an olympic opening ceremony like no other has just wrapped in paris. in the heart of the city, flotillas carrying each of the national teams and international stars sailed down the seine — at times drenched by torrential rain. ending with the olympic cauldron floating in the sky in a hot air balloon. paris was transformed into a series of giant stages, with the usual olympic rituals accompanied by extravagant and, at times, off—beat celebrations of french culture. the day got off to a difficult start, after several acts of sabotage on france's high—speed railway network, disrupting the journey to the ceremony for many. more on that in a moment, but first maryam moshiri has more on the spectacle on the seine. what a culmination, what an end to what has been at times a difficult day for the

organisers of the paris olympics and, indeed, the ceremony. the day started with those train delays with those attacks on various train lines around france, but it ended with a real bang. the opening ceremony that was promised to be a joyful event, an event that would be beautiful theatre in the heart of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it really did deliver. we had the french celebrating their culture, their art, their fashion, their music, but also celebrating a global sense of unity, a global sense of belonging together, and that really is what the olympics are about. the flame, that was also an amazing addition to the ceremony. it was lit on a hot air balloon then and flew up into the sky and is now hovering over the paris skyline. you can still see the eiffel tower is beautifully sparkling and look behind me. the ceremony has been something to behold and it ended within

icon on an icon, celine dion singing the most beautiful song on the first floor of the eiffel tower. everyone went crazy. you could hear the screaming crowd from here in the bbc studio. it was immense. it has been a successful opening ceremony and they really needed this, the french, given the difficulties earlier in the day. now, all that awaits for us is three weeks of amazing sport from paris, and i will be bringing it all to you, as well as disorders behind the sport, throughout the next few weeks here on bbc news —— the stories behind the sport. just hours before the opening ceremony, there was chaos on the rail network in and around paris after a series of acts of deliberate sabotage. signal boxes and fibre optic cables on the high—speed rail system were vandalised, causing fires and affecting around 800,000 people — including on eurostar, where one in four services between london and paris were cancelled until monday. four attacks, in what the french government called "coordinated, malicious" acts, targeted links

to the east, north and west of paris, taking out huges swathes of the network. a fifth attack to the south—east was foiled. the french prime minister gabriel attal has said that police and intelligence services are working hard to find and punish those responsible. our paris correspondent andrew harding reports. french engineers gathered beside one of the sabotaged railways. this is north of paris on the high—speed line heading to london. the french system relies on these sensitive fibre—optic cables, something the attackers clearly understood when they set fire to three separate sites in a coordinated attack, the impact immediately felt across northern france, passengers forced to abandon this train stuck on the outskirts of paris.

and in the capital itself, confusion at the gare du nord, the busiest railway station in europe. delays and cancellations piled up from early morning, prompting frustration and some anxiety. are you concerned about these attacks? i'm not happy about them. as long as that's it, i'm happy, but i am concerned because i've got my family and i want to make sure we get home safe and sound. i'm concerned that i don't want to be here with my little one any longer than what i need to be. paris is already on high alert amid concerns about potential russian cyber attacks and actions by violent islamist groups. the french prime minister noted that today's sabotage was no amateur effort. translation: what we can see is that this operation _ was planned and coordinated, that sensitive targets were chosen, which shows some knowledge of the rail network and where to strike it. among those stuck in the queue at st pancras station in london, the parents of one olympic athlete playing

in the women's rugby sevens. we checked on eurostar, and as far as we're concerned, we came up here and we're prepared to wait for however long. we just want to get out to paris, that's the thing. in france, engineers are still racing to fix the damage, replacing cables on three affected lines, including this one heading due west from paris to the atlantic coast. it's already easing the strain in the french capital. there are plenty of frustrated travellers here, but the good news is that while the high—speed lines have been affected across france, the bulk of the rail network is still operating just fine, but is trying to pick up the slack. progress, then, but this has been an alarming experience for a city anxiously hoping nothing else will go wrong this olympic summer. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has met with former us president and republican

presidential nominee donald trump in florida. it's their first face—to—face meeting in nearly four years. the israeli leader did not give details of their meeting, but said israel would be sending a negotiating team to the gaza ceasefire talks in rome next week. mr trump's aides said he pledged to "make every effort to bring peace to the middle east" and combat anti—semitism on college campuses if elected in november. mr netanyahu's meeting follows separate talks with presumptive democratic presidential nominee kamala harris on thursday, after which she said she couldn't stay silent about the suffering of civilians in gaza. earlier, i spoke with cbs news reporterjoan murray. how significant is this meeting between donald trump and benjamin netanyahu? i between donald trump and benjamin netanyahu? ben'amin netanyahu? i think it's benjamin netanyahu? i think it's very significant. - benjamin netanyahu? i think it's very significant. a - benjamin netanyahu? i think it's very significant. a lot - benjamin netanyahu? i think it's very significant. a lot of i it's very significant. a lot of people know they had a close relationship when the former president was president, and

