hello. i'm michelle fleury. after the disruption, the drama — the paris olympics has opened with a grand display of french culture and heritage, and the world's top athletes sailing down the river seine in heavy rain. bridges and river banks were used as catwalks, stages and grandstands, with performances by a pink—feathered lady gaga, and the french—malian singer, aya nakamura. the olympic flame, which had been carried by a host of global sports superstars, including rafael nadal, carl lewis and zinedine zidane, was used to light a huge cauldron on a hot—air balloon that rose high into the paris sky. the culmination of the show included celine dion singing an emotional rendition of edith piaf�*s hymne a l'amour. the day got off to a difficult start, after several acts of sabotage on france's high—speed railway network

disrupted the journey to the ceremony for many travellers. 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 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, theirfashion, 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, well, that was also an amazing addition to the ceremony. it was lit on a hot air balloon, which 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 behind me. sparkling and lit behind me. the ceremony has been something to behold and it ended with an icon on an icon — celine dion, singing the most beautiful hymne a l�*amour, 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 the stories behind the sport, throughout the next few weeks here on bbc news. 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 the 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 a 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. as the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu wraps up meetings with us political leaders, grim footage from the war in gaza has continued to emerge. video from the palestinian red crescent society shows crews recovering multiple bodies from the rubble on friday in central gaza. this reportedly followed an israeli bombardment of the al—bureij refugee camp. children were among the injured. gaza's health ministry says more than 39,000 palestinians have been killed throughout the israel—hamas war. on friday, there were reports of intense fighting in khan younis. this is footage released by the idf, showing its troops there. the israeli army says it has killed 100 fighers

in khan younis since it began an operation there on monday. other footage showed plumes of smoke from israeli strikes, and people fleeing the violence. hamas and the islamichhad said its militants in khan younis were fighting the israelis with machine guns, mortars and anti—tank weapons. 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 former us diplomat and senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace, aaron david miller. what is the sense of the difference in messages, or has it been the same and consistent from the israeli prime minister? oh, look, this has been a political trick. the speech was political, the meetings have been political. i'm not sure the prime minister anticipated that he would meet with former president donald trump with whom he identifies with strongly. a putitive president,

kemala harris, and current presidentjoe biden, all against the backdrop of opportunity perhaps to get an israeli hamas agreement on a ceasefire. i think netanyahu is hedging his bets. we had a cordial meeting with the president. he expressed dismay that the vice president spoke openly and empathetically and in some respects critically about israeli policies in gaza and it seems that he is interested in an apology to amend the offences with the former president, who holds him responsible for sending a video message tojoe biden, congratulating him on his inauguration back in 2021. so, i think mr netanyahu probably feels, given how fraught the circumstances walked by him, that he came out of this pretty well. were you surprised? because there had been lots of talk going into this, about bad blood between donald trump and benjamin netanyahu. they had fallen out, after he had been quick to congratulatejoe biden on his election win in 2020. you think it is political expediency on both sides to try and move forward here?

absolutely. donald trump instrumentalises his relationships. you can be a bright, shiny object one day and be cast aside the next, but let's be clear — if the republican party is the party of donald trump, which it clearly is, then the party of benjamin netanyahu, the one he identifies more closely within the united states, is the republican. and he has often used republicans as a weapon to bash democratic institutions he does not agree with. see 2015, when he was invited by republican speakerjohn bainer, to address congress at a time when the biden administration was trying to sell the nuclear agreement which mr netanyahu was opposed to. if benjamin netanyahu could vote on november 5th, he would vote for donald trump.

but you said he is trying to hedge his bets. do you think that is why we sort this announcement of negotiators to be sent to rome next week? yeah, i think he really is under significant pressure both from hostage families and the israeli defence forces, who truly believe that if they do not strike a deal now to get hostages out — 115 the estimate remain. 44 are no longer alive, either killed on october 7, their bodies were taken to gaza to trade, or they died in captivity. plus, the idf want to rest and refocus. so, he is on the hook now. there has been great pressure, and not, coincidentally, from donald trump, who i think today or yesterday said netanyahu has to get this gaza stuff done and it has got to be done very quickly. trent's and predictable in this respect.

