BREAKING NEWS

Georgian police beat protesters

Georgian police clashed with opposition activists in the capital Monday, arresting dozens and beating demonstrators, along with several journalists. The clash was the latest violence to hit Georgia, as the opposition presses its more than 2-month-old campaign to force President Mikhail Saakashvili from office. An Associated Press photographer saw truncheon-armed masked officers beating demonstrators who had gathered near the police headquarters. Several activists were severely beaten, along with several TV journalists and camera crews who said they had their tapes and video cameras confiscated. Deputy Interior Minister Eka Zguladze said 39 protesters in all were rounded up because they had resisted police who tried to arrest several men accused of assaulting lawmakers in an earlier incident. They also were blocking a public street, she said.