this is bbc news. i'm tim willcox. our top stories: a threat to our very existence. as wildfires continue to rage, president biden pledges to make the biggest—ever investment to combat climate change. i will do everything in my power to clean our air and water, protect our people's health, to win the clean energy future. despite winning a confidence vote, is mario draghi about to once more resign as italy's prime minister? inside parliament, sri lanka's lawmakers choose their new president. outside, protests continue against the selection of prime minister ranil wickremesinghe. music and a window

into the past. newly—discovered footage of mardi gras — the oldest moving images of new orleans. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. joe biden used a visit to a former coal plant in massachusetts to issue the latest stark warning on the threat posed by climate change. the us president is using executive powers to usher in measures, including offshore wind farms and expanded flood control. more on that in a moment. meanwhile, wildfires are still raging in europe. in south west france, president macron has been to see the devastation caused by a blaze that forced almost 40,000 people from their homes. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson was there and sent this report.

fire chiefs are too cautious to talk about a turning point, but the fire here has stabilised enough for president macron to visit teste—de—buch today to congratulate the crews. translation: we know the - weaknesses in the management of this forest. we have to make it grow again, but with different rules and precautions. you can see how unstable the situation is even from the forest road. the soil still smouldering, the clearance crews still at work. this is what it takes to stop the fires — a corridor 300 metres wide, cleared of all trees, all fuel for the flames. but firefighters say the fires could still leap across this corridor if the winds in the wrong direction. and for those now waiting out the fire in shelters, fears will linger long after the flames are out. i think it's a global problem for everybody

and in the future, yes, it could be the case for other regions or other countries, like in the uk. what we are living now, they can live it tomorrow or in the future years. what fires like this can do is becoming hard to ignore. in greece last night, firefighters watched as gale force winds swept flames through districts around athens. residents said the fire was moving faster than a car. is this, many ask, the future of summer in europe? when pressure on firefighters has eased again, will the pressure on politicians keep growing? lucy williamson, bbc news, teste—de—buch. well, as we mentioned, president biden has unveiled new executive steps he will make to address climate change which he has described

as an "existential threat" to the united states and the world. $2.3 billion will be spent on a range of new measures. among them — expanding flood control, shoring up utilities, and helping low—income families pay for heating and cooling costs. there's also support for the domestic offshore wind industry. 700,000 acres have been identified in the gulf of mexico for that purpose. president biden had been under pressure to declare a "climate emergency", which would release funds to ramp up production of a wide range of renewable energy products and systems. as president, i have a responsibility to act with urgency and resolve when our nation faces clear and present danger. and that is what climate change is about. it is literally, not figuratively, a clear and present danger. the health of our citizens and our communities is literally at stake. the un's leading international climate scientists call the latest climate report

nothing less than "code red for humanity". that is why today i am making the largest investment ever, $2.3 billion to help communities across the country to build infrastructure that is designed to withstand the full range of disasters we have been seeing up to today. extreme heat, drought, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes. right now, there are millions of people suffering from extreme heat at home. so how far will president biden�*s $2.3 billion climate pledge go? here's the climate scientist peter gleick. well, it won't go very far, but it's a start. the president was forced into this by the inaction of congress, the roadblocks that have been put into place for national policies on climate by the republican party, and one democrat, i'm afraid. so he has been false to take these

executive actions of the things he can do without waiting for the politicians, who are still falling behind on this issue. it is some money, it will provide some funds to deal with the impacts of climate change that we can no longer avoid, but a lot more is going to be needed. you mentioned the legislation, which has been thwarted. i mean, the build back better was a $550 billion bill, wasn't it? but he could have declared a climate emergency, and that would have opened up other revenues, wouldn't it? yes, that's right. the funds he is allocating now come from the infrastructure bill that was previously passed, that provides money for a lot of different things, not explicitly climate change, that is where that funding comes from. he could have declared a climate emergency, and he may still, that would give him more power to free up additionalfunds, under something we call the defence production act, for the national defence.