they hoped to build on that. after this meeting, in fact, the former president was asked, could there be any fence mending? and he said, they did not need to because they had a good relationship. all along former president trump has been urging the prime minister to work toward a cease—fire and to get the hostages released, including a handful of americans. as you know, mr netanyahu has been in washington, he met with the president and vice president, had that meeting before congress which was controversial, because the number of democrats who boycotted that meeting over what they say was the treatment of palestinians, so there has been some friction there. did not seem to be any friction today for so we did get the consent what was happening, some video released afterwards, and mr tripp was all smiles, mr netanyahu all smiles, and he was asked, what could be the

possibility of a cease—fire and release of hostages? and he basically said, is looking good and that they are working on it, and he is working toward a solution. so that was all very positive. this also comes as very positive news for the large jewish very positive news for the largejewish american large jewish american population here largejewish american population here in south florida, notjust here in the west palm beach area, but in broward county and miami—dade to the south, some of those people were present here, there was quite a bit of a demonstration on the bridge leading tamara lago, a smaller number of pro—israelis, but probably at least a0 pro—palestinian groups —— leading to tamara lago. this visit, high — leading to tamara lago. this visit, high tension, - leading to tamara lago. this visit, high tension, but did mr nnnddd and yahoo achieve what he wanted to set out —— did mr netanyahu... he wanted to set out -- did mr netanyahu. . ._ netanyahu... he is really covering _ netanyahu... he is really covering his _ netanyahu... he is really covering his basis. - netanyahu... he is really covering his basis. he - netanyahu. .. he is really| covering his basis. he was meeting with all sides, but i

think he really saw this as a positive move, again, former president trump has tremendous influence, even though he is not president, so i think everybody left here feeling that things were moving in the right direction and towards a possible resolution. separately, donald trump said he'll soon hold another rally in butler, pennsylvania, the town where a gunman shot and injured him during a campaign rally nearly two weeks ago. mr trump wrote on truth social he'll be returning to butlerfor a big rally. he did not provide an excat date. us vice president kamala harris received an endorsement from former us president barack obama and former first lady michelle obama. the harris campaign released a video of the endorsement on friday in which the obamas vowed to do everything they can to get ms harris into the oval office. a statement from the couple said they have no doubt kamala harris has "exactly what it takes to win this election and deliverfor the american people."

our correspondent jenny kumah has the latest. some may say that obama's endorsement has been a bit slow in coming. there was no initial endorsements on sunday, after president biden�*s announcement that he was stepping out of the presidential race. instead, the statement that the former president obama gave was that he was confident that the democrats would find a process in which an outstanding nominee would emerge. which led to questions as to whether he favoured an open primary process at the august convention. but although some may feel that way, others may feel that the fact it's coming few days later, that it's more impactful, and that it infected the final piece of the jigsaw. this week, there have been a number of senior democrats, including nancy pelosi and celebrities including george

clooney, barbra streisand, robert de niro, coming out and backing the vice president, and a cbs news source has said that harris and obama have been in regular contact since mr obamaannouncements on sunday, and that they've known each other for 20 years, so the endorsement today will have been hugely welcomed, and depreciation is clear to see in the video that was released today. i the video that was released toda . u, �* the video that was released toda . �* ., the video that was released toda . �* . , the video that was released toda. �* ., ,_, today. i can't have this phone call without _ today. i can't have this phone call without saying _ today. i can't have this phone call without saying to - today. i can't have this phone call without saying to my - today. i can't have this phone call without saying to my girl| call without saying to my girl kamala, _ call without saying to my girl kamala, i am call without saying to my girl kamala, lam proud call without saying to my girl kamala, i am proud of you. this is going — kamala, i am proud of you. this is going to — kamala, i am proud of you. this is going to be historic. we called to _ is going to be historic. we called to say, _ is going to be historic. we called to say, michelle and i could — called to say, michelle and i could not_ called to say, michelle and i could not be _ called to say, michelle and i could not be prouder- called to say, michelle and i could not be prouder to- called to say, michelle and i - could not be prouder to endorse you and — could not be prouder to endorse you and to — could not be prouder to endorse you and to do _ could not be prouder to endorse you and to do everything - could not be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we - could not be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to gel— you and to do everything we can to get you — you and to do everything we can to get you through _ you and to do everything we can to get you through the - to get you through the selection _ to get you through the selection and - to get you through the selection and into - to get you through the selection and into the i to get you through the - selection and into the oval 0ffice~ _ selection and into the oval office. , ., ., ,, office. oh, my goodness, michelle. _ office. oh, my goodness, michelle, barack, - office. oh, my goodness, michelle, barack, this - office. oh, my goodness, l michelle, barack, this looks office. oh, my goodness, - michelle, barack, this looks so much _ michelle, barack, this looks so much -- — michelle, barack, this looks so much —— means so much to me. i look— much —— means so much to me. i look forward _ much —— means so much to me. i look forward to doing this with you. _ look forward to doing this with you, doug and i both, and getting _ you, doug and i both, and getting out there, being on the road. _ getting out there, being on the road. but — getting out there, being on the road, but most of all i want to

