hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. the us supreme court is allowing texas to enforce one of the toughest immigration laws in the country. the law lets state officials arrest and deport people suspected of illegally crossing into the us from mexico. the court rejected a bid by the biden white house to block the controversial immigration policy, while a legal battle over the measure plays out in a lower federal appeals court. crossing the us border illegally is already a federal crime, but violations are usually handled as civil cases by the immigration court system. patrick svitek covers texas for the washington post. i asked him what impact this ruling will have. for the time being it allows texas to move forward with implementing this very aggressive law that really asserts, it's almost an unprecedented state role in

enforcing border immigration, which is a federal responsibility. i should which is a federal responsibility. ishould note that this issue, the merits of it are still pending before a lower court so there is a legal battle that is far from over. you said this is unprecedented, the challenge, there has been division over this issue, where do you see this heading next? i think it is an issue that will continue winding up of the highest court, because these legal issues are profound and they get out the fundamental delineation between the state and federal governments and their unique powers in our constitution. so i think it will continue to be a political issue but it's also good to continue to be a legal issue that continues to work his way back up to the highest court in the land, the us supreme court, whether related to the store or other laws that texas lawmakers have passed in recent years.

immigration is playing a major role in this year's presidential election. on tuesday president biden accused donald trump of "despising latinos", mr trump meanwhile released a campaign video slamming mr biden�*s handling of the migration crisis. both biden and trump have already wrapped up their parties�* presumptive nominations. but there are still primaries taking place. tuesday saw voting in some states that will be vital to victory come november. and down ballot races will be key to watch to see how some races might affect who controls congress. donald trump is easily projected to win his home state of florida this evening. earlier in the day he cast his ballot there. former first lady melania trump was by his side. she's been largely absent from his campaign so far. germany said on tuesday it will send an aid package to the couuntry, worth 500 million euro — that's about 500 million us dollars. germany's defense minister boris pistorius announced the package. it includes ten thousand rounds of ammunition and 200 military vehicles. pistorius�*s announcement comes as the us — ukraine's main

supporter in staving off a russian invasion — struggles to pass a 60—billion dollar aid package of its own. but germany's defense minister said he has no doubt about the reliability of the americans. and speaking in germany us defense secretary lloyd austin reaffirmed that message as he met with us allies and ukrainian officials. today, ukraine's survival is in danger. in america —— and america's security is at risk and they don't have a day to waste and we don't have a day to spare either. so i leave here today fully determined to keep us security assistance and ammunition flowing and that is ammunition flowing and that is a matter of survival and sovereignty for ukraine and it is a matter of honour and security for america. make no mistake, putin is watching. the world is watching. and history is watching.

our berlin correspondent jessica parker had this analysis of mr austin's comments. i think lloyd austin trying to reassure kyiv and other allies who send report to ukraine, thank you also had a message for domestic audiences. he was making the argument that what happens in ukraine really matters to america's security as well. here in europe, people are talking more and more about how europe might need to become more self—sufficient in terms of defence, and deterrence, not just because of the $60 billion aid package being stuck in congress but also because of the uncertainty surrounding us election cycles. there are officials i have spoken to who fear that a donald trump presidency, should he be re—elected, could undermine the nato military alliance given remarks he has previously made. but nations in europe, some of them from here in germany for

example, they have a long way to go and much ground to make up. in germany, they are set to meet the 2% nato defence spending target this year but there will be for the first time since the early 90s. evelyn farkas is the executive director of the mccain institute and formerly served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine, and eurasia. she's in kyiv right now, and we spoke to her a little earlier. the reality is that the united states has been shown to be not as strong an ally of the moment, so the ukrainians are very concerned. all the officials we spoke to felt worried about the us political dynamic and of course they are worried looking across the border at vladimir putin because he is feeling very confidence and thinking he is quite strong. there is a downside to that because we have seen putin over calculate, but that's the mood right now in kyiv, a lot of concern might

stop —— a lot of concern. here in washington, two retired us generals who led the chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan in 2021, testified in front of congress. they placed blame on both the trump and biden administrations for the pull—out that led to the rapid collapse of the afghan government, and allowed the taliban, characterised as a terrorist organisation by the us and the uk, to seize control of the country. mark milley, former joint chiefs of staff chairman, and kenneth mckenzie, who led the us central command, were speaking to a house foreign affairs committee hearing on the withdrawal from afghanistan on tuesday. it was their first testimony since each of them retired, allowing them to be more candid then in previous testimonies. having a plan is one thing. preparing the plan, vetting the plan, coordinating the plan with the people that are going to actually carry you out, the department of defense, that's another set of tasks completely. and that was too little, too late. l it was my judgment that it was far too little, far too late. was that your assessment, general milley? _ it was. and i would broaden it a little bit by saying it was a pretty consistent assessment by me and other members of the uniform military, up to and including the secretary, that the withdrawal

