live from washington. this is bbc news. a shooting in auckland leaves two dead and several injured just hours before the world cup is set to begin. rising temperatures spark growing concerns for how the global heatwave is impacting wildlife. and israeli president isaac herzog highlights israel and the us's "true friendship" during a joint meeting of congress. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we start the show with a rare act of gun violence in new zealand just hours before one of the biggest sporting events in the world — the women's world cup. police say a gunman shot and killed two people and injured six others in auckland's central business district, the suspect was also killed.

the shooting took place just three miles from the site where new zealand and norway are set to face off injust hours. speaking to the press, new zealand's police commissioner described the final moments of the shooting. at around 8am, a squad supported by a special tactics group located the offender inside a lift shaft where he had barricaded himself, and attempted to engage him, having secured the floors above and below. the offender fired at police, injuring an officer. shots were exchanged and the offender was later found deceased. tragically, police located two members of the public deceased on the lower levels of the building site. today's shooting comes just hours before the first women's world cup match is scheduled to begin nearby. live now to katie silver, who's in sydney.

she has been covering the lead up she has been covering the lead up to the world cup for us. how are people reacting to this? figs are people reacting to this? as ou are people reacting to this? sis you said, are people reacting to this? is you said, this is very rare for new zealand, so people have woken up with a sense of shock. it's not often we hear or something like this occurring. we have heard from the police that the gunman was 2a, he was under house arrest, and he had an exemption in order to work as part of this. we understand he was a worker at the construction site on a part—time basis. they have also said mental health issues were involved. so indeed very rare and certainly not something people wanted to hear about with this event that was supposed to be ofjubilation and the excitement of two matches scheduled later today. the us team are staying near the shooting location, and they said, regarding the incident in downtown auckland, all of our women's team and players and staff are accounted for and our

security team is in communication with local authorities and we are proceeding with our daily schedule. so what impact do you think this could have on the tournament? it think this could have on the tournament?— think this could have on the tournament? , ., , ., tournament? it is hoped that it will not impact _ tournament? it is hoped that it will not impact it _ tournament? it is hoped that it will not impact it too _ tournament? it is hoped that it will not impact it too much. - will not impact it too much. new zealand prime minister chris hipkins and the sports minister said the event will go ahead. the police say there is no threat to the public. the us team staying nearby. the norwegian team, playing new zealand later today, staying even closer. the attack was quite widespread, a fairly large part of the cbd was closed down. it is certainly poor timing, closed down. it is certainly poortiming, many closed down. it is certainly poor timing, many are upset about it, but we have also heard from the new zealand football team saying they are shocked and saddened but they are still intending to play this evening. i are still intending to play this evening.— are still intending to play this evening. are still intending to play this evenina. ., ., ., this evening. i want to ask you about the _ this evening. i want to ask you about the games _ this evening. i want to ask you about the games today. - this evening. i want to ask you about the games today. what | this evening. i want to ask you i about the games today. what are you looking out for?— you looking out for? well, i must admit _ you looking out for? well, i must admit some _ you looking out for? well, i must admit some bias - you looking out for? well, i | must admit some bias here, you looking out for? well, i - must admit some bias here, as an australian i'm very excited

about the matildas game in sydney. it was due to happen at the stadium behind me, the sydney football stadium, but demand for tickets was so strong they had to move it to a larger stadium on the outskirts, where the sydney olympics was held. 80,000 tickets sold. they are playing ireland, and last time they played was two years ago when ireland won 3—2, but the matildas are seen as the favourites today. recently ireland has been struggling after bullying allegations against the manager of that team. the matildas have home court advantage, excitement and enthusiasm here. huge support for them, enthusiasm here. huge support forthem, particularly enthusiasm here. huge support for them, particularly the star player sam kerr. on the other side of the tasman in auckland, as i say, we will see the new zealand team, the home team, take on the norwegian grasshoppers. norway predicted to win that battle. new zealand has played a lot of internationals but doesn't often win at the high level, so