he hasn't yet done that, but that's a possibility in future days, along with some other actions that he still could take. what about his recent trip to saudi arabia? he is pushing, isn't he, for more oil production, because of the war in ukraine. is that something he should have avoided? well, you know, we are dealing with a lot of different crises, of course. in the short run, he has to deal with the problems with gas prices, which is a political problem, but in the long run, he needs to push the nation to get off of fossil fuels. we don't need more fossil fuels, we can't afford to burn them. if anything the climate crisis is showing us is that the problem isn't we're running out of fossil fuels, the problem is we can't afford to burn what we have, and so in the long run again, we are going to have to ramp up renewable non—carbon energy sources, we are going to to get off of fossilfuels, and we are going to have to deal with the climate changes that now pretty obviously we can no longer avoid. but as you say, he hasn't got the political power to do that at the moment, so what can he do in such

a limited space? so he does have the power to take executive actions. he can issue new regulations for example on transportation, to cut fossil fuel use by cars and trucks, he can impose stricter pollution standards for power plants, not explicitly greenhouse gas standards, but other standards that may make fossil fuel plants more expensive and cut fossilfuel production on federal lands, and then there are a bunch of state actions that the states are going to take that also can drive federal actions. california is going to shortly formalise the first national law to require that all cars in the state be electric, or non—carbon. ultimately, the federal government can do things like that, as well. and just briefly, where does this leave the target for net zero by, what is it, 2050 in the us? part of the problem is, unless congress acts, it's going to be much harder to reach the targets that the united states has set. president biden has set

an emissions target of cutting emissions, 50 to 52% below 2005 levels by the end of this decade. unless congress acts, it is going to be really hard to meet that target. he set carbon pollution free target for a powerful sector by 2035, and he set net zero targets by 2050. again, he may have to take executive actions in the absence of congressional actions, but we really need congress to step up. the embattled italian prime minister, mario draghi, has won a confidence motion in the senate, but three parties from his coalition boycotted the vote, which means he is likely to resign. italian media are reporting he will offer his resignation to the president on thursday. azadeh moshiri reports. even for italy, the political drama has been staggering. he tried to fight it,

tried to convince his right wing coalition partners that he should stay on but they have left him with few options. prime minister mario draghi may end up resigning twice in one week. this stand—off has been brewing for some time and came to a head last week when the prime minister and his right wing partners decided to see who would blink first. the populist five star movement had pulled out of a confidence vote on a multibillion euro aid package for families and businesses. the drama took off from there when mr draghi walked off to the presidential palace and tendered his resignation to the country's president. there is more. the president rejected his resignation as several protests erupted and mr draghi agreed the calls from the public were just too strong. he had to carry on. earlier on wednesday, it looked like he had survived. the situation seemed rosy enough so mr draghi called

for a new pact and a vote of confidence in the senate. translation: we need a new pact of trust, - sincere and concrete like the one that so far has allowed us to change the country for the better. the parties and new parliamentarians, are you ready to rebuild this pact? but things move fast in politics. it was only hours later that while he won the vote, it meant little as three parties in his coalition boycotted the vote, unwilling to work with each other. translation: my hope is that the government | will remain in office but unfortunately, instead, the government will fall and we will have to go back to the polls in october. for the european union, this could not come at a worse time. the 74—year—old prime minister is a powerful ally, an ex—chief of the european central bank, heading europe's third biggest economy. a nice cv to have around

at the time of soaring inflation when difficult economic decisions need to be made as the war in ukraine continues. mr draghi will attend the debate in the lower houses of parliament and if he does resign on the spot it will lead to an early election and that means a turbulent few months for italy when times are already hard enough. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. the contest to become britain's next prime minister has been narrowed to two candidates: the formerfinance minister, rishi sunak, and the foreign secretary, liz truss. they squeezed out the trade minister, penny mordaunt in the last of a string of votes by fellow conservative mps. the final choice now goes to around 160,000 party members. here's our political editor chris mason. let me introduce you to some of those who will decide who our next prime minister will be.

we're in the queen's head, in chesham, in buckinghamshire, with some conservative party members. this town, and those around it, have been tory for eons, but were repelled by borisjohnson at a by—election a year ago. rishi sunak and liz truss will be the candidates going forward to a final ballot of conservative party members. the deal is done. the question now for our members is, who is the best person to defeat keir starmer and the labour party at the next election? i believe i am the only candidate who can do that. i am the person who can go into numberio, i can hit the ground running and i can get things done. and i think that is what colleagues have voted for, and that is what i now want to take to conservative members around the country. what do you make of it? well, i am quite happy with the process, i think we've got two fantastic final candidates. i think, in particular, promises are cheap and i am wanting to hear a candidate that is honest about the trade—offs that the country is facing. liz truss i think is very good

for the kind of right wing - of the party, but i also think rishi sunak. has done a good job as well, so i think you need to go in with an open mind - to the hustings. you are conservative party members, but you are making a decision on behalf of the whole country? yeah, and i think it is important that we recognise that as a party, but also as an individual member, having agency to make a vote, that these votes need to connect with absolutely everybody, not just ourselves. what do we know about the two finalists to be our next prime minister? the former chancellor rishi sunak became an mp in 2015. he voted leave in the eu referendum and has said he wants to cut taxes, but only when inflation is under control. the foreign secretary liz truss was first elected in 2010. she became a cabinet minister in 2014 and voted remain in the eu referendum, but rapidly became an enthusiast for brexit. she is promising immediate tax cuts. and so could there be more of this to come? rishi, you have raised taxes

