♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by...

woman: a law partner rediscovers her grandmother's artistry and creates a trust to keep the craft alive. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions and the way you enrich your community. life well planned. man: cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor. diverse destinations. and immersive experiences. a world of leisure... and british style. all with cunard's "white-star" service. announcer: 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"

n washington. n this is "bbc world news america." mexico elects its first female president following an election cycle mark by violence and crime. israel announces the deaths of four hostages in captivity as pressure mounts on israel and hamas to accept the latest cease-fire plan. a jurist morning for the trial of.s. president biden's son hunter on gun charges. ♪ welcome to "world news america." it has been in a historic day in mexico where claudia sheinbaum was elected as the first woman president. sheinbaum claimed the presidency in a landslide victory, winning 60% of the vote, 30 points ahead of her main rival.

was president joe biden called claudia sheinbaum to congratulate her on the victory and said in a statement "i look forward to working closely with president-elect sheinbaum in the spirit of partnership and friendship that reflects the enduring bonds between our two countries." he went on to say "i also congratulate the mexican people for conducting a successful democratic electoral process inlving races for more than 20,000 positions at the local, state, and federal levels." sheinbaum was assigned as president, and she says she will prioritize welfare programs, tackling the deficit and encouraging private investment. her critics say her presidency will be an extension of the current president's time in fice. she promises to improve the lives of women and address the nation's's rising violence. the elections were marred by violence and threats. a mayoral candidate was reportedly murdered after polls closed, among dozens of candidates killed over the course of the campaign. that's go to our corresponnt

who is standing by in mexico tonight. always good to see you. tell us about claudia sheinbaum and her victory. will: it really was an historic moment. not just for her personally, she had already been the first female mayor of mexico cit which was an impressive breakthrough for a woman politician in a society like mexico's. it is an historic moment for the entire country. this is to -- two centuries of male dominance of the top office, and she was the person to break through. and her victory speech, she was clear to make her thanks known to everybody whoad supported her along the way. i did not do this on my own, and it really was knitting -- was a day where all mexico has reflected just on what a night of an historic win that was for her.

it is a new day in mexican politics. after two centuries of men in power, when voters eventually chose their first female president, it was with a landslide. victory itself was a moment to savor for claudia sheinbaum, and she was quick to acknowledge the many women who blazed a trail before her. i didn't get here on my own, we got here together, she said. thanks to our ancestors, our mothers, daughters, and granddaughters. in a nation of such entrenched matches, what claudia sheinbaum has achieved is no small feat. other women have tried and failed, but her offer of continuity with a governing party social policies which have pulled millions from poverty have proved popular with the electorate. this election has been historic for all the wrong reasons too. it has been mexico's most violent campaign in living memory, with dozens of candidates murdered as they saw for votes.

in this -- in a city, a mayoral candidate with ms. sheinbaum's own party was gunned down in the street. murder, a sign of the president-elect, one which her critics say she is not up to. rather they say she will be a puppet of her thoritarian mentor, president andrea is men well lopez obrador. speaking to the bbc, she denied that accusation. >> of course i am of the same moment with lopez obrador. we fought together for 20 years, or more than 20 years. to have the government that we have. and the opportunity for mexican people, and the right for mexican people. and of course, i'm going to live in a different time in history. will: mexico may have turned a corner with claudia sheinbaum's win, but it is still a nation where women are treated as inferior. where a little women and girls are murdered every day. to curtail that violence, she

must succeed where so many men before her failed. will grant, bbc news, mexico city. after the -- the excitement of the night, you can imagine today has felt more prosaic. it has been notable that claudia sheinbaum has focused on the international aspect on the next morning, which is receiving the congratulations from everybody in the region, from el salvador, threw o president biden, down to chile. the full spread of left and right presidents in the region. next is the question of the remaining results in the election. will she get a super majority in the congress? which means she will have much broader margin to push through her political agenda. it is looking like she very may well do so. sumi: will grant reporting from mexico city. as the new government takes shape and mexico, i spoke with a former mexican ambassador to

