live from london, this is bbc news. the us—mexico border braces for potential surges in migrants. the controversial title 42 immigration policy hasjust expired. this is the scene live in el paso in texas, which has been preparing for the arrival of the migrants. former pakistani prime minister imran khan is set to defend himself in court against corruption charges, this time as a free man. us and china hold their highest—level talks since the spy balloon incident

aimed at improving relations. and another colourful night at the eurovision song contest as the last ten acts head into the grand final. hello. i'm victoria valentine. let's start with breaking news, and a controversial immigration policy in the us has just expired, and officials are warning about a potential surge in migrants at the border. this is the us—mexico border. officials have said that when title 42 is no longer in effect, tens of thousands of people could try to cross over. let's remind ourselves what the policy is. the temporary law introduced by donald trump,

known as title 42, meant illegal migrants could be removed quickly, and it expired at midnight washington time. the policy made it easier for the us to send people back to mexico using the coronavirus pandemic as justification. the winding down of covid measures means the policy no longer has any public health justification, and it prompted officials to announce it would end on may 11, the same day as the official us public health emergency. so now, the us will return to a policy where migrants are screened to determine if they are eligible for asylum and quickly deported if they do not qualify. so these are live pictures from the us—mexico border. tens of thousands of people have been massing on the mexican side of the border. these are migrants from central and south america, many who've made the treacherous journey on foot, many with young children. the biden administration

has been at pains to stress the expiry of the so—called title 42 does not mean the borders are open. but the volatile situation has led to a surge in people attempting the crossing, unsure about whether they're more likely to be allowed to remain in the us before or after. our north america correspondent sophie long is in el paso, texas, which isjust a couple of kilometres from the mexican border. she sent this report. here in el paso, massive efforts have been made to prepare for the anticipated influx of people coming across the border when title 42 do is lifted. here in downtown el paso, stone's throw away from one of the many border crossings, it is very quiet here at the moment. in recent months there have been hundreds of migrants living on the streets here. they have been cleared here now that is part of efforts to prepare for the surge in numbers of people coming across. the problem is when there is a change of policy and rumour of a change of policy at the border, there

is a huge amount of confusion on the other side when tens of thousands of people are waiting to come in. in recent days we have seen a spike in the numbers already customs and border patrol saying they have encountered more than 10,000 people per day this week trying to get across. we have been speaking to a few of those who made it this far. translation: ., ., , translation: the government has been sittin: translation: the government has been sitting on _ translation: the government has been sitting on them _ translation: the government has been sitting on them to _ translation: the government has been sitting on them to the - been sitting on them to the government, and i left because my life was in danger. if i had to go back home, i don't know what would happen to me. all i know is i need to have a better future by family. figs know is i need to have a better future by family.— future by family. as title 42 is lifted, — future by family. as title 42 is lifted, different _ future by family. as title 42 is lifted, different rules - future by family. as title 42 is lifted, different rules and | is lifted, different rules and restrictions will come into play. one of which is if migrants are found to have entered the united states illegally and don't have a credible case for seeking asylum here, they won'tjust be deported, they will be banned from re—entering from some five years. these also attracted criticism from both sides of say there is so many exceptions to the rules that they are like

laying out a welcome mat for illegal immigrants to come into the country. others, though, everyone's rights organisations say they are so harsh that they are actually worse than the policies we saw introduced into the trump administration. this isn'tjust a humanitarian isn't just a humanitarian situation isn'tjust a humanitarian situation confronting president biden, but a political issue as well as he thinks election next year. never happens in el paso and other border communities, they will be subjected to some intense gross —— scrutiny. live now to the immigration defence attorney alexis lucero who joins us from el paso, texas. alexis, your office is just a couple of blocks from the border. how many cases are you dealing with? that is correct. i received certain calls, at least maybe 30 a day, and i am just one practitioner. my office is two blocks away from the southern border with mexico. as a result, most of the people i speak to our right across the rio grande eye and most of them

