♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program

is provided by... woman: two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds, giving these former race dogs a real chance to win. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. 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 and this is "bbc n world news america." benjamin netanyahu meets joe biden and vice president kamala harris separately to discuss a cease-fire. >> i want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50

years for the support of the state of israel. caitriona: three hottest days ever bring extreme weather and stoke wildfires. the stage is set in paris for the 2024 summer olympics with less than a day to go until the opening ceremony. ♪ caitriona: hello and welcome to world news america. i am caitriona perry. joe biden is hosting the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu at the white house in an effort to bridge gaps between the allies over the conflict in gaza. it is their first face-to-face meeting since president biden traveled to israel just days after the hamas attack inside the country on october 7. they discuss negotiations to get

a cease-fire in gaza and the release of israeli hostages. talks that mr. netanyahu sent were ongoing during his speech to congress on wednesday. the relationship between the two leaders has been at times contentious. president biden previously criticized israel for the 39,000 palestinians killed estimated by the hamas led health ministry. today, mr. netanyahu paid tribute to joe biden. >> mr. president, we have known each other for 40 years and you have known every israeli prime minister for 50 years. from a proud jewish zionist to a proud irish-american zionist, i want to thank you for 50 years of public service and support for the state of israel that look forward to working with you in the months ahead on the issues before us. caitriona: prime minister netanyahu is also holding talks with vice president kamala

harris in a separate meeting that comes amid a shift in u.s. politics where ms. harris is now the presumptive democratic nominee for president after joe biden abandoned his bid for reelection. our north america -- correspondent has been following those meetings. >> it was another day of protests that has followed benjamin netanyahu around washington. during which mr. netanyahu was meeting president biden and kamala harris later after that meeting. the vice president. that meeting on taking increased importance because of her run for the democratic nomination and the presidency itself. what the u.s. administration is trying to pressure mr. netanyahu to accept a cease-fire and hostage release deal. they believe he is now becoming the biggest block to this thing moving forward and they are

desperately trying to get it over the line. the key focus of these discussions between mr. biden and mr. netanyahu. the problem for the american president if he does not have a strong track record in persuading mr. netanyahu, getting him to do what he wants. it has been a -- relationship over the issue of the desperate situation in gaza. with a very large number of palestinian civilians killed by the israeli offensive and a lack of humanitarian aid to gaza. when mr. biden has tried to get mr. netanyahu to change tactics, he has struggled. this has always been a very fraught relationship, the one it continues to be underpinned by the bedrock of the ties between these countries and the military assistance to the israelis and that has continued virtually untouched. caitriona: prime minister netanyahu's visit comes as the

israeli military said it discover the bodies of five israeli hostages that were taken back to gaza following the october 7 attack. the bodies of maya goren, reviewed army accounts, oren goldin, tomer ahimas and korea brodsky were found on wednesday. the israeli military said ms. goren were killed. their bodies were taken back to gaza. the announcement means 111 people taken hostage by hamas are still in captivity. family members of those held hostage in gaza met prime minister netanyahu and president biden in washington. our correspondent in jerusalem has been following the reaction in jerusalem to mr. netanyahu's trip to washington. >> big questions will be about

the messages passed to benjamin netanyahu behind closed doors with president biden likely to have pushed him to go further toward reaching the cease-fire deal that has put on the table for so long. u.s. officials say they believe they are in the closing stages of a deal. they have said this time and time again for only for things to collapse. benjamin netanyahu has delayed a delegation going back to dell half or more talks. probably a sign the talks have stalled. in terms of the message past from kamala harris, she has been more forthright in her criticism of how israel has prosecuted the war in gaza. she would be mindful of the difficult balance she did to have between america support for israel and winning back democrats who have deserted joe biden because of his support for israel over the last nine months. it could be a much more tense relationship that benjamin netanyahu would have a kamala

harris then he has had with joe biden. in terms of the regional reaction to mr. netanyahu's speech in congress, his supporters are delighted with how he has framed this as defense of the jewish state and speaking at the heart of the political establishment. his critics, among them the family of the hostages, or horrified he made no reference of the cease-fire deal that is on the table. according to opinion polls, 2/3 of israelis believe priority needs to be ending the war and get the hostages home while only 1/4 believe the priority is to continue war until total victory. among palestinians, there will be horror at the idea he did not mention the 39,000 people killed in gaza since this war began. constantly deflected blame on the ground in gaza. as a reminder of the toll the

