TODAY: Georgian authorities to protest to the European Union about violations of the Sarkozy-Medvedev agreement by Russia; Corruption in Russia is at its worst for eight years, watchdog Transparency International states; Georgia states it had shot down a Russian reconnaissance drone over Georgian territory just south of South Ossetia; Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrives in China for a three-day state visit, part of a world tour including Russia, Portugal and France; .

Georgian dignitaries today propose to protest to the European Union about “violations of the Sarkozy-Medvedev agreement by Russia.” Tbilisi has stressed that the agreement was violated in the village of Khurcha, a region near the border with Abkhazia, where one Georgian policeman has died and two were wounded in gunfire issuing from as of now unknown sources. Shota Utiashvili, head of the Georgian Interior Ministry information department, told Kommersant that “on Sunday night, a diversionary group crept up to the village from the direction of the Russian checkpoint located nearby and it opened fire with snipers rifles, machineguns and grenade launchers.”

Ruslan Kishmaria, Abkhazian presidential representative in Gali District, responded in stating that “this was an internal Georgian clash and the Abkhazian side has no relation to it.”

Watchdog Transparency International said on Tuesday that corruption in Russia is at its worst for eight years, stoking investor fears just a week after Russian markets suffered their biggest losses in nearly a decade.

The annual survey issued by the Berlin-based watchdog put Russia in 147th place alongside Bangladesh, Kenya and Syria.

Last 5 posts by Robert Amsterdam

• Grigory Pasko: Journalists Are Fleeing Russia - November 20th, 2009
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• The Obstacle of Pride - November 20th, 2009
• The Iron (Pipeline) Curtain - November 20th, 2009
• Yurgens: A Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is no picnic for Russia - November 20th, 2009