thank you forjoining us. us and mexican officials met on wednesday to try to address a growing number of migrants crossing their shared border. the us's top diplomat secretary of state antony blinken met with president andres manuel lopez obrador in mexico city. mr blinken was also accompainied by homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas. the high—level meeting came as pressure grows on the white house to stem the influx of migrants to the us. us officials said last week that up to 10,000 people were crossing the southern border every day. it's being felt in border states, including texas, where the republican governor has sent 75,000 migrants from that state to mostly democrat—run cities since last april. one of those cities is new york city. its mayor issued an executive order on wednesday, requiring charter buses transporting migrants to provide a 32—hour notice in advance of their arrival into new york. earlier, i spoke about the meeting with our mexico correspondent will grant. can you tell us, what were

the significant outcomes of this meeting between antony blinken and the homeland security secretary and the mexican president? well, i think these were very much crisis talks, weren't they? they are organised pretty hastily between christmas and new year, that is unusual in and of itself. we do not know the specifics of exactly what elements of this crisis they spoke about because we are not allowed to speak to the delegation afterwards. there was no media conference, no press conference. we don't know that there was any major policy decisions reached because they have not announced any. we find it unlikely that there would have been. but, clearly, there is value in sitting down face—to—face between the two sides when there is all this going on at the us border with mexico, some 10,000 people a day being detained and, of course, a caravan of somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 migrants from central america

and other nations making its way through mexican territory at this moment. clearly, there was benefit seen by both sides to discussing this face—to—face. lawmakers in the us say they want to see mexico do more to curb some of that immigration. how does mexico see that? mexico has consistently said via president 0brador that they are willing to help, that they are prepared to do more in terms of what the biden administration wants, in terms of what they call �*contagion strategies�*. that to me means containment strategies, stopping people coming up from guatemala in the first place, turning them away from the border if they do not have the right paperwork. but i think what president 0brador wants to see in return is a sort of quid pro quo in terms of improved us relations with cuba, with venezuela, a reduction in the sanctions on those nations. he is big on the idea that more

needs to be done in the migrant countries of origins to sort of disincentivise the idea they would leave in the first place. i think the biden administration would argue it has lifted sanctions on venezuela recently, has always kept up talks on migration with cuba even when the two nations aren't talking about other things. but we will have to see whether or not some of the things that president 0brador wants, washington will be prepared to do in what is, of course, election year. we have about a minute left and it's a big question, but remind us again what is driving these large flows of migrants up to the us? well, i think at this point, there are several things. one is a lack of funding here in mexico for migrant services and all the security forces and police who sort of deal them. another of course is criminal organisations are pushing the idea that this is a very, very good moment to go. so people feel they will miss their window

if they do not go right now. but, of course, there are factors from below as well. 2024 looks to be a bitterly difficult year for many nations in the region too, so those push factors are sending people out of their countries while the pull factors to the us, family members and so on, who have already made it in the us, are at play as well, so it is a combination of all factors at once. great to talk to you. thank you so much. the biden administration is facing calls from both democrats and republicans to address the situation. i spoke to republican congressman tony gonzales who represents the border city of el paso and is a member of the homeland security committee. congressman, i want to start with getting your thoughts on the visit, paid by the secretary of state and the homeland security secretary, to mexico to discuss ways to curb immigration. from what you have heard and seen,

do you think any important progress has been made? thank you for having me. i think it is important that the secretary of state make that trip to mexico city. for too long, the administration has relied on the dhs secretary to handle a lot of this, i think that is a positive development, but talk is cheap. it is all about the results, and it can'tjust be everyone is doing a greatjob. 0ftentimes in thsee diplomatic situations, you talk about the pleasantries. you don't want to get to some of the issues. there needs to be tangible results out of there. what i have specifically been asking the mexican officials for is for them to curb humanitarian and work visas for people that have no intention of using those visas. what ends up happening is people from all over the world use mexico city, get these humanitarian visas, legally transit through mexico city and then they illegally enter the us. i want to ask you about the impact of the record number of migration. your district lies along the us—mexico border. how has that affected your constituency? i represent over 800 miles