of the military forces, and the contractors in the nato forces that went with it, would ultimately lead, as i said in my opening statement, to a general collapse of the nsf and the government. in the chaotic final days of the exit, 13 us service members and dozens of afghan civilians were killed in a bombing at the aiport in kabul, afghanstan's capital. family members of the american soldiers who died attended the hearing in washington earlier. as you heard in that sound bite a moment ago — the generals agree the biden administration is to blame for the poor timing of the evacuation. however general milley said that the doha agreement — which former president trump negotiated with the taliban to set the terms for the us departure, "pulled the rug out, morale wise" of the afghan security forces and government. but despite the finger pointing, they agreed that no single factor alone led to american failures in afghanistan. they said the the us should take a deeper look at entire 20—year conflict, not just the exit. turning now to the war in gaza — and israel says

that it is doing "everything it can to flood gaza with aid". that's after the us secretary of state, antony blinken, warned that the entire population was experiencing "severe levels of acute food insecurity" — meaning that their lives are in danger because they can't consume an adequate level of food. mr blinken called on israel to prioritise providing help for those in need, and issued this warning during a trip to the philippines. according to the most respected measure of these things, 100% of the population in gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity. that's the first time an entire population has been so classified. we also see again, according to, in this case, the united nations, 100%, the totality of the population, is in need of humanitarian assistance. all of this comes as the un human rights office says israel's continued restrictions on getting aid in "may amount

to use of starvation as method of war, which is a war crime". earlier today, white house spokesperson karinejean pierre said that the biden administration is "deeply concerned" by a report indicating an imminent famine in gaza. she also said there would be a meeting between the us and israel on the situation in rafah next week. meanwhile, benjamin netyanyahu said there's no way to destroy hamas in rafah, other than by a ground incursion. and the political leader of hamas has accused israel of sabotaging talks on a ceasefire in gaza with its assault on monday at al—shifa hospital. for more on the humanitarian situation in gaza, i spoke to shaza moghraby, a spokesperson for the world food programme, based in new york. the us secretary of state antony blinken said today that guards are�*s 2 million people are experiencing severe levels of acute food insecurity. how do you characterise what we are seeing across gaza?— seeing across gaza? thank you so much for —

seeing across gaza? thank you so much for having _ seeing across gaza? thank you so much for having me. - seeing across gaza? thank you so much for having me. i- seeing across gaza? thank you so much for having me. i think| so much for having me. i think the results we've seen yesterday of the report really speak to the horrific images we've been seeing coming out of gaza on a daily basis. whether it is people resorting to extreme measures to feed themselves, such as making bread out of animal feed and animalfodder, to children bread out of animal feed and animal fodder, to children who are acutely malnourished, their rib cages are literally poking out of their bodies, to people risking their lives and putting themselves in the line of fire to reach aid convoys because they want to spare their children the excruciatingly painful fate of death by starvation. nobody can claim that they didn't see this coming. we have been warning, we have been sounding alarm bells since december, and here we are today, i.i bells since december, and here we are today, 1.1 million people suffering the severest level of acute food insecurity, severest level of hunger. this is doubled the number we had in december. in a matter of

months. so this is a stain on our collective humanity. can i ask, we have _ our collective humanity. can i ask, we have heard _ our collective humanity. can i ask, we have heard the - our collective humanity. can i ask, we have heard the word | ask, we have heard the word famine being used especially for the north of gaza, can a famine still be prevented in gaza at this point? the answer is es, gaza at this point? the answer is yes. as _ gaza at this point? the answer is yes, as catastrophic - gaza at this point? the answer is yes, as catastrophic as - gaza at this point? the answer is yes, as catastrophic as the l is yes, as catastrophic as the situation is. if there is one thing we have learned in the past couple of months, you can actually get much darker than what it is today. you to have a small window of opportunity to act. what we need is an immediate ceasefire. we need unfettered access into gaza and also within gaza. we need that access to be broad because there is no competition to road access given the epic level of the needs on the ground. when we seak the needs on the ground. when we speak to _ the needs on the ground. when we speak to spokespeople - the needs on the ground. when we speak to spokespeople for l we speak to spokespeople for the israeli government, they have accused hamas of stealing aid that is meant to go to innocent people in gaza, you needed most badly. has your