tell you. — road, but most of all i want to tell you, the words you have spoken— tell you, the words you have spoken and the french if you have — spoken and the french if you have given over all these years mean — have given over all these years mean more than i can express, so thank— mean more than i can express, so thank you both —— the friendship you have given. so thank you both -- the friendship you have given. some anal sts friendship you have given. some analysts feel it _ friendship you have given. some analysts feel it is _ friendship you have given. some analysts feel it is key _ friendship you have given. some analysts feel it is key to - analysts feel it is key to attracting key voters and fundraising, and for some voters they may be something very poignant in seeing the first black president endorsing the first black woman and the first person of south asian descent to be president, if she were to win. some polls are showing a narrowing of the gap, with harris trailing a7% to donald trump's a8%, and some polls are showing that harris is trailing in key battleground states too. this week, the vice president's team are launching a weekend of action around campaigning the events, and houses of volunteers, as sunday marks 100 days until november's election. around the world

and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the other stories making news. the uk government has dropped plans to challenge the right of the international criminal court to seek an arrest warrant for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. a spokesperson for prime minister sir keir starmer said that the courts had received submissions on either side and were well informed to make independent determinations. a bill which would allow terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to get medical help to end their own lives has been introduced in the house of lords by former labourjustice secretary lord falconer. to become law, the bill would need the government to make time for it to be debated — something prime minister sir keir starmer has promised to do. officials say they are opening an investigation into a police officer recorded kicking and stomping a handcuffed man in manchester airport. the now viral video sparked outrage arond the world. the officer was suspended by the force on thursday. officials say they are

continuing to gather evidence. you're live with bbc news. one of the world's most powerful drug cartel leaders appeared in a texas federal court on friday. ismael "el mayo" zambada, leader of mexico's sinaloa cartel, pleaded not guilty on all charges after being arrested by us federal agents in texas thursday. the 76—year—old founded the criminal organisation withjoaquin "el chapo" guzman, who is currently jailed in the us. also arrested thursday alongside mr zamabada was the son of the notorious el chapo guzman — joaquin guzman lopez. american prosecutors say the sinaloa cartel is the biggest supplier of drugs to the us. us attorney general merrick garland spoke earlier about the carter leaders arrests, saying they were responsible for america's fentanyl epidemic. fe nta nyl is fentanyl is the deadliest drug

threat our country has ever faced. the justice threat our country has ever faced. thejustice department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable. us media reports that mr zambada — who you see here in this photo taken thursday and obtained by our us partner cbs news — was tricked by a high—ranking cartel member into boarding a plane he thought was going to southern mexico. the plane instead flew to el paso, texas, where he and mr lopez were arrested when they landed. it followed a months—long investigation that mexico says it was unaware of until the arrests were made. mexico's president is calling for full transparency from the us about the capture. earlier, i spoke to mike vigil, former chief of international operations for the drug enforcement administration. how consequential are these arrests? , . , arrests? they are very consequential - arrests? they are very consequential in - arrests? they are very | consequential in terms arrests? they are very i

consequential in terms of arrests? they are very - consequential in terms of the rule of law. but i don't think that they will have any significant impact on the inter—workings of the sinaloa cartel, and as an example, i will give to you exactly what happened when the leader of the sinaloa cartel, chapo, was extradited to the united states. had no impact. another man had been running the cartel for number of years and they have a very strong bench, very good leaders. the cartel has beenin good leaders. the cartel has been in existence since 1989 and is currently the most powerful drug cartel in the world. they operate in six of the seven continents in the world, and mayo was very much the mexican version of... he

had never spent an hour in a jail cell until yesterday. but other than that, hopefully the united states and mexico will put aside differences and work together to basically decapitate the cartel, because they need the impact on the infrastructure. i'm talking about politicians, i'm talking about politicians, i'm talking about the money laundering cells, the enforcement cells, logistical cells, and others, to really have an impact. iii i to really have an impact. ifi can jump — to really have an impact. ifi canjump in _ to really have an impact. if i canjump in there, he is said to have been one of the leaders of the similar cartel who had very strong political connections. will that help achieve, as you said, go after the political collections that have helped the cartel survive so long? have helped the cartel survive so loni ? . .

