the state of law enforcement at the us—mexico border remains in doubt after a federal appeals court issue in order to effectively blocking texas from implementing one of the toughest immigration laws in the us. that happened just hours after the us supreme court allowed texas to carry through with the measure. rustling the us what is already a federal crime and violators are usually handled as civil cases by the court system. joe biden�*s system is challenging to all known as before, thing is unconstitutional. the will visit the state on a thursday. there are 2.5 million people illegally entering the us via the southern border last year and immigration is one of the most polarising issues in american politics. the mexican president is pushing back against the controversial law. translation: iii against the controversial law. translation:— against the controversial law. translation: if they intend to do deportations, _

translation: if they intend to do deportations, which - translation: if they intend to do deportations, which is - translation: if they intend to do deportations, which is not i do deportations, which is not up do deportations, which is not up to them, let me say this once and for all. we will not accept deportations from the texan government. we will not stand idly by. the texas governor remains adamant that his stable continue arresting across illegally. texas has the legal authority to arrest people coming across the razor wire barriers on our border, and we will continue to use our arrest authority and arrest people coming across the border illegally. let's speak about the situation now with the mayor of a texas city on the border. good to have you back on bbc news. there has been confusion over the legal back—and—forth here, is it clear to you what policy is it clear to you what policy is in place right now in texas? absolutely not. thank you for having me on. it does not

require legal gondola to reasonably conclude that it is unconstitutional, considering the fact that immigration falls into the purview of the federal government. time after time the supreme court has upheld this regulation. in fact, the supreme court has stated that no conceivable subject is a legislative power of congress more complete, so at this point it is in limbo and what direction we will take once it has been determined by the supreme court we will proceed. at the end of the day, if the supreme court decides it is constitutional, we will follow the law as it is stated because of course law enforcement is here to serve and protect. going back to what i stated earlier, it is not take a lot to reasonably conclude this is before the constitution. unfortunately when his predicament and having border communities having to deal with these immigration issues

because congress has failed to take any action. i because congress has failed to take any action.— take any action. i will ask you about the _ take any action. i will ask you about the impact _ take any action. i will ask you about the impact in _ take any action. i will ask you about the impact in your - about the impact in your community but the governor of texas wrote while the fire continues in court to uphold as before, texas continued to harass illegal immigrants for trespassed. why do you think the governor is pushing ahead with this in the supreme court will not end up upholding it? at this point it comes down to politics, the political agenda. that has been the case for the past several decades. it would be wise to work with the federal government in dealing with illegal immigration issues or immigration issues in general. here is the insidious travesty about illegal immigration and border security. hard—working americans on both sides of the political spectrum, the cartels, the private

contractors, businesses or should i say certain types of businesses are raking in billions of dollars at the expense of the local taxpayers. contraband expense of the local taxpayers. contra band flows expense of the local taxpayers. contraband flows south. we are talking about billions of dollars at stake here flowing through the same cause of injury. again, you are looking is some issues here regarding the federal and state governments, and it seems to be a political agenda on both sides. for decades, congress has failed to address consequential long—term solutions for the immigration system and now we're back to square one. to be fair to the governor, we do have some issues at the border that need to be addressed in the fact remains that i fear that some countries, our global enemies, are exploiting this broken system. are exploiting this broken s stem. . , ., ., system. can i “ump in and ask ou, system. can i “ump in and ask you. — system. can ijump in and ask

you. since you _ system. can ijump in and ask you, since you are _ system. can ijump in and ask you, since you are the - system. can ijump in and ask you, since you are the mayor| system. can ijump in and ask. you, since you are the mayor of a border city, what has the impact spin of this record number of crossings along the us southern border?— us southern border? when it comes to _ us southern border? when it comes to addressing - us southern border? when it comes to addressing as - us southern border? when it comes to addressing as far . us southern border? when it| comes to addressing as far as the resources, we simply do not have the resources to address the needs of thousands of people. fortunately for us, the majority are not staying here and we simply do not have the resources to house and feed thousands of people at the expense of the local taxpayer. that is not feasible for us to manage that. ifeel for that is not feasible for us to manage that. i feel for those of communities across the nation that having to foot the bill. you are talking about millions of dollars, in some cases billions, to address these needs when in fact it should be addressed by the federal government and no mayor or governor in america should have to bear the burden of a broken immigration system without the federal financial resources necessary to address these needs. figs

