the state of law enforcement at the us—mexico border remains in doubt, after a federal appeals court issued an order effectively blocking texas from implementing one of the toughest immigration laws in the us. that happens just hours after the us supreme court allowed texas to carry through with the measure. crossing the us border illegally is already a federal crime, but violations are usually handled as civil cases by the immigration court system. president biden�*s administration is challenging the law, known as sba, saying it is unconstitutional. the president will visit the lone star state on thursday. with 2.5 million people illegally entering the us via the southern border last year, immigration is one of the most polarising issues in american politics. and mexican president lopez obrador is pushing back against the law.

texas governor greg abbott remains adamant that the state will continue arresting migrants who cross 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. for more analysis on the legal back—and—forth between the state and the us supreme court, i spoke to the legal director for american civil liberties union of texas, adriana pinon. she broke down the law known as sba. you strongly disagree with sb four, the aclu has called it a threat to basic civil and human rights. while it is frozen at

the moment, what is happening to migrants who have crossed the border illegally? seq the border illegally? $34 currently _ the border illegally? $34 currently cannot - the border illegally? $34 currently cannot be - the border illegally? se4 currently cannot be enforced because of that, there should because of that, there should be no arrests happening under sba, nonetheless we are still telling people that they should start learning about their rights when the counter police. they shall learn about their rights when they are in a criminal proceeding, as these rights are critical to being safe if sba is allowed to go into effect. at some point in the litigation.— the litigation. what are migrants _ the litigation. what are migrants saying - the litigation. what are migrants saying about | the litigation. what are - migrants saying about their concerns right now with the confusion over sba? i concerns right now with the confusion over sba?- concerns right now with the confusion over sba? i think we have all had — confusion over sba? i think we have all had whiplash, - confusion over sba? i think we have all had whiplash, not - confusion over sba? i think we have all had whiplash, notjust| have all had whiplash, notjust focus on the ground in texas but even people who have been following this case closely. there has been a lot of confusion over the status of sba and whether or not it can be enforced, and that in the

end sells more fear among communities in texas about whether or not when they step outside their doors, if they might be subject to arrest by police officers, thinking that sba is in effect. i police officers, thinking that sba is in effect.— police officers, thinking that sba is in effect. i want to ask ou are sba is in effect. i want to ask you are what _ sba is in effect. i want to ask you are what we _ sba is in effect. i want to ask you are what we heard - sba is in effect. i want to ask you are what we heard from i sba is in effect. i want to ask. you are what we heard from the texas governor and why he believes that sba is necessary will stop the solicitor general for taxes said in court on wednesday that this is not about texas taking over law enforcement abilities, about texas taking over law enforcementabilities, it about texas taking over law enforcement abilities, it are co—ordinated with the federal government and he said it is important because it helps address what even the president has called a water crisis. what do you think of that? i has called a water crisis. what do you think of that?— do you think of that? i think there are — do you think of that? i think there are two _ do you think of that? i think there are two different - do you think of that? i think. there are two different things that are important to emphasise, one is that sba was not about cooperation with the federal government. by its very terms it completely pushes the federal government aside and overrides a federal law and conflicts with that in many ways. this is an area of the law were it does not matter if a law that is passed by the

state reflects or not, it is an area where a state cannot legislate. in addition to the question — the statement about whether or not it is necessary, texas can still fight crime with this traditional state powers but what it cannot do is pass criminal laws that enact its own parallel immigration scheme of entry and removal, which is what sba does. sba is unconstitutional. can which is what sba does. sba is unconstitutional.— unconstitutional. can i ask you about the _ unconstitutional. can i ask you about the larger _ unconstitutional. can i ask you about the larger picture - unconstitutional. can i ask you about the larger picture here l about the larger picture here surrounding immigration? they have in record crossings at the us southern border of migrants entering the us and lawmakers on both sides that we speak to say that the immigration assistant, the asylum system is broken, that there is a crisis at the border. what is the humane way to ensure that migrants are treated with dignity but also that the

situation is brought under control? , , ., situation is brought under control? , ., ., ., control? this is one area of the law were _ control? this is one area of the law were any _ control? this is one area of the law were any solution l control? this is one area of - the law were any solution needs to recognise the humanity of migrants who are coming here. cruelty is not a policy solution, and the solution needs to come from the federal government. there are differing opinions on this area and it is for the federal government to legislate and address states may not do so unilaterally. that being said, what do you think that the federal government should do? think that the federal rovernment should do? . ., government should do? whatever solution the _ government should do? whatever solution the federal _ government should do? whatever solution the federal government | solution the federal government and acts needs to recognise the humanity of migrants who are coming here to the us to seek a better life, to lift up their families and the solution cannot incite fear as sba is doing among texas communities orany doing among texas communities or any community. that is simply not a viable solution. this solution needs to be

