this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm shaun ley and these are the latest headlines... pope francis presides over palm sunday mass at the vatican, just a day after leaving hospital in rome for treatment for bronchitis. severe storms batter the north—east of the united states after leaving a trail of devastation in the south and midwest. at least 21 people are known to have died. these are two of three british men the uk foreign office says it is trying to get in touch with since being detained by secret police in afghanistan.

pope francis has presided over palm sunday mass at the vatican — just a day after leaving hospital in rome. the 86—year—old was admitted with breathing difficulties, and later diagnosed with bronchitis. the pontiff�*s admission to hospital came ahead of the busiest week in the christian calendar. thousands of people gathered in st peter's square waving palm and olive branches as pope francis was driven into the huge esplanade, sitting in the back of a white, open—topped vehicle. he then celebrated mass — his initial blessing was made standing up, but he spent the rest of the service sitting down.

in his homily, he called on people not to ignore those experiencing great suffering and solitude. the service ended with a procession in st peter's square. and the pontiff left waving to crowds of worshippers from his popemobile. our correspondentjenny hill sent us this update. the palm sunday mass hasjust the palm sunday mass has just ended and the atmosphere in this square is one of the real excitement and joy. that is in part because pope francis has just done a couple of turns of the square in his pope appeal, waving rather energetically to the crowd who were delighted to see him. that is of course because so many here feared he wouldn't make it to their palm sunday mass but he had been here, he was able to preside over the service, although he sat for most of it and a cardinal took the mark a strenuous job of standing and deciding over the actual mass at the altar. pope francis himself, even as he left hospital yesterday,

seemed really keen to show how enthusiastic he was to get back to doing thejob. and this is a really important moment in the church calendar, palm sunday kicks off holy week which culminated next weekend in easter sunday. it is a most sacred, most important time in the christian church calendar. he will have known what it will have meant to the people here today that he was up to the people here today that he was up there to the side of the altar presiding over events. nevertheless, his hospital stay has intensified speculation over his long—term future. he himself has indicated repeatedly that he would stand down where his help to really fail him. so there are many here who look at him and think it is a man of 86 he wasa number of him and think it is a man of 86 he was a number of significant health problems, who start a wonder perhaps that time might come sooner rather than later. but for now everyone here feels really badly cheered, buoyed up by having seen and heard

from the pope today. at times his voice, sometimes strong, sometimes a little bit weak, expected because he is onlyjust little bit weak, expected because he is only just finished little bit weak, expected because he is onlyjust finished treatment little bit weak, expected because he is only just finished treatment for bronchitis. but for tens of thousands of people here, they have been skewered that he will participate as originally planned in all the upcoming easter services. —— is humid that he will participate. people in poland have been taking part in marches to defend popejohn paul ii following reports he was aware of and did not act against priests who sexually abused children when he was an archbishop there in the 1970s. the marches have been organised by politicians and conservative catholic groups and are taking place on the 18th anniversary of the polish pope's death. many people in poland consider popejohn paul ii to be the greatest ever pole, who played a decisive role in helping to bring down the communist regime in 1989. authorities in the united states have been assessing the damage caused

by severe storms and tornadoes. at least 21 people are now known to have died, as the storms ripped through the south and the midwest, leaving a trail devastation. hardest hit were tennessee, arkansas and indiana. in illinois, one person was killed when a theatre roof collapsed in chicago. our reporter shelley phelps has more. two tornadoes left a trail of destruction in arkansas. this was the small town of wynne where at least four people were killed. homes and businesses flattened. the local high school torn apart, devastated teachers and students came to see the extent of the damage for themselves. yeah, i taught here for 25 years. this is my classroom and when i walked out yesterday i didn't realise that would be the last time i would be teaching in this classroom. it's just... god protected this town, and he will rebuild it and everything will be fine again.