resources necessary to address these needs-— these needs. as you said, democrats _ these needs. as you said, democrats and _ these needs. as you said, l democrats and republicans these needs. as you said, - democrats and republicans both say the immigration system, the asylum system is broken. what would you like to see done? first of all we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform that addresses all these issues. you are talking about legal immigration, at this point even with the immigration, when it comes to these quotas that are not — since 1990, congress has failed to update legal immigration relative to us economic growth and population growth. they do need to co—ordinate both of those at the same time at looking at the quotas based on nationalities, limited quotas based on nationality. you also talking about — going back to addressing the needs of individuals who come to the

country and are allowed to stay in the country, not having the right to work. that is to be addressed. looking a comprehensive, it is notjust one, you're talking at a conference of system... i conference of system... i understand. there - conference of system... i understand. there are i conference of system... i understand. there are so j conference of system... i - understand. there are so many. we have a _ understand. there are so many. we have a broken _ understand. there are so many. we have a broken system. - understand. there are so many. we have a broken system. it - we have a broken system. it sound like a cliche and both political parties gain capital byjust political parties gain capital by just talking about immigration byjust talking about immigration but by just talking about immigration but not necessarily doing anything about it. we have to leave _ doing anything about it. we have to leave it there but thank you so much for coming in our programme tonight sharing your perspective with us. antony blinken will travel to israel on a friday, a previously unannounced stop on his current troop to the middle east. he was in saudi arabia on wednesday press discussions on what the us because and architecture for lasting peace. it is his sixth visit to the regions of the start of the war in gaza. it comes as releases

have soured between president biden and benjamin netanyahu. in a phone call on monday, mr biden again urged mr netanyahu to change course on his plans for a ground invasion of the city of rafah were more than 1.4 million palestinians are sheltering to the war. 0n sheltering to the war. on wednesday mr netanyahu again rejected those wanting something he is already approving the plan. we something he is already approving the plan. something he is already aurovinu the lan. ~ . . approving the plan. we have had confirmation _ approving the plan. we have had confirmation that _ approving the plan. we have had confirmation that mr _ approving the plan. we have had confirmation that mr blink - approving the plan. we have had confirmation that mr blink and l confirmation that mr blink and it will visit israel at the end of history. that wasn't on the cars initially and was added on at the last minute and a key part of that will be the growing dispute between the american administration and the israeli over what will happen in rafah. and increasingly belligerent signals from benjamin netanyahu about going into rafah, the assault they, the americans are saying no, at least not in the form that may be played at the moment. they say they want to see a plan

they get civilians out safely, keen humanitarian aid coming in. this is a growing part of the friction now between the americans and the israelis so that he sought to come up during those talks at the end of this week. bid during those talks at the end of this week.— of this week. aid groups see the humanitarian _ of this week. aid groups see the humanitarian situation i of this week. aid groups see | the humanitarian situation in gazais the humanitarian situation in gaza is growing worse by the day with people reported to be surviving off animal feed and children starving to death. that is at the us and uk continue to airdrop more aid into the territory. a uk field hospital has also been set up. the food and a ricotta organisation was the current level of eight is not enough. the letters report projects famine can occur any time between now and may in the territories north. my colleague spoke to the foa earlier. there is no possibility of the amount of food aid that is required to come into the area, there is significant damage to all the infrastructure, even to access to water and health. so all the criteria that we have to establish famine, especially in north gaza, is present.

so that's the danger that we are running, and that's why we need to avoid. now, israel says that it is acting in self—defence, following the october 7th attacks, and it has to check all aid deliveries, it wants to ensure none of it reaches the hands of hamas. so what do you say to benjamin netanyahu, given what you've described there? i think that, right now, is a minute that we increase and allow the food aid to flow into the country. checking doesn't mean that they cannot go in. food aid has to go massively into the country. and we need to allow people to have access to water. and we need to, as soon as possible, reduce the problems of accessibility to food, and water and energy to this population, if we want to avoid massive loss, additional massive loss of lives. here in the us, a bill that's been worked out between congress and the white house to avoid a government shutdown, would include a one—year ban on direct funding for unrwa.