agreed upon needs to be agreed uponin agreed upon needs to be agreed upon in one voice. this is an area where it is imperative that as a country we have a unified approach because the implications of not our disastrous for many areas, including ourforeign relations including our foreign relations with including ourforeign relations with different countries. we will have — with different countries. we will have to _ with different countries. we will have to leave it there but thank you so much forjoining us today on bbc news. us secretary of state antony blinken will travel to israel on friday, a previously unannounced stop on his current trip to the middle east. mr blinken was in saudi arabia wednesday for discussions on what the us calls "an architecture for lasting peace." it's his sixth visit to the region since the start of the war in gaza. blinken's trip to tel aviv comes as relations have soured between us president biden and israeli prime minister 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 packed southern city of rafah, where more than i.a million palestinians are sheltering, displaced by the war.

on wednesday, mr netanyahu again rejected those warnings, saying he's already approved the plan. the bbc�*s mark lowen has more from jerusalem. it isa it is a plan that has drawn international condemnation and warnings of atrocities that could take place there. he said that he has approved the operational plan for rafah and he will soon approve the evacuation of civilians but added that it would take time for the incursion to begin. it is not so much hope really for the continuing ceasefire talks that are ongoing in the qatari capital of doha and a senior hamas official said that israel's response to the latest proposals there seemed negative and constituted a step backwards. all of this is likely to take centre stage of talks with the us secretary of state antony blinken when he comes to israel on a friday at the end of a middle east tour that has taken him to saudi

arabia and on thursday to egypt. the israel leg of the troop was previously unscheduled and comes as this increasingly acrimonious relationship between the us are biden administration and the netanyahu government here in israel. antony blinken's aim will be to try to restrain an israeli leader who seems increasingly intent on pushing on with this fight, both in the war and for his political survival. meanwhile, aid groups say 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's as the us and uk continue to air drop more aid into the territory, and a full uk field hospital has also been set up. but the un's food and agriculture organization warns the current level of aid is not enough. its latest report this week projects famine could occur anytime between now and may in the territory's north. we spoke to the fao's maximo torero.

there is no possibility of the amount of aid coming into the area, there is a significant damage to the infrastructure and access to water and health. all the criteria that we have to establish a famine especially in north gaza is present, so that is the danger we are running and that is what we are running and that is what we need to avoid.— we need to avoid. israel says it is acting — we need to avoid. israel says it is acting in _ we need to avoid. israel says it is acting in self-defence i it is acting in self—defence following the 7 october attacks and has to check all 80 deliveries to ensure none of it reaches the hands of hamas. what do you say to benjamin netanyahu, given what you have just described?— just described? right now it is imminent that _ just described? right now it is imminent that we _ just described? right now it is imminent that we increase - just described? right now it isj imminent that we increase the food aid to the country. inaudible. it has to go into the country to allow people to have access to water and we need to do that as soon as possible to reduce the problems of accessibility to food and water to this population if we

want to avoid 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 us, temporarily paused unrwa funding in january after israel's allegations that several of the agency's employees participated in the october 7 attacks. the un is currently investigating those claims. canada, australia and sweden are among those who have already resumed funding. unrwa supports palestinian refugees across the middle east and provides food and health services in gaza. the us had been unrwa's largest donor, giving more than $300 million per year. 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... in a surprising move, the prime minister of ireland, leo varadkar, said he is stepping down as taoiseach and leader of his party. he cited reasons that are both "personal and political". speaking in dublin, he said that being taoiseach had been the most fulfilling time of his life. our ireland correspondent sara girvin has more on the unexpected announcement. 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 ao 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 groundbreaking 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 of the matter with for ireland during the brexit negotiators from the uk needing the european union are trying to ensure there was not a hardboard in 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—i9, 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 on some measures were tough. there are people who have not forgiven him for that but i think some people viewed him handling that well. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some top stories in the uk.

new data shows that inflation fell more than expected last month, sliding from a% injanuary to 3.a% in february. that's 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 202a. he's been speaking with our economics editor, faisal islam. ido 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 202a. it will prove to be the year that the economy bounces back. that is notjust methane, if you talk to businesses like i do across the country, they are starting to see that and feel that. what is happening in their shops or their restaurants or the 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. i.a 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. the taliban have said they have to put certain conditions in place in orderfor girls to put certain conditions in place in order for girls who were over sixth—grade to go to school and that letting girls and 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? it putting those conditions in lace? ., , putting those conditions in lace? ., ., , , , place? it has already been put in lace place? it has already been put in place where _ place? it has already been put in place where they _ place? it has already been put in place where they have - in place where they have already banned education at the same time the question is very simple, how come the girls within the geography of afghanistan are supposed to adhere to that condition where they can go to school in other countries and can openly access education? why is nobody questioning that hypocrisy in the first place? at the same time, when it comes to

