♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.

brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". ♪ host: this is bbc world news america u.s. president joe biden marks the anniversary of january 6 with a speech about democracy. israel's defense ministry unveils a proposal for gaza after the war as the una humanitarian chief warns this trip is becoming -- the strip is becoming uninhabitable.

the bangladesh boat that will further test the country -- vote that will further test of country's -- test the country democracy. hello and welcome to world news america. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken arrived in turkiye, the first leg of a regional tour that will see him visit israel and other arab nations. the trip is meant to stress the need to increase humanitarian aid to gaza and ensure the people there are not forcibly displaced from the territory. mr. blinken's visit comes after the israeli defense minister outline proposals for the future governance of gaza once the war is over. under his so-called four corner proposals the hamas would no longer control gaza and israel would retain overall security control. a multinational force would rebuild the territory.

he did not expand on what the role would look like. he said palestinians would be responsible for running the territory, but it is not clear which body would be in charge. we are in jerusalem with more on the proposed future governance in gaza. >> people are starting to talk about what happens after the day after. there has been no public discussion in israel about this. members of the government, right wing members of the company -- of the cabinet advocate forcing gazans to leave to other countries and reestablishing jewish settlements in gaza. that is clearly unacceptable to the international community, so we had this beginning of a plan from the defense minister, a four point plan in which critically and crucially israelis would not be in gaza itself, they might control access to and from gaza, but it would be the palestinians who

are not hostile to israel that would eventually run gaza under the plan. that plan might not be a goer. it is certainly not acceptable to right wing members of the israeli government. arab countries already indicated they would not be prepared to be part of a multinational force tasked with rebuilding gaza. secretary of state antony blinken is starting on a mammoth journey across the region. it will be interesting to see what he thinks about the plan. clearly the americans and many others in the international community want to start thinking about how israel is going to wind up this war and what will happen the day after. host: the united nations humanitarian chief said the israeli bombardment of gaza has rendered the territory uninhabitable. he says in a statement that gaza has become a place of death and despair, its people he says are witnessing daily threats to the very existence while the world watches on. to talk more about the situation on the ground, i spoke to the

executive director for unrwa usa. what are operations in gaza like at the moment? >> gaza is a place right now of desperation and despair. there are tens of thousands of women and children, mostly who have been killed or injured, 70% of those killed and injured have been women and children. families are sleeping in the streets in increasingly colder temperatures. we have seen the rain and the floods there. areas where civilians have been told to relocate are coming under bombardment. the medical facilities in the strip are under relentless attack unfortunately, and we know that of the 36 hospitals in gaza, only 13 are operational. most of those are in the south,

and those are seeing three times the number of patients they are meant to seek. there frankly is not enough medicine or equipment to even serve those patients coming into the hospitals in the south. we know that only six of unrwa's health centers are operational right now. that is in addition to the full population of 2.2 million people and gaza facing famine as we speak. >> is there anywhere that your colleagues can tell people to go that is safe? >> no. unfortunately as the israeli military has told the population to go south, unfortunately where they have been told to go has been bombarded. there frankly is no safe place in gaza. even unrwa, un installations flying the blue flag, are not safe. there has been some 217 incidents of unrwa premises being bombed or bombarded, and

62 of those are direct hits, each of them are violations of international humanitarian law. we even have 22 instances of the israeli military using unrwa installations for military operations. and we have had some 319 international and displaced people, local palestinians who have been killed while in u.n. installations. unfortunately, even in the south where someone million -- where some one million palestinians have fled, even there it is not safe. there is simply no safe place for civilians in gaza right now. >> we have seen an escalation in the west bank recently as well. what can you tell us about the situation there? guest: we have seen significant death and injuries in the west bank as well. my colleagues have said that the west bank is at a boiling point.

we have seen the tensions -- seen unlawful detentions and we are concerned with aggression on the part of settlers that has been reported as well. host: the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is back in the region this week. what are you hoping for from his visit? guest: my colleagues at unrwa are calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. that means we need full throated humanitarian access into gaza. i know there was a u.n. resolution to that effect, but we have seen very little change on the ground. the border that allows trucks into it has opened, but it is still very difficult if not sometimes impossible for unrwa to get those resources that come in, even to get resources to those in need. that is because within the border in rafah, those borders

have been bumped. our own staff at unrwa has come under fire. we have lost many of our own staff members, as i said. and the road leading out from rafah have been damaged. some of unrwa's own trucks have been stuck in the north. we need not only more goods, more food, more medical supplies. we are estimating a quarter of the diapers needed for kids, and mind you there are 50,000 pregnant women in gaza right now, 180 giving birth a day. we just don't have enough supplies to help this population in the way that any human being on earth deserves. host: the executive director of unrwa usa national committee, thank you very much for joining us on bbc news. guest: thank you. host: we put those claims she made about israeli strikes on you and installations and what she described -- on u.n. installations to the former

