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hello and welcome to world news america. i'm caitriona perry. buckingham palace says king charles has been diagnosed with cancer. they released a statement saying , during the king's recent procedure for benign prostate enlargement, an area of concern was noticed. tests have identified a form of cancer his majesty has commenced his schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised to postpone public facing duties. his majesty will undertake state business and official paperwork as usual. the statement continues, the king is grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention, made possible thanks to his recent hoital procedure. he remains positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible. it continues, his majesty has

chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer. buckingham palace has not said how advanced the cancer is or what kind it is. just that it is not prostate cancer. the queen consort will support the king while he undergoes treatment and will undergo her full schedule. king charles will continue meeting the prime minister weekly and undertaking other state duties. the king's family was told along with the public. prince harry will head to the u.k. to see the king in the coming days. u.s. president joe biden reacted, saying navigating a cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship takes hope and jill and i joined the united kingdom praying his majesty experiences a swift and full

recovery. to talk more about this, we are joined by sarah campbell. the king just left hospital last week and we are told it was during this day, cancer was diagnosed. what has the palace set about the timing of the announcement? sarah: what we know is what you have read from the statement. he was admitted to hospital at the end of last month. we were told at the time it was treatment for a benign prostate enlargement. to be given that level of detail in itself with regards to the health of a senior royal was unusual. he was treated and spent three nights in hospital at a private hospital in central london, then was discharged on the 29th of january and waved from the hospital steps, got into a car

and left. we had the news today, which was released and came out of the blue, that he had a form of cancer. this was obviously discovered while he had the treatment for the benign prostate enlargement. we don't know the specific kind of cancer, which was discovered, but we know it was not prostate cancer. we know he returned from sandringham, about an hour north of london, returned to london yesterday and he started treatment for this form of cancer. and the treatment will continue. he is being treated as an outpatient here in london and the treatment is ongoing. caitriona: do we know what will happen to his work and his royal

duties as he undergoes treatment? sarah: that is a good question. anyone who knows someone who has been treated for cancer knows whichever treatment you undergo, it will take it out of you physically. what we know is that in terms of public facing duties, going out and meeting people, may be trips abroad, those are on hold at the moment. the palace has been very keen to say that in terms of other duties, the red boxes, where he looks through daily state papers , that kind of thing will continue. he will continue to meet with prime minister every week. he will continue with as much of his duties as possible. obviously in line with the schedule of his treatment and presumably, on doctors advice as well. so we will wait and see. no travel is expected while the

schedule of treatment goes on, but he is still very much in charge as monarch. caitriona: the king wanted to streamline the top team of royals who carry out those duties during his reign. with him undergoing this treatment, the princess of wales and recovery, and a number of other royals stepping back from royal duties, what will this mean for the team who are left to carry out those duties over the coming weeks? sarah: i think as far as the royal family and health are concerned, it has been an unsettling start to 2024. we had the king's diagnosis, the benign prostate, and now the cancer diagnosis. at the same time, princess of wales catherine was having abdominal surgery. she was discharged on the same day and is not expected to undertake public duties until at least easter.

sarah ferguson, not a working royal but very much close to the family, a member of the family, she had her own diagnosis so it has been a difficult start to 2024. what it means in reality is for those members of the family who are fit and well at the moment, they will have to take on more duties. we are talking about prince william of course, who has to cope not only with his wife's convalescence and recuperation from abdominal surgery but also the news his father has been diagnosed with cancer. prince william will have to take on more duties. the princess royal, princess and -- anne, king charles' sister, will take on more. but over the years, with the loss of prince harry and the duke of york as working royals, there are fewer members of the family to pick up the slack but that is what they will have to

do over the next few months or as long as the king needs them to undertake those duties. from the messages we have received and the guidance from the palace, i think it will be queen camilla who will have to shoulder a lot more engagements. we should expect to see her out and about carrying out a full schedule of engagements. caitriona: sarah campbell, thank you. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is in the middle east for the fifth time since the october 7 attacks on israel by hamas. he touched down in saudi arabia monday, his first stop on a tour that will see him travel to egypt, qatar, and the west bank later this week. he is expected to discuss humanitarian aid in gaza and advancing negotiations for a possible cease-fire and hostage deal between israel and hamas. brokering the terms of the deal will likely be the focus of his

talks. secretary blinken's visit comes after the u.s. had it carried out more strikes against houthi missiles in yemen sunday, the second round of attacks in yemen over the weekend following airstrikes saturday by the u.s. and u.k. the houthi and continues to attack military and commercial ships that it says are linked to israel. the u.s. is planning other strikes in the region after a drone attack on a base in georgia -- in jordan killed u.s. troops. iran says accusations of its involvement in the attack are baseless. joining me to discuss this is david hale, former u.s. ambassador to pakistan, lebanon and jordan and served as under secretary of state. thank you for joining us. antony blinken said he didn't think there was a dangerous time as now since 1973 if not before