organisation seen any proof of that? ~ ., �* , organisation seen any proof of that? ., �*, ._ that? we haven't seen any creditable _ that? we haven't seen any creditable evidence - that? we haven't seen any creditable evidence of - that? we haven't seen any| creditable evidence of that. that? we haven't seen any - creditable evidence of that. we know that the suffering in gaza is very severe and we need to get in there, we need our supplies to flow in as soon as possible. and for that to happen, we need all entry points to be open, we need crossings to open and also we need israel to allow us to use the corridor to facilitate a. if we can do that we can avert, which can happen any time between now and may in the northern part of gaza. fist between now and may in the northern part of gaza. at this oint, northern part of gaza. at this point. looking _ northern part of gaza. at this point, looking at _ northern part of gaza. at this point, looking at the - point, looking at the situation, what is your message to the international community, both nonprofit organisations working to alleviate the situation and also governments? this is entirely on the international community. if famine is allowed to happen,

this is a shared responsibility. so we are calling on the international community to do whatever it takes to stop the situation from deteriorating any further. let us do ourjobs. we are experts at averting famine, we have done it in yemen, we can do a u—turn on this, but in order to do this we need a ceasefire, we need unfettered humanitarian access. so let us do ourjob, but are we waiting for? time is running out, we don't have much time, we need a solution so that we can have the access we need to prevent this humanitarian catastrophe from getting much worse. we will have to _ from getting much worse. we will have to leave it there, but thank you so much for joining us. but thank you so much for joining us— but thank you so much for “oininu us. . ~' . around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some stories in the uk. a convicted paedophile has become the first person to be found guilty of the new offence of �*cyber flashing' in england and wales. nicholas hawkes from essex was sentenced to more than a year in prison

after pleading guilty to sending unsolicited explicit photos to a 15—year—old girl and a woman. the offence came into effect on january 31st. fashion chain ted baker is set to go into administration, putting hundreds ofjobs at risk. us—based authentic brands group has owned the ted baker brand since 2022, and said that the "damage done" during a merger with another firm was "too much to overcome". ted baker's stores and website will remain open during the search for a potential buyer. the outgoing first minister of wales, mark drakeford, fought back tears as he made a farewell speech on his last day in office. the 69—year—old had to pause briefly as he mentioned the death of his wife of 46 years, clare. he thanked the welsh people and his colleagues for their support, during what he called the "hardest and saddest" year of his life. drakeford received a standing ovation. you're live with bbc news. human rights groups in hong kong say a sweeping security law passed

on tuesday will create a �*new authoritarian era'. the measures — known as article 23 — expand on security laws already imposed by china and establish harsher penalities such as life imprisonment for offences such as treason. they also allow for closed—door trials, and give the police rights to detain suspects for up to 16 days without charge. the terrirory�*s chief executive, john lee, said the law would help stop "plots and traps set up by foreign intelligence units", and prevent "black—clad violence and colour revolution". the territory's largely pro—beijing legislative council passed the law unanimously. past attempts to enact article 23 met with stiff resistance from pro—democracy activists and lawmakers. this time, though, a month—long public consultation showed 99% support for the bill. the us state department condemned the law and said the united states is considering its response. but regina ip, one of the pro—beijing lawmakers, said hong kong's leaders wouldn't be deterred by threats from the west — including a possible further downgrade from

credit rating agencies. with me is anna kwok, a hong kong democracy activist now based in the united states. good to have you back in the studio with us. what exactly what this article 23 change? four years ago so the limitation of the national security law, which offered legal grounds for political arrests of a lot of hong kongers. today with the passage of article 23, i think this is put a nail in the coffin of hong kong is a globalfinancial hub because what it entails not only an expanded grant of political rest of hong kongers but also foreigners who happen to be in hong kong, so for example in the bill there are

segments about theft of state secrets without really explaining what state secrets are so you can imagine that the law will actually be used quite conveniently and manipulated by the hong kong government to just arrest people out of espionage concerns. what we are seeing is that hong kong is becoming more and more similar to the chinese style judiciary through the new national security framework. it through the new national security framework. if you look at what the _ security framework. if you look at what the authorities - security framework. if you look at what the authorities are - at what the authorities are saying, the bbc asked the hong kong government about article 23 and they said that it targets a small number of people who jeopardise national security, not the general public. how many people do you think this will impact? essen think this will impact? even thou:h think this will impact? even though the _ think this will impact? even though the number- think this will impact? even though the number of- think this will impact? even i though the number of people that would put in jail through the claims of article 23 may be limited, but at the moment we are seeing 1800 political prisoners in hong kong and i think it also poses a lot of threats to hong kongers around the world, for example i along

