hello. i'm michelle fleury. an olympic opening ceremony like no other has just wrapped in paris. in the heart of the city, flotillas carrying each of the national teams and international stars sailed down the seine, at times drenched by torrential rain, ending with the olympic cauldron floating in the sky in a hot air balloon. paris was transformed into a series of giant stages, with the usual olympic rituals accompanied by extravagant, and at times off—beat, celebrations of french culture. the day got off to a difficult start after several acts of sabotage on france's high—speed railway network disrupted the journey to the ceremony for many travellers. more on that in a moment, but first, maryam moshiri has more on the spectacle on the seine. what a culmination, what an end to what has been at times

a difficult day for the organisers of the paris olympics and, indeed, the ceremony. the day started with those train delays, with those attacks on various train lines around france, but it ended with a real bang. the opening ceremony that was promised to be a joyful event, an event that would be beautiful theatre in the heart of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it really did deliver. we had the french celebrating their culture, their art, theirfashion, their music, but also celebrating a global sense of unity, a global sense of belonging together, and that really is what the olympics are about. the flame, that was also an amazing addition to the ceremony. it was lit on a hot air balloon then and flew up into the sky and is now hovering over the paris skyline. you can still see the eiffel tower is beautifully sparkling behind me. the ceremony has been something to behold and it ended

with an icon on an icon — celine dion singing the most beautiful song on the first floor of the eiffel tower. everyone went crazy. you could hear the screaming crowd from here in the bbc studio. it was immense. it has been a successful opening ceremony and they really needed this, the french, given the difficulties earlier in the day. now, all that awaits for us is three weeks of amazing sport from paris, and i will be bringing it all to you, as well as the stories behind the sport, throughout the next few weeks here on bbc news. just hours before the opening ceremony, there was chaos on the rail network in and around paris after a series of acts of deliberate sabotage. signal boxes and fibre—optic cables on the high—speed rail system were vandalised, causing fires and affecting around 800,000 people, including on eurostar, where one in four services between london and paris were cancelled until monday. four attacks, in what

the french government called "coordinated, malicious" acts, targeted links to the east, north and west of paris, taking out huge swathes of the network. a fifth attack to the south—east was foiled. the french prime minister gabriel attal has said that police and intelligence services are working hard to find and punish those responsible. our paris correspondent andrew harding reports. french engineers gathered beside one of the sabotaged railways. this is north of paris on the high—speed line heading to london. the french system relies on these sensitive fibre—optic cables, something the attackers clearly understood when they set fire to three separate sites in a coordinated attack, the impact immediately felt across northern france, passengers forced to abandon this train stuck on the outskirts of paris. and in the capital itself,

confusion at the gare du nord, the busiest railway station in europe. delays and cancellations piled up from early morning, prompting frustration and some anxiety. are you concerned about these attacks? i'm not happy about them. as long as that's it, i'm happy, but i am concerned because i've got my family and i want to make sure we get home safe and sound. i'm concerned that i don't want to be here with my little one any longer than what i need to be. paris is already on high alert amid concerns about potential russian cyber attacks and actions by violent islamist groups. the french prime minister noted that today's sabotage was no amateur effort. translation: what we can see is that this operation _ was planned and coordinated, that sensitive targets were chosen, which shows some knowledge of the rail network and where to strike it.

among those stuck in a queue at st pancras station in london, the parents of one olympic athlete playing in the women's rugby sevens. we checked on eurostar and as far as we're concerned, we came up here and we're prepared to wait for however long. we just want to get out to paris, that's the thing. in france, engineers are still racing to fix the damage, replacing cables on three affected lines, including this one heading due west from paris to the atlantic coast. it's already easing the strain in the french capital. there are plenty of frustrated travellers here, but the good news is that while the high—speed lines have been affected across france, the bulk of the rail network is still operating just fine, but is trying to pick up the slack. progress, then, but this has been an alarming experience for a city anxiously hoping nothing else will go wrong this olympic summer.

