News brief

Georgians boycott parliament. The newly elected Georgian parliament opened its inaugural session as thousands of protesters rallied outside under heavy police presence in Tbilisi, causing opposition lawmakers and the country’s president to stay away. They accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of rigging the vote under Russian influence. The Oct. 26 election that kept Georgian Dream in power was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s effort to join the European Union. Opposition parties refused to participate in the Nov. 25 parliamentary activities. President Salome Zourabichvili, who rejected official results and refused to recognize the parliament’s legitimacy, also boycotted the opening session.

In shifting world, post-Soviet states look back to a constant: Russia