内容摘要：The balance is choosing participants sick enough to qualify but not so sick they have no chance.

The balance is choosing participants sick enough to qualify but not so sick they have no chance.

with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A man was convicted Wednesday of stabbing to death a transgender actor and model in her apartment in Georgia last year, a killing that shocked the South Caucasus nation and came a day after lawmakers

that severely restricted LGBTQ+ rights.Beka Jaiani, 26, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murder with particular cruelty and beating ofJaiani had partially admitted guilt but rejected accusations of particular cruelty or that there were gender-based motives for his actions. He was not in the Tbilisi courtroom for the verdict, saying his psychological and emotional state prevented his being there, but added he regretted his actions.

His lawyer, Giorgi Mdinaradze, denounced the verdict as “based solely on moral considerations rather than moral grounds,” and said he would appeal the conviction.According to media reports, Jaiani and Abramidze were in a relationship for about two years and fought a lot before the killing in September 2024.

A day after the killing, dozens of mourners brought flowers and candles to a makeshift memorial in central Tbilisi to Abramidze, whom members of the LGBTQ+ community praised as a symbol of strength and freedom. Although activists did not link the killing to the passage of the legislation, some feared the new laws could lead to an increase in hate crimes.

Her death was a chilling reminder of the LGBTQ+ community’s vulnerability in Georgia, a country of 3.7 million people where the Orthodox Church wields significant influence, and demonstrations against gay rights are common.Three months into Trump’s second term, his administration and Republican lawmakers have made good on pledges to pare U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance down to agreements that most directly serve their perception of U.S. strategic and financial interests. The administration has terminated thousands of U.S. aid and development workers and programs that worked more broadly for global development.

In another such transactional deal, the Trump administration is negotiating with Ukraine over a minerals deal that the U.S. is demanding as repayment for past U.S. military support after Russia invaded in 2022.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy initially proposed that deal last fall in hopes of strengthening his country’s hand in its conflict with Russia by tying U.S. interests to Ukraine’s future.

If the deal the U.S. is envisioning in east Congo goes well, it might end up stabilizing the region, said Gyude Moore, a former Cabinet minister in the West African nation of Liberia, now at the Center for Global Development, a think tank in Washington.If not, “this deal, especially in a region crawling with conflict where there hasn’t been a credible political solution, is fraught with risks for the United States as it pursues this extractive foreign policy in Africa,” Moore said.