of the us—mexico border, nearly half of the overall southern border. my district has been at the epicentre of this crisis, and we've seen everything that this border crisis touches turns to ash. and, sadly, so many americans have been impacted by this, the high—speed chases throughout towns, our schools going into lockdown, shortages of basic emergency services. imagine calling your local hospital in an emergency and them saying they do not have any beds. these are the issues that my community is dealing with. i'd also say too my community as very warm and welcoming, we believe in the american dream, we believe in legal immigration. i'm a proponent of legal immigration, i've encouraged the current administrator to work on that, but the chaos of this happening at the border, this open border crisis, is doing the exact opposite. putting those that are trying to do with the right way, the legal way, at the back

of the line and encouraging those who are doing it illegally to continue to come over to our country. one of the things you have been campaigning for is the repatriation flights for those who are not eligible for asylum in the us and to boost the process of applying some of those asylum standards in the us as well. many of the migrants who are crossing over to the us come from countries where the us does not have diplomatic relations, venezuela, cuba. where do these migrants go? that is partly true. if you dig down, if you peel the onion back, it gets more complicated. many of these from venezuela and cuba, as you've mentioned, they have already fled venezuela years ago, so they are actually living in chile and colombia and panama, they're living in other parts of central and south america. so what is happening is they are making the trek from those parts of south america

and central america and they're coming down and then they're getting rid of their documentation right before they come over. those people that do not qualify for asylum, those people that are fleeing economic persecution should be immediately sent back to their countries of origin. 0k. and, congressmen, as you know, many people who are fleeing are also leaving behind situations where they are facing abject poverty, violence, and the mexican president said in a press conference today the following: translation: they need more - more suwort. — and that is what the congress should be proposing, with all due respect, such as authorising resources for cooperation and support for poor people in latin america and the caribbean. congressman, he is addressing the push factors that are causing people to flee their homes. what do you make of that comment? i have visited many of these countries, i have visited — honduras is one of the poorest countries, i spent 20 years in the military, i've been over the world twice over. guatamala certainly has its concerns.

el salvador, venezuela, you mentioned that earlier. the list goes on and on. i believe it is time for the us to make an investment in our backyard, in central and south america, that by, one, enforcing our laws, people have to respect our laws, and, two, by working with these countries in order to build cooperation. right now there is none of that. one more question about the politics of immigration because senate republicans, as you know, have not signed off on an aid package for ukraine and want border funding in return. there has not been an agreement yet and your colleague on the house tweeted the following. what is your response to that accusation, to those who say you are trying to violate the rights of migrants? on one side, you will have some members that say whatever package that comes together does not go far enough. on another side, you have another group of members

that say it has gone too far. what i can tell you is for decades we have done nothing. and nothing is unacceptable. nothing is dangerous to the american people. we are seeing the amount of people coming over that we simply do not know, many are seeking a better opportunity, but there are also bad actors embedded in there. what i have been encouraging, pushing and working, democrats and republicans alike, is for a border security package, a national security package that supports our allies, but also supports our border here at home. and i think we can accomplish that. now more than ever, it is needed, we're well past breaking point and i think the american public deserve to feel safe in our own country. thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us today on bbc news. right, thank you. take care. the israeli military is keeping up its offensive across gaza, saying it has carried out strikes against at least 200 hamas targets in the past 2a hours. it's also reporting that it has destroyed a tunnel network under and around rantisi

hospital in northern gaza. in a social media post, the israel defense forces said the hamas—run health ministry says at least 195 people have been killed in gaza in the past 2a hours. meanwhile, the israeli war cabinet minister, benny gantz, has warned that israel could open up a new front against hezbollah on the northern border with lebanon if the lebanese government does not do more to stop the militant group. amid fears of a wider war in the region, the israeli government says the bodies of 80 palestinian men have been returned by its army to gaza. the bodies have since been buried in a mass grave in rafah. 0ur correspondent shamaa khalil has the story. and a warning — you may find some images in her report distressing. no funeral, no dignified burial, no tombstone. a bulldozer carries their bodies into a mass grave... ..theirfinal resting place.