i am a sophomore. i have been here since first grade. the school, ijust love it. we have many traditions that... voice waivers. ..that i'm so proud of the school for. i'm just so sad it is gone. i know we can come back stronger. we can build a better school, keep those traditions going. 100 miles away in the state capital of little rock, another person killed, over 50 hospitalised and at least 2,000 homes and businesses damaged. cody said he is lucky to be alive after a tornado swept over his van. the wind was howling, it was

constantly making almost screaming noises. i could hear it blowing through the cracks in the van, just pushing it and shaking the whole thing. if i didn't have as much equipment in that ban and it didn't have the bulk and other stuff attached to it to make it heavier, i am pretty sure it would have been blown away. am pretty sure it would have been blown away. also hit was the central state of illinois where a storm caused a theatre roof to collapse at a packed heavy metal gig in belvedere. inside withjessica, who friend had convinced her to go with the last minute. , ., ., ., ., , minute. lights go out, i hear noise, eve hinu minute. lights go out, i hear noise, everything crashes _ minute. lights go out, i hear noise, everything crashes down, _ minute. lights go out, i hear noise, everything crashes down, which - minute. lights go out, i hear noise, everything crashes down, which is l everything crashes down, which is the ceiling, — everything crashes down, which is the ceiling, and i felt like a tornado _ the ceiling, and i felt like a tornado hit. i honestly don't know the logistics of it, but that went down _ down. one person was killed in the tragedy and dozens of others injured. recovery operations are working at pace but some of the affected areas could face more bad storms on tuesday. shelley phelps, bbc news.

here in the uk, the foreign office says it's "working hard" to get in touch with three british men who have been detained by the taliban's secret police in afghanistan. one of those being held is thought to have built an online following by visiting dangerous places, while the two others are understood to have been arrested during a raid on accommodation used by foreign aid workers. helena wilkinson has more. back under taliban control since the summer of 2021, now it's emerged that three british men are being held in custody by the taliban in afghanistan. so maybe i might be evacuated tonight, maybe next week, maybe a month. it's understood one of them is miles routledge. he was evacuated from the country during the final days of the occupation in 2021. he's built up a social media following, visiting dangerous places. two other british men are also in custody. one of them is kevin cornwell, a 53—year—old charity worker.

it's understood he's a paramedic and has been working in afghanistan for some time. another british man, who hasn't been named, was detained at the same time as mr cornwell injanuary. no formal charges have been laid against the two men. the organisation supporting the families of mr cornwell, and the man who hasn't been named, said the men are facing challenges. the difficulty that you have in the current system in afghanistan is that there's no codified rule of law as we would understand it, and so when somebody becomes subject to these kinds of procedures there's no legal access, there's no representation, there's no access to consulate officials, so they've essentially been in a diplomatic and legal black hole for some time. in a statement the foreign office said:.

families who will be no doubt desperate for the men's safe release. helena wilkinson, bbc news. the british home secretary has defended the government's plans to send migrants, who arrive in britain by crossing the english channel in small boats, to rwanda. suella braverman described the plans as being a �*significant deterrent�*, but the opposition labour party has criticised the move, accusing the government of failing to �*get a grip�* of the migration system. it comes as the bbc understands the government could announce alternatives to hotel accommodation for migrants as early as next week. earlier our political correspondent david wallace lockhart gave us the latest. people crossing the channel in small boats to try and enter the country is one of the government�*s key priorities in terms of cracking down on that. the piece of legislation that they are trying to pass at the moment, called the legal migration bill,

will essentially say that anyone arriving here without permission will be detained. they will then be sent to a safe country, unable to claim asylum in the uk. when it comes to that safe country, the key nation that everyone is looking at the moment is rwanda. the uk government has signed a deal with rwanda that some asylum seekers who arrive here would be able to be sent there and live their lives are essentially afterwards in rwanda. the home secretary suella braverman has been speaking to the bbc this morning, insisting that rwanda is a safe country for people to be sent to, and that is despite the fact that she was asked this morning about a un report of refugees being shot at when they were protesting with live rounds in rwanda in 2018, but she insists it is a safe country to be sent to. she was talking about how the uk courts have accepted that. she did mention there were extreme circumstances perhaps when someone could challenge that decision. but you are right to say this

is a longer solution, as the government sees it, that government problem. at the moment, questions about detention capacity. and that is something that the home secretary touched on earlier. well, let's be clear that our scheme to detain and swiftly remove does not require 50,000 new detention places. the government is in no way planning to do that. what we need to do is... what happens if 50,000 people arrive? we do need to increase our detention estate. we have got several thousand places already that we use and we have got capacity there. we will need to increase some of our detention capacity. but what we believe to work is that, once we are able to relocate people from the uk to rwanda, pursuant to our world—leading deal, that will have a significant deterrent effect and people will stop making the journey in the first place. they will stop paying the evil people—smuggling gangs in the first place, and the numbers will come down. and that is notjust speculation, that is actually born out of experience of other countries who rolled out a similar scheme, for example, australia.