war has taken, five more bodies of israeli hostages returned to israel, killed since october 7 with the widespread feeling in israeli society that the longer the war goes on, the fewer hostages will return alive. caitriona: joining me now to discuss today's developments is a career u.s. diplomat with extensive experience in the middle east and a director of middle east studies at baylor university. thank you for joining us. this meeting between joe biden and benjamin netanyahu now that the president is not running for election, will he have a different focus on this issue? >> it is an interesting question and i am glad we were just hearing about how this is playing in israel. in many ways, that is netanyahu 's primary focus in this visit. to generate a change in his own rather dismal political standing at home. the change here with president

biden no longer seeking reelection, with vice president harris looking like the nominee, does change both dynamics for prime minister netanyahu, and also in the news cycle in general. looking at what president biden is likely to say, you are right. he is less constrained by the need to consider the various political dynamics, domestically. is he likely to come out and say icj was correct? note. he will not make that change. he is fundamentally and has always been someone who supports israel. on the other hand i think he is much more likely to make a stronger statement to prime minister netanyahu that the approach that he is taking, the

approach to military destruction of everything in gaza, is not acceptable to him. now, the question is, will he be able to back that up? will he be able to do anything effective with the government the way it is and in the time that he has remaining? i think it will if they choose to make that public be a significant statement both in the united states and in israel. what i do not know how public such a statement would be. caitriona: why would the vice president hold a separate meeting with the israeli prime minister? does that indicate there is some water between their two positions? joanne: not necessarily. there is a different role of each meeting.

i think president biden wants to have that "this is my last meeting." he as president has a different role from a vice president. in addition, the vice president is the candidate presumptive for the democratic party. from that point of view, it is useful for her to establish her own meeting with him. caitriona: sorry to interrupt you, but as we are talking we are looking at the latest pictures coming to us now, the meeting getting underway between the vice president and the prime minister at the white house. you were about to mention he is traveling to florida to meet the former president donald trump, the republican nominee. joanne: yes. it is particularly interesting because while president trump -- while donald trump was

president, he was as supportive of netanyahu as anyone could be. supportive of israel. he and netanyahu have very much the same political views -- trump is less likely to consider the eventual repercussions of things that he does and says. he was pushing full on to give netanyahu everything that he wanted. however, he was also very angry that netanyahu congratulated biden -- not immediately but did congratulate him on winning the presidency -- and they have not spoken for a long time. if netanyahu thinks that trump is going to be successful, he is going to go down there and try to build a relationship with the person he thinks is going to be the next president.

if after meeting vice president harris he thinks it is up in the air or might go against trump, then he might not be as likely to say, "hey, let's make a deal, we can do this together." i think that will hinge on what happens today. caitriona: we did hear from the prime minister a plea for more military aid to be sent to him from the u.s. should the usb considering that given what you said earlier about the humanitarian crisis and the icj ruling? joanne: it is problematic. even though the israelis have said they are doing everything they can to minimize civilian casualties, the point is there have been tens of thousands of civilians, women, children, killed. the health situation is dismal.

the humanitarian situation is dismal. i think it is very difficult to say we should send more weapons because they are being used entirely appropriately. how american weapons are used by israel will come back and affect how other countries see the united states. as a former diplomat, i take that very seriously because our ability to do good things in the world and build relationships with a range of countries depends on how they see us. caitriona:. j okoanne, career diplomat, thank you for speaking with us on bbc news. joanne: my pleasure. caitriona: the u.n. secretary general set humanity is facing an extreme heat epidemic after global temperatures again broke records. researchers said sunday, monday

and tuesday were the three hottest days recorded on earth. antonio guterres said people are suffering under temperatures topping 50 degrees celsius, 122 degrees fahrenheit, halfway to boiling. he called for action to protect vulnerable people, workers and cities from the impact of heat waves and supreme events. in canada, a wildfire is ravaging a tourist town and the surrounding national park. 25,000 people have been forced to leave jasper national park. danielle smith said 50% of buildings in the town of jasper could have been destroyed at this point. >> for many generations, the town of jasper and the park surrounding it have been a source of pride. our grandparents visited to

experience the majesty of this place. with its mountains. and lakes and meadows. they took our parents, who then took us to this special spot. caitriona: the premier speaking. heavy rain is hampering the efforts of search and rescue teams deployed to the scenes of devastating lance in southern ethiopia. more than 250 bodies have been recovered from the area southwest of the capital. the united nations has warned the number of people killed could double. some 14,000 people are in need of version evacuation. >> this is a village deep in

ethiopia that has been a city of tragedy. two landslides in consecutive days have claimed more than 200 lives. many people are mourning. many are still looking for their loved ones. if work is done manually, there is shock and disbelief and grief. most -- during the second landslide. that was after several people from local communities and neighboring villages rushed here to help save and rescue people who were buried during the first landslide. this is a fairly remote and underdeveloped area. to arrive here, we had to fly here to the largest city in the area. after that we had to drive for more than five hours. it is not easily acceptable.