israeli forces are expanding their ground offensive into the densely populated urban refugee camps in central gaza. and this is the scene at the neighbouring al—aqsa hospital. 0verwhelmed, they have had to treat the injured on the floor and in hallways. across gaza at the moment, health capacity is at about 20% of what it was 80 or so days ago. so almost all of the hospital beds, almost all of the hospital services, have stopped functioning. 0n foot, donkey carts or crammed onto the back of trucks, those who fled from northern gaza have come here for safety, but the war has chased them out again. heavy bombardment continues in the south and there aren't many places left to go. israel says the war will last for months and insists the aims are clear. translation: the next stages of the fighting _

will also be powerful, deep and surprising. the campaign will continue and will be expanded as needed to additional locations and arenas. in the west bank, an israeli air strike killed six palestinians. the military says they were armed militants. locals deny it. this, as the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, has warned that the area could implode. a new refugee camp has now been set up for those twice displaced — first from northern gaza, and now from the centre. this man lost six family members. "0ur houses have been destroyed," he says. "this is what's left. it's worse than hell here." the hamas—run health ministry says more than 21,000 people have now died in gaza. those who've survived are running out of places to flee. shaimaa khalil,

bbc news, jerusalem. israel is facing growing global criticism over the number of civilian deaths. the un has described the expansion of israel's military campaign as very worrying after israeli strikes reportedly killed dozens in bureij, nuseriat and maghazi refugee camps in recent days. the palestinian president says the situation in gaza is "beyond a war of annihilation" calling the devastation a "grave crime". the us secretary of state antony blinken is expected to visit israel in early january to discuss how the palestinian territory will be governed when the war ends. and turkey's president lashed out against israel at an event in ankara on wednesday, comparing the country's actions in gaza to atrocities committed by the nazis. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. 0ut out to some other headline. hundreds of university students have forced at least 137

rohingya refugees out of a temporary shelter in indonesia's western—most province. the crowd broke a police cordon at the shelter in banda aceh, and forced the displaced people onto trucks. rohingya refugees have endured hostility in indonesia, after fleeing persecution in buddhist—majority myanmar. several people were injured as police in kinshasa broke up a protest over last week's general election in the democratic republic of congo. supporters of opposition politicians joined the banned demonstration outside the electoral commission on wednesday, angered at voting delays and irregularities. incumbent president felix tshisekedi is well ahead, with about 80% of ballots counted. storm gerrit has wreaked havoc on parts of scotland, bringing snow, high winds and heavy rain. in fife, residents in cupar had to be rescued from their homes amid flooding. some 18,500 people are believed to be without power in the north of scotland. the uk met office has posted weather warnings until thursday morning. you're live with bbc news.

the new york times is suing microsoft and 0penai for copyright infringement. it's a significant escalation in the battle over unauthorised use of published work to train artificial intelligence technologies. the times alleges millions of articles of originaljournalism were used without their permission to develop chatgpt and similar platforms. the newspaper is seeking damages, although an exact monetary amount was not mentioned. it also wants an order for the companies to stop using its content, and destroy any chatbot models or training data which use copyrighted material. the defendants have not yet responded to the lawsuit. what comes next could test the boundaries of how text, images, and other online content can be used by tech companies to develop their own products. earlier, we heard from new york times technology reporter, ryan mac, about the suit. companies like 0penai companies with billions of dollars in funding have essentially scraped the web and taken

content — a lot of it copyrighted — for free and used it in its technologies. the new york times is going to court to argue that that was illegal. there are ongoing lawsuits from other creative industries. you look at something like actors that have sued 0penai, hortons, fiction and non—fiction authors, and this is the beginning. getting images has sued another ai company that uses its images to train generative ai uses its images to train generative al to create realistic images. i think we are at the forefront of this and it remains to be seen what happens. former us president donald trump will be allowed to appear on the ballot next year in the swing state of michigan. on wednesday, michigan's supreme court decided not to hear an appealfrom voters, who argued the former president should be barred from michigan's ballots because they claim he violated the constitution by engaging in insurrection.