china about the president-elect and what are victory means for mexico's relations with the world. claudia sheinbaum won by a huge margin. what do you think made her so popular with voters in mexico? >> clearly, they like what the current president is doing. because he has good social programs and many distribution programs. clearly the voters like that. it is a huge mandate she has been getting, not only on her vote, but also she got both houses of congress. most of the governors that were in place. clearly the voters are happy with the way things are going now. and that is something she can take into her government. sumi: is it fair to say she is a continuation of her predecessor? how does she differ from her predecessor? jorge: she certainly campaigned as a continuation of her predecessor. she stuck closely between herself and the -- and the current president.

she campaigned as a continuation. whether she will govern as such remains to be seen. she gave the more pragmatists than the current administration, which is more ideological. she campaigned as a continuation. sumi: where do you think she might be more of a pragmatist? she has talked about these social agenda items, universal pensions, family stipends that have been popular. do you think she will stray on those issues from what the current president did? jorge: i think the biggest difference will be in energy policy. the current administration has been ideological in terms of energy. the state has two on the production and transmission of energy. we have a shortage in energy, the country is facing blackouts. there is not enough energy for the new shoring coming. she said during the campaign that she would allow private investment into the energy sector. there is no way to make up for

that shortage unless you allow private investment. the government does not have enough money to invest in energy production needed. that is where i would be looking at to see if she remains as ideological as the current president, who believes that this should be the sole producer of energy, or if she allows private sector investment. that is my guess. that would be a move toward a more pragmatic approach of governing. sumi: one area where voters have voiced concern is security in the country. that means tackling violent crime and the power of drug cartels. and after the polls closed, we mayoral candidate was killed. what do you think claudia sheinbaum will do to address this problem? jorge: again, she never distanced herself from the current president's policy on fighting crime, which h pretty much failed by all accounts. she was governor of mexico city, she had a very successful crime-fighting operation. she had a security chief who was nonpartisan.

who was very well-liked and approved by the community. and she was quite successful in fighting crime. if she brings that approach again, more pragmatic, more democratic approach to fighting crime, i think mexico will do well. she did not campaign on that. she campaigned on maintaining the current president's policies of hugs, not bullets. meaning they will try to bring organized crime into society as opposed to fighting it. at has not worked so far. she has not said openly she would change it. i hope she does and i assume she will. sumi: we will have to leave it there for today. thank you for joining us on bbc news. jorge: thank you. sumi: jury selection is complete in the criminal trial against hunter biden, the son of u.s. president joe biden, in wilmington, delaware. the 54-year-old is the first child of a sitting president to be a criminal defendant. he is accused of lying about his drug use on an application when he purchased a handgun in 2018.

hunter biden has plead not guilty to the three federal charges he is facing. first lady dr. jill biden was in attendance for day one of the trial. her husband, president biden, sent in a statement that he is proud of his son but would not comment on the case. let's go to our correspondent who is in wilmington covering the trial for us today. how serious are these charges facing hunter biden? tom: these are felony counts. they are serious charges. they could carry a maximum of 25 or jailed as well as a $750,000 fine if convicted. as you say, this dates back to 2018 one hunter biden entered a gun store in wilmington, delaware and bought a handgun, a 38 caliber revolver. that is not in dispute. the issue of dispute is what happened next, which is that the prosecution alleges he ticked a box on the application stating

he was not a user of illegal drugs, when he knew that he was. hunter biden has very publicly talked about his lengthy struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. what the defense says, at this particular time, he did not see himself as an addict and therefore he was not misleading when he ticked the form. and used constitutional arguments about why they say that what happened next in his possession of the gun did not breach gun laws. what we saw today was hunter biden arrive first thing this morning, along with members of the biden family, and as you say, his stepmother, the first lady jill biden. i was watching from the press benches in the courtroom, a few benches ahead, first lady sat very close, just behind the defense attorney's table and hunter biden was there. he glanced at her and looked at her as the proceedings got underway.

