This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Nick Miles and in the early hours of Thursday the 2nd of May,

these are our main stories.

Police in Georgia have fired tear gas at people protesting outside Parliament against legislation

which they say is designed to stifle opposition to the government.

The President of Columbia University in New York says the college has been pushed to the brink by pro-Palestinian protests.

The team that designs and builds electric vehicle charging stations at Tesla say they've all been sacked.

Also in this podcast,

essentially there were 4 million homes which are abandoned.

The government doesn't know really who owns them,

nothing's been done with them,

many of them are just sitting there rotting.

So why are there so many abandoned houses across Japan? Find out later.

We begin in Georgia. Where the center of the capital Tbilisi was brought to a standstill on Wednesday by

protesters taking part in a large anti-government demonstration. Police fired tear gas

to clear large crowds after legislators voted to give provisional approval to a new law.

The foreign agents legislation requires organizations to state whether they are funded

from abroad. These people explained why they were taking part in the protests.

With the second hearing, the law has been passed, which is absolutely ridiculous and stupid things to do in this situation

right now.

We are going to stand till the end.

It's what we are afraid of more being gassed, being

...