norway predicted on that side of the tasman.— norway predicted on that side of the tasman. katie, thank you for that update. _ in europe, extreme heat and winds are continuing to stoke dangerous wildfires across switzerland, spain, and greece. the blaze has been exacerbated by the days—long heat wave that is feeding the flames. it's destroyed homes and forced evacuations. farms and stables, like this one in greece, have also been destroyed. nature is often the forgotten casuality of these wildfires. dr stephanie roe, lead scientist at the world wildlife fund, spoke with my colleague carl nasman about the impact on wildlife. thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. i want to start by asking you about this latest ipcc synthesis report, you were one of the lead authors. it is essentially like a report card for our planet. how does what we are seeing now with this record—setting heat wave fit in with the science released in this report back in march? thanks for having me. the ipcc

report was released in march of this year. essentially it was a report card on the fact that we are way off track with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, which was the global targets set in the paris agreement. essentially, what it said was that we are now experiencing 1.1 degrees above preindustrial temperatures. with that level of warming, we are already seeing catastrophic levels of impacts from climate change, including extreme weather events, which we are seeing play out on our television screens and experiencing daily. so i think one of the main findings was that the model have done a good job tracking the warming over time, but what is surprising is, in fact, the impacts are happening much faster and at a higher magnitude than was originally predicted. and so, advanced

extreme weather events are occurring at lower global warming levels than originally assessed. the last ipcc report assessment came out in 2014. so these temperatures we are seeing right now, they are even more extreme than scientists were anticipating?— were anticipating? yes, they are happening _ were anticipating? yes, they are happening faster - were anticipating? yes, they are happening faster and - were anticipating? yes, they are happening faster and at l are happening faster and at higher magnitudes than originally assessed. wow. we have been _ originally assessed. wow. we have been talking _ originally assessed. wow. we have been talking about - originally assessed. wow. we have been talking about the l have been talking about the record temperatures and how they affect humans. what about they affect humans. what about the effect on wildlife? how concerned are the world wildlife fund at the effects on animals around the globe? it’s animals around the globe? it's affectin: animals around the globe? it�*s affecting everyone across the planet including all ecosystems and wildlife. so we are seeing massive impacts in freshwater ecosystems, all ecosystems... we are already seeing the first impacts of extinction due to

climate change. these impacts are irreversible. the continuing increases of temperatures that are projected over the next coming decades is expected to increase three to four times the impact that we are seeing today.— four times the impact that we are seeing today. when we see these kind _ are seeing today. when we see these kind of— are seeing today. when we see these kind of temperatures - are seeing today. when we see j these kind of temperatures and they peak and they last for a long time, how are animals able to adapt to these high temperatures? orare to adapt to these high temperatures? or are they? hide temperatures? or are they? we are seeing — temperatures? or are they? - are seeing two things. one, climate change is happening at such a fast rate, it prevents art and animals from adapting to them. we are seeing that half of the animals and species, plants etc that were assessed in the ipcc report kind of shifted either forwards or increasing their elevation to move to liveable conditions.

so we are seeing a massive shift in where species are distributed around the planet. their capacity to adapt to it really depends on whether or not they can move. and their vulnerability to climate change. in other words, vulnerability to climate change. in otherwords, if vulnerability to climate change. in other words, if they are an endemic species, a species only found in a specific region of the planet, and it is hard for them to move, this report shows they will be impacted. similarly, communities and people who are more vulnerable, and have much less capacity to adapt to climate change, are more disproportionately affected by climate change. you disproportionately affected by climate change.— disproportionately affected by climate change. you touched on this, but it _ climate change. you touched on this, but it is — climate change. you touched on this, but it is not _ climate change. you touched on this, but it is notjust _ this, but it is notjust temperatures that we are seeing on land which are extremely warm. it is also in the oceans and marine life. the atlantic, the gulf of mexico, extremely hot ocean temperatures on the surface. what kind of impact does that have on marine life?