have actually been stranded there for over six months, waiting for an opportunity to enter the united states. for those peeple _ enter the united states. for those people who have been there six months waiting for a chance, does this expiry of title 42 actually mean for them? ., w title 42 actually mean for them? ., ., ,�* ., them? to most, doesn't mean much. them? to most, doesn't mean much- the _ them? to most, doesn't mean much. the reality _ them? to most, doesn't mean much. the reality is _ them? to most, doesn't mean much. the reality is that - much. the reality is that customs and border protection, the immigration agency on the southern border, as in the —— indicated they are incentivising coming in through an orderly process, using the cdp app that migrants must download to their foreign. they are unable to receive an appointment through this system, that means many of them are left for several months almost a year, stranded, looking for an opportunity to come in, and as a result of that aspiration, many are going to make the very, very dangerous trek to enter unlawfully. that is when title eight is going to apply to them. in eight is going to apply to them. , ., them. in your view, under title eiuht, them. in your view, under title

eight. there — them. in your view, under title eight, there is _ them. in your view, under title eight, there is no, _ them. in your view, under title eight, there is no, not - eight, there is no, not necessarily any better chance to actually enter the united states. or is there? mat states. or is there? not necessarily. _ states. or is there? not necessarily. this - states. or is there? not necessarily. this was . states. or is there? not | necessarily. this was the states. or is there? iirrt necessarily. this was the pre— pandemic ruling. if a person tried to enter without documents, they would be detained, possibly removed almost immediately. but the biden administration has done to solidify this hard—line approach is implement this asylum transit than, that the trump administration tried to do a couple of years ago. that is going to make this journey much more delicate, more dangerous to many as a result of the long journey that they have made, and as a result of coming in through a non— port of entry, they could be subject to criminal proceedings as a result of being expeditiously removed for a period of five years. removed for a period of five ears. , �* ., , years. president biden has warned that _ years. president biden has warned that the _ years. president biden has warned that the border - years. president biden has i warned that the border where you work and operate is likely to be subject to chaos for some time. how is your community preparing for that chaos? it

has been a very delicate situation. the city of el paso has actually declared a state of emergency. by doing so, can avail themselves of certain state bonds as well as federal funds to mitigate this crisis. the reality is that this crisis is an influx of people. el paso has been the epicentre of these kinds of waves of migration in the past, and we have been to go through them much... list successfully. the fear that has been going through the united states and other parts of the world is that these people bring criminality, these people are here to steal and cause crimes. the reality is different. these people are looking for an opportunity to have access and protection from the united states, and as a result, they are also looking for opportunity. el paso, despite those fears and concerns, has relatively no crime during this time with the

exception of a few blips or at least a few instances of crime, but not anything that the united states should in fact be in a more hard—line approach to respond to this crisis. in a more hard-line approach to respond to this crisis.— respond to this crisis. thank ou respond to this crisis. thank you very _ respond to this crisis. thank you very much. _ respond to this crisis. thank you very much, and - respond to this crisis. thank you very much, and we - respond to this crisis. thank you very much, and we willl you very much, and we will return to this story in about ten minutes' time, when we speak to international professional who is that of the mexico mission for the international organisation of migration. to stay with us for the interview in about ten minutes' time. palestinian militants in gaza have launched a new barrage of rockets towards central israel. it comes after an israeli man was killed by a rocket that hit a building in the central city of rehovot, becoming the first fatality in israel since the latest escalation in fighting erupted on tuesday. a little earlier, israeli air strikes killed a fifth senior member of the palestinian militant group, islamichhad, in gaza. our middle east correspondent

yolanda knell has more. here, people saw repeated barrages of rockets yesterday when more than 400 were fired by palestinian militants in gaza towards southern israel. many of them were intercepted by israeli air defences, but not all. i have actually been to a house here that was badly damaged when it was hit, the owner was in her bomb shelter at the time. now, the expectation is of more rocket fire because israel has been carrying out further air strikes inside the gaza strip, and also, the funeral has taken place there of the fourth leader of islamichhad to have been killed in the three days of this israeli operation. his death brings to 25, at least, the number of palestinians who have been killed, more than half of them civilians, including women and young children. egypt is continuing its efforts to try to mediate a ceasefire here, but that's going to be difficult.

