welcome to bbc news. i'm alper patel. our top stories: welcome to bbc news. i'm alper patel. ourtop stories: president trump says he won't give up on his travel ban and could submit new legislation within days. we'll win that battle, but we also have a lot of other options including just filing a brand new order on monday. as eastern australia enters a third day of temperatures in the high 40s, firefighters are bracing for catastrophic fire conditions. in new zealand, more than 200 stranded whales have refloated themselves and are back at sea, say conservationists. hello and welcome to the programme. president trump says he is considering new measures to restrict immigration. the president is hosting the japanese prime minister

shinzo abe in florida, but his weekend of golf and dining is also dominated by questions over what comes next from his policy on immigration. if you remember, the original order bans citizens from seven mainly muslim countries from the united states. that for now has been overturned in the courts. but mrtrump been overturned in the courts. but mr trump told reporters on air force one that a new order could be issued as early as monday, and he hasn't ruled out an appeal to the supreme court either. with more, here's our washington correspondent david willis. stepping into the warmth of a florida winter. yet the president and first lady's weekend retreat offers little respite from the chilly climate in his presidency. efforts to make good on a key campaign promise, having been stymied by the courts, mr trump is characteristically refusing to back down. my administration is committed to your security. it will not allow our generous system of immigration to be turned against us as a tool for terrorism and truly bad people. we must take firm steps today to ensure that we are safe tomorrow.

earlier, he had taken to twitter to lament his latest legal rebuff. our legal system is broken, he wrote. 77% of refugees allowed into the us since the travel reprieve hail from seven suspect countries. so dangerous. signed at the end of a frantic first week in office, donald trump's executive order suspended america's refugee programme and banned travellers from seven muslim majority nations from entering the us. as well as causing chaos at airports, it caught many of his own officials flat—footed, and sparked protests around the country. this is what democracy looks like! and whilst that policy was put on hold by the courts, it's emerged that immigration officials rounded up hundreds

of people in raids over the last week as part of a separate move by the trump administration to crack down on illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in the us. we also have a lot of other options, including just filing a brand—new order. his patience with the legal system running thin, mr trump told reporters on his way to florida that he is considering circumventing the system by signing a new executive order. to his opponents, many of whom took to the streets again today in protest at the travel ban, that would be seen as a tactical retreat, but with challenges pending in other courts, the president's options are narrowing. he spent the day golfing in florida, the bunkers and the water hazards nothing compared to the obstacles that may lie ahead. some news just some newsjust in some news just in and the south korean news agency yonhap is reporting that north korea has fired an unidentified missile. it's

quoting the country's military. last month north korean leader kimjohn and said the country was close to testing long—range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. the missile was reportedly launched early on sunday morning and flew east towards the sea of japan. to iraq now were clashes in the iraqi capital baghdad have left at least five people dead. the trouble broke out between the security forces and supporters of the powerful shia cleric muqtada al—sadr. it follows demonstrations against government corruption. alan johnston reports. huge numbers of demonstraters convergd on a square in the heart of baghdad. they chanted anti—government slogans. they complained of corruption and demanded changes to a commission which oversees elections. then some protesters tried to move towards a nearby area known as the green zone, which houses government ministries. riot police were determined to drag them back, and the deadly violence erupted. video images from the scene show

tear gas filling the air and the sound of explosions and gunfire can be heard. alanjohnston alan johnston reporting there. in the region, in afghanistan six people have been killed and many more wounded in a blast in helmand province. the explosion took place in the provincial capital lashkar gar. the taliban has said it was behind the attack. a spokesperson for the regional governor told the bbc the attacker drove a car into an army vehicle parked near a bank. with the latest, here's our correspondent from kabul. the target was a bank were mostly government employees come every month to collect their salaries. and it is seen as a soft target because this particular bank has been targeted in a similar manner a few

yea rs targeted in a similar manner a few years ago. after a few our taliban claimed responsibility, saying the target was afghan national army personnel. helmand has been the subject of heavy fighting in the past few months, even in the months of winter there's been sporadic fighting in the province where it is said 80% of it is now under taliban control. helmand is a strategic province for the taliban and the government. come summer it is assumed the fighting will become even more intense. reports from the philippines say many of those who fled their homes after friday night's earthquake on the island of mindanao have now returned. at least six people were killed, mostly by falling debris.

at least 126 others were injured in surigao, where the quake knocked out power and forced the closure of the domestic airport. australia is known as a country of extreme weather and that is certainly the case right now. in western australia, residents are being evacuated as floodwaters threaten their homes. while in the eastern states, authorities are warning of catastrophic bushfire conditions as tempertures soar past 45 degrees. lucy martin has more. residents evacuate their homes as floodwaters threatened to inundate the west australian town of north. the nearby avon river has swelled after days of torrential rain. locals say the water levels are the highest they've seen in 30 years. three people had to be rescued with some properties cut off by the floodwaters. the backyard will probably go with the tree, only another six inches to go. we've sandbagged all around so we can try and stop it a little bit. but if it

