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>> i'm carl in washid this is bbc world news america. the president of israel addresses a joint session of u.s. congress reaffirming ties between the two countries. >> north america is irreplaceable to israel and israel is irreplaceable to america. >> we hear from the family of a soldier detained in north korea. unearthing secrets of the past, the exclusive look at excavation work, non-in one of italy's most popular tourist sites. ♪ >> welcome to world news america. we begin in washington where is really president isaac wrapped up a two day visit with an

address to a joint session of congress earlier on wednesday. it comes a time of tension between president joe biden and the israeli government. one point of contention, a controversial judicial reform plan that has led to months of protests in israel. president biden called is really prime minister not in yahoos government the most etreme in decades. despite that, in his speech, president herzog affirmed the u.s. is ready for relationship. >> israel and the united states will inevitably disagree on many matters but we will always remain family. our 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. >> while most members of congress did attend, there were notable holdouts. several progressive democrats boycotted the speech in what

they say was solidarity with the palestinian people. representative bill hohn omar of minnesota, cory busch of missouri and alexandria oak osseo cortez of new york are among those who voted against a resolution affirming support for israel on tuesday after controversial remarks which were later walked back. for more, i'm joined by our correspondent on capitol hill. tell us more about the significance of this speech and visit by the israeli president? >> carl, it certainly was a significant speech. isaac herzog becoming the second israeli president in fact to hold a joint address to congress and he reminded them in the chamber it was 36 years ago, his own father in 1987, who also delivered an address to congress. there was applause by my count lasting three minutes and the message that he delivered is

that the relationship between america and israel is one that he said was irreplaceable for both nations, reaffirming the ties that go back 75 years to the founding of israel as a state. he addressed a number of other issues. he spoke saying the free world should not allow iran to procure a nuclear weapon. he said israel wanted to have dialogue, relations, communication with saudi arabia partly through assistance through the united states. he expressed desire for peace with palestinian neighbors coming at a tense time with recent raids that we have seen on the west bank. interestingly, you mentioned the protests. that is something the president spoke about. he said the fact that the protests against net in yahoos, the prime minister's controversial reforms are going ahead shows that there is democracy underway he said in israel.

as mentioned, certainly this is something president biden has expressed concern about. he has called the cabinet one of the most extreme in recent israeli history, half a century. spoke out with some concern about plans for settlement expansion in the west bank. certainly the message on the hill was about an enduring friendship between israel and the united states. >> as we saw earlier, a warm welcome in congress. what was the reaction among u.s. lawmakers? >> for those attending it was a warm welcome, overwhelmingly positive it is fair to say. you did point out members of the progressive caucus boycotted over their concerns for palestinians, that has happened in the past with similar addresses including recently with an address by the indian prime minister modi. we saw a john paul weighed into hot water when she said israel

was a racist state before seeing swift condemnation from her democratic colleagues, then partially walking back the comments and seeing resolution come to the house floor by republicans saying israel is not a racist state. certainly from lawmakers i've been speaking to on both sides of the aisle, those who attended, their feeling was that this partnership, this relationship between the u.s. and israel must be long-lasting. it should be enduring while leaving room for some criticism. i spoke to the republican representative jane and democratic representative dean phillips. take a listen to what they had to say. >> good friends are honest with each other. israel and the united states are good friends. our president spoke well. israel has lurched to the right under his leadership. we have to create space for people to be critical of any government. as a lawmaker in the united states i have to be able to criticize any leader of any

government for policies incongruent with our principles and values and there are occasions where israel is worthy of that criticism, as a government. >> democracy is messy. we are seeing that and israel and our own democracy is messy but president herzog said there is no place for violence or terrorism. that is not how we keep the peace there, that is the antithesis of peace, violence. i stand by president herzog, what he is doing and i think we need to at all times just remember that to keep the peace means we need to reduce the violence. again, the most important take away from me today is solidifying the relationship with one of our closest allies. >> looking ahead, israel's prime minister has been invited for his own white house visit in the future. helena humphrey on capitol hill for us, thank you very much. new details are emerging about the american soldier detained in