now, the labour party, the main opposition party very sceptical about this plan. they don�*t tend to attack it on ethical or moral grounds at the moment, more on practicalities, pointing out the fact that the uk has signed up to this deal which is costing a lot of money and because of the legal challenges, no—one has so far been sent to rwanda. the labour party very sceptical anyone will ever be sent to rwanda. and that is something that the shadow levelling up secretary lisa nandy was asked about this morning. so far it is a policy that has cost the british taxpayer a huge amount of money and has sent seen a single person go to rwanda. so i think the evidence so far suggest this is just yet another outlandish nonsense claim from the home secretary that is unable to do the very basics of getting her own system working. she complains about an asylum system that is broken. i think she really does need

to ask who broke it, and the answer to that lies by looking in a mirror. i think this is a con trick being perpetrated on the british people. the government is not processing asylum claims. they have got an enormous backlog. they have added £500 million to the costs because of these delays that have been caused by the pursuing of all these new strategies. the government adamant the rwanda scheme will take effect. they won�*t put a date on when flights with anyone on them would start going to rwanda. there has been some talk earlier about the summer for those legal challenges being completed and that scheme able to get up and running, but no firm date been put on that yet. so the issue of where exactly these large numbers of people coming across the channel will be kept at the moment first and foremost in a lot of people�*s minds. there were official home office predictions that you could be looking at 80,000 people making that dangerous crossing this year. so the government adamant this is a problem they are going to solve, but big questions about exactly

how and exactly when. for the 13th weekend in a row, more than 100,000 israelis have held protests across the country against a radicaljudicial overhaul, despite prime minister benjamin netanyahu�*s decision to pause the reforms earlier this week. talks have been initiated between the government and the opposition, but protest organisers fear the legislation — that would give the government control overjudicial appointments — could still be brought to a vote. the end game will be that we are going to win because this is not something that we can live with. we cannot live in a state that is not democratic. these people which came out here today to cry for their future, to fight for the future, they feel their future is in danger. extra ferries have been put on between france and the uk overnight to try to work through an easter weekend backlog.

strong winds and slower processing times by french border officials were said to have contributed to the heavy traffic, which began building up near the port of dover on friday, where some passengers waited 1a hours to board their ferry to france. according to the port of dover authorities, over 300 coaches departed on saturday, with all of the freight backlog cleared and tourist cars processed successfully. there remain pockets of coaches still waiting to be processed with smaller volumes of coaches expected today. the bbc�*s simonjones is in doverfor us. you have spent it seems like an awful lot of your time over the last year or so standing there, or standing reporting on the small boat coming with migrants. this is a welcome departures and arrivals at the port of dover. last summer we had this problem. why has it occurred again?— had this problem. why has it occurred auain? , , , ., occurred again? yes, it 'ust seem a familiar story * occurred again? yes, it 'ust seem a familiar story because _ occurred again? yes, itjust seem a familiar story because last - occurred again? yes, itjust seem a familiar story because last summer| familiar story because last summer

there were big problems with people they think weights of hours to try to get across the channel and this time last year we had similar problems. if you talk to the government, they blame it on the fact that so many people want to get across the channel, want to go away on easter holidays, particularly now there are no covid travel restrictions, plus of course we had some bad weather over the weekend, particularly friday night. it was very windy and that did cause some delays to the ferries. if you speak to the port operators, they would take an ongoing issue is checks have been introduced after brexit and that particularly relates to coach passengers. so if you come through the part on a coach, each passenger has to get off that vehicle and show their passport to the french authorities because the french do their checks here on british soil, and have their passports stamped. and that is adding to the length of time it is taking to get all these passages through. so day three of

