welcome to bbc news. police in former soviet republic georgia crack down on protesters as thousands demonstrate against controversial new laws. this is the scene live in the capital tbilisi. this place outside georgia's parliament in at the capital tbilisi has been the scene of so many anti—government and anti—russia protests over the years, but this time the government may have gone too far. an investigation into the killing of the black woman breonna taylor concludes that a us police force indulged in routine discrimination, illegal searches, and the use of excessive force. the uk prime minister defends his asylum reform plans, including banning anyone arriving in a small boat from claiming asylum

or seeking citizenship. why the dutch government says it will restrict the export of some equipment used to make microchips, citing national and international security concerns. hello, and welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we begin in the former soviet republic of georgia, where large crowds have been protesting against new laws, which critics say will limit freedoms. the biggest demonstrations have been in the capital, tbilisi. the protests have been ongoing through the night. this is the scene there now, just after 6am. we've seen police using water cannon and tear gas to try to disperse the crowds. our correspondent rayhan demytrie is in tbilisi and sent us this report.

every big moment in history has its iconic image. this may be georgia's. on tuesday, thousands of protesters stood for europe, and stood their ground against water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray. and they even fought back. 55 police officers were injured. protesters have been outraged by what's been happening in parliament — pro—government mps spoiling for a fight with the opposition, and then backing a controversial foreign agents bill. the law would require ngos and media that get more than 20% of their funding from abroad to label themselves as agents of foreign influence.

it's in the same spirit as russia's foreign agent law, which over the years has been used to stigmatise and silence critical voices. the georgian government says that it wants more transparency, and that the bill has been copied from an american law, but in a statement the united states embassy in tbilisi described it as �*kremlin—inspired legislation�*, and said it was a dark day for georgian democracy. this place outside georgia's parliament in the capital of tbilisi has been the scene of so many anti—government and anti—russia protests over the years, but this time the government may have gone too far. the country's opposition is powerless to change things inside parliament because the government holds the majority of seats, but it doesn't mean that the people of georgia are ready to give up the fight for their country to have a future in europe. we belong to europe. we are europe.

i am here, along with all these people, to guarantee that there will never be a russian rule here, ever. on the international stage, georgia's authorities said they want to join the eu, but their actions back at home speak louder than their words abroad. this could be georgia's midan moment — the first stirrings of mass unrest against the government that appears increasingly out of sync with its own population. and we'll speak to human rights watch later in the programme for their take on the situation in georgia. but situation in georgia. for now to the us. the usjustice department has delivered a damning indictment of louisville police department over the fatal shooting of breonna taylor who was shot dead by police during a raid on her home in 2020. an investigation by thejustice department has concluded that the police department in louisville routinely discriminated against black

people, used excessive force, and conducted illegal searches. here is what attorney—general merrick garland had to say. lmpd uses excessive force, including unjustified neck restraints and the unreasonable use of police dogs and tasers, conduct searches based on invalid warrants, unlawfully executes warrants without knocking and announcing, unlawfully stops, searches, detains, and arrests people, unlawfully discriminates against black people in enforcement activities. jody armour is professor of law at the university of southern california. hejoins us now from los angeles. professorjody, thank you for taking the time to join us. you have been looking at the us criminaljustice have been looking at the us criminal justice system for most of your career, if not all of it. what do you make of the us justice of it. what do you make of the usjustice department �*s reports?

us justice department 's reports?— us justice department 's reorts? ~ . , ., , reports? we have been here many times. reports? we have been here many times- doj — reports? we have been here many times. d0j report. _ reports? we have been here many times. d0j report. we _ reports? we have been here many times. d0j report. we had - reports? we have been here many times. d0j report. we had one - times. d0j report. we had one here in angeles after the rampart scandal. companies were wrapped in together inaudible corruption that you can think of, but does not come close to what rampart was injured the department ofjustice to centre decree, we did not have a lot of change in la so after ferguson there was a d0j investigation. a lot of recommendations. not a lot of change still, so i am worried that these investigations may make good windowdressing, but don't result in real change. mr garland said the police's behaviour had a detrimental impact on public trust. do you think trust was high to begin with? ~ , ., ., ,