israeli torah minister -- tourism minister in new york. here is how he responded to the u.n. agency's accusations. >> i think after so many days of war, it would have been fair if we were to disregard what unrwa says as exact realities, because we have found their infrastructure hidden inside unrwa centers. we have revealed this to the world. they have brought in gas which was stolen by hamas a day after. they have hidden hamas operatives within their schools. we found double walls where they hid ammunition. at this point, what they say should not be regarded factual, and what we say should be. israel is a democracy, it has transparency, it has free press, and it has the opposition and a coalition. it functions as a full

democracy. we are at war with a terror organization that does not abide international law or war crimes or any kind of war crime declaration to begin with, so we are doing everything we possibly could to try and abide by these rules, and maybe we are not always succeeding i am sure. it is a war zone. host: the bbc is not in a position to verify the claims made in relation to what israel says it has discovered at unrwa properties. our journalists have not been allowed free access to these sites. meanwhile, lebanon filed a complaint to the un security council over the killing of a hamas deputy leader in beirut on tuesday. it says israel used six missiles in the attack that targeted him. the leader of hezbollah in lebanon and an ally of hamas has threatened a fiery response. he said that all of lebanon will be exposed to more israeli operations if the group does not

react to the assassination. u.s. president joe biden delivered his first speech of the 2024 election season, attempting to paint it as a battle for the future of democracy. he gave the speech in pennsylvania, a stark site in america's war of independence. it came on the eve of the three year anniversary of the insurrection at the u.s. capitol , where supporters of former president donald trump attempted to stop congress certifying the 2020 election result. -- election results. >> politics, fear, money all have intervened. now these maga voices who know the truth about trump on january 6 have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy. they made their choice. now the rest of us, democrats, independence, mainstream republicans, we have to make our choice. i don't mind, and i believe --

i know mine, and i believe i know america's. host: gary was at that speech and joins me from pennsylvania. this was the first major speech of joe biden's campaign. what did we learn about his platform? guest: we learned a good deal about the strategy for the coming year, the fact that the biden campaign does plan to focus on this question, the fate of american democracy, not focused on the economy necessarily, not even focused on some of his legislative achievements, but on what he calls the defense, the protection and preservation of american democracy itself. in the past, joe biden has been not very keen to mention donald trump by name in these big speeches, but he peppered this one with references to the former president. he analogized his behavior to

that of the nazis in the third reich, and he painted a cataclysmic view of what might happen if donald trump got back into power. that is a big gamble for this campaign, because democracy, it is an abstract concept, and he tried to make it as concrete as possible by talking about the january 6 attack on the capital, which we mark the third anniversary of this weekend. host: how do you think the speech will be received in the key battleground states, such as where you are in pennsylvania now? guest: i think it is a difficult one because in some of these battleground states, joe biden is struggling against donald trump. pennsylvania is one of them. there are a handful of others where the pollin has shown him behind, or thereabouts.

these are really close calls on this case. there are some people i spoke to today who said we kind of like joe biden but we wish it was another candidate, he is a bit too old. we prefer him over donald trump but we would prefer someone else entirely. some are saying this negative campaign, who can hate the most, is the way one person put it to me, is not much of a motivator. voters kind of like a bit of an optimistic view of the future, a bit of the vision thing, what can i look forward to? they don't necessarily respond to what you might call a kind of campaign of project fear. host: a story breaking this evening. the u.s. supreme court saying it is to take up this appeal by former president trump against the ballot ban from colorado. what can you tell us?

guest: this is a usually significant development. the colorado supreme court effectively said donald trump was ineligible to go on the primary ballot there. another state followed suit in maine. this is because of a provision of the u.s. constitution, the 14th amendment, section 3, which says if you have taken an oath, you cannot stand for office. that came in the wake of the civil war where people wanted to exclude those who sided with the confederacy from going back into government. the gop and donald trump have wanted to challenge this. they don't have to take these cases to the highest court in the land. they will do that in february. that will determine if donald trump appears on the ballot. that will influence other cases where people across the country are considering to do the same. it will be a usually momentous moment for his campaign and

really for the history of american democracy. who is eligible to run for office. host: thanks for that. the u.s. government is working to assess what intelligence material was compromised after a former u.s. ambassador to bolivia was arrested last month. he is accused of acting as a cuban spy for more than 40 years while at the state department. he was secretly recorded by an underground or -- by an undercover officer, boasting about his decades long double life as a cuban agent. will grant sent this report. will: during his career he was the number two in this building behind me. the u.s. embassy in havana. this seems incredible that he could have risen so high in the diplomatic service while allegedly working for the cuban government, perhaps a brazen example of hiding in plain sight, disguising his true beliefs under a facade of right

wing conservativism. but one man who was not surprised is the former chief of counterintelligence at the cia. he says it is a common misconception that after the fall of the berlin wall, when the kgb stepped back, cuba's intelligence services became blunted. not so, he says, in fact they are more sophisticated than ever. >> i considered the cubans more disciplined and effective pound for pound than the kgb ever was. the fact that the kgb may be stanching the sbr today that it had in the past i don't think affects their ability to carry out operations in any right. they have surpassed the kgb in terms of tradecraft and motivation and resistance to penetration. host: for its part, cuba has made no comment on the arrest and the charges the man is facing in miami.