that's the un agency, providing aid to palestinians in gaza. several western countries, including the united states, temporarily paused unrwa funding injanuary, after isreal�*s allegations that several of the agency's employees particitpated in the october 7th attacks. the un is currently investigating those claims. canada, australia and sweden are among those who have already resumed funding. the proposed halt in aid comes as dozens of former us officials have sent president biden an open letter, urging him to take a harder line with israel, to protect palestinian civil rights, according to the reuters news agency. the group, which includes former ambassadors and white house officials, said an israeli military operation against hamas was "necessary and justified", but said in part, "the united states must be willing to take "concrete action, includingrestrictions "on provision of us assistance to israel consistent with us "law and policy". ina in a surprisingly, the prime minister of ireland said he is stepping down as the leader of his party. he cited reasons

that are personal and political. he said that it had been the most fulfilling time of his life. just days ago, marking st patrick's day in washington, there was no sign of the shock resignation to come. my reasons for stepping down are both personal and political. i believe this government can be re—elected. but after careful consideration, and some soul—searching, i believe that a new taoiseach and a new leader will be better placed than me to achieve that. leo varadkar�*s appointment as taoiseach for the first time in 2017 was history—making. at 38, he was the youngest ever irish prime minister, the first from an ethnic background and the first gay leader. his appointment personified a changing and more modern ireland. he championed referendums legalising same—sex marriage and abortion. but it was the brexit negotiations that saw him make his mark on the world stage, with other leaders describing him as a sharp—shooter and straight

talker. today, the prime minister, rishi sunak, thanked leo varadkarfor his dedicated service. but political opponents who want their party to take the top job next called for an early election — today's resignation doesn't immediately trigger one. it's not a time for a rearranging of the deckchairs, and ultimately, it's for the people to decide who will be the taoiseach. so i think it's now over to the people. there should be an election. the republic of ireland is grappling with a cost of living crisis, issues around immigration and massive problems around housing. that's led to a lot of frustration with the current government, particularly among young people. ifeel like everyone in ireland is struggling at the moment, like, with the housing crisis, cost of living. there's not one person we'd speak to who actually like the government that's in now. you think, like, you're going to be living with your parents until 40 years of age, like, you know what i mean? you don't want to be living there. you want to go out and be independent. the republic of ireland has

witnessed much change during leo varadkar�*s political career. even if there's no early general election, one is looming within a year, and with a new taoiseach set to be named within weeks, there will be much more change to come. sara girvin, bbc news in dublin. as sara mentioned there, varadkar�*s tenure as prime minister led to ground—breaking social change in ireland. but not everything he did was met with praise. paul cunningham is a political correspondent for rte, ireland's public broadcaster, and he discussed how varadkar will be remembered as prime minister. i think one of his biggest legacies will be the manner he fought for ireland during the brexit negotiators from the uk leaving the european union, trying to ensure there was not a hard border and many irish politicians were over in the us trying to seek assistance as well as fanning out to try to bolster the irish position. i think that will be one of his key legacies he will be remembered for.

another one will be covid—19, which struck at a time when he was travelling in the us and had to walk down the steps of a hotel and say that the country was going to be closing down as a result of that. that obviously was a controversial issue and some measures were tough. there are some people who have not forgiven him for that but i think some people viewed him handling that well. around the world and it the uk this is bbc news. ., ., world and it the uk this is bbc news. . ., , ., , world and it the uk this is bbc news. . ., , ., ., news. new data shows inflation far more than _ news. new data shows inflation far more than expected - news. new data shows inflation far more than expected last - far more than expected last month sliding from 4% in january to three in february, its lowest level in more than two years. a fall in food prices helped offset rising costs for housing and fuel. prime minister rishi sunak says the uk economy is set for a rebound in 2024. he's been speaking with our economics editor, faisal islam. i do believe that, at the start of this year, we have turned a corner, after the shocks of the past few years, and we are in a new economic moment in 2024. it will prove to be the year

that the economy bounces back. green shoots of recovery? that is notjust me saying that, if you talk to businesses like i do across the country, they are starting to see that and feel that. in what is happening in their shops or their restaurants or their companies. mr sunak has pledged to grow the economy, as he faces a general election in the months ahead. at the end of last year, the uk slipped into an economic recession, and inflation remains higher than the 2% target set by the bank of england. you're live with bbc news. schools in afghanistan opened for the new academic year on wednesday, making it the third year in a row with girls banned from joining secondary—level classes. on wednesday morning, uniformed boys carried black and white taliban flags, as they lined the entrance of kabul�*s amani school, where local officials arrived for the ceremonial start of the school year. womenjournalists were expressly forbidden

