georgia

Protesters gathered in Tbilisi, Georgia over the arrest earlier in the week of opposition leader Nika Melia.

Shortly afterward, they sprayed tear gas and forced their way into a room that had been barricaded by Melia and his supporters.

Melia, chairman of the United National Movement, is accused of organising “mass violence” during anti-government protests in 2019.

The governing Georgian Dream party selected the defence minister to take over as prime minister following the sudden resignation of Giorgi Gakharia over the attempts to detain an opposition leader.

"The opposition claims Georgia Dream passed this law as a payback to the criminal world for the help they got during the election. In the past criminals have helped the ruling party by pressuring people during the campaign," claims former minister Thorniké Gordadze.

The ruling Georgian Dream party, led by the nation's richest man, narrowly won the October 31 parliamentary vote that opposition parties say was rigged.

Georgia currently has 370 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and three deaths according to figures from the Johns Hopkins University.

The works of Georgia's most renowned artist, Niko Pirosmani, are being given a 21st-century makeover.

521 babies have been baptised in a mass ceremony in Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral. And their godfather is Ilia II, the spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church.