when spy craft is discussed, the basic position of cuba is that it is forced to use every method at its disposal to defend the revolution from 60 years of excessive u.s. administrations trying to force the communist run government from power. one of the most famous spies in cuba is a man called geraldo hernandez, part of a group that infiltrated anti-castro cuban-american groups in florida in the 1990's. he was arrested in 1998 on conspiracy to commit espionage charges and spent 16 years in prison after being released in a prisoner swap. >> the u.s. has a relationship with countries that sponsor terrorism, and they have cuba on that list. they are the ones that have terrorists operating against cuba. cuba has no choice but to seek for that kind of information to

protect our country. >> is it going on now, that same work? are there people doing that work now around the world and in the united states? >> i have retired a long time ago. i cannot tell you that for sure. i would hope that all the time the terrorists plan against cuba, that someone is protecting our people. >> so far, mr. roger has not entered a plea. the trial in miami will be one of the most keenly followed espionage cases in the long history of spying between washington and havana. host: paralympians oscar pistorius has been freed on parole in prison nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend. the story has shocked him. pistorius served over half of

his jail sentence for a crime and a trial that gripped international audiences. voters go to the polls in bangladesh this weekend, where the incumbent prime minister, who has been in power since 2009, is expected to win a fourth term. that is thanks in no small part to a boycott by the main opposition party, who accused the government of violently cracking down on anyone who speaks out against them. correspondent: meandering through these streets and alleyways, lined with local posters, most are for candidates for the ruling party. but something is missing. there are no opposition posters to be seen. this woman has a story to tell, but she is afraid to speak in public, so we take her somewhere discrete. we are not using her name to protect her identity. her husband, a well-known worker for the country's main

opposition party, the bangladesh nationalist party, or bnp, he was arrested last year. and 26 days after his arrest, his son got a call that his father died in jail. >> three days earlier my son saw his father healthy. my daughter spoke to him. i spoke to him. i saw him. my son keeps saying, no, my father can't die like this. when he asked them how he died, they said we don't know, just come to the morgue and take him. correspondent: she said when she saw her husband, he had marks all over his body, hands and face. authorities told her he died of natural causes, but she believes he was tortured. her story was not in isolation, especially in the lead up to the elections. there has been a severe crackdown on freedom of expression and peaceful protests. according to human rights watch,

authorities here are engaged in mass arrests and using excessive force, torture, even extrajudicial killings. and who are the main targets? it is anyone that is critical of this current government. it is also the claim of the bnp, who say they have come under attack when they speak. >> yes you can speak freely, but no one is going to take the responsibility of the consequence, because those people who spoke freely, they were arrested, they were beaten, they were tortured, and then some of them were killed in the jail. correspondent: although he is speaking with us, he takes precautions too. he does not sleep at his house at night, saying that is when authorities come and arrest people. this bnp rally held in october was calling for the resignation of the prime minister. a peaceful protest turned violent.

two police officers were killed. human rights watch says more than 10,000 opposition members were arrested. the bnp claims government forces instigated the violence as part of their crackdown on any dissent. but the minister of justice says that is just not true. >> they are allowed to say what they want to say, but they are not allowed to preach violence. the 28th of october, the bnp activists attacked the house of the chief justice. the apartments of the judges of the high court and supreme court. as they are responsible for the law and order situation, they took things under their control, arrested the leaders on specific charges. all of them have been arrested on specific charges. none has been arrested arbitrarily. correspondent: all 10,000

people? >> of course. correspondent: with the opposition party boycotting these elections, the people of bangladesh are left with two options. vote for the current ruling government, like these supporters are, or vote for independents who are also supporting the ruling government. either way, it will likely be a win for the prime minister, who is determined to show the world that her country can hold free and fair elections. bbc news. host: before we go, what are the colors you think of when you imagine neptune and urine us? new research from u.k. astronomers tell us the idea of these planets might be slightly wrong. images from a space mission in the 1890's showed neptune to be a rich blue and uranus green, but a study reveals the two ice diane sare similar shades of -- the two planets are similar

shades of greenish blue. winter is when one of its poles it pointed toward the sun. spring and autumn, when the sun is pointed over the equator, it has a bluer tinge. you can find out more about all of the days news at our website, bbc.com/news. you can see what we are working on at any time by checking us out on your favorite social media platform. that is it for the moment. thank you for watching world news america. do take care. bye. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the newshour tonight. the supreme court takes up the case of whether former president trump can be kept off the 2024 ballot. a longtime leader of the national rifle association steps down, raising questions about the organization's future influence on gun laws in america. and marking three years since the january 6th insurrection, president biden warns in a campaign speech that rising political violence poses a grave threat to the nation's