well, i mean, what we are seeing in the oceans right now are astronomical and off the charts. in some instances, it's putting, of course, an enormous amount of stress on species, including vegetation, like mangroves and kelp, but of course on animals as well. if we don't see some respite over the next coming weeks, we are going to likely see mass mortality the way we saw in the north pacific heatwave a couple of years ago. the north pacific heatwave a couple of years age-— of years ago. the wwf has warned previously - of years ago. the wwf has warned previously that - of years ago. the wwf has warned previously that we | of years ago. the wwf has i warned previously that we are on the verge of a sixth mass extinction on the planet. what kind of action would you like to see happen?— kind of action would you like to see happen? well, we are seeini to see happen? well, we are seeing two — to see happen? well, we are seeing two crises _ to see happen? well, we are seeing two crises unfold - to see happen? well, we are seeing two crises unfold at l to see happen? well, we are i seeing two crises unfold at the same time which is putting stress on our natural ecosystems, but also our

communities. we are seeing biodiversity and nature loss happening at the same time as climate change is unfolding. both of these are two sides of the same coin in some ways, because one drags the other. inaudible. it actually providing a service... if nature wasn't doing that, we would have two doubled the amount of reductions we would need to make. . ~ reductions we would need to make. ., ,, i. reductions we would need to make. ., ,, . ., make. thank you so much for our make. thank you so much for your insights. _ make. thank you so much for your insights. thanks - make. thank you so much for your insights. thanks very - make. thank you so much for. your insights. thanks very much for having _ your insights. thanks very much for having me. _ around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. an invasion from a galaxy far, far away. a journey from light years beyond to peterborough cathedral.

the unofficial galaxies exhibition. the exhibition features rare sci—fi artefacts. that is actually a star wars script. signed by david prowse, the original darth vader. that was in his hands when he was shooting the movie as darth vader. i think that is one of the most interesting, actually. but the venue is the real star. the cathedral is huge. the set—up is quite a challenge, because you walk three minutes from one end to the other because the cathedral is enormous. invasion of the city complete. inviting us to take a look at the dark side. you're watching bbc news. israeli president isaac herzog wrapped up a two—day visit to washington with an address to

a joint session of congress. it comes at a time of tension between presidentjoe biden and the israeli government. one point of contention — a controversialjudicial reform plan that has led to several months of protests in israel. mr biden also recently called israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's government the most extreme in decades. despite that, in his speech, president herzog affirmed the us—israeli relationship. israel and the united states will inevitably disagree on many matters. but we will always remain family. our evolutionary societies have so much to give to the world and so much to learn from each other. our bond may be challenged at times, but it is absolutely unbreakable. i spoke with our correspondent helena humphrey. she was covering the speech on capitol hill. tell us more about how the israeli president was received. significant applause as he walked into the chamber,

lasting around three minutes by my count. really speaking to what he said was the strength of relations between the us and israel going back 75 years to the founding of israel as a state. he also spoke about a range of other issues, saying that the free world should not allow iran to procure a nuclear weapon. he expressed a desire for israel to have relations with saudi arabia, with assistance from the us. and also a wish for peace with palestinian neighbours, although coming at a time of tensions of course, in light of the raids we have seen on the west bank in recent weeks. but he did speak about those protests we have seen in israel for a number of months against the planned judicial overhaul put forward by prime minister netanyahu. and certainly that has seen some concern from president biden. he said this is one of the more extreme cabinets in the past 50 years, but certainly the mood on capitol hill was about an enduring friendship

and partnership between the us and israel. it wasn't without controversy, however. we saw this group of progressive democrats boycott going to the speech today. how did that play out? we did see a number of progressive democrats decide to boycott this speech, perhaps to be expected. we also saw a number of those lawmakers boycott a speech by narendra modi recently and similar addresses from benjamin netanyahu in the past. certainly there was some contentious comments from representatives over the weekend, including one who called israel a racist state, earning a swift rebuke

i understand you were at that address from the israeli president isaac herzog. your thoughts on his speech. i thought it was a great speech, it solidified the relationship the us has with israel, a long—standing relationship. we were the first country to acknowledge israel after it was created 75 years ago. so i think president herzog said it best when he said israel is irreplaceable to america and america is irreplaceable to israel. i think that sums up the importance, israel is our closest ally in the middle east, the only democracy, so it's important we do all the things we can to protect them from places like iran, from nuclear development, and other threats in the world and throughout the middle east. i was proud to be there and i thought it was a great speech. you mentioned it iran, and we know that president herzog called for more efforts to stop iran procuring a nuclear weapon. do you think the biden administration is doing enough on that?