north korea after crossing the border from the south. private travis king had been released from south korean prison on charges of assault. court documents show king had been fined nearly $4000 for causing public damage. he was being sent back to the u.s. when he ditched his military escort at the airport and joined a tour of the border village. about one hour and a half from the airport. on that tour king crossed into north korea willingly and without authorization according to u.s. authorities. on wednesday the white house detailed its efforts to bring king back to the u.s.. >> what we're doing is outreach to the administration of sweden and also south korea as well on this matter. the department of defense as i mentioned has been engaged and having communications with its counterparts, the k pa on the well-being of private king. clearly we are committed to bringing him home. >> king's brother spoke to

reporters asking for privacy for the family during this time. >> we understand the gravity of the situation. it's a massive and unfortunate thing. however, we ask that you kind of respect our privacy because this -- my mom has lost a son before, so this is weighing very heavily on her. at some point, you know, we will be more talkative may be at some point. we just want to see where it goes from here. >> extreme heat continues to wreak havoc across europe and parts of the u.s., putting a on medical systems. temperatures remained high across italy on wednesday with heat expected to reach 113 to 115 degrees fahrenheit in sardinia. 45 degrees celsius. consistent dangerously high temperatures are challenging residents ability to stay cool and are testing health care responses. sophia reports from sicily.

>> it has been extremely hot in italy for the last few days. the heatwave has been described by local media as -- which means week of hell. 23 cities across the country are under a red alert morning, which means that the heat poses a threat to everybody. there has been a 20% increase in the number of patients who are being admitted to hospitals across italy, showing signs of exhaustion, dehydration, confusion and heatstroke. and of course heat waves like this one can be dangerous. we spoke to a doctor here who told us that some of their patients have died, not just because of the heat, but the temperatures, the high temperatures have been a contributing factor. she is worried because she feels it is the most vulnerable that will pay the price for this heatwave. because of course for the

elderly and people with existing health conditions and health problems, being exposed to these temperatures can have devastating consequences. >> heat waves are helping to fuel wildfires in multiple countries including greece. authorities are bracing for high temperatures which are likely to further stoke tinderbox conditions across the country. -- is increase and she has this update. >> i'm west of athens. residents pointed us here. they said follow the road and you will find a facility that has completely burned down. we spoke to the owner and he said there were animals actually held here, dogs held in the basement for safety as the fires began to spread. there is smokes on going to move you in this direction because over here they hopped across the fence when the fire started engulfing and approaching this area.

here in mantra the fire extended across eight kilometers. so scenes like this, devastation like this, is happening across the area but also across mainland reese. another issue we are hearing from several local residents including the owner of this facility is they feel like fire fighters did not get here soon enough. that if they had managed to respond to the fires in time, perhaps scenes like this would not have happened. >> extreme temperatures are not just affecting human lives, they are impacting wildlife as dr. stephanie rowe, lead scientist of the world wildlife fund told me earlier. >> we are seeing massive impacts in our freshwater ecosystems, ocean ecosystems. in fact, we are already seeing the first impacts of extinction due to climate change. these impacts we are seeing are irreversible and the continuing

increases of temperatures that are projected over the coming decades is expected to increase three to four times impacts that we are seeing today. >> the u.s. has announced a new package totaling $230 million to rebuild ukraine's economy. the announcement comes from the head of the u.s. agency for international development. samantha after a visit to view recovery projects. speaking after talks with ukraine's president, this power said the aid package would help small and medium-size businesses expand and boost exports to the european union. this new aid is part of a string of measures announced by ms. power during her visit to ukraine as james waterhouse reports from kyiv. >> samantha's visit is significant for a couple of reasons. first, we need to look at the sizable packages she has announced. almost $1 billion of aid or