from covering the ceremony, in an invite issued to media outlets. in a statement today, taliban's education ministry claimed to offer a "quality, fair and balanced education", and urged the students to be committed to "islamic "principles, national values and the country's "high national interests." unicef told the bbc that 330,000 afghan girls, aged 13, will be blocked from starting secondary school this week. 1.4 million girls have been affected since the taliban took control of the government in 2021. i spoke to afghan human rights activist, pashtana durrani. she's working to provide academic resources to girls in afghanistan. and the taliban have said they have to put certain conditions in place in order for girls who are over sixth grade to be able to go to school, and that letting girls at an older age go to school is not in line with their interpretation of islamic law. do you see any movement towards putting those conditions in place? i mean, it has already been put in place where they have already supposedly banned education, but then at the same time my question is very simple: how come girls within the geography

of afghanistan are supposed to adhere to that sort of conditions, whereas their own daughters can go to school in other countries and can openly access education? why is nobody questioning that hypocrisy in the first place? and then at the same time, when it comes to afghanistan, how come the boys's schools don't have to go through the same thing, don't have to go through curriculum changes, but the girl school is apparently don't have enough maintenance to be done, don't have enough conditions to be met for them to open schools? for me it is just they are buying time and they don't have any answers, given that they banned schools for two decades. how can they justify opening it now? if we look at what is happening now, you are the executive director of the nonprofit dedicated to education, learn. what is it doing to help girls somehow still access education? the day before yesterday

we opened our fourth school to educate girls. all of them are from grade seven to grade 12, and many people like us, many nonprofits like us are doing the same thing. we are educating girls underground, basically every time i meet them, and i was talking to them last week in kandahar, they were just so grateful to be in that space. 30 girlsjust graduated from grade 12 in kandahar, and she told me, she was like, can we continue coming to the school even if we graduate from year 12? this is the level of sensitivity people have to request. there were literally women who were crying to get their daughters admitted into our programmes and this is what all other nonprofits are doing, ensuring that girls stay in school and there is a holistic way where we can educate girls. how risky is that work you are doing? very risky. i mean, for me, yes, i have resources, have these

collections, i have these influences, to make it happen, and i going to be very clear and transparent about it, and i live in the us and i go to afghanistan when it is safe to me. but it is risky for the women who walk up to that school to teach in their schools, it is risky for those young girls who are barely 14, and they are seen doing something that is illegal according to the current regime, and they are still learning and they are still hopeful and they're still showing up to the schools, they are still learning and teaching, you know? so it is risky in many ways. we have change our space more than seven times because it was under surveillance. there are times when we have to shut down schools for three weeks and it's not normal, it is not normal in today's world that we have to justify girls's education, that we have to do it underground, and we have to be worried how risky it has to be. a quick look at other ——

headlines. heavily armed gangs have taken over much of the capital city. the interpreter for japanese baseball superstar shohei 0htani has been fired by his team, the los angeles dodgers. ippe mizuhara, a longtime friend of 0htani, is accused of committing massive theft after he transferred at least $4.5 million from 0htani's bank account to pay off gambling debts. the alleged theft by mizuhara surfaced after 0htani's name came up in a federal investigation into a california bookkeeper. a un report says russia has created a "climate of fear" in occupied areas of ukraine since its forces invaded two years ago. the world body's human rights 0ffice accuses russia of systematically suppressing ukrainian language, culture, and identity as it tries to assert full control. the assessment comes as russian president vladimir putin hosted

supporters at the kremlin, following his win in an election that western leaders call neither free nor fair. steve rosenberg got a rare invite. vladimir vladimirovich putin! they say that location is everything, if you want to impress an audience. applause so, vladimir putin invited his celebrity supporters to one of the swankiest parts of the kremlin. he wasn't easy to see, but the messaging was clear. in the hall where russian tsars had been crowned... ..russia's president thanked the vips for backing his re—election. we were there, too. a rare invitation inside the kremlin. a sign, perhaps, of president putin's growing confidence. even though the west has dismissed the election as a sham. this is, in effect, vladimir putin's victory lap. having won the race, a race so designed that he couldn't lose it, the kremlin leader wanted to thank his most famous fans for cheering him on, and was clearly happy to receive their congratulations.

