Two nights ago, "authorities in Tbilisi, under the cover darkness, decided to remove the giant statue of Josif Djugashvili (a.k.a. Stalin) from downtown Gori, the former Soviet dictator’s hometown." Georgian authorities had long wanted to remove the 48-year-old statue, but feared angering Stalin enthusiasts. In fact, "during the August 2008 war, the Georgian military suggested to their Russian counterparts that, in their shelling of the city, they might train artillery on the Stalin statue." Via these sites.
