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 riverbanks were used as catwalks, stages and grandstands, 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 a surprise appearance from canadian superstar celine dion.

the ceremony went ahead without disruption, despite a string of apparently co—ordinated sabotage attacks on france's high—speed rail network early on friday, the motive for which remains unclear. more on that in a moment, but first maryam moshiri on the dazzling show from the city of light. 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 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'll 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 "co—ordinated, malicious" acts, targeted links to the east, north and west of paris, taking out huge swathes of the network. a fifth attack to the southeast 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, and 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 antisemitism 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 putative 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 were for 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 boehner, 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 that netanyahu has to get this gaza stuff done and it has got to be done very quickly. 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's 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's 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 correspondent jenny kumah has the latest.

some may say that the obamas�* endorsement has been a bit slow in coming. there was no immediate endorsement on sunday after president biden announcing he was stepping out of the prejudice al race. instead, the statement former president barack obama gave was that an outstanding nominee would emerge, which led to questions as to whether he favoured an open primary process at the august convention. although some may feel that way, others may feel that the fact it's come a few days later, that it's more impactful, and that it in fact is 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, de niro, coming out and backing the vice—president. a cbs news source has said that harris and obama have been in regular

contact since mr obama's announcement on sunday, and that they have known each other for 20 years. the endorsement today will have been hugely welcomed, and the appreciation is clear to see in the video that was released today. i = is clear to see in the video that was released today. i - i can't have — that was released today. i - i can't have this _ that was released today. i - i can't have this phone - that was released today. i - i can't have this phone call- can't have this phone call without_ can't have this phone call without saying to my girl kamala _ without saying to my girl kamala — i am without saying to my girl kamala — lam proud of without saying to my girl kamala — i am proud of you. this— kamala — i am proud of you. this is— kamala — i am proud of you. this is going to be historic. we — this is going to be historic. we called to say — michelle and i couldwt— we called to say — michelle and i couldn't be _ we called to say — michelle and i couldn't be prouder_ we called to say — michelle and i couldn't be prouder to- i couldn't be prouder to endorse _ i couldn't be prouder to endorse you _ i couldn't be prouder to endorse you and - i couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to - i couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to dol endorse you and to do everything _ endorse you and to do everything we - endorse you and to do everything we can - endorse you and to do everything we can to i endorse you and to do . everything we can to get endorse you and to do - everything we can to get you through— everything we can to get you through this _ everything we can to get you through this election - everything we can to get you through this election and - everything we can to get youi through this election and into the oval_ through this election and into the oval office. _ through this election and into the oval office.— the oval office. oh, my goodness _ the oval office. oh, my goodness. michelle, . the oval office. oh, my- goodness. michelle, barack, goodness. michelle, ba rack, this goodness. michelle, barack, this means so much to me. i'm looking forward to doing this with the two of you, jack and i both, and getting throughout, being on the road. but most of all, ijust want being on the road. but most of all, i just want to tell you that the words you have spoken and the friendship that you have given over all these years mean more than i can express. so, thank you, both.— so, thank you, both. obama's backin: so, thank you, both. obama's backing matters. _ so, thank you, both. obama's backing matters. some - so, thank you, both. obama's l backing matters. some analysts feel that it's backing matters. some analysts feel that its key to

attracting key voters anderising — 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 this week, the vice—president's team are launching a weekend of action around campaigning, thousands of events and thousands of volunteers, as sunday marks 100 days until november's election. 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 on thursday.

the 76—year—old founded the criminal organisation with joaquin �*el chapo' guzman, who is currentlyjailed 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. mexico correspondent will grant reports. when it comes to drug lords, they don't get any bigger than this. ismael �*el mayo' zambada, one of the most wanted men in the world. for decades, he has evaded arrest until he was lured onto this plane, reportedly betrayed by one of his own. thinking he was going to inspect clandestine airstrips in northern mexico, instead he landed across the us border near el paso, texas, where he was greeted not by fellow cartel members, but by the fbi.