with? well, yeah. that is the problem- _ with? well, yeah. that is the problem. the _ with? well, yeah. that is the problem. the trust _ with? well, yeah. that is the problem. the trust has - with? well, yeah. that is the problem. the trust has been| problem. the trust has been eroded and undermined for 30 or 40 eroded and undermined for 30 or a0 years or longer, since especially we have been waging this war on drugs, which has wound up being a war on the black community. breonna taylor, hurt no knock raid that she was the victim of, was part of a war on drug trade. the reason the police were there was because they were trying to find contraband, drugs in particular, and anything we should have learned over the last 30 years is the war on drugs is a futile effort, and we should not be wasting, squandering any more lives in that pursuit, and, sir, actually, you know, it is going to be hard for the department ofjustice to say something like that, though. for example, we need to end the war on drugs, since the government

right now, president biden, was himself a drug warrior, and a strong proponent of tough armour crime law and order and said "find the police. find more of what we are seeing in your louisville. find more of what we are seeing in louisville, tennessee with tyree nichols." so, it will be interesting to see if this is more than just windowdressing. professorjody armour, thank you for your time. gm; professorjody armour, thank you for your time.— let's get some of the day's other news. police in chile are searching for around a dozen robbers who ambushed workers on the runway at santiago airport as they were transferring cash into an armoured truck. a security officer and one of the alleged robbers were killed in the shoot—out. tens of thousands of people took to the streets of greece on wednesday to vent their anger over last week's train disaster which killed 57 people — the worst train crash in the country's history. the demonstrations ended in battles with police, who fired tear gas into the crowd to try to disperse the protesters. the train crash has stirred

public outrage over the crumbling state of the rail network, which is being blamed on years of neglect, underinvestment and understaffing. the duke and duchess of sussex have confirmed their children will use the titles prince and princess. this comes after the couple called their daughter princess lilibet diana at her christening last week. harry and meghan have stepped back from their royal duties. it has been reported that members of the royal family were invited to the christening but did not attend. to the netherlands now, and the dutch government says it will restrict the export of certain types of equipment used to make microchips or semiconductors on the grounds of national and international security. it comes after pressure from the united states to get the netherlands to restrict china's access to high—end chip technology, but the government did not mention china by name. it said the restrictions, which it hopes to have in place before summer, would help prevent dutch chips being used for undesirable military applications, and cited a technology used by the leading dutch manufacturer

of semiconductors, asml. chris miller is the author of chip war: the fight for the world's most critical technology. hejoins me now from boston. chris, thank you for taking the time to come on the programme. just how significant is news? well, this is a really big change in the way that the chip industry is working because the dutch company asml has unique capabilities when it comes to manufacturing the machine chip that hardly any companies the world can match. if you can't acquire their tools or comparable tools produced by one other company injapan, you simply cannot make cutting—edge chips and now it will be more difficult for chinese firms to produce chips if they cannot access tools from these two companies. access tools from these two companies-_ access tools from these two comanies. ~ ., ., ,, companies. what impact do you think this

companies. what impact do you thinkthiswill_ companies. what impact do you think this will have _ companies. what impact do you think this will have on _ companies. what impact do you think this will have on the - think this will have on the global chip industry? well, it is not going _ global chip industry? well, it is not going to _ global chip industry? well, it is not going to have - global chip industry? well, it is not going to have a - global chip industry? well, it is not going to have a lot - global chip industry? well, it is not going to have a lot of i is not going to have a lot of impacts outside of china, where most of the countries leading chip makers still depend heavily on imported machine tools from the netherlands, from japan and from the united states and companies in china that are trying to produce close to cutting—edge chips are going to find that they lack the machinery needed to make these chips and there are not really good alternatives to turn to. there are some companies in china trying to produce comparable tools but they are years behind in those cases and so they will struggle to find alternatives. do cases and so they will struggle to find alternatives.— to find alternatives. do you think this _ to find alternatives. do you think this news _ to find alternatives. do you think this news will - to find alternatives. do you think this news will leave i to find alternatives. do you i think this news will leave tech companies short on supplies? i think it is unlikely to have a matic impact, and unlike the last several years, for many types of chips there is a lot of supplies because the global economy has been slowing, so i don't think we should expect major shortages to result from