comes, it comes, what can we do? more rain is expected over the next few days and while the west has had too much of it, australians on the east coast are sweltering through a record—breaking heatwave. temperatures reached over a0 degrees in more than 50 cities and towns across the state of new south wales. the highest was a7.6. authorities say the worst is yet to come. the most catastrophic fire conditions in new south wales' history are expected in parts of the state's north on sunday. it's not another summer's day, it's not another bad fire weather day, this is as bad as it gets in the circumstances. it is simply not a safe environment, which is why we're making it very clear to people the only safe place to he is not in at risk areas. the bush is a no—go zone but conditions are better

in sydney where thousands of people are taking to the beach. lucy martin, bbc news. it's been a tumultuous few weeks in central italy, which has been hit by earthquakes, heavy snow and landslides. last month, four quakes above magnitude five struck in just a day, isolating villages and leaving thousands of families without power. now, snow in the abruzzo is melting and causing sudden flooding and yet more landslides, david campa nale reports. landslides and sinkholes have struck across the upper sir region after heavy snowfalls, rains and earthquakes. the mountain village here expects weeks of complete isolation after two landslides blocked the only access roads. even as emergency workers assess the resulting damage, a ridge collapsed, sweeping away part of a provincial road ina sweeping away part of a provincial road in a few seconds. snow reached

two metres in height in this valley and melting caused heavy rains. a colla pse and melting caused heavy rains. a collapse ten metres in diameter and ten metres deep has opened on one of the main street is leading to the historic centre of chieti, which has been badly hit in recent weeks. local administrators don't blame seismic meteorological fracture but blame a lack of funds. from 2012 until now a series disasters hit the city and it affected the infrastructure, it means the municipality must deliver exceptional funds from previous disasters, as of 2012 or the flood of 1915. we have no funds. we lack funds. in many roads in the central italian regions the afzal has crumbled so it's difficult even to pass through on foot. david cameron na li, bbc news. ——

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the british government plans for a new generation of cyber security experts there's mr mandela. mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader, ayatollah khomeini, has said he has passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'baby doc' duvalier. because of his considerable valuable as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box

in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning, elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president donald trump says he won't give up on his travel ban order and could submit new legislation in the coming days: so is the white house better off going to the supreme court or drafting a new executive order? and how successful would a watered—down travel ban be in the courts? to answer these questions, i've been speaking to areva martin, a civil rights attorney in los angeles. i think the white house is best advised to rethink its entire position and strategy around protecting our borders and national security issues. the 9th circuit court of appeals made it very clear

that the current executive order ru ns that the current executive order runs afoul of the constitution and would not lift the ban on the executive order. i don't think the president will fare much better in the supreme court, we only have eightjustices the supreme court, we only have eight justices sitting there the supreme court, we only have eightjustices sitting there and if it would make it to that court in all likelihood there would be a split decision along ideological lines which would mean the night 9th circuit court of appeals opinion would defect to be the law. essentially a major loss for this president and his administration and i don't think rewriting the ban is going to fare much better because a sio you and other civil rights lawyers have vowed to continue to fight in the court systems any effo rts fight in the court systems any efforts to ban individuals from this country on the basis of their religion. i want to move onto illegal immigrants in the united states now concerned they might be deported. tell us why they're

concerned? there's been reports of sunray is by the immigration and customs and enforcement agencies in states like california, texas and north carolina. —— some raids. there's tremendous fear in the immigration community, primarily because of the heated rhetoric, the highly charged rhetoric of president trump during his campaign and even after he's been inaugurated around his efforts to deport millions and millions of immigrants in this country. the real concern here is the priorities have changed and he is not just the priorities have changed and he is notjust going after individuals that have committed violent crimes. soi that have committed violent crimes. so i think everyone agree should be the target of any deportation actions. but these are families, what we're seeing are individuals, mothers even, who were brought here as kids and have children of their own and there is real fear their

families are going to be torn apart and individuals who have not committed violent crimes are going to be swept up in these raids. you might say the rhetoric has changed but a spokesperson from the immigration and customs enforcement has said the operation was in the planning before the executive order and that reports of checkpoints and suites are irresponsible. what do you make of those comments, briefly if you could. conflicting information. we're being told different things depending on where the information comes from about whether these raids are in fact as a result of the president's stepped up immigration policies or if they were in fact already planned before trump was elected as president. right now there is such a high level of distrust of this administration, it's hard to know which of the stories are believable. conservationists in new zealand say more than two hundred pilot whales that had been stranded on a beach on the south island have re—floated themselves. only a few remain beached.

hundreds of animals died the previous day when they became stuck in the waters near farewell spit in the south island, as fiona lamdin reports. doing whatever they can to help before it's too late. these volunteers have been working for many hours, trying to keep the whales cool as they lie stranded. some say singing also helps to keep them calm, but what they really need is high tide. very quickly, this tide has come racing in, and now we're all up to our knees, some people up to their waists in water, and we're starting to get a bit of floating happening, and we're just helping assist the whales with their breathing until the water gets deep enough so that they can swim. this is one of the worst whale strandings in new zealand's history. it's hoped almost six—thousand children aged 1a and over will spend