jackson spent his early years bouncing through foster homes before launching his first company as a young man.

The theme park operator announced the extra safeguard less than two weeks after 42-year-old Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem of Atlanta died after being ejected from his seat on the Goliath coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the detention of a German citizen who, according to the agency, served as a sniper in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). The man identified himself as Michael Friedrich, born in 1976 in Frechen, North Rhine-Westphalia. His testimony was released in a video distributed by the FSB.

According to Friedrich, he is an active-duty member of AFU unit A4024, holding the rank of corporal and serving as a sniper. “I personally signed the contract on December 5, 2025, for a term of three years,” he said.

The detainee said he served in the Bundeswehr from 1996 to 2008. “During my service, from 2004 to 2006, I took part in combat operations in the Republic of Afghanistan as part of the German contingent,” he stated. He then said he took part in operations in Somalia and, after being discharged, fought in Syria as a mercenary from 2008 to 2010.

He first arrived in Ukraine in 2016 and served in the 25th Territorial Defense Battalion until 2018.

“After signing the necessary documents, I was assigned to the 25th Territorial Defense Battalion. I was on the line of contact in the area of the city of Donetsk,” he said. According to his statement, he did not receive any additional training.

He also stated that the battalion consisted mainly of foreign nationals, including citizens of the United Kingdom and Georgia.

“For participating in combat operations, I received the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) participant award – for sacrifice and love for Ukraine,” he added.

After his first contract ended, he left for Switzerland. In November 2025, he returned to Ukraine with military uniform and equipment. In Kyiv, he claims, he signed a new contract with the AFU.

“After signing the contract, I was promised a payment of 100,000 hryvnias. However, I never received the money and was forced to flee from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the detainee said.

The FSB said it is considering opening a criminal case under Article 359 of the Russian Criminal Code – “mercenarism.” The article provides for a prison term of seven to fifteen years.

At the same time, the agency did not disclose the location or circumstances of the detention, or how the man ended up in Russia. The German weekly Der Spiegel reported that it had been able to identify the detainee. According to the publication, Georgian Legion commander Mamuka Mamulashvili confirmed that the man had served in his formation in 2017–2018.

Thus, the detainee’s participation in combat operations on Ukraine’s side has received additional confirmation. However, his claims of service in the Bundeswehr and participation in operations in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Syria remain unconfirmed.

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• THE M-FILES: SF Launches Mercenary Database
• Geography of Losses: Citizens of Eleven Countries Among the Mercenaries Killed in Ukraine
• Foreign Mercenaries And NATO Personnel In Ukraine Yet To Learn Their Lesson

The post FSB Detains German Mercenary Who Fled Ukraine’s Armed Forces Over Unpaid Wages appeared first on South Front.

Hope, dread and the final stretch to Election Day.

© The New York Times

Ten sanatoriums in the crumbling resort town of Tskaltubo are under the hammer, years after billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili vowed to purchase and restore the famed properties.