that. put into context how sensitive the situation is. david: thank you. it is extremely sensitive and i think he is right to characterize the situation as he did. i would identify the new factor, the new reality we are dealing with in the labonte that we didn't -- in the levant that we didn't face in the past, which is the primary role of iran done did proxies. iran is choreographing what is setting the agenda for conflict with the u.s. and our allies. that is a new dimension to the problems the secretary of state will tackle. caitriona: the u.s. has repeatedly said it doesn't want the conflict to spread through the region. there have been strikes in iraq, syria and yemen. what will the secretary say about what happens next? david: the conflict has spread.

i understand why any administration would not want to try to amplify the risks and fuel the escalation, but the fact is, it is escalating. as long as the u.s. wants to maintain its influence and presence in the middle east, we have to be prepared to deal with that escalation. and then reduce it. i don't know what the secretary is saying to his counterparts on this trip. i'm sure he is emphasizing immediate problems related to the humanitarian crisis which is tragic, in gaza, finding a solution to the problem of the hostages and getting a cease-fire in place. looking forward to a longer-term strategy, iran is the challenge we are facing so i hope he is putting that on the table. we need a comprehensive approach to the iranian threat. caitriona: jordan is a key u.s.

ally in the region. is there a role for jordan here? david: king of della, -- abdullah, like his father, have been advocates for peace. i have no doubt the jordanians are looking for ways to counsel the u.s. and other countries on the best approach to make sure we are finding solutions with the palestinian authority and others to deal with that problem. but the issues are very deep. what i'm hearing from the leaks coming out of the administration is old solutions that don't face new realities. the new realities are, the arabian factor -- iranian factor, the collapse of the palestinian authority, and the absence of support in israel and among many palestinians for a two state outcome. a lot of work has to be done working with jordan, egypt and

other partners for peace, creating a new pathway to establish a road that gets us to a peaceful outcome. caitriona: you mentioned talks that are progressing around releasing further hostages and a pause in fighting to get the much needed humanitarian aid in. do you think the secretary's presence in the region might an effort, and impact in pushing talks forward? david: one of the tools in our kit is the secretary of state being a force you can't ignore. when he or she arrives on your doorstep you have to deal with the secretary of state and the united states. that is why five trips by the american secretary of state is important and it demonstrates the seriousness of the problem. i go back to the core issue. the cease-fire and hostage exchange proposal has been in front of hamas for a week. we have been waiting for a week

and we don't talk to hamas, we don't apparently talk to the iranians and they are waiting. they apparently don't want to deal, or they want some other kind of deal which may or may not be feasible or in our interest. so we have to face that reality, that we aren't able to resolve the problem unless we can overcome the obstacles thrown up by hamas and now iran. that is very different than the strategies related to how we tackled the palestinian issues in the past. caitriona: thank you for joining us. david hale, former u.s. ambassador to pakistan, lebanon and jordan. after months of negotiations, the u.s. senate released a bipartisan deal to crack down on security at the u.s.-mexico border and send billions of dollars in funding to ukraine, israel and taiwan. a labor union representing u.s. border agents have endorsed it, but its future is in the house of representatives and the

future is uncertain. after republicans came out against it. the $118 billion agreement is considered the strongest border security package in decades. out of the funding, $20 billion would be for border control, $60 billion would support ukraine and $14 billion is for security aid for israel. the deal is receiving backlash, with republican congressional leaders saying the bill is, as they put it, dead on arrival. with me is our north america correspondent. that point from the speaker that the bill will be dead on arrival, why does it not go far enough or house republicans? >> this bill is already tough. for many democrats, it is too tough. it doesn't include some of the things they want like a pathway to citizenship for undocumented migrants. in terms of republicans, they want harder measures, things like ramping up border wall

construction. they want to reduce or end parole programs that migrants can take where they live and work legally in the u.s. while waiting to have their claims processed. there is a proposed limit that said the border will shut down entry, so if there is more than an average 5000 border deck -- people crossing, they will shut down the border but republicans say they don't want it to get to 5000. they think it is too weak. the former president donald trump, the de facto leader of the republican party, wants to make immigration a big issue for his reelection campaign and he has been actively campaigning against the deal. caitriona: what is likely to happen next? >> it is looking like it probably won't pass. if you look at the numbers, it would take 41 senators to sink it. at the moment you have 21 who have publicly said they are not backing it. 12 say they will back it and as we approach wednesday, were you

