Police in Georgia have arrested the country’s main opposition leader, Nika Melia, in a violent raid on his party’s headquarters. They used tear gas to disperse his supporters, some of whom had barricaded themselves inside with their leader. Mr Melia was eventually dragged out of the building in the capital Tbilisi by riot police. The case against him dates back to anti-government protests in 2019, but comes amid a wider political crisis.

Georgia has been rocked by protests since parliamentary elections in October, with the opposition accusing the ruling Georgian Dream party of rigging the poll and intimidating voters. Last week, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigned over the court order to arrest Mr Melia, saying such a move could risk “political escalation” in the South Caucasus country.(BBC)…[+]

South Korean troops failed to notice a North Korean man who crossed the heavily fortified border this month even though he appeared on TV cameras eight times and triggered alarms. South Korea’s army said it would take this moment to make necessary changes. The man swam in from the sea in a wet suit, walked 5km and spent three hours undetected before troops finally took action on his ninth TV appearance. It is unclear why he made the crossing via such a dangerous route. At one point the man passed through a drainage tunnel in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) the South Korean military did not even know existed, the Yonhap news agency reported.This is despite the zone being one of the most heavily fortified and sensor-dominated in the world.(BBC)…[+]