this is bbc world news. i'm monika plaha. our top stories: a state of emergency in mississippi after a violent tornado kills at least 25 people. as soon as we would go from one vehicle to the next vehicle orfrom building to building, we could hear screams and we could hear cries for help. donald trump heads to texas to start his campaign to win back the us presidency in 202a. vladimir putin says russia has agreed to keep tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring belarus. thousands of israelis take to the streets for the 12th

straight week protesting benjamin netanyahu's proposed changes to the law. the funeral of one of the last black raf veterans of the second world war is to be moved to a bigger venue because so many people wanted to attend. the governor of mississippi has declared a state of emergency after tornadoes ripped through the us state. at least 25 people were killed. the authorities say the storm left a trail of damage for more than 150 kilometres. president biden has called the storms �*heartbreaking' and vowed federal support. one of the worst affected towns is rolling fork — where entire neighbourhoods were flattened to rubble. our north america correspondent david willis reports.

this is all that remains of the mississippi town of rolling fork. heavy vehicles were picked up and tossed around like toys after the twister touched down, all but wiping this tight—knit community off the map. we've got a new scan coming on as we speak. the storm struck at night, the warnings too late for the residents of rolling fork and nearby silver city. sighs. oh, man. sighs. dearjesus, please help them. around 8:20, we have the tornado sirens going off, warning people to, you know, take cover. it happened so fast. right now, we got multiple homes damaged in the silver city area and also in other parts of the area of the county. some survivors likened the sound and ferocity of the storm to an incoming freight train. got to get ourselves into the middle part of the house and we did and we got in there and obviously, it was coming right behind us because as soon as we got in there,

we heard a big boom. even those used to tracking such malevolent forces of nature say the impact took them by surprise. all the ingredients were in place for a large—scale tornado outbreak, fast—moving super cell storm, moving at speeds of 60 mph, and we were actually chasing storms for about 4—5 hours during the day, none were going tornadic and right at sunset, it was like a switch was flipped from off to on. a massive search is now under way for survivors. president biden described the images as heartbreaking, and he said he and the first lady were praying for all who had lost loved ones. david willis, bbc news, washington. our north america correspondent sophie long is in mississippi now. this is what remains people's homes here in rolling fork. less than 2a hours ago, families were gathering to spend friday night together, now, you can see what's left. and a lot of people

were in these properties when the tornado struck. i spoke to one young woman who was just coming back to search for belongings, you can see there is very little left, she said that it happened so fast. and that's what i've heard from everyone, i spoke to the man who had lived in this property, he said the only warning he had was a sound, he could hear the wind coming, he knew something was very wrong so he took shelter in his bathroom, and that is the only part the property that survived. i asked him how he knew it was safe to come out, he said because the roof had come off his home and he could see the tornado had passed. earlier, i spoke to tanya gulliver—garcia, the director, learning and partnerships, centre for disaster philanthropy. this is what she had been hearing from relief orgaisations on the ground. i have been hearing this is unlike anything they have seen in a very long time, i was on a call with 60 people, a0 organisations on the ground

getting ready to go in, the government is not letting most of those in yet, hearing that it's heartbreaking, it's devastating, it's wrenching, it's complete and utter destruction. of course, we know there is a big search and rescue effort under way to help as many people as possible, reports of no power, no water supplies. how are people coping? the groups that can get in now will do sheltering and feeding, distributing water and basic supplies, the groups that will start coming in tomorrow will be helping people to try to make the best of what they can, find their belongings, if they do have any home standing putting a tarp on the roof, cleaning them out, trying to give them some solace and dealing with mutual care, trying to help mental health needs which will be severe after the storm. and you are used to overseeing charity organisations especially

at a time of need. what about something on the scale? have you ever seen anything quite like this? unfortunately, yes, centre for disaster philanthropy works around the world trying to get funders to invest in those charities and nonprofits so we can help people especially with long—term recovery. i live in new orleans which went through katrina nearly 18 years ago and still not recovered. kentuckyjust saw similar tornadoes in 2021, alabama, georgia, earlier this year, so these are storms that are happening more frequently, happening at night when people don't get warning so having much more impact. obviously it's a really worrying time for people in the area, what are you hearing about in terms of the community rallying together to help one another? that's one of the best things