have this vote, more people are coming from both sides who say they don't want the bill to go through. it would need 60 votes to advance. it is looking like it will probably be hard to reach that number. president biden has said if the bill is passed, he will shut down the border immediately and he is angry at congressional republicans. he said to them, i am ready to clamp down on the border in the way you demanded, and he has said, do you want to solve the problem or do you want to play politics with the border? caitriona: thank you for that. chile began a two day mourning period after the most catastrophic emergency since the 2010 earthquakes. officials raised the death toll to 122 people. hundreds remain missing. over 14,000 homes have been damaged by flames. a curfew has been imposed in the

hardest hit regions. military personnel have been deployed to assist firefighters. sunday, authorities said 165 active fires burned across the central region. officials believe lower temperatures and cloud cover forecast over the coming days could help authorities battle the fires. britain's africa minister told the bbc there is every danger ethiopia will be engulfed with famine unless action is taken to prevent it. the warning is code by regional leaders and international charities -- who say world is ignoring a crisis. some ethiopian authorities say their country as a victim of climate change. others claim political turmoil. the u.n. head and ethiopia says the world is distracted by gaza and ukraine and officials say at least 400 people died in tigray and other regions due to a and starvation over the past six

months. the governments of the warnings was -- were exaggerated but acknowledged droughts are affecting certain areas. our diplomatic correspondent traveled to ethiopia and sent this report. >> once again, hunger is stalking ethiopia. the babies in this hospital in the northern tigray region are acutely malnourished. their mothers are little better. she is 23. her son has been malnourished since birth. her family's crops failed and there is no food. >> even when i was pregnant, i was not eating a balanced diet, she said. i was not producing enough breastmilk which is why the baby has developed malnutrition. i didn't have enough to eat at home. we traveled north across the

parched highlands that have suffered from successive droughts that many attribute to climate change. with the african minister andrew mitchell, we visited a clinic where anxious mothers cute to get -- queued to get their children assessed. this is largely forgotten crisis. fighting makes some areas and accessible for charities and the world's attention is elsewhere. once again, women are queuing up with children, some hungry, some starving, desperately in need of help. mr. mitchell promised 100,000,000 pounds more in u.k. aid, but the international community has to do more. >> there is clearly a risk of famine if we don't take action. there are serious indicators of the danger of famine. if you ask is there a famine taking place now, i say no but we have the power to stop it.

>> is it a famine? aid verge -- workers are cautious. >> one thing i know, thousands of people have been able to feed themselves. others are succumbing to death because of starvation. whether you call it famine or a risk of famine, to me it is academic. what transpired in 1985 would pale in comparison. >> as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night, it lights up a biblical famine. this is what he is talking about. the famines of the mid-1980's, reported powerfully for the bbc. the government in ethiopia disputes such comparisons, saying the country is a victim of climate change. >> there is a drought. no famine. the government's response thing -- is responding.

we call all stakeholders to do their share. >> the problem is the -- that about one million people in tigray rcamps with little hope f returning to homes occupied by armies. >> you have several overlapping crises in ethiopia. we have drought, people recovering from a two year conflict, rising inflation, a surge in cases of disease. >> without more support, the future for these children could be bleak. caitriona: the leaders of the british and irish governments are in northern ireland to mark the restoration of power-sharing. the british prime minister and the leader of ireland met political leaders after the executive reformed on saturday, ending two years of stalemate. it is the first time a nationalist, someone who wants to see a united ireland, held the post of first minister.

part of the deal to get the democratic union is engaging with the assembly and reassembling the government, up with a package of funding for northern ireland. within hours of the new administration being formed, parties across northern ireland's divide reunited in saying it is not enough. the executive wrote to westminster seeking new funding settlements. let's turn to other news from around the world. a second atmospheric river is flooding california, leaving 700,000 people without power and ground and dozens of lights. it is expected to continue through tuesday, bringing heavy rain that could cause flash floods and mudslides. the storm, packing high winds, is part of a weather phenomenon created by tropical moisture near hawaii. the boeing company says more work needs to be completed on 50

undelivered 737 max jets after their supplier discovered two mis-drilled holes on fuselages. this was confirmed by reuters. it is the latest in a series of blows for boeing, which has been under fire from regulators since the blowout of the door plug on a 737 max. police in senegal dispersed protesters who gathered outside parliament to demand the postponement of this month's presidential poll. demonstrators condemned the president's as a move to cling to power. the decision to delay the pole has prompted concern. a construction firm in korea -- south korea announced $700,000 -- $70,000 for each baby born to employees. the chairman of the group said unless the trend was reversed,

south korea would face a crisis of extinction within 20 years. as always, you can find out about the days news on our website and you can see what we are working on at any time by checking us out on your favorite social media platforms. i'm caitriona perry. that is it for the moment. thank you for watching world news america. take care. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... 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. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the “newshour” tonight, a bipartisan senate deal to fund border security, israel, and ukraine, looks like a no-go after house speaker johnson says it's dead on arrival. geoff: secretary of state blinken returns to the middle east to push for a cease fire and the release of hostages held