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has met with former us president and republican presidential nominee donald trump in florida. it's their first face—to—face meeting in nearly four years. the israeli leader did not give details of their meeting, but said israel would be sending a negotiating team to the gaza ceasefire talks in rome next week. mr trump's aides said he pledged to "make every "effort to bring peace to the middle east" and combat antisemitism on college campuses if elected in november. mr netanyahu's meeting follows separate talks with presumptive democratic presidential nominee kamala harris on thursday, after which she said she couldn't stay silent about the suffering of civilians in gaza. earlier i spoke with former us diplomat and senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace, aaron david miller.

what is the sense of the difference in what is the sense of the difference in messages? or what is the sense of the difference in messages? or has it been the same and consistent from the israeli prime minister?— from the israeli prime minister? ., ., ~ , ., , minister? oh, look, this has been a political _ minister? oh, look, this has been a political trick. - minister? oh, look, this has been a political trick. the i been a political trick. the speech was political, the mediums have been political. i do not think the president anticipated that he would meet with former president donald trump with whom he identifies with strongly. a punitive president, kemal harris and current presidentjoe biden, all against the backdrop of opportunity perhaps to get an israeli hamas agreement on a ceasefire. i think netanyahu is hedging his bets. we had a cordial meeting with the president. he expressed dismay that the vice president spoke openly and empathetically and in some respects critically about israeli policies in gaza and it seems that he is

interested in an apology to amend the offences with the former president who hold him responsible for sending a video message tojoe biden, congratulating him on his inauguration back in 2021. so, i think mr netanyahu probably feels, given how fraught the circumstances walked by him, that he came out of this pretty well. ~ , ., that he came out of this pretty well. ~ ,, , , , well. were you surprised? because — well. were you surprised? because they _ well. were you surprised? because they had - well. were you surprised? because they had been . well. were you surprised? l because they had been lots well. were you surprised? - because they had been lots of talk going into this about bad blood between donald trump and benjamin netanyahu. they had fallen out after he had been quick to congratulate joe fallen out after he had been quick to congratulatejoe biden on his election win in 2020. you think it is political expediency on both sides to try and move forward here? absolutely. donald trump instrumentalised as his relationships. you can be a bright, shiny object one day and cast aside the next, but let's be clear — if the republican party is the party of donald trump, which it clearly is, the party of

benjamin netanyahu, the one he identifies more closely within the united states, is the republican. and he has often use republicans as a weapon to bash democratic institutions he does not agree with. in 2015, he was invited by republican speakerjohn bain to address congress at a time when the biden administration was trying to sell the nuclear agreement which mr netanyahu was opposed to. if benjamin netanyahu could vote on novemberfive, he to. if benjamin netanyahu could vote on november five, he would vote on november five, he would vote for donald trump. but vote on november five, he would vote for donald trump.— vote for donald trump. but you said he is _ vote for donald trump. but you said he is trying _ vote for donald trump. but you said he is trying to _ vote for donald trump. but you said he is trying to hedge - vote for donald trump. but you said he is trying to hedge his i said he is trying to hedge his bets. do you think that is why we sort this announcement of negotiators to be sent to rome next week?— next week? yeah, he is under significant _ next week? yeah, he is under significant pressure _ next week? yeah, he is under significant pressure both - next week? yeah, he is under significant pressure both from hostage families and the israeli defence forces who truly believe that if they do

not strike a deal now to get hostages out — 115 the estimate remain. 44 are no longer alive and were killed on october 7. their bodies were taken to gaza or they died in captivity. plus, the idf want to rest and refocus. so, he is on the hook now. there has been great pressure and not, coincidentally, from donald trump who i think today or yesterday said that netanyahu has to get gaza stuff done and it has got to be done very quickly. if he were president now, i would guarantee he would be incredibly critical on the fact that the israelis are still doing what they are doing. it still doing what they are doinu. , ., ., still doing what they are doinu. , . ., , doing. if the israeli leader is t in: to doing. if the israeli leader is trying to balance _ doing. if the israeli leader is trying to balance lots - doing. if the israeli leader is trying to balance lots of - trying to balance lots of competing interests here, appealing to both potential

presidential candidates, what about the domestic audience back home? do you think he delivered something that israelis wanted to hear? he broke the — israelis wanted to hear? he: broke the code here. the only matter that numbers in mr netanyahu's mind is 64. that is the number of seats in his coalition — a coherent coalition — a coherent coalition that seems immunised from falling. you must preserve himself in power. he is on trialfor bribery, fraud himself in power. he is on trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a jerusalem district court in front of threejudges. he is due to testify in that trial in december. if he loses power, the options for him are not good. it is a possible conviction and he already went to jailfor 16 months on one of the charges or he gets a plea bargain and he has to leave