arrested alongside him wasjoaquin guzman lopez. the son of the world's most notorious kingpin, el chapo, who is currently serving life in the us prison, their cartel is responsible for trafficking tonnes of cocaine, heroin and more recently the synthetic opioid fentanyl. fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced. fe nta nyl is fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our department has ever faced. the federal government will not rest until every cartel member and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable.- communities is held accountable. it's hard to

overstate _ accountable. it's hard to overstate how _ accountable. it's hard to| overstate how significant accountable. it's hard to i overstate how significant a scalp elle —— el mayo is for the us government. to arrest him now, 35 years after he set “p him now, 35 years after he set up the sinaloa cartel, is a historic moment in mexico's seemingly endless drug war. (camera shutters clicking) in the past, the arrest of a kingpin — including el chapo himself in 2016 — can unleash a bloodbath in mexico, as rival cartel factions vie for power. mexico appears to have had no prior warning of the operation to take down el mayo, and will now have to wait for it fallout from his arrest. still, for now, this is a moment which law enforcement officials are celebrating — one of the most powerful and elusive drug traffickers in history finally behind bars in the united states. typhoon gaemi is lashing china's eastern coast with heavy rains and strong winds, after severely affecting taiwan and the philippines this week — where dozens were killed.

gaemi has been downgraded to a tropical storm due to its now—slower wind speeds — but it still risks major flooding. chinese authorities say more than 150,000 people in the southeastern province of fujian have been evacuated. our correspondent martin yip describes the impact of the typhoon, now that it's hit mainland china. gaemi has made a second landfall on the coastal province of fujian, and fujian has so far been telling the outside world that they have almost 630,000 people being affected by the typhoon. but you could the state media reports didn't go with much specific details, but you could imagine this is all to begin with strong winds and then thunderstorms. it is still moving inland, it is still a tropical cyclone but it has significantly weakened, it is now heading in a northerly direction.

the wind is, the strongest gusts recorded here have slowed down to 83km/h or 52mph, so it's weakening but it's still packed with so much water vapour inside it moving inland, so the mational meteorological agency is issuing a chunk of weather warnings, ranging from severe, what they call severe convective weather, as well as thunderstorms, as well as geological hazards which would include landslides and all sorts of things. 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 2 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 for food. 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, afarand 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. it has destroyed more than 36,000 hectares of land. while no deaths have been reported, some 20,000 tourists and 5,000 residents have fled the area. the european union says it is sending ukraine one and a half billion euros in aid, financed by interest from frozen russian assets. european commission president ursula von der leyen announced the move on social media. eu foreign ministers approved the payments

in latejune, which are financed by proceeds from the assets. most of the aid will be used to buy weapons. 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 days news at our website. 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 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. hello and welcome to the media show with me ross advocate and with katie razzall. this show with me ross advocate and with katie razzall.— with katie razzall. this week we looking — with katie razzall. this week we looking at _ with katie razzall. this week we looking at kamala - with katie razzall. this week| we looking at kamala harris's online campaign and where the means will help the democrats likely presidential nominee to the white house. irate likely presidential nominee to the white house.— likely presidential nominee to the white house. we believe in freedom. the white house. we believe in freedom- we — the white house. we believe in freedom. we also _ the white house. we believe in freedom. we also going - the white house. we believe in freedom. we also going to - the white house. we believe in| freedom. we also going to hear about the practicalities - freedom. we also going to hear about the practicalities of - about the practicalities of covering the olympics as paris 2024 gets under

not for the first time and certainly not for the last on the media show we will talk about us politics and the media but this is now looking very likely that kamala harris will be the democratic presidential nominee and since that has been the case, there has been a surge of interest in her online with thousands of memes and video being shared and many of them centring around this clip. my them centring around this clip. my mother used to — she would give _ my mother used to — she would give us — my mother used to — she would give us a — my mother used to — she would give us a hard time sometimes and she — give us a hard time sometimes and she would say to us, "i don't — and she would say to us, "i don't know what's wrong with young — don't know what's wrong with young people. you just think young people. you just think you felt— young people. you just think you fell out of a coconut tree?" _ you fell out of a coconut tree?" �* , ,, you fell out of a coconut tree?"- you - you fell out of a coconut l tree?"- you exist you fell out of a coconut - tree?"- you exist in the tree?" laughs. you exist in the context tree?�* laughs. you exist in the context of— tree?" laughs. you exist in the context of all _ tree?" laughs. you exist in the context of all in _ tree?" laughs. you exist in the context of all in which _ tree?" laughs. you exist in the context of all in which you - context of all in which you live — context of all in which you live and _ context of all in which you live and what came before you. you think— live and what came before you. you think you just fell out of a coconut _ you think you just fell out of a coconut tree? you exist in the — a coconut tree? you exist in the context. all in which you live and what

came — all in which you live and what came before you.