if there can be a silver lining to a tornado or disaster, the first people to respond and the last of the locals, neighbours looking after each other, church groups and community or community organisations in those towns, these are small towns, one has about 200 people, one had 1800, that was rolling fork, they are not big but neighbours are coming out to help each other, shelter each other and support each other, and that's important. 0ther southern states are now braced for powerful storms, how are organisations now preparing for what happens next and what challenges are they currently facing? sadly, almost every week, this spring, there have been tornadoes, they have come through more often, we are used to it but there is not enough money, there is not resources

and that's part of what we do try to get these organisations do amazing work on almost no money, but these are communities that were very low income, that had been systemically marginalised and discriminated against, and they will need more resources than a wealthier community do. a lot of people live in mobile trailers and manufactured housing, but it's just gone it's not like they can go next door and rent the place, we will have to see all of the state of mississippi and neighbouring states and the nation and the world chip in to help out. tania, i understand part of yourjob is actually providing funding, at times like this. how much is expected in this case? it's hard to predict, tornadoes in small towns and rural communities do not raise a lot of money. i suspect we will see in the low millions over all whereas something like the war in ukraine

or the earthquakes in turkey and syria recently have a much bigger outpouring of support. and that's why we try to bring attention to these rural communities that aren't getting the attention may be, and it's so great to have bbc covering it, because of that. it's a story that needs to be told and the recovery. that's when you usually find the phase will be years, these communities won't be rebuilt overnight. donald trump has opened his campaign to win back the us presidency by railing against the dark forces he says are lined up against him. at a rally in the us state of texas, mr trump claimed the multiple legal investigations into his conduct and finances were straight out of a stalinist russia horror show. the biden regime's weaponisation of enforcement against a political opponent is something

straight out of the stalinist russia horror show. let there be no doubt the injustices now done not only to me but to dozens across our country will not stand and we will not stand for it. you will be vindicated and proud and the thugs and criminals who are corrupting ourjustice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced. that's what's happening. i've been speaking to political analyst, calvin dark — he told me more about why mr trump chose waco, texas as the venue for his rally. i think that there were two main reasons why former president trump chose waco, texas. we are now in the 30th anniversary period of the stand—off of the branch davidians, it has become a rallying cry for anti—government extremists, so for president trump to have his speech there in waco, texas during this 30th anniversary period, he was definitely sending a message to those folks

to potentially rile them up, the anti—government extremists. he also probably did it because it was a smart campaign move. this was his first rally and you want to go to friendly territory and not only texas but waco in particular, he bragged at the beginning of his speech that he had and they knew that they would get the numbers to make it you mentioned there that waco is marking 30 years just briefly remind us of the background being the backdrop of the rally could perhaps rile up

political

missiles. translation: we have already transferred to belarus our- well—known, very effective complex iskander. it can be a delivery vehicle as well. on april 3rd, we will start training the crews. 0njuly1st, we will finish the construction of the special repository to store the tactical nuclear weapon in belarus. is it a significant development? and for how it's seen in belarus, we spoke earlier to hanna lubakova from the atlantic council. it's, of course, a development, it's a significant one, but i think what russia wants to do, russia wants is blackmail the west, russia wants to scare the west. and i think it's another sign that belarus is becoming this really loyal, this really controlled ally because what putin said is that they don't really give these weapons to belarus, they will help to deploy the weapons but they would be controlled by russia. so, by doing this, of course,

putin is trying to threaten the west but he is showing who is in control of belarus. the israeli defence minister, yooav gallant, has called on prime minister benjamin netanyahu to halt controversial plans for an overhaul of the justice system. the proposed laws have divided the country and resulted in weeks of protests. so far, mr netanyahu has defied calls to scrap the shake—up. shelley phelps reports. tens of thousands of israelis took to the streets of tel aviv on saturday as protests against government plans to overhaul the justice system entered a 12th week. we all have to fight for our rights because of the plans of benjamin netanyahu that want to turn this nation into a dictatorship. what we're doing here tonight is protesting against the government who wants to get all of the power for itself and take all the rights from our citizens.