politics. so, staying in power is what he needs. his core constituency is not trump, not biden, not kamala harris. it is his right—wing coalition that he has satisfy. separately, donald trump said he'll soon hold another rally in butler, pennsylvania — the town where a gunman shot and injured him during a campaign rally nearly two weeks ago. mr trump wrote on truth social he'll be returning to butler for a big rally. he did not provide an exact date. us vice president kamala harris received an endorsement from former us president barack obama and former first lady michelle obama. the harris campaign released a video of the endorsement on friday in which the obamas vowed to do everything they can to get ms harris into the oval office. a statement from the couple said they have no doubt kamala harris has "exactly what it takes to win this "election and deliver for the american people." our correspondentjenny

kumah has the latest. obama's backing matters, some analysts feel it is key to attracting key voters and fundraising, and there may, for some voters, be something very poignant in seeing the first black president endorsing the first black woman and the first person of south asian descent to be president, if she were to win. some polls are showing a narrowing of the gap, with harris trailing 47% to donald trump's 48%, and some polls are showing that harris is trailing in key battleground states too. this week, the vice president's team are launching a weekend of action around campaigning, thousands of events and thousands of volunteers, sunday marks 100 days until november's election. one of the world's most powerful drug cartel leaders appeared in a texas federal court on friday. ismael �*el mayo' zambada, leader of mexico's sinaloa cartel, pleaded not guilty on all charges after being

arrested by us federal agents in texas thursday. the 76—year—old founded the criminal organization withjoaquin �*el chapo' guzman, who is currentlyjailed in the us. also arrested thursday alongside mr zamabada was the son of the notorious el chapo guzman, joaquin guzman lopez. american prosecutors say the sinaloa cartel is the biggest supplier of drugs to the us. us attorney general merrick garland spoke earlier about the cartel leaders' arrests, saying they were responsible for america's fentanyl epidemic. fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced. the justice department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable. earlier, i spoke to mike vigil, former chief of international operations for the drug enforcement administration.

how consequential are these arrests? they are very consequential in terms of the rule of law but i don't think they will have any significant impact on the inner workings of the sinaloa cartel and as an example i will give you an example. he had been running the cartel for a number of years and they had a very strong bench — very good leaders. the cartel has been in existence since 1989 is currently the most powerful drug cartel in the world. they operate in six of the seven continents in the world and el

mayo zambada was the mexican version of the italian organised criminal and he never spent one hour in a jail cell until yesterday. other than that, hopefully the united states and mexico will put aside differences and work together to basically decapitate the cartel because they need to impact the infrastructure. i am talking about corrupt politicians. the money laundering cells, the enforcement cells and logistical cells and other click others to really have an impact. el click others to really have an im act. a, ., click others to really have an imact. ., ., , impact. el mayo zambada is said to be one of _ impact. el mayo zambada is said to be one of the _ impact. el mayo zambada is said to be one of the leaders - impact. el mayo zambada is said to be one of the leaders of - impact. el mayo zambada is said to be one of the leaders of the i to be one of the leaders of the sinaloa cartel who had very strong political connections. will that help achieve, as you said, go after some of the

political connections that have helped the cartel survive so long? helped the cartel survive so lona ? . , helped the cartel survive so lonu? . , long? that is true. if el mayo zambada _ long? that is true. if el mayo zambada and _ long? that is true. if el mayo zambada and el— long? that is true. if el mayo zambada and el chapo's - long? that is true. if el mayo zambada and el chapo's sonl zambada and el chapo's son provide with us authorities, they can provide a lot of information on high—ranking government officials in mexico to include governors, mayors, members of the security forces, but apart from that, they will have to be a collection of evidence. it can'tjust be bear testimony alone. in evidence. it can't 'ust be bear testimony alone._ testimony alone. in your experience, _ testimony alone. in your experience, how - testimony alone. in your| experience, how unusual testimony alone. in your i experience, how unusual is testimony alone. in your - experience, how unusual is it for mexican officials in this case to have been kept out of the loop of this operation. it is rare, but it does happen on occasion. i think the decision is made that if they advise the mexican government because of endemic corruption in that

country, it could easily get compromised.— country, it could easily get compromised. one thing that cau:ht compromised. one thing that caught my — compromised. one thing that caught my attention - - compromised. one thing that caught my attention - our - compromised. one thing that l caught my attention - our news caught my attention — our news partner says thatjoaquin guzman lopez, the son of el chapo, may have been in on the operation or involuntarily in. can you tell us about what was going on there?— going on there? there are several versions _ going on there? there are several versions but - going on there? there are several versions but the l going on there? there are l several versions but the one you were telling about then was that el mayo zambada was fluid — you mentioned that it is all —— el paso in texas and that is what was said but it was actually in the southern part of new mexico where the aircraft landed yesterday. it is a situation where there is a possibility that he was fluid.