that remoteness appears to have hampered emergency response efforts. now the most pressing issue right here appears to be finding bodies. because at this point it seems very unlikely to find survivors. after that, the authorities will have the responsibility of helping survivors and families of the victims. beyond that there is a larger question. several areas in southern ethiopia have been identified by the u.n. to be at risk of extreme events like flooding and landslides. tackling that issue will be a huge question for authorities in the coming months and years. caitriona: let's have a look now at some other important stories from around the world. coast guard officials say they are racing against time to contain what could potentially

be the worst oil spill in the philippines history. a tanker carrying almost 1.5 million liters of oil capsized in rough seas whipped up by typhoon gaemi. crew member the captain tried to return to land but the tanker had taken on too much water. the oil spill has already spread over several kilometers within the bay were an estimated 31 million people live. the u.s. has seen better-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter. the world's biggest economy grew by 2.8% between april and june, twice as fast as in the first three months of the year. inflation subsided over the same period, raising expectations the federal reserve could cut rates in september or october. this time tomorrow the olympic flame will be a light in paris at the opening ceremony of the 33rd olympic summer games.

the french president is hosting world leaders and olympic officials. a huge security operation is in place across the city with world leaders and thousands of athletes expected at the eiffel tower. let's take a look at some key olympic facts and figures that show the scale of this event. 10,500 athletes from over 200 countries or olympic committees plus a refugee team will be competing. there are 32 olympic sports this year including a new one called breaking. the first dance sport as an olympic competition. over 15 million visitors are expected to descend on paris for the games and the city has 45,000 volunteers ready to help them. there are 35 venues around paris , france and one as far away as tahiti. some of the most iconic sites in

paris provide the backdrop too many events including the eiffel tower and the palace. our correspondent has been out and about on the streets of the french capital looking how paris is getting ready and what security measures are in place. >> on the people day this bridge is the last point in central paris where you can cross over from the left bank to the right bank and vice versa. massive security across the city means every other bridge has been sealed off. even here, as you can see with these security barricades, which are everyone around here, which means we are hemmed in against the edge of the bridge. it is a great view toward the eiffel tower. there is all this seating more the vips will watch the ceremony. in the middle, these strange islands. something to do with the ceremony. we do not know precisely what. they look halfway between the skate park in a formal french

garden. that marriage of tradition. the river is the centerpiece of the opening ceremony. central paris, historic paris is where the olympics are at. right here in the middle of town. obviously the disruption is enormous. this time of year, residents leave the city in droves. the city empties. it is like part of an ancient mass migration. it is good news for tourists. and sports fans. olympic fans. the city is yours. caitriona: typhoon gaemi is moving toward southern china after pummeling taiwan and the philippines with torrential rains and strong winds.

authorities have issued the first run alert for. parts of the southeastern coast the storm hit taiwan killing three people and forcing thousands to evacuate. officials said a cargo ship with nine burmese nationals had sunk with no response from the crew. our correspondent is in taipei. >> as you can probably see it is still raining here in taipei. it has been raining solidly for the last 24 hours. the winds have dropped. the storm has pretty much passed in terms of winds. heading to the southeast coast of china. it sat over the island for most of the night. it slowed right down and did a big circle over taiwan and moved very slowly over the mountains last night. that means there was a huge amount of rainfall. that has caused extensive flooding in the east and south of the islands.

as you say, several people have been reported as being killed from falling trees and falling masonry during those very high winds last night. other than that, the damage, fortunately, appears to have been limited. quite extensive flooding but in terms of structural damage, it appears to be fairly limited and most places, have escaped fairly unscathed. there is a report off the south coast of taiwan sinking and the crew of that ship is currently missing. that is what the coast guard is telling us. there is a rescue operation to try to find the crew of the ship. other than that, the storm has mainly passed and is heading for the southeast coast of china. caitriona: back to the fun and games in paris. the opening ceremony may not have yet started but the first world record has already been set at the paris olympics. the south korean archer scored

694 out of a maximum of 720 in the ranking round of the women's individual archery. she leads a young korean squad looking for a tense gold-medal -- tens gold-medal -- tenth gold-medal. as always, you can keep up to date with all of the news on our website, bbc.com/news. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. 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: "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 nawaz is away. on the "newshour" tonight, the new presidential matchup takes shape, with vice president kamala harris trying to rally support from key voting blocs and former president trump sharpening his attacks.