islamichhad will want to avenge its latest lost leader, and it's also saying it wants israel to end its targeted assassinations to end before it will agree to quiet. let's get some of the day's other news now. the warring parties in sudan have signed a deal to help the civilian population. the agreement includes commitments to allow civilians to flee the conflict zone. it also guarantees the safety of humanitarian workers. the two sides have been unable to reach a peace deal, but us representatives at the talks said they hoped this agreement would create momentum. manhattan district attorney —— italy's falling birth rate is set to shrink its school population by 1.4 million pupils over the next ten years. the warning by the education minister comes as italy registered a 14th—straight yearly fall in births last year, reaching a historic low. last week, the government introduced a tax package to help encourage largerfamilies. spain is to introduce a ban on some outdoor working

during extremely hot weather betweenjune and september. street cleaners, refuse collectors and people working on farms will be affected by the new rules. so far this year, spain has already recorded 11 hotter—than—normal days, more than twice the yearly average. officials from the us and china have held their highest level talks since the us shot down a chinese spy balloon in its airspace in february. the white house says it hopes the two days of talks in vienna will help pave the way for better relations between the two superpowers. our north america correspondent jessica parker has more from washington. these talks happened between the us national security advisorjayden sullivan and advisor jayden sullivan and senior chinese advisorjayden sullivan and senior chinese official, they haven't in vienna over two days, around eight hours, they really seem to have touched on a range of topics in these talks were not disclosed to the media beforehand. but what they

appear to have discussed, topics include americans detained in china, the war in ukraine, washington has been urging beijing to send weapons to moscow, and unsurprisingly, they discussed taiwan as well. the conversations have been described as candid, it also constructive, and i think could be seen as a potential further sign of some thawing in that relationship between the us and china given all those recent tensions, of course earlier this year we saw the instance with a balloon above american skies, the us were furious and said it was a chinese valence balloon, a shot down, china said it was a weather balloon that had been blown off course. but some people are reading these talks as potential efforts to try and move the relationship beyond that. and re—establish those very crucial lines of communication at a

high level, because of course various tensions and rivalries between the us and china, try and make sure those lines of communications are open between the world's two biggest economies. pakistan's ex—prime minister, imran khan, is set to attend court in a few hours' time to defend himself against corruption charges. but he will attend as a free man after the country's supreme court ruled his arrest on related charges illegal. live now to bbc�*s tarhub asgar who is in lahore. talk me through this. why was he arrested in the first place? he was pretty defiant and indignant about the way in which he has been arrested. well, inaudible involved in a corruption case and they involved in a corruption case and they have involved in a corruption case and they have put involved in a corruption case and they have put corruption charges on it, they have said

we are trying to ask him that this, help us in the investigation, to co—operate with us but here was not doing it so we had to arrest him. so for that case he's been arrested, it is a case of approximately £190 million and according to the current government here has caused a lot of that amount to the nation. so for that case here has been arrested from the islamabad high court premises and after that dramatic arrest two days before the arrest, yesterday we have seen the supreme court intervened and they suggested that the order to release him but alongside they also said that it is an illegal arrest so they also asked mist khan to present himself in front of islamabad high court today at ten o'clock so here is expected to be presented in front of islamabad

high court in an hour or so but last night here was a guest of supreme court and here was not released though it was released legally but inaudible in front of islamabad high court today. apologies to viewers with some problems with the sound there. we will be coming back to this story and about an hour's time, speaking to our correspondence in islamabad for us. we will return to that story, the dramatic arrest and corruption charges of imran khan now deemed illegal. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. dairy farmer oliver neagle says his business is in serious trouble because his water supply was cut twice in three months. we could not clean the milking machinery properly, so that then causes all sorts

of different diseases. last december, hisjersey cows got so thirsty he had to call in hampshire fire and rescue. and in february, the water troughs ran dry again. the knock—on impact has been severe. oliver say he has that to cull 18 sick cows. others are no longer producing milk. in a statement, southern waters said it understood the enormous impact this has had. it set a number of compensation payments have been paid to oliver's landlord and efforts are under way to have those payments released directly to the family. the big question is whether the money will be enough to put oliver's finances back on an even keel. you're live with bbc news. let's return to our breaking story this hour, title 42,

the covid—era us immigration policy which allowed authorities to swiftly remove migrants citing the spread of covid—19, has now ended. the policy expired around 15 minutes ago at midnight eastern time. in the last week, tens of thousands of migrants have been arriving at the us—mexico border in anticipation of the policy ending, sparking fear among officials that there may be a surge of people trying to cross into the us. live now to dana graber ladek. she's the chief of mission in mexico for the un agency, the international organization for migration. you have over 20 years of experience in humanitarian aid and coordinating agencies. what is your primary concern? well, when we look at the northern border, the border between united states and mexico we have three primary concerns. first of all is shelter, they are oversaturated and there is not enough room for people so we will see more and more people in the streets

and more people in the streets and eventually in camps. the second is a lack of access to food, water and health services so these are basic needs that these people, especially the most vulnerable such as women and children, women who are pregnant, they are going to need access to these basic needs. the third concern that i have as security and that has to do with human rights abuses against people in some of the more insecure places along the northern border, this includes extortion, crimes against these people, kidnapping and this happens in some of the more unsafe areas as a result of organised crime.— organised crime. shelter, access to _ organised crime. shelter, access to basic _ organised crime. shelter, access to basic needs - organised crime. shelter, access to basic needs and security, what are you hearing from people on the ground at the moment? are these things currently at risk? i the moment? are these things currently at risk?— currently at risk? i think the bi est currently at risk? i think the biggest concern _ currently at risk? i think the biggest concern that - currently at risk? i think the biggest concern that we - currently at risk? i think the biggest concern that we are | biggest concern that we are hearing from both our staff and the migrant themselves on the ground is the lack of information. there is quite a bit of confusion in terms of

what does this mean that title 42 as ending which, by the way, we have been advocating for the end of this for years now so what are the next stops, what are the options for them? and a fortunately smugglers and traffickers take advantage of this lack of information to be able to circulate rumours and this also causes quite a bit of confusion among the migrant populations. confusion among the migrant populations-— confusion among the migrant populations. your organisation has advocated _ populations. your organisation has advocated for _ populations. your organisation has advocated for the - populations. your organisation has advocated for the end - populations. your organisation has advocated for the end of i has advocated for the end of this policy, what you hope to see from what it will be replaced with?- see from what it will be replaced with? see from what it will be relaced with? ~ . ., , , replaced with? what we hope is that there will _ replaced with? what we hope is that there will be _ replaced with? what we hope is that there will be more - replaced with? what we hope is that there will be more options| that there will be more options for regular and legal pathways for regular and legal pathways for these migrants to be able to access other countries. definitely from their countries of origin if possible, so that they don't have to make the perilous journey. they don't have to make the perilousjourney. but they don't have to make the perilous journey. but we they don't have to make the perilousjourney. but we have to also recognise that countries need to invest in these countries of origin and communities of origin because migrants are leaving due to

extreme poverty, generalised violence, a lack of opportunity to work, a lack of opportunity to work, a lack of opportunity to go to school or access to healthcare and so we really need to also look at the root causes in countries of origin and see how we can improve these conditions. pare and see how we can improve these conditions.— and see how we can improve these conditions. are likely do ou think these conditions. are likely do you think it — these conditions. are likely do you think it is _ these conditions. are likely do you think it is that _ these conditions. are likely do you think it is that that - you think it is that that investment will be forthcoming? i think there is quite a bit of commitment, if we look at the governments, not only the governments, not only the government of the united states but of canada and mexico, in investing in these countries that most of these migrants are coming from, especially in central america, coming from, especially in centralamerica, including south america and other countries. the fact of the matter is that these are long—term solutions. these are solutions that are going to take a while to implement, to make these important changes in these communities of origin and so it also requires quite a bit of patient and dedication. thank you very much for your time. here, rail passengers have been

warned to expect severe disruption from today as train operators walk out again over pay. many trying to reach the eurovision song contest this weekend, and the fa cup final next month, could see their plans cancelled, as zoe conway reports. in liverpool this weekend you will find people having the time of their lives, devoted eurovision fan harry cunningham hoped to be there too. but he is stuck in london because of the train strikes. we is stuck in london because of the train strikes.— the train strikes. we had planned _ the train strikes. we had planned this _ the train strikes. we had planned this months - the train strikes. we had planned this months and the train strikes. we had - planned this months and months in advance so the buildup was really exciting and obviously the fact that we had to cancel two weeks prior to the event after months of waiting, it was really crushing. the after months of waiting, it was really crushing.— really crushing. the impact of toda 's really crushing. the impact of today's train _ really crushing. the impact of today's train driver _ really crushing. the impact of today's train driver strike - today's train driver strike will be widespread. 16 train companies are affected. some