and this is why we are here, fighting for our democracy. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says the reforms will stop the courts overreaching their powers and that the public voted for them at the last election. proposed changes include enabling parliament to overrule decisions made by the supreme court. but critics of the plans say they risk undermining thejudiciary�*s independence and could be used for political ends. now, israel's defence minister has broken ranks and is calling for the plans to be paused. translation: but now - i declare loudly and publicly for the sake of israel's security, for the sake of our sons and daughters, the legislative process should be stopped in order to enable the nation of israel to celebrate passover and independence day together and to mourn together on memorial day and holocaust remembrance day. these are our holy days for us.

next week, lawmakers are due to vote on an essential part of the government's proposals which would change the way judges are appointed. meanwhile, protest organisers are vowing to intensify demonstrations. shelley phelps, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. search and rescue efforts are under way after one of the deadliest tornadoes to have ever hit the southern us state of mississippi. at least 25 people have died. vladimir putin has said russia will station nuclear weapons in belarus. the us department of defence said it was monitoring the situation but did not currently see any reason to adjust its nuclear posture. 0peration chiffon was the code name given to a top secret british intelligence operation that eventually paved the way for the good friday agreement — bringing an end to more than three decades of violence in northern ireland. at the centre of it all, was an undercover agent, known as �*robert�*.

thejournalist, peter taylor, has spent more than 20 years tracking him down and in a new documentary, he explains what really happened. explosion. by the early 1990s, more than 3,000 people had been killed on all sides in what was known as the troubles. explosion. the continuing violence was fed by one question — should northern ireland remain in the united kingdom or become part of a united ireland? when peace finally came with the good friday agreement, i was convinced that an m15 secret agent had played a vital role in helping to make it happen. he ran a top secret back channel between the british government and the leadership of the ira. i've finally tracked him down, but following mis�*s rules, he lied to me and said he wasn't the man i was looking for. then, astonishingly, in 2021, i received a letter. "dear mr taylor. "you will no doubt be "surprised to hear

"from me after so many years. "for a variety of reasons, i could now give you some "background which might fill in some gaps." explosion. screams. �*robert�* was due to meet senior republicans, but the government cancelled the meeting after ira bombs in warrington killed two children. robert disobeyed orders, sensing that despite its campaign, the ira was looking for peace. at the meeting, he gave them an extraordinary prediction. "the final solution is a union. "it's going to happen anyway. "this island will be as one." is that what you said? i must have done. that's what's in the minute that they took. if they wrote it down, then, yeah, it seems quite likely. but you had no authority to say that? no. and what you said flew directly in the face of what british government policy was? yes. those words were absolutely crucial because it appeared

that behind the scenes, the british government were secretly working towards a united ireland. the ira's goal, but to unionists treachery. but in the autumn of 1993, with no sign of the violence ending, robert's secret mission was exposed. he resigned from m15. the operation looked like a failure. but that's not the end of the story. the ira still had a desire to carry on discussing a way forward, remembering robert's words — "the final "solution is union. "this island will be as one." i believe that robert's words helped pave the way for the ceasefire and, ultimately, the good friday agreement of 1998. it also meant that an uncountable number of lives were saved. looking back, it's a degree of pride that i've played a small part in history,

done some good in the world. peter taylor, bbc news. they were involved in illegal oil sales and money laundering. he said ten of them were government officials who would also face treason charges. on monday, the country's oil minister resigned after several people close to him were detained. hundreds of people evacuated following the first wildfire of the season in spain are facing another night away from their village. the fire has affected more than 4,000 hectares of forest. forcing 1,700 villagers away from their homes. while wildfires are common in the region, this is the earl in the year that one

has cropped up after a dry winter. the dispute and outbreaks of violence forced the authorities in france to postpone a planned state visit by the british monarch, king charles. there have been sep demonstrations in western france linked to concerns over water usage by large—scale agricultural producers. earlier our paris correspondent sent us this update. over a million people took to the streets all over france. this weekend has been much quieter than that but we have seen, as you mentioned, this demonstration in western france, a demonstration about a separate issue — the use of