equally have been the pilot, it could have beenjoaquin guzman lopez that did it. —— was lured. el mayo zambada, one of his greatest fears was being apprehended and sent to the united states. bud apprehended and sent to the united states.— apprehended and sent to the united states. �* ., ., ., , united states. and now that has come to pass- — united states. and now that has come to pass. you _ united states. and now that has come to pass. you mentioned . come to pass. you mentioned that in some ways it is a game of black among that these two leaders will have their day in court. do you think the other cartel leaders will try to have their place and will be see a reduction in the fentanyl they get imported? —— game of waca mole. i get imported? -- game of waca mole. ., ., ~' get imported? -- game of waca mole. ., ., ~ ., mole. i do not think that you will see a — mole. i do not think that you will see a reduction - mole. i do not think that you will see a reduction in - will see a reduction in fentanyl because the cartel remains in tact. you also have a very powerful and violent drug organisation, you have the gulf cartel and others

producing fentanyl and also producing fenta nyl and also methamphetamines, producing fentanyl and also methamphetamines, synthetic drugs, and the cartels are starting to move into synthetic drugs. it is much cheaper to manufacture them. they make much more money, whereas if they have plant —based products, they can be eradicated and then they have to wait until the next growing cycle. new satellite images analysed by the bbc have revealed the extent of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the north of ethiopia. aid agencies warn that severe drought, crop failure and the aftermath of war have put more than 2 million people at risk of starvation. here's bbc verify�*s merlyn thomas. here at bbc verify, we've gained exclusive access to some of the worst affected areas in tigray, a province with an estimated population of between six and seven million. we analysed these satellite images. this is the korir dam and reservoir, about 45km north of the regional capital mekele, injune last year. systems like this can support more than 300 farmers. and this image

is from last month. you can see the reservoir and the farmland it helps to irrigate have dried up because of the lack of rainfall. this is a satellite image of a displacement camp about 300km west of the dam by road. it was set up by un agencies to provide shelter to more than 30,000 people. now, dozens of these camps were set up to provide refuge and humanitarian support following the end of a bitter two—year war against the federal government and its allied forces in 2022. it's estimated that hundreds of thousands were killed in the conflict or died due to starvation and lack of health care. now the war is over, but most have remained in these camps, reliant on food aid being delivered there. tsibktey teklay is one of them. she looks afterfive of her children in the camp. her husband was killed in the war. have a listen here. translation: we had animals. we used to harvest in winter. back then, we had the best lifestyle. but now we have nothing. people are sick and there are pregnant women who can't

earn money forfood. they are suffering from hunger. aid agencies have mapped the scale of the crisis facing ethiopia based on a range of factors, including failed rains, ongoing insecurity and a lack of access for aid distributions. this map here shows data from the famine early warning systems network. it has identified parts of tigray, that you can see here in dark red, as well as neighbouring regions, amhara and afar, as facing an emergency. however, the federal government in the ethiopian capital addis ababa disputed these warnings. the head of ethiopia's national disaster risk management commission told us that based on official assessments, there are no looming dangers of famine and starvation in tigray or elsewhere in ethiopia. the relationship between the ethiopian government and aid agencies have been strained in recent years. the un alleged that food aid was being blocked from reaching tigray during the conflict, and in february, ethiopia's ombudsman said nearly "only" 400 people died from hunger

in the country, including tigray. however, prime minister abiy ahmed dismissed these reports and told lawmakers at the time there are no people dying due to hunger in ethiopia. professor alex de waal, an expert in the region and executive director of the world peace foundation, says too little attention is being paid to the crisis. humanitarian agencies have become averse to controversy. in their funding appeals, they are less likely to draw attention to the fact that starvation is a crime, that famines are inflicted by ruthless governments. the un body that co—ordinates humanitarian assistance says the funding currently available is insufficient, but that resources are channelled to the most urgent, life—saving response. if you'd like to read more about this story, head to the bbc news website. let's turn to some other important news around the world. authorities in the canadian province of alberta estimate that about 30% of structures in the resort town of jasper