have helped the cartel survive solona? . , so long? that is true. if mayo and chapo — so long? that is true. if mayo and chapo cooperate - so long? that is true. if mayo and chapo cooperate with - so long? that is true. if mayo and chapo cooperate with us| and chapo cooperate with us authorities, they can provide a lot of information, very high—ranking government officials in mexico, who include governors, mayors, members of the security forces, but apart from that, they will have to have a collection of evidence, itjust can't be their testimony alone. evidence, itjust can't be theirtestimony alone. in evidence, itjust can't be their testimony alone. in your exoerience. — their testimony alone. in your experience, how _ their testimony alone. in your experience, how unusual- their testimony alone. in your experience, how unusual is i their testimony alone. in your experience, how unusual is it| experience, how unusual is it for mexican officials in this case to have been kept out of the loop of this operation? it's rare, but it does happen on occasion. i think that the decisions made, if they advise the mexican government, because of endemic corruption in that country, it could easily get compromised.— country, it could easily get compromised. one thing that cau:ht compromised. one thing that caught my — compromised. one thing that caught my attention, - compromised. one thing that caught my attention, our- compromised. one thing that l caught my attention, our news partner cbs says that walking

guzman lopez, the son of chapo, he was somehow in on the operation or he may have voluntarily handed himself in. can you tell us a bit more about what might be going on there? �* . about what might be going on there? �* , , ., there? there's several versions. _ there? there's several versions, but - there? there's several versions, but the - there? there's several versions, but the one | there? there's several - versions, but the one you're talking about is the fact that mayo was learned not to texas, you mentioned it was el paso, texas, and it's not yourfault because the attorney general of the united states mentioned texas — it was actually saint teresa, new mexico, in the southern part of new mexico the aircraft landed yesterday. it's aircraft landed yesterday. it's a situation where there's a possibility that he was lured, he could have been the pilot, it could have been a

the son who did it, but mayo's biggest fear was getting apprehended and sent to the united states. bud apprehended and sent to the united states.— apprehended and sent to the united states. �* ., ., ., , united states. and now that has come to pass — united states. and now that has come to pass. you _ united states. and now that has come to pass. you mention - united states. and now that has come to pass. you mention it i come to pass. you mention it is in some ways a game of likeable, do you think the other cartel leaders will be jostling to fill their place, and will we see a reduction in the fentanyl that gets imported from mexico —— a game of whac—a—mole. i from mexico -- a game of whac-a-mole._ from mexico -- a game of whac-a-mole. i don't think you will see a _ whac-a-mole. i don't think you will see a reduction _ whac-a-mole. i don't think you will see a reduction in - whac-a-mole. i don't think you will see a reduction in the - will see a reduction in the fentanyl because these cartel remains intact, and it is not only them, you have a very powerful and violent organisation, you have the familiar, you have the gulf cartel, there many others producing fentanyl, and also, methamphetamines, synthetic drugs. the cartels are starting

to move into synthetic drugs. it's much cheaper to manufacture, and they make much more money, whereas if they have land—based product, they can be eradicated and have to wait until the next growing cycle. new satellite images — analysed by the bbc — have revealed the extent of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the north of ethiopia. aid agencies warn that severe drought, crop failure and the aftermath of war have put more than two million people at risk of starvation. here's bbc verify�*s merlyn thomas. here at bbc verify, we've gained exclusive access to some of the worst affected areas in tigray, a province with an estimated population of between six and seven million. we analysed these satellite images. this is the korir dam and reservoir, about a5km north of the regional capital mekele, injune last year. systems like this can support more than 300 farmers. and this image is from last month. you can see the reservoir and the farmland it helps to irrigate have dried up because of the lack

of rainfall. this is a satellite image of a displacement camp about 300km west of the dam by road. it was set up by un agencies to provide shelter to more than 30,000 people. now, dozens of these camps were set up to provide refuge and humanitarian support following the end of a bitter two—year war against the federal government and its allied forces in 2022. it's estimated that hundreds of thousands were killed in the conflict or died due to starvation and lack of health care. now the war is over, but most have remained in these camps, reliant on food aid being delivered there. tsibktey teklay is one of them. she looks afterfive of her children in the camp. her husband was killed in the war. have a listen here. translation: we had animals. we used to harvest in winter. back then, we had the best lifestyle. but now we have nothing. people are sick and there are pregnant women who can't earn money forfood. they are suffering from hunger. aid agencies have mapped