last week, the colorado supreme court ruled to ban trump from ballots in their state, igniting anger in the republican party, with claims that the next election will be rigged. the colorado republican party has now filed an appeal to the us supreme court in the hope of getting trump back on the ballot. earlier, i spoke with the top elections official in michigan, democratic secretary of statejocelyn benson, about the ruling in michigan. secretary benson, you have been clear that do not think it is the role of secretaries of state to determine the eligibility of a candidate but rather the courts themselves. what you think of michigan's ruling? what you think of michigan's rulina? ,, . ., , ., ,, ., ruling? secretary of state and... keenly_ ruling? secretary of state and... keenly aware - ruling? secretary of state and... keenly aware of. ruling? secretary of state | and... keenly aware of my responsibility which is to make sure that people can vote at our elections are secure and make sure that our election results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people. in doing thatjob i also at times have to play referee and ensure that where the facts and law are clear,

like the age of a candidate or whether they submitted enough signatures, then i can play a role in determining ballot access. but in cases like this on whether residue interpretation of the constitution of the loan as well as several nuanced facts and legalities, that, those types of interpretation so very much what the courts of law and their responsibility to do. michigan law is quite clear — i have a obligation as the cord has affirmed to put everyone on the ballot who is a genuinely advocated for candidate, generally advocated for the news media as a presidential candidate. the former president donald trump would be on the ballot under the law and the supreme court of magic and has affirmed that decision. colorado supreme court ruled differently underformer president's eligibility. we have seen the colorado met republican party will appeal to supreme court but do you understand the ruling in colorado and why it was decided

that way? colorado and why it was decided that wa ? , , ., colorado and why it was decided thatwa ? , , . that way? every state has different _ that way? every state has different laws _ that way? every state has different laws in - that way? every state has different laws in colorado| that way? every state has l different laws in colorado is unique in that they do allow citizens to challenge the eligibility under a lot of these nuances, and that is exactly what citizens in colorado did. the court had an evidentiary hearing of the supreme court of colorado made its decision. that will be an appeal to the us supreme court and we have said all along knowing that every court will go through its own process on this, that ultimately it will be the us supreme court that will make the final substantive call on donald trump's eligibility to be on the presidential ballot both during the primary under general. interestingly, al supreme court in mitch mcgovern noted that while there is 1's set of determination factors that can be under consideration arc nine — ten months from now when and if there is a nomination process and he has nominated to be the general election candidate, there may be another set of rulings and states and at the federal level. let's go down the road and look at that.

if, for example, donald trump �*s nominee for general election, let's say he is also convicted on what of the election interference cases, either the factor i or in the state of georgia, do you think this would then end up in the court of magic and again? it is likely it would end up in the court of which again and ultimately at the us supreme court. you have to rememberfor matters that liked this that involve a novel interpretation of the constitution, it is the us supreme court �*sjob of the constitution, it is the us supreme court �*s job to of the constitution, it is the us supreme court �*sjob to make that call a determination. there are a number of variables and facts that have yet to play out and that could very well play out over the next eight, nine months. that's why in some cases some states are looking at this, like minnesota, at eight... not ruled out a determination further on down the line if donald trump becomes a general election nominee. you said your role is like being a referee, but i wonder, it must also be putting you and other secretaries of state in a difficult position

to have this novel question before the courts? indeed it has notjust to us but to boaters and to the political parties. everyone in this case needs clarity. i strongly believe the institutions to provide that clarity our judicial institutions and that is how the process is ultimately playing out. but at the same time the republican party needs clarity of, devotees need clarity, election officials need clarity as to who to put on the ballot. the sooner the us supreme court, a decision on the merits under the constitution the better off all of us will be, boaters, republican parties and secretaries of state, and enshrined in law is followed in the constitution is. i want to ask you about reporting we saw last week and adored news reporting on audio recordings of a phone call from 2020 in which the former president and also the republican national committee chair ronna mcdaniel try to pressure officials in the state of michigan not to certify the boat. i saw you