to the highest level in 70 years, that is not going to drive economic growth. rows about tax, rows aboutjudgement. in our past, you have been both a liberal democrat and a remainder, i wasjust wondering which one you regretted most? but borisjohnson is not quite done yet. today was his final prime minister's question time and so last chance to have a pop at keir starmer. every time something needs to be done, mr speaker, they try to oppose it. he is a great pointless human bollard, mr speaker, that's what he is. the labour leader said he wished mrjohnson and his family the best, but also couldn't resist a lastjibe. he has decided to come down from his gold—wallpapered bunker for one last time to tell us that everything is fine. i am going to miss the delusion. and the scottish national party reckon mrjohnson helps their cause no end. i would like to thank the prime minister, in his capacity as

minister of the union, for driving support for independence to new heights. and these were borisjohnson�*s final words and perhaps the last ones we will ever hear of him in the house of commons. the last few years have been the greatest privilege of my life and it is true that i helped get the biggest tory majority for a0 years and a huge realignment in uk politics, mr speaker. we have transformed our democracy and restored our national independence, as my right honourable friend says, mission largely accomplished, for now. i want to thank everybody here and, hasta la vista, baby. thank you. cheering and applause. a standing ovation from his own side, at least, although you will notice his predecessor theresa may was a little less than a coiled spring in getting to herfeet. as borisjohnson leaves the commons so too does

the contest to replace him as it shifts to the country or at least conservative members in the country tasked with choosing who comes next. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: rare film footage shows the oldest moving images of one of america's most famous cities. radio: i see you coming down the ladder now. i that's one small step for man... ..one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight. for the first crash - in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. _ it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia

but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunctioning sperm unable to swim properly. seven, six, five... thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: a clear and present danger. president biden pledges to make the biggest—ever investment to combat climate change — but stops short of declaring an emergency. his warning comes as wildfires continue to rage across europe. firefighters struggle in the heatwave to tackle flames in greece,

spain and italy. parliament in sri lanka has voted for prime minister ranil wickremesinghe to become the country's new president, despite his unpopularity with the public. he faces the task of leading the country out of its economic collapse and restoring order after months of mass protests. last week, his private home was burnt down and his office also stormed after demonstrations against his leadership. i'm nowjoined from colombo by prasad welikumbura, a journalist and political activist. he's been voted in until 2024, are you happy about that? hat are you happy about that? not reall . are you happy about that? not really. because _ are you happy about that? iirrt really. because if you look at how he came into the resident, he was contested in the 2020 general election and he was rejected by the people, he got

only 30,000 votes, has party got only 30,000 votes, we don't know how many votes he got, and his party got about 2% of votes from the country, and how he came to parliament was, our country has this provision that you can bring professionals who can't run for you can bring professionals who can't runforan you can bring professionals who can't run for an office to bring into parliament and they have received one of those six, and he used one of those seats and he used one of those seats and he used it to come into the parliament. and he used it to come into the parliament-— and he used it to come into the parliament. ok, so he is in now for a coume _ parliament. ok, so he is in now for a couple more _ parliament. ok, so he is in now for a couple more years, - parliament. ok, so he is in now for a couple more years, does l for a couple more years, does that mean that you and your fellow protesters are going to continue to demonstrate? because what sri lanka needs is to get through this economic crisis and if the

demonstrations continue, that will be hampering it, won't it? it is true, sri lanka wants to get over this economic crisis but we also need a leadership we can trust. the thing is, why we can trust. the thing is, why we are here today is because the government that was before this didn't actually do that, and if you look at who voted ranil wickremesinghe to the presidency it is the same party, it is the same regime even though the faith has changed, ranilwickremesinghe changed, ranil wickremesinghe is a changed, ranilwickremesinghe is a representative of that party, so there won't be any change. but we have demanded, and how can we trust, i'm in, from what happened yesterday, i think people have lost faith in the parliament as well. ranil

wickremesinghe was a rejected mp, and he became the prime minister, he was appointed by the ousted resident, and he became the president through parliamentary votes and he doesn't have a mandate from people, he was not accepted by the people and it can be legal because it is constitutional but there is a huge issue with his legitimacy. he doesn't have a right to represent the country and how can it be a democracy? we are a democratic country and our protesters are for the democracy, and how can we accept a person who has been reject it by the people and use constitutional loopholes to come into power? mil