it has taken all day and they have screened it down to those 12 men and women who will sit on the jury. sumi: no ow president biden spend with hunter this weekend. what impact does this trial have on him? tom: we have to look at the political dimensions which are unavoidable. that is for a start because republics have, for a long time, tried to link scandal and allegations surrounding hunter biden to his father. that is largely taking place without success on their part. notably because there has not been the compelling evidence, for example, that has made the impeachment proceedings, that have tried to gain traction in the house of representatives really advanced significantly. as for president biden, i think the strategy for the white house seems to be to flip the narrative on all of this. we saw presint biden release a statement in the minutes that the trial was getting underway, saying he could not comment as president on a federal legal case. but he said as a father, that he supported his son in what he

described as his struggle to overcome addiction, and said he had shown strength and resolve in that. he said that was an issue many families can sympathize with. sumi: tom bateman reporting from womankind, delaware. thank you so much. pressure is mounting for israel and hamas to accept a cease-fire proposal outlined by joe biden on friday. leaders of the g7 have endorsed a plan and mr. biden urged qatar's leader to "use all appropriate measures to secure hamas's acceptance of the terms." according to the u.s. state department, hamas has yet to respond to the proposal. the three-part plan would begin with a six-week cease-fire in gaza. there would also be a surge in aid and an exchange of some hostages held by hamas for palestinian prisoners. despite the plan being met with opposition from hard-line members of the israeli government, the state department said it is "completely confident" israel will accept the deal and says a cease-fire

is up to hamas. >> the world should know the palestinian people should know, that the only thing standing in the way of an immediate cease-fire today is hamas. the proposal on the table is nearly identical to what hamas said it would accept a few weeks ago. it is now time for them to act. it is time for them to accept the deal. sumi: the negotiations come as the israeli military says four men taken hostage by hamas on october 7 have died in captivity, and that their bodies are held by hamas. the idf identified the men as -- the army believes they were held together by hamas and died several months ago. in southern gaza, intense israeli airstrikes battered the city of rafah. the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees. says all 36 of its shelters in the area are empty after fighting drove residents away. our correspondent hears from

people inside gaza and in another town on the israel-gaza border. lucy: the price of gaza's war is rising as its cities crumble. the price of peace, too high for leaders on both sides. israel said it had bombed more than 50 targets since yesterday, but hamas is still fighting here and hopes for the new cease-fire deal were mixed. >> hamas should raise its demands and seriously adhere to the conditions they set, which are the people's demands. >> hamas, except the deal. it is enough. enough of what we lost. we urge hamas to stop the war. >> we want a deal, whatever the conditions are, we accept it. the only thing we need to do is go back to our homes. lucy: israel's prime minister is negotiating on two fronts. it's far right allies say he must continue the war until

hamas is destroyed, all -- or they will bring down the government. he has insisted his conditions for a cease-fire have not changed. >> we have gone a long way to return the hostages while keeping the wars of objectives in mind, primarily the elimination of hamas. we will achieve both. it is all part of the plan, not something i have just added. lucy: hamas has said it will not free more hostages without a guarantee the war will end. tonight, israel learned four more captives were confirmed to have died. after almost eight months of war, much of northern gaza lies in ruins, but israel's prime minister is struggling to end the war because he has not achieved his war goals. he has not brought back all the hostages.

he has not destroyed hamas. the u.s. president says hamas is no longer capable of carrying out the kind of attack it did on the seventh of october. but israeli's living here by the gaza border say they still don't feel safe. this is the last time she saw her neighborhood. trapped in her home by the gaza border as hamas a gunman ran through the streets. she and her three children fled to jerusalem the next day. cease-fire now, she says, will not be enough to send them home. >> a few years from now, you will be the next hostages. you will be the next people who get murdered, women who are raped, this will happen again. the cease-fire will kill us. lucy: ending this conflict rests with the leaders of israel and thomas. locked in a war for their own survival.