with other activists have a bounty on ahead. that literally affects us but also it impacts other hong kongers who want to voice their opinions abroad, the united states for example, and either they will be subject to the fears and the possible arrest through article 23 so saw the end of the day it's about the chilling effect that it has created and about this mass mobilisation of fear and also peer surveillance among hong kongers. so also peer surveillance among hong kongers-— also peer surveillance among hong kongers. so the city there will be given — hong kongers. so the city there will be given authority - hong kongers. so the city there will be given authority to - hong kongers. so the city there will be given authority to ban i will be given authority to ban organisations from operating hong kong if they should be found, quote, working for foreign forces. can you tell us what you think that means? what would be considered a foreign force? ., . , would be considered a foreign force? ., ., , , , , force? for example, myself, my bounty was _ force? for example, myself, my bounty was also _ force? for example, myself, my bounty was also based _ force? for example, myself, my bounty was also based on - bounty was also based on colluding with forces and what i've done was just talking to international nonprofits are in the world, talking to congress and the us government about

what we can do for hong kong. so in the future, once article 23 is enacted, this saturday, i imagine hong kongers would have to be even more careful about engaging with foreigners, and that includes international nonprofits, like environmental rights nonprofits or even gender rights nonprofits, these communications could be considered as colluding with foreign forces watts ——. the foreign forces watts --. the government _ foreign forces watts --. the government says _ foreign forces watts --. the government says that - foreign forces watts ——. the government says that the decision to introduce article 23 follows a 19% support rate during the last public consultation in hong kong. is there a way to get a sense of how many people in hong kong to support this measure? right how many people in hong kong to support this measure?— support this measure? right now there is no _ support this measure? right now there is no way — support this measure? right now there is no way of— support this measure? right now there is no way of actually - there is no way of actually getting the numbers because as we have seen interviews conducted over the past month, about article 23, if you just walk up to a hong kong and asked him if they suffer the article they would say they cannot answer anything because they know if they said they do not support it, there would be

subjected to political rest. but still a lot of hong kongers overseas, including the organisation and for activists, have made our submission to the hong kong government to voice our concerns and voice our opposition is against the article in a public consultation proposed by the hong kong government. shortly after, the government caught all of us —— i called us anti—china and said that we are colluding with foreign forces with the opposition. so in hong kong right now i would say still millions of hong kongers would not agree with the implementation and enactment but they have no channels to express their views.- but they have no channels to express their views. when we soke in express their views. when we spoke in july _ express their views. when we spoke in july when _ express their views. when we spoke in july when a - express their views. when we spoke in july when a bounty i express their views. when we i spoke in july when a bounty was spoke injuly when a bounty was placed on your head, i asked you if there was still room for dissent in hong kong. many months later, what is your attitude that?— months later, what is your attitude that? well, the grey area we previously _ attitude that? well, the grey area we previously had - attitude that? well, the grey area we previously had in - attitude that? well, the grey l area we previously had in hong kong definitely has once again happily limited itself. even though now hong kongers pay a

higher price when they do want to speak out for themselves, so i believe there are still hong kongers who are trying to do it but at the same time there is no was for dissent any more. people have to actively create that space with the expectation of sacrifices ahead. and that sacrifices not only made by themselves, it's also about people related to them. for example, we have seen news of families and friends of hong kongers around the world getting arrested inside hong kong just for things they are doing abroad. so that is why they say that space is very limited but still we must persist. limited but still we must ersist. ., ., limited but still we must ersist. ., ~' , ., limited but still we must ersist. . ,, ., ., persist. thank you for “oining us once again * persist. thank you for “oining us once again on h persist. thank you for “oining us once again on bbc _ persist. thank you forjoining us once again on bbc news. | let's turn to some other news from around the world. police in brazil have accused former president jair bolsonaro of fraud relating to his covid vaccination records. the move opens the door to possible criminal charges in the supreme court. mr bolsonaro's health records say he received the vaccine in sao paulo in 2021. but an investigation

laterfound he was not in the city at the time. mr bolsonaro has denied any knowledge of wrong—doing. a court in mississippi sentenced two former police officers to a total of 37 years in prison for torturing two black men in their own home. hunter elward and jeffrey middleton are the first of six officers being sentenced this week. they sexually assaulted and beat michaeljenkins and eddie parker. the officers pled guilty to federal civil rights offences in august. the british privacy and data protection watchdog is assessing a report that staff at the clinic where the princess of wales underwent surgery earlier this year, allegedly tried to view her private health information. kate's absence from public life has sparked weeks of speculation about her whereabouts and health. kensington palace has made no comment about footage of the princess at a farm shop in windsor over the weekend. the video, published by the sun, is the first we've seen of kate since the beginning of the year. from london, simonjones has the latest on the alleged data breach.

the princess of wales spent 13 nights in the london clinic in january. the clinic is known for treating members of the royal family, for treating members of the royalfamily, celebrities, former presidents and prime ministers. at the time she was admitted to hospital, kensington palace said she was being treated for a problem with her abdomen, she was undergoing surgery by the palace city wouldn't give a running commentary on her health or on her recovery because she wanted the precise details remain private. this morning's mirror newspaper reports that the london clinic has launched an investigation into claims that at least one member of staff tried to access her medical records while she was undergoing treatment. the paper said insiders at the clinic are shocked at these allegations. the information commissioner's office, which is the watchdog for personal data, has told us it has received a

report of a breach editor is assessing that information. kensington palace told this was a matterfor the london clinic. the metropolitan police wouldn't confirm whether they had been made aware of these allegations. as for the clinic itself, it hasn't responded for a request for comment from the bbc, but it has told the mirror newspaper in a statement that every patient whatever their status has the right to full confidentiality and privacy. before we go — wednesday marks the un's international day of happiness. and to commemorate, the world happiness report released its 2024 review on the state of happiness. topping the list of happiest countries — finland. second happiest was denmark, followed by iceland, sweden and israel. the united states landed at 23rd happiest — eight spots lower than last year. the uk was ranked three spots ahead at 20th happiest. he happiness report is a result of people in 143 countries evaluating their life on a scale of one to ten — with ten representing

the best possible life. for finland, it's their eighth year in a row at the top. a happy place indeed. that's all for now, i'm sumi somaskanda. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. we are marking the spring equinox and for some parts of the uk, wednesday will bring some spring warmth just as tuesday did actually in parts of lincolnshire, 17 degrees, with some hazy sunshine in some relatively mild air. now, as we head through the next few days, we are going to start to see a change. the wind direction will change. we'll get into north or north westerly winds and that will bring a much colder feel in time for the weekend, but not just yet. a mild start to wednesday with extensive cloud cover, some mist and murk and some

hill fog and some outbreaks of rain. now, in many locations, the rain will turn increasingly light and patchy through the day, and for some, it will brighten up. in fact, if we see some hazy sunshine in the south east of england, temperatures could climb to 18 degrees. but parts of southwest england, wales, the midlands, eastern england are likely to stay grey with some bits and pieces of rain. it may brighten up a little bit across northern england and for northern ireland and for scotland, actually, the afternoon should bring a decent amount of sunshine. feeling quite pleasant in light winds — 11 or 12 degrees — just the small chance of a shower in the northeast of scotland. and then, through wednesday night, well, this window of clear skies moves southwards and eastwards. but that will be replaced by the end of the night across northern ireland and the western side of scotland by more cloud, more outbreaks of rain. this is our next frontal system. the winds will be strengthening as well. it is going to be a windy day, particularly in the northwest of scotland on thursday, with outbreaks of rain pushing southeastwards. that rain particularly heavy and persistent over high ground in the west of scotland.

further south and east, quite a lot of cloud, but where we see some sunny spells, again, it may feel warm — 17 degrees likely in the london area. but through thursday night and into friday, this cold front slips southwards and eastwards, and that will bring a change to colder conditions, a deep, low passing to the north of scotland that will bring some really strong winds, gales likely in the far north. for the northern half of the uk, there will be showers, some heavy, some thundery and some wintry up over higher ground. and for some places, temperatures will actually be dropping as the day wears on — the afternoon, for example, in glasgow, around 8 celsius. we stay in that cold air for the weekend. there'll be showers, some of which will be wintry over high ground. and when we factor in the strength of the winds, it will feel decidedly chilly.

hopes for a thaw in relations as a top chinese official makes a long—awaited visit to australia. we'll have the details. and a focus on interest rates as the us federal reserve begins a two—day policy meeting. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai.

chinese foreign minister wang yi has met with his counterpart penny wong. it's his first official visit in seven years. he said their relationship is on the right track. he said china has learned lessons and will stay committed to mutual respect. relations have been tense between the two nations, after a series of trade tiffs over agricultural products and wine. despite that, china remains australia's largest trading partner, with two—way trade rising 12% to over $316 billion last year. last week, beijing proposed lifting all tariffs on australian wine, which could end a three—year long dispute. we spoke earlier to former trade and tourism minister steven ciobo. i welcome the removal of these trade impediments and we have reiterated our desire for the removal of impediments on beef

and lobster. we discussed