humanitarian support, mental health care, as well as the modernization of the agricultural sector. she is keen to view the u.s. as a partner. she visited the city of odessa which has come under significant attack over the past two nights. we've seen it several missiles hit the ports as well as grain silos. the reason is two days ago russia pulled out of the green initiative, which allowed the country to export grain through the black sea. part of the deal involved russia agree not to target infrastructure and it is clear moscow wants to make a point that not only is it pulling out of the deal, it wants to strike kyiv in as many ways as possible. plans are been discussed about grain being exported over land and the danube river but these options are politically sensitive as well as expensive. ukraine is keen to explore as many options as possible but in the words of samantha power,

there is substitute for peace. >> the death of an 18 -- eight-year-old girl in custody of border guards has been called a preventable tragedy. -- from panama died in hospital in may after she fell ill at a u.s. customs and border patrol facility. investigators determined she had an underlying medical condition and was denied requests for care. the report's author, a pediatrician, said the girls death was a result of systemic failures within the u.s. customs and border control agency and more children will die of they are not addressed. separately the texas state inspector general's office said it would open an investigation after a state trooper claimed governor greg abbott ordered guards to subject would be migrants to inhumane treatment, including denying them water. well, in afghanistan a group of women are pushing back after growing restrictions on their rights. they held a rare protest in the capital wednesday against a

taliban decision to shut down duty salons for women. demonstrators say security forces used water cannons and tasers to disperse the crowds. this month the taliban ordered the closure of thousands of beauty salons. our news reporter spoke to some of those protesters. >> i spoke to three women beauticians who went to protest for their rights. chanting the slogans of bread, work and justice. one of them who has been working as a beautician in a salon for 20 years told me she has been employing several other women and if the saloons get closed, they will all lose their jobs. she was talking to me about her experience of today's protest. she said it was all starting very peacefully but soon the taliban turned it very violent using water cannons against them and some were even beaten. she told me about her experience. >> i am one of the beauticians

in kabul. i worked very hard to start a business. i'm the only breadwinner of my family. today we went to protest for our rights but the taliban were very violent towards us. they were so cruel. i was beaten and my leg is hurt. they used water cannons and shotguns. we do not have any other way to earn. i want the international community to hear our voice and help women of afghanistan. they are taking away our livelihood from us. >> the closure of beauty salons if it is implemented by the end of this month will have a huge social and economic implication on women in afghanistan. these women have been working for years earning money to open their beauty salons, their private businesses. according to the chamber of, on investment in afghanistan, there are currently more than 12,000 beauty salons in the country and

more than 3000 of them are in kabul, the capital. many of these women have been frustrated by the decision that the taliban have announced in the beginning of this month, that by the 25th of july all salons will be closed. this also shows another gradual restriction that the taliban have been imposing on women from banning secondary school from girls from education, from banning women, young women, from going to university. from banning women into going to parks and gyms and now this is the latest restriction that we see coming into effect on the women of afghanistan. >> there are growing concerns over the use of artificial intelligence in everyday life. france passed a law authorizing use of ai security systems for next year's olympic games. it will not be used for facial recognition but opponents are worried. hugh schofield reports.

>> the police control room in the paris suburb of massey's a pioneer in a.i. monitoring. there are 250 cameras, too many for the small team to keep a watch on so a computer program does it for them. >> so we have a new device, it informs them when something happens. it can detect here are the big group of people and it is not normal, so please watch the camera number 21 because you will see. >> the operator enters a parameter like buyer or a person on the ground or as here, bag left unattended. the ai knowing now what an unattended bag looks like after being fed thousands of different images spots it and alerts the team. it is exactly that kind of computer enhanced camera monitoring that the french government now wants to use in