will run no services at all. we have to look _ will run no services at all. - have to look after the people we represent, so we don't want to hurt anybody or disadvantage anybody but there is no good day for a strike. if you pick any one day and any given week you will have some event and there will be somebody else saying what about this? and thatis saying what about this? and that is not where we want to be but how else do we express our displeasure with white in a statement: tomorrow, the day of the eurovision final, the rmt rail union will hold its strike. this will involve guards and

station staff who work for 14 train companies. both unions are striking over pay and changes to working conditions. zoe conway, bbc news. the final ten acts are through to the grand final of the eurovision song contest after winning enough votes in last night's second semifinal. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson sent this report from liverpool. fans flocking to the second eurovision semifinal. there are 16 countries competing for the final ten places in saturday's contest, and there are a lot of belgians. they will definitely go to the finals and will end up second. that's a confident and very specific prediction. absolutely. music. experts said this was by far the weaker of the two semis, but belgium's gustav did indeed prove to be particularly popular in the arena.

greece's victor vanegas is only 16, but his khaki clothes brought back memories of steve irwin. # god, you're such a good writer. # oh, it's not me. # it's edgar. austria's tia and selena sang about the ghost of the gothic writer edgar allan poe. music. ..and the royalty rates writers receive from streaming services. # promise me it's gonna... while the frontman of australia's entry, voyager, daniel estrin, combines being a rock god with his dayjob as an immigration lawyer. # promise me it's gonna be all right. the last act through to the grand final... and when it came to the results, which included the votes of people in the uk. ..slovenia! meaning it was farewell to romania, san marino, georgia, iceland, greece and denmark. now to the real business, the final on saturday. colin paterson,

bbc news, liverpool. we will be back in liverpool in the business news, stay with us, we will see you soon. hello, there. over the past few days, we've seen lots of rainbows. there's been some very heavy rain and lots of thunder and lightning. and on thursday, we had some funnel clouds coming down from the base of the cloud. that rotating cylinder of air, if it hit the ground, it would have been a tornado. funnel clouds not unusual at this time of the year. don't think we're going to see any, though, over the next few days because low pressure is going to take the heavy showers into central southern parts of europe. high pressure building across the uk. but we're seeing an east or northeasterly breeze coming in that's dragging in all the cloud from off the north sea. so a grey start for many central and eastern parts of the uk. that finger of rain moves down briefly to affect east anglia, the southeast, maybe the east midlands, before arriving in dorset.

ahead of that, one or two showers for wales and the southwest. for many western parts of the uk, it's going to be dry with some lengthy spells of sunshine. and warm as well, temperatures 18, 19 degrees. where we keep the cloud, though, for eastern parts of england, much cooler, 13 or 14 nearer the mark and a cool breeze blowing in as well. that breeze will blow in more cloud overnight, particularly across central and eastern england on saturday morning. but it should burn back towards some of those north sea coasts, with sunshine developing more widely. and it's going to be warm in that sunshine and light winds as well. temperatures are going to be higher on saturday, probably peaking at 20 or 21 celsius in quite a few places. second half of the weekend sees some changes because the high pressure releases its grip, and this weather front will move down from the northwest. that will bring some rain into scotland and northern ireland and eventually a bit of that rain will move over the irish sea into far western parts of england and wales. ahead of that we'll see some sunny spells, and barring one or two light showers,

it may well be dry. and it's going to be quite warm across the eastern side of england and through the midlands, temperatures again, 20 or 21 celsius. but over towards the northwest, things are turning much cooler nearer 15 or 16 degrees in that rain. that rain then pushes its way down across the country overnight. and then following on from that early next week, we have more of a northwesterly breeze and that's going to bring in some cooler air as well. so the peak of the temperatures looks like being over the weekend. after that, things are cooling down. there'll be some sunshine around into next week. we can see just how low those temperatures are going to be. there will be some showers, but not the heavy ones that we've seen of late.

live from london, this is bbc news. recession avoided, but the uk's cost—of—living crisis will take much longer to shift warns the bank of england in a major rethink of its forecasts. also coming up, twitter teaser: elon musk says he's found a ceo for the social media firm, but won't reveal who she is. plus, sizing up prejudice: new york bans discrimination based on weight as campaigners warn heavier people miss out on jobs, promotions and housing. we start here in the uk where we'll find out how

the economy is coping with the cost—of—living crisis