have been destroyed by wildfires. officials say the fire injasper is now largely contained, but that the wider blaze is still out of control. while no deaths have been reported, some 20,000 tourists and 5,000 residents have fled the area. the european union says it is sending ukraine 1.5 billion euros in aid, financed by interest from frozen russian assets. european commission president ursula von der leyen announced the move on x. eu foreign ministers approved the payments in latejune, which are financed by proceeds from the assets. most of the aid will be used to buy weapons. south african police detained almost 100 libyan nationals at a farm they say was being used as a military training camp. officials say they found licensed firearms and military equipment at the farm. a police spokesman said

the suspects misrepresented themselves on their visa applications by saying that they would be training as security guards. remember you can find more on all the days news at our website, bbc.com/news. plus, to see what we're working on at anytime, make sure to check us out on your favorite social media site. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it's hotting up this weekend, particularly sunday onwards into next week. temperatures could reach the low—30s in one or two spots, but humidity will also increase as well. this weekend is a bit of a mixture — saturday will be one of sunshine and showers. sunday drier, sunnier, and warmer as high pressure starts to establish itself across the country. the reason for more showers around saturday is this feature pushing in from the west, bringing showery rain to northern ireland, parts of southern scotland, northern england, and into wales.

this will fragment and become showery through the day. elsewhere, we start off with sunshine, but then, even the clouds bubbling up here to allow for a few showers to develop. but most of the showers will be through central, northern, and western areas, the odd heavier one. winds will be light, so the showers will be slow—moving, but there's a chance many places, particularly into the south and east, may escape them and stay dry. temperatures reaching 24—25 celsius in the warmest spots — otherwise, it's the high teens, low—20s further north. those showers fade away during saturday night. it does turn dry as high pressure starts to build in across the uk, with light winds, clear skies — could see some mist and fog patches, parts of scotland, northern ireland, western england, and wales the most favoured spots there. cool night to come, i think, out of towns and cities, otherwise just into double figures in urban areas. we start sunday, then, on a cool note. early mist and fog clears away, and looks like it will be a dry, sunny day for most of us, widespread sunshine. a bit more cloud for northern and western scotland, more of a breeze there. temperatures high teens here, but low—20s, southern and eastern scotland, northern ireland, and high—20s, parts of central, southern, and eastern england.

as we move into monday and tuesday, we start to import some very warm air from the near continent on a south—easterly breeze. humidity levels will be rising — this weather front, though, out west will start to push into scotland and northern ireland, bringing more of a breeze, some showers and cloud. but elsewhere, dry and sunny day on monday. those temperatures climbing further, the high—20s — one or two spots could get close to 30 celsius on monday, and that chance increases again on tuesday. but we'll start to see low pressure taking over around the middle part of the week — that could bring a thundery breakdown to the country, with some showers and thunderstorms at times. so, a very warm start to the week. by tuesday and wednesday, we start to see some showers and thunderstorms developing, and temperatures slowly coming back down closer to normal.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. 500 miles, eight days, one destination. bbc sport is cycling from manchester to paris, looking at climate change and sustainability, as well as meeting some of the athletes heading to the games this summer. leading the peloton, chris boardman — former olympic champion cyclist and now sporting ambassador. climate change is not a political issue. it's a species—threatening issue. and so, sport has to get involved, too, and it is. here comes the rain. today is an absolute scorcher. hottest day of the year. drink, drink and drink. en route, we'll speak to athletes competing in the french capital. some of the really big decisions are the ones about where you will hold the olympics in the future. we'll hear how climate

change is affecting sport for everyone, from the grass roots... nearly every game was called off. it was really frustrating. ..to the elite. i think it's important that we talk about leaving a world that our children can grow up in because being outside in nature is something we shouldn't ever take for granted. and we'll be joined by some famous faces to help us along the way. i don't know how he does it! i find it hard to even . run100m, let alone... laughs go. if you just take some positive action in your own life, life is much healthier. the national cycling centre in manchester, home of great britain's cycling team and the start location of pedal for paris. chris and his team are getting ready for the journey. i'm actually pretty fit at the moment.

when you're covering that kind of distance —