disruption here in dover, once again, it is those coach passengers... again, it is those coach passengers. . .- again, it is those coach passengers... again, it is those coach assenuers... . ., , ., passengers... simon, 'ust to say... sor to passengers... simon, 'ust to say... sorry to interrupt, — passengers... simon, 'ust to say... sorry to interrupt, the]— passengers... simon, just to say... sorry to interrupt, the line - passengers... simon, just to say... sorry to interrupt, the line broke i sorry to interrupt, the line broke up sorry to interrupt, the line broke up briefly. i thought you had stopped but it was the freezing of the picture! just to pick up on your point about the pressure of the volume of traffic, is there anything to suggest that traffic is any worse since covid then it was before covid. in other words, there are too many people trying to get through. i wonder if that stacks up? i many people trying to get through. i wonder if that stacks up?— wonder if that stacks up? i think what we're _ wonder if that stacks up? i think what we're seeing _ wonder if that stacks up? i think what we're seeing now - wonder if that stacks up? i think what we're seeing now is - wonder if that stacks up? i think what we're seeing now is a - wonder if that stacks up? i think| what we're seeing now is a great what we�*re seeing now is a great desire for people to get away and they are saying the traffic we have seen during the course of this weekend is similar to the traffic we saw the covid pandemic. so we announcing larger levels and we have seen four recent years but when you add in those extra passport checks, the fact it is taking people longer to get through those french checks,

thatis to get through those french checks, that is certainly causing big issues. to be fair, easter has always been a busy time for the part of dover. when you add in those new checks, it is causing concern and i think this part was designed, really built on the fact that you turn up and get on the ferry straightaway. when these problems exist, these delays, the consequences are really felt. ,, ., . ., , felt. simon with the challenges there. simon with the challenges there. school bosses who run more than 200 academies in england say 0fsted must rethink how it carries out their inspections. they�*ve told the bbc that the regulator often fails to take into account the effect of the pandemic on poorer areas. their concerns follow the death of head teacher ruth perry, who took her own life after her school was downgraded. children in england will be legally required to report child sexual abuse or face prosecution, under government plans. the move was recommended by the independent inquiry

into child sexual abuse, and will be subject to a consultation. the nspcc said the plans were a "step in the right direction". paris is holding a referendum today on whether to ban e—scooter street rentals. the french capital was one of the first cities to authorise their use, but they�*ve faced criticism from some who say they�*re often driven recklessly and clutter the streets. 0ur correspondent hugh schofield has more. i think that the operators, the three of them, are pretty pessimistic about this vote. they know that most people who use e—scooters are young, their younger age bracket, and they know that most people who vote tend to be old, and their old on this are the ones who are more, or the older, are the ones who are more incensed about e—scooters and are opposed to e—scooters. so i think they think that this referendum, so—called, is a bit of a gimmick put up by the mayor, who

is minded to have the things banned. and she certainly let it be known that is her opinion and i think they think she has arranged this vote, calculating that the most likely outcome will be to ban them. but we will have to see. you are right, no—one really knows and it will depend on the size of turnout and whether the younger people who tend to use them more turn out in big numbers, though i think that is probably unlikely. hugh, this isn�*t going to be a ban affecting every single scooter, is it? presumably, people can still use e—scooters. and you mentioned operators. what is their involvement with the scooters that the french are considering banning and asking people to vote on? well, the e—scooters that would be banned if the mayor chose to follow a negative result in this referendum are what they called the free—floating ones, in other words the ones that you pick up on the street with an app on your phone

and you pay your monthly rental, whatever, a small charge and you can leave it anywhere else and so on. privately owned e—scooters are fine. they are nothing to do with this. they are not an issue. in fact, one of the arguments of the operators is that banning just them, the rentals, and not the other ones is a bit inconsistent. but the operators are here. there are three big ones, and they also operate e—bike schemes. so if their e—scooter operations are stopped, they will still technically be able to run their e—bikes, but they are saying it might not be worth their while. and they are saying that paris is a bit of a bellwether in all of this. paris was one of the first cities in the world to authorise a scheme, and now they are worrying that if paris set an example in the other

direction, it will create a wave in other cities around the world. hugh schofield on the referendum there. we should get the result for that early on sunday evening, or an exit pool. clothes swapping events are a popular way to give used items a new lease of life, but for plus—size fashion lovers it can be a frustrating experience. after one woman found it almost impossible to find larger items she set up a sustainable fashion event to try to tackle the issue. as rebecca brice reports. size 22, size 20, size 18. this clothes swap event is trying to bring more size diversity into the pre—loved market by encouraging plus size people to address sustainability and feel stylish. i still want to look cute, gorgeous, sexy, why should i not because i am bigger and disabled? there is literally no excuse to be as ignorant as we are being in society,