i think we can never do enough until we can ensure iran does not have nuclear weapons. we don't believe them when they say they want to use it to peaceful means. nuclear capabilities should be kept out of the hands of iran, because they have said if they get nuclear weapon capabilities, they want to remove israel from the face of the map. that's why we need to ensure they never get that capability. another commitment made by both presidents was a commitment to work together on anti—semitism. what kind of effort do you think is needed on that? we need to condemn anti—semitism every chance that we can. i know there were some members of congress who put out some very anti—semitic quotes this week, and that was wrong, we need to condemn anti—semitism, so shame on them for the statements they made. we have come a long way, we have a commission on combating anti—semitism,

that's great, in virginia, and on a national level as well. but every day we need to be able to condemn anti—semitism and to know that words matter and words have meaning. be careful what we say, especially to other members of congress. we know a number of democratic lawmakers boycotted the speech, your thoughts on that? shame on them, that was wrong, for them to boycott a speech from the leader of one of our most important allies in the world. i was there in support with the majority of my colleagues, so ijust think that statement, having a leader of that country come to the chambers of the us house, to speak to a joint session, that's very meaningful. it sends a message to the world, that we stand by our allies, especially this ally in the middle east, the only democracy. it's so important that we protect that, so shame on those members who didn't come. we know president biden has calling this one of the most

extreme israeli cabinets in half a century. he has expressed concerns over prime minister neta nyahu's plans to overhaul the judiciary. he has also spoken with concern about the expansion of settlements. are you concerned about the relationship between president biden and prime minister benjamin netanyahu? democracy is messy, we are seeing that play out right now in israel, and our own democracy is messy. but president isaac herzog said there is no place for violence and terrorism, that is not how we keep the peace there, that is the antithesis, violence. i stand by what he is doing, and i think we need at all times to remember that to keep the peace, we need to reduce the violence. again, the most important takeaway for me from today was solidifying the relationship with one of our closest allies, israel. specifically with the relationship between president biden and prime minister netanyahu,

those with the power in their respective countries, how do you see that relationship evolving? we need to continue to be close allies with israel. israel is not a racist country like some of president biden's colleagues have been claiming. again we saw anti—semitic remarks coming from that party this week. that needs to be condemned. i am watching because i am a staunch supporter of israel and i think we need to grow that relationship. whatever the president needs to do to get his administration on board with that, we need to make sure we solidify our ties with them. great to have you with us. thank you so much. the israeli president said america...

in a region like the middle east, with so much conflict and oppression, to have a partner that shares the same values and principles, that shared unity is remarkable, and the president referenced it, you could see the bipartisan comprehensive reaction in the senate and the house, it is shared, an overwhelming majority of american lawmakers. democrats have voiced some concern on the republican messaging of the founding of israel 75 years ago... he said not enough of those messages mentioned the two—state solution, which is usually included when speaking about israel. your thoughts on that. i happen to agree, as a supporter of a two—state solution, with great empathy for palestinians and all humans around the world, i agree we should support a two—state solution, i want to see palestinians living side by side with israelis in peace, security and prosperity. democrats and republicans should unify behind that. the only way israel

will be a secure nation is when that is achieved, and that requires a palestinian leader with a commitment to peace rather than israel's destruction. when we get to that point, i be among the loudest i'll be among the loudest voices for that process. president biden called the relationship between the us and israel unshakeable but he has also expressed concern about the cabinet of benjamin netanyahu, he calls it extreme. how do you see the relationship evolving between president biden and prime minister benjamin netanyahu? i think good friends are honest with one another. israel and the us are good friends. i think the president spoke well on the subject, israel has lurched to the right, no question. we have to create space and place for people to be critical of any government. as a lawmaker in the us, i have to be able to criticise any leader and government for policies that are incongruent with our values and principles.