water. but there were some scenes where we saw protesters throwing molotov cocktails and stones at police. several police cars were set on fire. police used tear gas and we're told by the authorities that at least one policeman and one protester were gravely injured. what was interesting as well to see in that protest in western france was that some of the demonstrators there were making links between their cause and then this bigger cause of upset and anger about president macron�*s pension reforms. one man said we're making a link. it's ourfight for water man said we're making a link. it's our fight for water and ourfight for work. it's our fight for water and our fight for work. so there is a sense here of a very angry country. there have been small scale local demonstrations throughout france today. and of course another day of national

action, the 10th day of national action against president macron�*s pensions reforms has been planned for tuesday. here in the uk the funeral of one of the last black raf veterans of the second world war is being moved to a bigger venue because so many people wanted to attend. flight sargeant peter brown was part of the so—called "pilots of the caribbean" and died alone at his west london flat last year. his funeral was due to take place on wednesday in a chapel which fits 140 people but a new location is needed after a successful appeal for mourners. simon jones has more. flight sergeant peter brown is now set to get the sendoff he deserves. he travelled thousands of miles from jamaica to join the raf and 1943 training as a wireless operator and an airgunner. he served as a crew member on lancaster bombers, one of 450 young black men from the caribbean,

africa and parts of the uk to fly with the raf during the second world war, described as among the brightest and the best. last december he died alone in his flat in west london. he had no known relatives, a campaign was launched to find people who knew him to attend his funeral. now westminster council has tweeted: his life and military career were due to be remembered in a chapel that could hold 140 people this wednesday. now a new date and much bigger venue are being arranged. his neighbours remember him fondly. each and every person knows him, knows peter brown. so he was a good guy. he flew lancaster bombers as a radio operator which must've taken, i mean, when you hear about the casualty rate

from the raf crews, that took some courage. couldn't have done it myself. in a statement the raf said: westminster council says it is working closely with the ministry of defence to ensure that mr brown is given a fitting service. simon jones, bbc news. millions around the world have been switching off their lights to mark earth hour. and it's notjust houses — monuments including rome's colosseum and the acropolis of athens shut off their lights at 8pm local time to mark the event. the appeal was launched by world wildlife fund in 2007 to raise awareness of climate change and proposes that a large number of people around the world can reduce carbon

emissions by turning off unnecessary lights and electronic devices for one hour. hello. tomorrow marks the start of british summer time. over the next few days, things will turn briefly colder again. the cold air that's currently across scotland will be digging its way further southwards as we head through sunday and into monday. this area of low pressure starts to pull away, but under this area of low pressure through sunday morning, we'll see cloud and rain across the southern half of the uk that will be moving away eastwards, as we move through sunday

night, that cold air spreads southwards, sky is clear, it is going to be a very cold night, widespread frost i think away from the far south—west of england and south wales, so ice and frost could be an issue. into monday, we are in between weather systems, this will arrive as we head into tuesday but a ridge of high pressure will bring a lot of fine and dry conditions on monday to much of the uk, it will start cold and frosty mind you, watch out for any early ice across northern areas and it should stay sunny into the afternoon as well. cloud tending to build a southern and western areas later on, temperatures lifting to 11 degrees but after that cold start in the strong late march sunshine, temperatures will reach highs of 7—9 celsius. on tuesday it starts to turn cloudier, windier, wetter, rain pushes in,

preceded by some snow certainly across the hills and across the north of england and scotland but temperatures will be on the rise you will notice, southern and western areas, we are back into the low teens and beyond tuesday, it looks like low pressure dominates the scene, sitting out to the west of us ushering in some very mild airfrom the south—west there will be strong winds and rain too. i think one of the mildest days will be thursday, we could be up to 16 or 17 degrees across southern and eastern areas but it will be mild and unsettled right across the board.

this is bbc news. the headlines: search and rescue efforts are under way after one of the deadliest tornadoes to have ever hit the us state of mississippi. at least 25 people have died, with more thought to have been trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings. the governor has declared a state of emergency. donald trump's campaign to return to the white house in 2024 is officially up and running. the former president faces several legal investigations into his behaviour and finances but told a rally in the city of waco in texas, that he was probably the most innocent man in america.

vladimir putin has said russia will station nuclear weapons in belarus — the first time it has deployed such arms outside its territory in almost 30 years.