afghanistan, how come the boys are schools do not have to go through the same thing, do not have to go through changes but the girls at school do not have enough maintenance to be done, not enough conditions to be met for them to open the schools? for me they are buying time and they do not have any answers, how can they justify they do not have any answers, how can theyjustify opening it now? if how can they 'ustify opening it now? ., ., ~ how can they 'ustify opening it now? ., ., ~ ., ., , now? if we look at what is happening _ now? if we look at what is happening now, _ now? if we look at what is happening now, you - now? if we look at what is happening now, you are l now? if we look at what is i happening now, you are the executive director of a nonprofit dedicated to innovation and education, what is your organisation doing to try to steal health girls are somehow access education? the day before _ somehow access education? tue: day before yesterday somehow access education? t'te: day before yesterday we launched a new school to educate more than a0 girls. we have almost 390 girls as we speak and all of them are from “p speak and all of them are from up to grade 12 and many people like us, many nonprofits like us are doing the same thing where we are educating girls and basically every time i talk with them, like last week, they

are just so grateful to be with them, like last week, they arejust so grateful to be in that space. so grateful, the 30 girls is weedy from grade 12 and i was talking to them and one told me she wanted to continue coming to this school even after grade 12. this is the level of sensitivity that people have to be request. there are literally women are crying to get their daughters admitted into our programmes. this is what all the other nonprofits are doing, ensuring that girls stay in school and there is a holistic way where we can educate girls.- there is a holistic way where we can educate girls. how risky is the work _ we can educate girls. how risky is the work you _ we can educate girls. how risky is the work you are _ we can educate girls. how risky is the work you are doing? - we can educate girls. how risky| is the work you are doing? very ris . is the work you are doing? very risky- for— is the work you are doing? very risky- for me. _ is the work you are doing? very risky. for me, yes, _ is the work you are doing? very risky. for me, yes, i— is the work you are doing? very risky. for me, yes, i have - risky. for me, yes, i have resources and connections, i have this influence so i can make it happen and i will be clear and transparent about it. i live in the us and it is safe for me but it is risky for the women who walk up to that school to teach in those schools. it is risky for these young girls and they are doing

something that is illegal according to the current regime and the are still learning is still showing up to these schools, still learning and teaching. it is risky in many ways. we have to change our space more than seven times because it was under surveillance. we have to shut down schools for three weeks sometimes and it is not normal, not normal in the world today that we have to justify an education for girls, we have to do it underground, and we have to be worried about how risky it has to be. let's turn to some important news around the world. anti—trust officials in france have fined google around $270 million as part of a dispute over intellectual property, and artificial intelligence. the country's competition watchdog says google failed to tell news organisations that it was using their articles to train its ai chatbot, called gemini. google has been stuck in a long—running dispute with publishers over how much to pay for content related to results and uses. a judge says that former president donald trump and several co—defendants can appeal a ruling that allows lead prosecutor fani willis to remain on a 2020 us election interference case in georgia.

the judge previously ruled willis could stay on the case as long as a prosecutor she was in a romantic relationship with resigned. it will be up to the appeals court to decide whether to hear it. the interpreter for japanese baseball superstar shohei ohtani has been fired by his team, the los angeles dodgers. ippe mizuhara, a longtime friend of ohtani, is accused of committing massive theft after he transferred at least $a.5 million from ohtani's bank account to pay off gambling debts. the alleged theft by mizuhara surfaced after ohtani'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 office 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. 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 202a 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. stay with us here on bbc news. 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.

no change to interest rates in the us as inflation persists. we'll look at what lies ahead for the world's largest economy. and how one asian airline is dealing with challenges as it tries to meet sky—rocketing demand. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. let's begin in the us, where the federal reserve has left interest rates unchanged at the end of its two—day

policy meeting, in a widely expected decision. the central bank has been trying to cool inflation in the world's largest economy, that is still above it's 2% target. the bbc�*s erin delmore has more from new york. to hear chairmanjerome powell tell it, the federal reserve is looking for its goldilocks path forward, making sure the bank doesn't reduce interest rates too much too soon or too little too late. officials decided wednesday to keep the benchmark interest rate at between 5.25% and 5.5%. it remains unchanged sincejuly. and while the suspense lies around when the fed will cut interest rates, powell didn't give any hints. he did say that the fed wants to see inflation falling sustainably toward the 2% goal before going ahead with any rate cuts. he made the case for a cautious path forward. inflation has eased substantially, while the labour market has remained strong. and that is very good news. but inflation is still too high.

ongoing progress in bringing it down is not assured,