and his guests loyally defended a widely criticised election. do you believe the election was free and fair? laughter we created, i think, the most open and democratic elections in the bloody world! was there a serious challenger in the election, a serious opponent? is there a need for a serious opponent? why? why is there no need for a serious opponent? why do you always think the way you live is better than the way we live? even the way you ask questions. "why don't you guys do the way we do it?" because we're not you, and we don't like you much, really. in the kremlin, vladimir putin referred to events in russia's belgorod region. it's come under sustained shelling from across the border in ukraine. and civilian casualties have been rising. this never happened before russia invaded ukraine.

translation: we can, of course, respond in the same way, - striking civilian infrastructure and all similar sites that the enemy is targeting. we have our own views on that, our own plans, and we will follow them. and, post—election, vladimir putin will claim he has a popular mandate for whatever plans he makes, and whatever decisions he takes. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. and before we go, we have two very different stories about two trees in the news. yes, trees. first up, security measures have been put in place to protect a new mural by the street artist banksy. the image of green paint behind a tree that gave the appearance of leaves was defaced within days of appearing on a building in north london. police have not yet found the person responsible. and our second story, a polish tree nicknamed �*heart of the garden�* has won the 2024 european tree of the year contest. the beech tree grows in an old park in wroclaw. it's the third polish

tree in a row to win the competition, which showcases unique trees from across the continent. that's all from us for now, i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you for watching bbc news and do stay with us. hello there. it's been very mild to start this week, very spring—like indeed. and in fact, on wednesday, we saw a temperature of 19 celsius in charnwood in surrey, making this the warm spot of the day, but also the highest temperature in england so far this year. things are set to change, though, for the end of the week into the weekend — colder air moving in behind this low pressure system will extend across all areas. it'll feel very different to how the week's begun. but still some mild air for england and wales on thursday, much windier

with outbreaks of rain. scotland and northern ireland, thanks that area of low pressure, gusts up to 60 mph for the northern and western isles. a bit of sunshine here and there. for england and wales, rather cloudy, some sunshine at times. we're still in the mild air mass here. so, given some sunshine, could see temperatures up to 16 or 17 degrees again, but it will be cooler across the north with a stronger winds. as you move through thursday night, the cooler air and this band of rain, a cold front will sing southwards across england and wales. behind it's much colder, there'll be a rash of showers, these wintry on the hills across scotland. you can see the temperatures there to start friday, but milderfor england and wales. but it won't last as that cold front sinks southwards across the midlands, southern england through friday. eventually, it'll clear through. skies will brighten up, but we'll all be into the cooler air by the end of friday and there'll be a rash of blustery showers again for scotland, northern ireland, maybe north west england. they will be wintry on the hills across scotland. last, the mild weather across the south east, 12 or 13 degrees into the weekend.

it'll be noticeably colder and windier for all areas, though a mixture of sunshine and showers and these showers will have a wintry element to them, certainly on the hills. you can see the colder air moving in behind that cold front. by the time we move out of friday night into saturday, we're all into that colder air. lots of isobars and the charts, so it's going to be blustery, windy, particularly in exposure with strong west—northwesterly winds. lots of showers rattling through, as you can see. the white colours indicating hail, maybe some sleet, snow over the hills, some sunshine in between. it's not going to be raining all the time. these are the temperatures, though, 7—10 degrees. factor in the wind, it could feel even colder than that, so a bit of a shock to the system after such a mild start to the week. sunday marginally better, i think, although a blustery day, not quite as windy and we should see more sunshine around. there'll still be few showers dotted around northern and eastern areas, but more sunshine around, slightly lighter winds. it may feel a little bit better across the board. take care.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. trust underpins the unwritten contract between the citizen and the state in a democratic society. the citizen trusts the state to ensure that the enormous powers vested in key institutions like the police and the courts are exercised fairly and responsibly.

well, that's the theory. in practice, things go wrong. 50 years ago, six men were wrongly convicted and imprisoned for terrible ira bombings in birmingham. my guest writer and former politician, chris mullin, was instrumental in exposing this grave injustice. much trust was lost then. has it been restored? chris mullin, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. it's great to have you in the studio. this year marks the 50th anniversary of those terrible bombings in birmingham in the english midlands.