we need to be more inclusive, we need to think about the fashion and how plus size people like to dress because we don't like to dress like we are in the 19605. we are in 2023 so let's start catering. the mission of the big swap to provide an alternative to fast fashion, which many plus—size shoppers rely on because of the range being more inclusive. the big swap is definitely not about promoting obesity. the big swap is about promoting inclusion and about empowerment and making people feel safe and secure and included in shopping forfashion and for sustainable fashion. zoe turned her back on a career in the fashion industry because of the barriers she faced as a 6—foot plus—size woman. for years ijust wore men�*s clothes, and what that does to your confidence and what that does to how you portray yourself, and how you want to come across to other people, it is... it is really sad and it�*s really damaging. what i want to achieve

with the big swap is i want people to come and i want it to be freeing for them and i want them to feel liberated. i think fashion realy makes you feel good, for me, it is about expressing who i am, feeling nice, having to wear something that you don't like, something that makes you feel drab or down, just because things that uplift you aren't available in your size, that is the worst for me. 0rganisers estimate more than 1700 kgs of clothing have been diverted from landfill thanks to the events, with any clothing which isn�*t swapped donated to charity shops like white rose. when you come to somewhere like this and you know that everyone is in it together, it gives you that bug, it gives you that pre—loved passion where you want to start recycling your clothes because we finally feel welcome in a sustainable environment. rebecca bryce, bbc news, nottingham.

satisfied customers. i hope you have been satisfied, too. we will be back with more later in this hour. we have got a fairly dry, settled spell of weather, notjust for today but certainly over the next few days as well. a real change from the weather we saw during march. a much quieter start to april. a drier and brighter day than we had yesterday. more sunshine today. that is down to the fact we have high pressure building. both the south—west and the north—east of the uk. and that is keeping their weather fronts largely at bay at the moment. we have had a fair amount of cloud earlier this morning but that tends to thin and break in most places, lingering longest through central scotland, perhaps into wales and south—west of england. northern ireland seeing patchy cloud into the afternoon. the best of the sunshine for central and eastern parts of england but some fair weather cloud and a bit of a breeze coming in across east anglia and south—east as well, and if you are close to the east coast of england

and eastern scotland it will feel cooler in that easterly breeze. 9 or 10 degrees here, where it is further west for the likes of liverpool, we are set to see temperatures of 13 celsius. some late sunshine into the evening hours and then overnight looking clear and dry, light winds for most of us. that is a recipe for quite a cold night. we are likely to see frost around. you can see the blue hue returning to the map. temperatures a degree or two either side of freezing, milder, more cloud for northern ireland and western scotland. but monday promises lots of blue sky and sunshine. frost clearing away really quickly and there will be areas of cloud drifting around, especially across parts of scotland, northern ireland and perhaps the south—west of england. temperatures generally about 12 or 13 degrees, a touch cooler close to that east coast. heading into tuesday, a bit more cloud that will work in from the north—west across northern ireland and scotland.

a breeze picking up. some light showers. further south and east you will be staying dry, clear and sunny and it will feel warmer. 1a, possibly 15 degrees. not as cool as it has been close to the east coast. middle of the week sees some weather fronts trying to move in from the atlantic. as they do, they move across the area of high pressure so they will tend to fizzle out but they will bring some outbreaks of rain, especially across northern and north—western parts of the uk through the middle part of the week, but mostly dry further south and at the moment it looks dry for good friday and into the easter weekend. goodbye.

this is bbc news. i�*m shaun ley and these are the headlines. pope francis presides over palm sunday mass at the vatican a day after leaving hospital in rome for treatment for bronchitis. authorities in the united states have been assessing the damage caused by severe storms and tornadoes. at least 21 people are now known to have died and dozens more are missing after the severe weather left a trail of devastation. these are two of three british men the uk foreign office says it is trying to get in touch with since being detained by secret police in afghanistan. the uk�*s home secretary tells the bbc the government is looking at further land sites and vessels to house migrants, just days after it announced three former military sites will be used.

academy school bosses in england tell the bbc that 0fsted