there are occasions when israel is worthy of that criticism as a government, not necessarily as a country. that's where we are having struggles around the world in terms of the discourse relative to israel. i am concerned relative to policies internal and external, debating those, litigating those, it's part of the democratic process, and also how friends treat one another. do you think the biden administration should do more to stabilise the situation in israel right now? israel has to make those decisions domestically the way they see fit. elections have consequences, ultimately israelis have to decide what kind of democracy they want. it is important we continue to share values and principles. relating to peace in the middle east, i think the administration and congress have opportunity to promote further expansion of the abraham accords. i would love saudi arabia and israel to normalise relations. it's in the best interests of the entire region and the world, and yes,

i would like to see american stand up and meet that. we know some democratic lawmakers decided to boycott the speech. are you concerned that some republicans could capitalise, essentially, on some fault lines emerging in the democratic party when it comes to israel? i think yesterday we had a resolution celebrating| israel's 75th anniversary, an overwhelming majority of democrats and republicans supported it, only nine votes against it, 420 for it. there will always be politics behind some of these initiatives, but at the democratic caucus, we are a family, and like any family we have differences of opinions and perspectives. my invitation to colleagues both conservative and progressive is to open both hearts and minds relating to israel, its founding, the special place israel has injewish people's hearts, and many others around the world, and it has to be reciprocated. all of us have the opportunity to learn. in an era where, around

the world, migration is causing consternation. where conflicts cause great consternation for so many. we all have a responsibility right now to be more mindful of humanity, agree to be better understood, and also endeavour to be educated, make for a better world and i think we can all do a bit better. thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. hundreds of protesters have stormed and set fire to the swedish embassy in central baghdad. it's believed that the incident came in response to the burning of a koran in sweden. the swedish foreign ministry has condemned the attack and said all embassy staff are safe and told the news agency reuters that iraqi authorities have the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and staff. stay with us here on bbc news. we will you with these live pictures of

london as we hand off to our colleageus there. hello. wednesday has once again brought record—breaking temperatures to parts of southern europe. we've had an unconfirmed report of nearly 47 degrees in sardinia, and that intense heat is set to continue. a degree or two up or down from day to day, but nevertheless relentless, both by day and by night. now, talking about heat, this time a year ago was when we saw record—breaking heat here in the uk, but nothing that extreme heading our way here. we are still to the north of the jet stream. we are still in a cooler north westerly breeze at the moment. temperatures around about average, just a little bit below, and with it plenty of scattered showers as pressure is relatively low. but, actually, with the lighter winds through the early hours of thursday, it turns quite chilly in some rural parts. there could even be the odd pocket of fog first thing this morning.

but again, it's around dawn, so it'll clear fairly quickly and that's when we'll see the best of the sunshine before the cloud starts to bubble again and we see some showers developing. now, it's one of those days where we could see lines of showers. so some places catch shower after shower and others stay completely dry with good spells of sunshine. but it will be pleasant enough. 17—22 is a notch down on wednesday, slightly fresher air, still that brisk breeze up in the north and the east of scotland. but i think, by and large, it should be largely fine for the first day at least of the golf at hoylake and actually again for the cricket at old trafford. just the odd shower around can't be ruled out, but the chances of interruptions increase through friday and into the weekend because already as we go through the night, thursday into friday, we've got the next weather front gathering in off the atlantic. ahead of it, some cooler dry weather, but it does look as if we turn the tables to cloudier weather again with patchy rain for northern ireland, scotland, northern england as we go into friday. the far north of scotland, just a few showers, perhaps dry with a little ridge of high

pressure in the south. hopefully a drier day, fewer showers, a little bit more sunshine. but temperatures are down a degree, a bit more cloud around. and the reason? this area of low pressure that's rolling itself in again. so it looks like not only bringing us some wetter weather, once again, in what has been a really unsettled july, but also some strong winds to go with it. strong winds notjust in the south, but potentially the far north as well, which is going to make it feel fairly cool forjuly. as ever, there's more on the website. bye— bye.