this, possibly no shortages that all production outside of japan is going to be an impacted by this. japan of big -la ers impacted by this. japan of big players in _ impacted by this. japan of big players in the _ impacted by this. japan of big players in the chip _ impacted by this. japan of big players in the chip industry i players in the chip industry but there has not been any reaction from over there yet. there has not been a formal reaction but it has been widely reported that the japanese government in the process issuing comparable regulations that will restrict the one japanese firm that produces similar tools from exporting to so i think that we should expect more detail as to the specifics of the japanese regulation but there is no reason to doubt that they are going to implement regulations that mirror what the netherlands did today. chris merrick, thank _ netherlands did today. chris merrick, thank you - netherlands did today. chris merrick, thank you very - merrick, thank you very much for your time. stay with us on bbc news. still to come... i can see where this story is going. ..changing the story at the oscars — a small step on the way to diversity and inclusion.

the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 24 hours then, the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym _ then he came outj through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged ai, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison in an eight—car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much, do you think? i don't know, really — _ i've never been married before.

this is bbc news. our top story this hour — police in georgia crack down on protestors, as thousands demonstrate against controversial new laws. this controversial new laws. is the scene, live, in the capital, this is the scene, live, in the capital, tbilisi. let's stay with that story. we can now speak to rachel denber, who's the deputy director, europe and central asia division, at human rights watch. she joins us from new york. rachel, thank you for taking the time to come in the programme. now, we've seen those pictures, we have seen police clashing with protesters, but what is your assessment on the significance of this so—called foreign agent bill? of this so-called foreign agent bill? �* , , , .., bill? it's very significant. it is a retrograde _ bill? it's very significant. it is a retrograde law, - bill? it's very significant. it is a retrograde law, a - bill? it's very significant. it is a retrograde law, a bill, | is a retrograde law, a bill, that would impose scrutiny,

investigations, fines, even imprisonment on organisations that don't comply with an onus requirement to register if you get just as requirement to register if you getjust as much as 20% of your funds from foreign sources. but the real aim of this law has nothing to do with fiscal transparency of media on non—governmental agencies as the government is claiming. what this law is really about is making it possible for the government to stigmatise marginalise and eventually silence organisations and media that are critical of the government. this is a very significant step.— significant step. georgian dream chairman - significant step. georgian dream chairman said - significant step. georgian dream chairman said the | significant step. georgian i dream chairman said the law would help those working against —— rooting out those enemies of the country and the powerful 0rthodox georgian church. they also argued it was

an exact analogue of the us foreign agents registration act. what is your assessment on that? ~ �* , act. what is your assessment on that? . �* , ., act. what is your assessment on that? ~ �* , ., ., that? well, it's great that these officials _ that? well, it's great that these officials are - that? well, it's great that these officials are just i that? well, it's great that i these officials are just taking all the masks off and making clear that this isn't about fiscal transparency at all, that it fiscal transparency at all, thatitis fiscal transparency at all, that it is really about a witchhunt against people and organisations that are critical of the government and that it would rather would stay silent. and it's completely disingenuous to compare this law to the us foreign agents registration act, because even though the language might be quite similar, there are some significant differences, and also that us law, first of all, it is not perfect, and second of all, it is not used to go after non—governmental organisations that provide services to the public, or it is not used to go against media, domestic media, that are

critical. so in fact it is used for a very small number of lobbyists, and the government, the georgian government here, as being rather dishonest about the uses of the law.— the uses of the law. now, georgia — the uses of the law. now, georgia has _ the uses of the law. now, georgia has also - the uses of the law. now, georgia has also applied i the uses of the law. now, | georgia has also applied to join the eu and also nato block. do you think there new bill will impact that at all? i think the eu has made quite clear it is going to impact that process, because these types of laws have been ruled as incompatible with european human rights standards. by the european court of human rights. so the eu has a ready made it clear that this law is a serious problem, and that's a problem, it should be a problem for the georgian government, because between 70 and 80% of the georgian public support close integration with the eu,