wrote an article a few days ago in the daily beast that was titled, i am michigan's chief election in official... because your position is also an elected position, you are a democrat, if you think the former president is a threat to democracy, do you think you should be on the ballot? that is a great question. first is important note, i as many of our colleagues in battleground states were a witness to the real attempts to undermine the will of the people in our state. we do not take this issue lightly. we take it very seriously and in many ways the decision is notjust whether the constitution makes donald trump ineligible to run, it is who should make that decision and when should that decision be made. that is really whether law has been, in my view, likely. to who is the courts and awareness either now or in the general election phase and so i can certainly tell my story, as i have two and talk about what i witness but the idea that wednesday deficient,

a politician unilaterally should be able to determine a nuanced and factually — at this point — ambiguous decision is really not what our three branches of government have been created to enable. it is squarely in the courts to make these legal and factual determinations and ultimately thatis determinations and ultimately that is the way it is going to play out for everyone and nationwide. secretary bench and dominic benson it has been great to get your perspective. thank you very much forjoining us. we have what my note on that story. donald trump posted that story. donald trump posted that the michigan court strongly... a desperate democratic attempt to take him off the ballot in michigan. and one of colombia's most famous cultural exports is now immortalised in bronze. a statue of the pop star shakira was unveiled in her hometown, barranquilla. take a look at this. a plaque at the six—metre sculpture says the town "witnessed the birth of a heart that composes,

"hips that don't lie, "and a voice that moves the masses." shakira thanked the sculptor in a post on x. thank you for watching bbc news. we will be back at the top of the next hour with another update on your headline. thanks so much for watching and do stay with us. hello. storm gerrit has certainly made its presence felt across the uk, with a combination of significant snow, flooding rain and some exceptionally strong winds. just a selection of the gusts recorded during wednesday and on into the evening. wind gusts of close to 90mph in the northern isles. now, on the satellite picture, this storm looks beautiful, this swirl of cloud here. the main body of the wet and windy weather is now sliding away northeastwards, up towards scandinavia,

but low pressure is still firmly in charge. lots of isobars on this chart. that means it is going to stay windy for many of us during thursday, and there will be lots of showers. those showers heavy, possibly thundery, wintry over hills in the north of the uk. across england, wales and northern ireland, some very gusty winds, gusting to 40, 50, maybe 60mph around some irish sea coasts, but certainly not as windy as it has been across scotland. temperature—wise, well, 5 or 6 degrees in the north of scotland, 12 or 13 in south wales and southern england, and then, as we head through thursday night, there will be further showers or longer spells of rain. still some wintry showers mixing in across the northern half of the uk with this northerly wind kicking in. that will bring a somewhat chillier feel. in fact, i think we'll see quite a lot of rain, sleet and snow developing in northern scotland by the start of friday morning. that is a sign of things to come. we'll see this showery and, at times, wintry, weather continuing to affect northern parts of scotland with a strong northerly wind. pretty windy in other areas as well.

a band of showers across northern ireland, into northern england, something wintry mixing in here over higher ground, sunshine and showers further south. a slightly chillier feel to the weather on friday, and then into saturday, here comes our next weather system. some heavy rain in places where we really do not need it. some snow developing over high ground in northern england and scotland. we could see some snow to quite low levels for a time in scotland. 5 degrees for aberdeen, 12 degrees for plymouth, and so low pressure will be firmly in charge of our weather as we head towards the end of the year, towards the new year's eve celebrations. in fact, this low could well bring another bout of very windy weather indeed. so this is the forecast through new year's eve and into new year's day. it looks quite unsettled.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. the rohingya are often called the most persecuted minority in the world. six years ago, they had to flee their home country of myanmar after a deadly military campaign that the united states government has called a genocide.

now, in the refugee camps of bangladesh, they're being murdered. hundreds have been killed by drug gangs and militants and the violence is ongoing. unhcr is paid tens of millions of dollars to run a protection programme for refugees. but with rohingya dying every week, is that protection programme working? this is kutupalong in bangladesh, the largest refugee camp in the world. it's home to nearly a million rohingya — a predominantly muslim minority

who've been persecuted in their home country of myanmarfor decades.