BBC News Briefing

17 March, 2025

Alex has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She is smiling and wearing a black turtleneck

Alex Binley

Hello. President Trump's defence of his government's use of an 18th Century wartime law to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants in defiance of a court order is raising constitutional questions as a row deepens. In Mexico, my colleague Will Grant has visited a cartel's "extermination site", while in space, two astronauts who've been stranded on the ISS for nine months are finally preparing to come home, and a happy St Patrick's Day to everyone celebrating - take a look as we round-up some of the biggest events to have taken place across the US.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

White House denies defying judge's order over deportations to El Salvador

A row of men wearing white T-shirts, shorts, socks and trainers, all with their heads shaved and their hands and feet shackled, are marched in a line, bent over, by prison guards wearing balaclavas

The alleged criminals were transported to El Salvador's mega-jail which can hold up to 40,000 people. Credit: Reuters

The White House has defended Donald Trump's use of a 227-year-old wartime law to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants, despite a temporary block issued by a federal judge. The US says the men - many of whom can be seen shackled in this video - are gang members. They are now being detained at a high-security jail in El Salvador. Campaigners accuse the president of using the Alien Enemies Act to circumvent due process and point out that it is only intended to be used when the US is at war. But the White House is standing by its actions, and instead says that the judge's order was not lawful and was issued too late.

More on the row

GET UP TO SPEED

The king and Mark Carney sit in armchairs facing each other in an oppulent room. They sit either side of a fireplace but there is no fire lit

Smiles and handshakes as King meets Carney

Charles III wore a red tie, sending coded signals of support for Canada, rather than spelling them out in words.

Watch the meeting >

Two astronauts are floating onboard a spaceship. The man wears a black polo shirt and the woman wears a navy blue top. Both are smiling at the camera.

'Stranded astronauts' set to begin journey home

The pair were meant to be on the ISS for eight days in June, but their mission was dramatically extended by technical issues.

What will happen >

A red brick building with a white tower can be seen behind trees and there is grass and a river in front of the trees.

Harvard offers free tuition to sub-$200,000 families

For families earning less than $100,000, the university will also cover expenses like housing and health insurance.

Who can benefit >

A blue boat is sitting in the sea. There is a large fire onboard and it has burnt away much of the roof.

British tourist missing after Thailand boat fire

Police believe the boat's fuel tank overflowed when it was refilled during the journey, then set alight, before sinking.

Read more >

AT THE SCENE

Teuchitlán, Mexico

BBC visits Mexican cartel 'extermination' site

Lots of pairs of shoes lie on the ground and are covered in dust.

200 pairs of shoes, hundreds of items of clothing, and scores of suitcases and rucksacks were found at the site. Credit: Getty Images

Following a tip-off about the possible location of a mass grave, an activist group of relatives of some of Mexico's thousands of disappeared people went to a ranch in the state of Jalisco, hoping to find some sign of their missing loved ones. What they found was far worse: hundreds of items of clothing, shoes and bags, discarded after their owners were apparently disposed of. Even more chilling, three crematoriums and human bone fragments were found at the ranch.

Will Grant, Mexico, Central America and Cuba correspondent

The gates to the Izaguirre Ranch look much like any others you might find in Jalisco. Two prancing horses on the front perhaps a nod to the surrounding cattle-grazing and sugarcane fields. The site was used, an activist group of relatives claim, by the New Generation Jalisco Cartel for the forced recruitment and training of their foot-soldiers, and for torturing their victims and cremating their bodies.

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"There were children's toys in there," says Luz Toscano, one of those who first uncovered the site. For many, however, the worst part of the gruesome discovery is that local police raided the ranch as recently as last September. While at the time they made 10 arrests and released two hostages, they either didn't find or didn't reveal any evidence of the apparent magnitude of violence carried out there.

Keep reading

From cartel safe house to US streets: As Donald Trump tries to force Mexico to stop the flow of drugs, cartel members tell correspondent Quentin Sommerville they will not be deterred.
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Notorious drug lord extradited: Amongst the 29 alleged cartel members extradited from Mexico to the US last month was Rafael Caro Quintero who has been wanted by the US for the murder of an American agent 40 years ago.

A still from the Snow White movie shows actress Rachel Zegler as the titular character. She has short black hair and black eyes. She is wearing a red cape. She is standing in front of a group of people who are out of focus but look like villagers of modest means.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Poisoned apple

The response to Snow White's live-action remake has been loud and often hostile.

Here's why

And finally... in the US

Cities across the US descended into a sea, or in the case of Chicago a river of green as they celebrated St Patrick's Day. Large parades took place in Boston and Philadelphia, while Chicago continued its annual tradition of turning its river a shade of emerald, with the help of a dye used to find sewage leaks. The events drew large crowds over the weekend, with celebrations continuing on Monday.

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– Alex

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