supported the notion of george “p supported the notion of george up as candidacy of becoming a eu member. 50 up as candidacy of becoming a eu member-— eu member. so sorry to interw— eu member. so sorry to interrupt you _ eu member. so sorry to interrupt you but - eu member. so sorry to i interrupt you but unfortunately we have run out of time. thank ou. here in the uk, the prime minister rishi sunak has been defending his plan to reform the asylum system, saying it shows his government is "on the side of the british people". the proposed legislation would ban people who arrive in the country in small boats from claiming asylum or seeking british citizenship. the labour leader sir keir starmer accused the government of delivering "utter failure", and called the latest plana gimmick. here's our political editor chris mason. no sign of any migrant crossings at dover this morning, in the horrible weather, as the home secretary explained why she claims a new approach on the issue is crucial at westminster, and why she thinks it will be lawful, but can't be certain. we are testing novel interpretations of the law but we do not consider that we have crossed the boundary and we do not consider that we are in unlawful territory. labour don't want to appear

soft, as some might see it, but reckon the government's approach continues to be hopeless. after 13 years, small boat crossings higher than ever, claims unprocessed, the taxpayer paying for hotel rooms, criminal gangs running all the way, laughing, to the bank, and an asylum system utterly broken on his watch. the prime minister said labour had opposed many of his plans, including sending asylum seekers to rwanda. stopping the boats is notjust my priority, it is the people's priority. he wanted to, in his words, scrap the rwanda deal. he voted against measures to deport foreign criminals, mr speaker, and he even argued against deportation flights. he is just another lefty lawyer standing in our way. and talking of criticising lawyers and others, look at this, an e—mail that didn't come from the home office, but the conservative party, suggesting previous policies on small boats were blocked by "an activist "blob of left—wing lawyers, civil servants "and the labour party. "

0ur correspondent lucy williamson has been asking people on the north coast of france whether the british government's plans will stop them trying to cross the channel. here's her report. in the sudanese migrant camp in calais, they understand determination. you don't end up here without it. the prime minister's own resolve to stop the boats shrugged off around the camp fire. "we'll never stop, we'll never give up," they said. salah has been trying to reach the uk since last summer. we showed him the home secretary's speech to parliament yesterday, and explained what the new policy means. yes, i go uk, that's my ambition, my dream. he told us he would rather be in prison in the uk than stay free here in france. they can took me in prison, no problem, i can stay in england. even in prison? yes, no problem.

i will come england. but he said he would take extreme action, perhaps even take his own life, if he was faced with deportation. i will not return in rwanda. if that happens, i can kill myself. but i'm not returning rwanda. police now routinely clear tents from sites like this and patrols stopped a0% of small boat crossings last year. the vast migrant camps you used to see here in northern france have now largely gone. they have been replaced with these smaller, scattered groups. uk immigration policy may have got tougher in recent years, but conditions here in the camps have also got much harder — an added incentive to leave. aid workers say that suicides in the camps here have risen. for the refugees, it is the french police who is very bad, and it is the calais

who is a very bad place to be. but if we tell them, but it is the uk government who gives the money to make those fences and to pay those police, mostly they don't believe it, they say, "no, no, uk will never do that". many cling harder to the lure of life across the channel. the uk wants to make the price not worth the passage, but caution is a luxury many here say they can't afford. lucy williamson, bbc news, calais. hollywood is getting ready for oscar night, this sunday, and with the glitz and glamour come real questions about the academy's efforts on diversity. research shows that, over the event's 95—year history, only i6% of the winners have been women, and only 2% have been women of color. from los angeles, sophie long reports. # no woman,

no cry #. black panther: wakanda forever, showcases black culture. not only was it a box office hit, it also has five 0scar nominations. for angela bassett, it was a long time coming. did you just think, "oh, that's wonderful?" or did you think a bit more like, "about damn time?" laughter i would say a little bit of both. laughter no, no, no, absolutely wonderful. wonderful, and at this point in my career, to be any sort of inspiration for those who are coming behind, because i certainly had those that i look toward when i was starting out and it meant the world to me. but the omission of actors like viola davis, for her role in the woman king, led to criticism of the academy for failing to acknowledge black talent. we are doing everything we can to diversify our membership, to create mentoring programmes, to really inspire more women to enter the business,