constitutional loopholes to come into power? all right, thank you — come into power? all right, thank you very _ come into power? all right, thank you very much - come into power? all right, thank you very much for - come into power? all right, - thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov has said moscow's military focus in ukraine has shifted. in an interview with russian state media, mr lavrov said that russia is broadening its operation to include more than just the east of the country. the us had earlier accused russia of preparing to annex parts of ukraine. ukraine's first lady, olena zelenska, has appealed to us lawmakers to provide more help to her country as it struggles against a five—month—long russian invasion, saying more weapons could help assure victory. she spoke to congress in person four months after her husband made a virtual speech there. the us has already approved nearly $40 billion in aid to ukraine by the end of september, including eight more himars advanced

rocket systems. film footage is going on display at a museum in the us state of louisiana that's believed to show the oldest moving images of the city of new orleans. the black and white film dates back to 1898 and shows the annual mardi gras parade. the bbc�*s tim allman has the story. even in the late 19th century, the big easy knew how to have a good time. this was canal street, more than 120 years ago, celebrating mardi gras in its own inimitable style. the floats, the costumes, the spectacle. new orleans putting on its best. you did not go to canal street unless you were dressed up and i am sure that this was early on in the culture, in new orleans culture among all people. but here on mardi gras day, the people were dressed very

well. mardi gras, or fat tuesday, is part of the fabric of the city. it has become a raucous affair these days with the crowds almost as big a part of the show as those on parade. things were a little different in 1898. the people standing, they are watching, are just staid and not really interacting the way that people are now. this footage, discovered only recently in a museum in the dutch city of amsterdam provides a window into the past, a past that still looks, despite the passage of time, strangely familiar. tim allman, bbc news. plenty more on that and all the

other stories on the website. from me and the team, goodbye. hello. after that exceptional heat to start the week, for many of you, it was significantly cooler on wednesday compared with tuesday. tuesday, of course, we saw temperatures approach around 40 celsius in a number of spots. for some, it was actually 10—17 degrees cooler, but to put it into a bit of perspective, those temperatures still well above where we should be for ajuly afternoon. the exceptional heat had pushed a bit further eastwards, record—breaking heat in denmark. all that heat over the next couple of days pushes its way southwards and eastwards, and then into the weekend, we start to see it build once more in across parts of the uk. not, though, at the levels we've seen this week. as for thursday, as we start the day, it's going to be a largely dry day for many. there will be some rain around, and it's a bit cooler

still compared with what we've experienced on wednesday. now, the drier weather comes courtesy of an area of high pressure trying to push in from the west. we've still got the legacy of a front sitting across eastern areas. we saw a lot of humid air, temperatures still sitting in the mid if not high teens for one or two first thing thursday morning. fresher conditions in the west, but this is where we'll start with the best of the sunshine. northern ireland, wales, southwest england having a pretty decent day, just one or two showers around. sunny spells across scotland, a few showers for the mainland, but for the bulk of england, away from the southwest, lots of cloud, some outbreaks of rain and drizzle here and there, many will be dry. around the coast, it may be quite sunny. sunny too towards the channel islands, but a bit of a breeze blowing down through the likes of east anglia, and here, temperatures dropping back to normal. still a little bit above normal across the south, 24—25 celsius. now, into thursday evening and through into friday, we'll start to see that cloud sit in place, but then a few more showers push their way northwards, the winds shifting direction slightly. it does mean temperatures still won't drop a huge

amount, a cooler day — a cooler night — i should say, across eastern parts of the country, but still with temperatures in the mid—teens across the south. so, for friday, showers at a greater chance of seeing, particularly heavy ones across parts of wales, the midlands, maybe rumbling up into northern england, could see some flashes of lightning, rumbles of thunder as well. some through the english channel, which could get close to the south coast and affect the channel islands for a time. only a few showers for scotland and northern ireland. all of us will see temperatures closer to thejuly norm, for one or two, a little bit below. as i said, heat builds back in this weekend, there will be rain at times in the north and west, still very little rain towards the south and east, and temperatures in the high 20s by sunday.

this is bbc news. the headlines: as wildfires rage across europe and the us, president biden has issued the latest stark warning on the threat posed by climate change. he's pledged an investment plan totalling $2.3 billion on a range of new measures. he called climate change an existential threat to the world. the embattled italian prime minister, mario draghi, has won a confidence motion in the senate, but three parties from his coalition boycotted the vote, which means he will be forced to resign, probably on thursday. mr draghi's broad—based government has been in power for the past 18 months. parliament in sri lanka has voted for prime minister ranil wickremesinghe to become the country's

new president, despite his unpopularity with the public.