the scale of the crisis facing ethiopia based on a range of factors, including failed rains, ongoing insecurity and a lack of access for aid distributions. this map here shows data from the famine early warning systems network. it has identified parts of tigray, that you can see here in dark red, as well as neighbouring regions, amhara and afar, as facing an emergency. however, the federal government in the ethiopian capital addis ababa disputed these warnings. the head of ethiopia's national disaster risk management commission told us that based on official assessments, there are no looming dangers of famine and starvation in tigray or elsewhere in ethiopia. the relationship between the ethiopian government and aid agencies have been strained in recent years. the un alleged that food aid was being blocked from reaching tigray during the conflict, and in february, ethiopia's ombudsman said nearly "only" a00 people died from hunger in the country, including tigray. however, prime minister abiy ahmed dismissed these reports and told lawmakers at the time

there are no people dying due to hunger in ethiopia. professor alex de waal, an expert in the region and executive director of the world peace foundation, says too little attention is being paid to the crisis. humanitarian agencies have become averse to controversy. in their funding appeals, they are less likely to draw attention to the fact that starvation is a crime, that famines are inflicted by ruthless governments. the un body that co—ordinates humanitarian assistance says the funding currently available is insufficient, but that resources are channelled to the most urgent, life—saving response. if you'd like to read more about this story, head to the bbc news website. after an almost a0—year campaign, a stunning but little—known uk landscape has been awarded world heritage status. the flow country in the far north of scotland is one of the most intact and extensive

blanket bog systems in the world, supporting a range of wildlife, including golden eagles. it also stores about a00 million tonnes of carbon. the bog joins just 121 landscapes worldwide which have been awarded the designation. that's all we have time for. do stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it's hotting up this weekend, particularly sunday onwards into next week. temperatures could reach the low—30s in one or two spots, but humidity will also increase as well. this weekend is a bit of a mixture — saturday will be one of sunshine and showers. sunday, drier, sunnier, and warmer as high pressure starts to establish itself across the country. the reason for more showers around saturday as this feature pushing in from the west, bringing showery rain to northern ireland, parts of southern scotland, northern england and into wales.

this will fragment and become showery through the day. elsewhere, we start off with sunshine, but then, even the clouds bubbling up here to allow for a few showers to develop. but most of the showers will be through central, northern and western areas, the odd heavier one. winds will be light, so the showers will be slow—moving, but there's a chance many places, particularly into the south and east, may escape them and stay dry. temperatures reaching 2a—25 celsius in the warmest spots — otherwise, it's the high teens, low—20s further north. those showers fade away during saturday night. it does turn dry as high pressure starts to build in across the uk, with light winds, clear skies — could see some mist and fog patches, parts of scotland, northern ireland, western england and wales the most favoured spots there. cool night to come, i think, out of towns and cities, otherwise just into double figures in urban areas. we start sunday, then, on a cool note. early mist and fog clears away and looks like it will be a dry, sunny day for most of us, widespread sunshine.

a bit more cloud for northern and western scotland, more of a breeze there. temperatures high teens here, but low—20s, southern and eastern scotland, northern ireland, and high—20s, parts of central, southern, and eastern england. as we move into monday and tuesday, we start to import some very warm air from the near continent on a southeasterly breeze. humidity levels will be rising. this weather front, though, out west will start to push into scotland and northern ireland, bringing more of a breeze, some showers and cloud. but elsewhere, dry and sunny day on monday. those temperatures climbing further, the high 20s — one or two spots could get close to 30 celsius on monday and that chance increases again on tuesday. but we'll start to see low pressure taking over around the middle part of the week — that could bring a thundery breakdown to the country, with some showers and thunderstorms at times. so, a very warm start to the week. by tuesday and wednesday, we start to see some showers and thunderstorms developing, and temperatures slowly coming back down closer to normal.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this program. this year, all eyes are on the french region of normandy as it prepares to celebrate some major anniversaries. it might not be as well visited as paris... ..or as sunny as the south of the country...

..but if you come here and explore, you're going to fall in love with this part of france. it's the place that gave us a king that changed the course of history. it inspired the painter that started a movement that took the art world by storm. claude monet never painted any water lilies. what?! yes! he painted the light on top of the lilies. whilst 80 years ago its coastline was at the forefront of a fight for freedom. i want to say an enormous thank you to all those who have taken part. it was a team effort. this is the region that's seen it all. and its stories have all been woven into the tapestry of time.