and also, we have now a new programme for mid—career women, and just under—represented groups. so we are not the industry, we cannot dictate hiring, but we're doing everything we can to try to level the playing field. ijust never thought i i would come back here. only six of 20 nominees in the main acting categories are people of colour. among them is brian tyree henry, for his role in causeway. i was inducted into the academy in 2020, i was the class of 2020, so i was able to vote, which was truly incredible. there were so... it was very diverse, the class that i was inducted with, but there's still work to be done. you know, there's still a lot of progress to be made. but at the same time, what i love is that the recognition that's coming from my peers and my contemporaries that are here, you know, we feel it. we know exactly what needs to be done and it'sjust about really moving the needle forward. there has been progress.

new research shows the hashtag #0scarssowhite and the movement it created eight years ago had a clear impact. 8% of nominees before oscarssowhite, the eight years before, the eight years after, 17% for people of colour. that's notable, right? i mean, that's not a bad shift. it's nowhere near what it needs to be, which is ao%, which reflects the us population. that's the percentage of under—represented racial ethnic groups in the united states, and that's where that number should be in 2023. i can see where this story is going. i but a hashtag can't change everything everywhere all at once. a combination of films that celebrate under—represented communities and new diversity standards to be brought in next year might help. sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. that's all for now. thank you for watching. you can reach me on twitter.

hello, there. we have some disruptive weather on the way. certainly, the next 2a to a8 hours look very snowy indeed across a central swathe of the uk. the met office have issued an amber warning for heavy snow across northern england, particularly over the pennines, where we're likely to see up to a0 centimetres of snow by the time we move through thursday, thursday night and into friday morning. reason for it, this deep area of low pressure, with all its rains pushing into the cold air. so although we'll have rain south of the ma corridor, some of this rain could be quite heavy across southern england, south wales, it will be turning readily to snow across the northern half of wales through thursday, into the midlands, certainly the north midlands, and across northern england where we'll see significant accumulations starting to pile up over the pennines and also for north wales. a milder day to come, i think, across southern areas, ten to 13 degrees here.

this is where we'll have the heavy rain. a chilly but sunny day across scotland, with a few snow showers around. now, as we head through thursday evening, thursday night, the snowfall continues across north wales, northern england, certainly over the pennines and developing into northern ireland, southern scotland, as well. again, to the north of here, it's likely to stay very cold with clear skies. but we have a widespread yellow snow warning for northern ireland, much of southern scotland, northern england, the midlands into north wales, two to ten centimetres at lower levels, up to 15 centimetres on the hills. but it's this amber warning we're most concerned about over the pennines — 25 to a0 centimetres likely by the time we reach friday morning. so the snowfall continues in those similar areas through the early hours of friday, starting to pull away, though, from northern ireland and southern scotland. here, it's going to be another very cold night. snow showers for northern scotland. that wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow will be affecting large parts of england and wales, as we start friday morning.

that area of low pressure starts to pull away in towards the near continent, taking the snow with it. but also, we'll see a spell of strong northerly winds for a while on its back edge as it pulls away. so a cold, windy, snowy morning across central and eastern parts of england, in particular for friday, could see some drifting of snow as well. but it clears out quite quickly, and then we'll see plenty of sunshine moving in its place for friday afternoon, but it's going to be a cold day wherever you are. take care.

all this is bbc news. the headlines: tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in georgia's capital, tbilisi, for a second day, over the controversial foreign agents law which the government says will root out people working against the interests of georgia, but critics say could crack down on any sort of opposition. the usjustice department has said that a domestic police force, louiville police department, used routine discrimination, illegal searches and excessive force, while investigating the killing of a black woman in 2020. the uk prime minister is defending asylum reform plans, including banning anyone arriving in a small boat from being able to claim asylum

or seek citizenship. rishi sunak said his government is "on the side