next year's olympic games one for example at the opening ceremony, there will be half a million spectators watching the boats go by on the river. it is a special security challenge taylor made some would say for the new ai tech knowledge he. but not everyone. some agree with the use of ai security and are determined to fight it on the grounds that it is a dangerous step toward state surveillance. >> you have to see the political projects behind this, police and state choosing who is normal and who is not normal. and still, you always have to have historical and political background to know that when you give a surveillance tool to the state, it is not neutral and it can be abused. >> a disaster when crowds were hemmed in at last years's champions league final between liverpool and real madrid is a case study for technology supporters of how ai could have

helped. early alerts of odd behavior or people massing as for a fight are what computers can give police, allowing them to intervene early if the case requires it. as for the civil rights argument, developers say they are aware of the limits. that respect ethics more than chinese or maybe u.s. technology. they say ok, we're not a french company, so we do what we want. >> wants there were arguments about cameras on streets. now the argument is about computers monitoring the cameras. technology gets more astounding. the ethics only get nuttier. >> a check on other stories making headlines, former u.s. president donald trump lost a bid wednesday seeking to move his criminal hush money case from new york state court to federal court. the judge wrote trump quote

failed to show that the conduct charged by the indictment is for or related to any act performed by or for the president under the color of the official acts of a president. hawaii's governor has placed more than one million people under state of emergency as tropical storm calvin strengthens. the storm has been pummeling hawaii's big island with wind of up to 50 miles per hour. calvin threatens to deliver strong wind and rain fall and could result in flash flooding and mudslides. alright, italy now and one of the archaeological wonders of the world, the ancient roman city of pompeii was destroyed nearly 2000 years ago after mount vesuvius erected and was preserved in remarkable condition. the site attracts millions of visitors every year and archaeologists are working on a new excavation. our science editor got exclusive access to the site. >> with vesuvius looming over it, a city forever preserved

after a violent corruption 2000 years ago. now in pompeii is biggest excavation in a generation archaeologists are revealing a new picture of how romans lived and died. this is one of the main streets of pompeii. it would have been a hive of activity but let me take you through this entrance into one of the newly excavated areas. this is an atrium. the heart of the building. with a series of rooms running off to each side. at its center would have been a fountain and you can see if you come down here beautifully preserved white mosaic floor and the plumbing looks as if it could have been installed just yesterday. >> this is a room where two beds were standing. >> this bedroom off the atrium was the scene of an intense fire. a relic of the pinnacle caused

by the interruption. >> it really was hell on earth. >> as people fled, they may have knocked over a lamp. their fate is unknown. >> who were the people who did not make it? were they the poor or maybe people who had property and who tried to stay because they were maybe afraid to protect what they have? and others who had just nothing, they just ran. >> discoveries keep on emerging from this huge oven to a fresco with something baked in it, a possible pizza. i'm in a kitchen in the middle of being excavated and on the floor you can see the pumice that would have rained down during the corruption. an archaeologist found something unusual, a shrine with two snakes in relief. offerings of food would have been left down here but this is actually a tabletop, because

there is another half a meter that needs to be excavated before they reach the floor level. there have also been morbid fines. three skeletons discovered, captured for a bbc series on pompeii's new dig. >> two women probably and a child and they are totally destroyed by the collapse of the roof. pompeii is a city of horrible stories. for the people, not for the houses, for the frescoes, for the objects, but for the people. >> there are incredible new treasures here and this is just the start. this lost roman world has many stories left to tell. >> amazing scenes. remember, you can find more on all of the day's news on our website, plus check out on twitter to see what we are working on anytime. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program

is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

introducing a technological achievement so advanced... it rivals the moon landing. wow! ok. rude. that's one small step for man.

one giant leap for mankind. ♪ >> good evening. on the newshour tonight, irs whistleblowers testify before department slow walked antice investigation into hunter biden. new reporting shows donald trump's plans to expand executive power and limit judicial independence if reelected. judy woodruff hears from a panel of iowa voters on the role of politics in their lives and their hopes and overcoming division. >> the less people talk to each other, the less we have a really good frame of reference for how somebody might actually think. ♪