trump's unpredictable in this respect. if he were president now, i would guarantee he would be incredibly critical on the fact that the israelis are still doing what they are doing. if the israeli leader is trying to obviously balance lots of competing interests here, appealing to both potential presidential candidates, what about the domestic audience back home? do you think he delivered something that israelis wanted to hear? you mean he broke the code here. the only matter that numbers in mr netanyahu's mind is 64. that is the number of seats in his coalition — a coherent coalition that seems immunised from falling. he must preserve himself in power. he is on trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a jerusalem district court in front of three judges. he is due to testify in that trial in december. if he loses power, the options for him are not good. it is a possible conviction,

and he already went to jail for 16 months on one of the charges he is accused of, or he gets a plea bargain and he has to leave politics. so, staying in power is what he needs. his core constituency is not trump, not biden, not kamala harris. it is his right—wing coalition whom he has satisfy. meanwhile, ms 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 deliver for the american people." our correspondentjenny kumah has the latest. obama's backing matters.

some analysts feel that it is key to attracting key voters and fundraising, and there may, for some voters, 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 47% to donald trump's 48%, 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, thousands of events and thousands of volunteers, sunday marks 100 days until november's election. one of the world's most powerful drug cartel leaders appeared in federal court in texas 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 currentlyjailed in the us. also arrested thursday 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. earlier, i spoke to mike vigil, former chief of international operations for the drug enforcement administration. how consequential are these arrests? well, 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 inner 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. it had no impact.

another man had been running the cartel for a number of years, and they have a very strong bench, very 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 of carlo gambino of italian organised crime, in that 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 to impact

on the infrastructure. i'm talking about corrupt politicians, i'm talking about the money—laundering cells, the enforcement cells, the logistical cells, and others, 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? that is true. if mayo 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, there will have to be a collection of evidence, it just can't be their testimony alone. in your 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 advised the mexican government, because of endemic corruption in that country, it could easily get compromised. one thing that caught my attention, our news partner, cbs, says thatjoaquin 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? there's several versions, but the one you're talking about is the fact that mayo

was lured, 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 st teresa, new mexico, it was in the southern part of new mexico where the aircraft landed yesterday. so it's a situation where there's a possibility that he was lured, it could have been the pilot, it could have beenjoaquin guzman lopez that actually who did it, but one of mayo's biggest fear was getting apprehended and sent to the united states. and now that has come to pass. you mention it is in some ways a game of whack—a—mole, 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. i don't think you will see a reduction in the fentanyl, because the cartel remains intact, and it is not them, but you also have a very powerful and violent organisation, you have the familia, you have the gulf cartel, there many others producing fentanyl, and also, methamphetamines, synthetic drugs. and 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 plant—based products, they can be eradicated, then they 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 45km 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 healthcare. now, the war�*s 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 afar and amhara, 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 400 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. prof alex de waal, an expert in the region, and an executive director of the world peace foundation, says too little attention is being paid to the crisis. humanitarian aid agencies has become averse to controversy. in their funding appeals, they are less likely to draw attention to the fact that starvation is a crime, the 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 the story, head to the bbc news website. let's turn to some other important news around the world. authorities in the canadian province of alberta estimate that about 30% of structures in the resort town of jasper have been destroyed by wildfires. officials say the fire injasper is now largely contained, but that the wider blaze is still out of control. while no deaths have been reported, some 20,000 tourists and 5,000 residents have fled the area. south african police detained almost a hundred libyan nationals at a farm they say was being used as a military training camp. officials say they found licenced firearms and military equipment at the farm. a police spokesman said the suspects misrepresented themselves on their visa applications, by saying that they would be training

as security guards. remember, you can find more on all the day's news at our website, bbc.com/news. we will leave you with this image of the white house in commemoration of that opening olympic ceremony in paris. there you can see in the colours of the french flag, the trickle. that is it. stay with us via 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 is 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, clearskies, we 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 south—easterly 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, a 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.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. file: the headlines this morning: - the metropolitan police says it's investigating possible fraud linked to the it scandal which led to the conviction of hundreds of sub—postmasters and sub—postmistresses. from the age of 13, my childhood was gone. it was non—existent. it all happened in whispers. it all happened like stigma. it all happened by pointing fingers. and we had no explanation, that was the problem. it's the biggest miscarriage ofjustice in a generation, which dozens ofjournalists

have exposed, and even actors like me played their part. did they find the problem? £26,000 has gone missing. you what? 26 grand. in this programme, in the midst of a public inquiry into what went on, i'm going to meet people who are still dealing with the fallout of being involved in the post office scandal. we were spat at, paint stripper poured on my car. it just felt as though it was one thing after another. it means coming to terms with decades of trauma. but across the country, people are trying to move on, to reclaim their lives. so, if you walked up there past your house now, how would that make you feel? you couldn't do it? mm—mm. really?! wow.