lucy williamson, bbc news. sumi: for more perspective, i spoke to someone who served as israel's ambassador to the u.s. in the 1990's. there has been a back-and-forth over whether president biden accurately described this cease-fire agreement that is on the table. israeli official saying it is not accurate or partially accurate. the white house saying it is accurate. how do you describe what we are seeing? why are seeing this dissonance? >> there is one difference between what the israeli position has been in the biden administration, and the biden oposal. that is a pretty and corking. namely, the end of the war. the netanyahu government claims they have a back-and-forth with the biden administration. it has not agreed to end the war. with the cease-fire, but not the

end of the war. what we may see what we've seen many times in the past when mediators, particularly they are a superpower, they believe an extra step of their own initiative to create a deal. that may be what we are witnessing now. sumi: this question of the end of the war has been a point of criticism of prime minister netanyahu in israel itself. we know the two other members of his war cabinet had publicly criticized the prime minister over not having a plan for what the end of the war and day after would look like. how much is that weighing on prime minister netanyahu's coalition and his government? itamar: it was not part of the coalition. they are part of the war cabinet. they may very well be on their way out as it is.

this program is not so much for them, but with the two right wing radicals. they publicly announced that if they accept the plan, they will step out of the government. which would mean the end of his government. and something that he is very jealously trying to keep, prime minister, the head of the government for him, which seems to be a high priority. i think the bottom line is of course, it is very awkward to say straight no to the president of the united states, but he is building up towards that. and he will avoid a coalition, but may very well face a crisis in his relationship with the biden administration. sumi: the prime minister keeping his post as a high priority for him. is a higher priority than

talking about a way to end the war? itamar: i'm afraid i have to say yes. i think that is one of the complaints many israelis have against the prime minister. that he puts staying in power at the top, while one expects the prime minister to put the interest of the state in the people ahead of his own. sumi: we know that the families of the hostages who are still in captivity in gaza, they have been putting pressure on the prime minister. we saw the news that israeli officials have tragically confirmed the deaths of four more hostages. what effect do you think that will have -- what impact do you think that will have? itamar: it already has an impact. the issuer of the hostages has become maybe the most prominent issue on the agenda.

the complaint of the families and many others, the longer the war takes, the less these people are likely to come back. which is confirmed by the death of four more. it adds to the pressure on the government. if you take this and take the expected departure, the pressure on the government, on the ability to keep the government going, even with a parliamentary majority, that pressure is just going to be done. sumi: just want to ask you one more question, coming back to the question of the end of the war. prem -- prime minister netanyahu has said that israel must do this in that, defeating hamas. is it clear in his vision what defeating hamas looks like? itamar: no, it's not. i think the war aims have been

ambitiously and broadly said at the outset. so broad, that they are almost meaningless. it is clear the war is not going to end with what we call a victory. that is not in the books. the question is to minimize the loss, not to maximize the profits. that is not going to happen. it just adds to the general commotion in the country. sumi:sumi: ambassador, good to get your perspective on this story. . thank you so much for joining us. itamar: thank you for having me. sumi: just one more item for you. a couple from new york who were magnet fishing in a lake is celebrating after finding a safe containing $100,000. magnet fishing involves trailing a line with a powerful magnet attached to find treasure they have been told they can keep the cash. the couple who started magnet fishing during the pandemic previously found world war ii era grenades, 19th-century guns,

and a full-sized motorbike. this is the moment ty made their discovery. >> that is a safe. that is definitely another safe. >> i see a box. >> it is a hard click. that's money. >> no way. >> yeah. >> no way. oh! it is! stacks of bills, dude! hundreds! . oh my god. >> we have like $20,000 here. stacks, baby. sumi: a lucky find. that is our program at this hour. you can always find more on our website, bbc.com/news. we are covering the historic victory for claudia sheinbaum as the first woman president in mexico. you will find all of our reporting and analysis from our correspondence there. for all of the latest, follow us on your favorite social media as well. i am sumi somaskanda in washington. thank you so much for watching "world news america." ♪

announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming.