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>> this is bbc worlds america. mass protests erupt in israel afterwards parliament passes contentious legislation. thousands flee greece as local officials say wildfires remain out of control. and afghanistan's women's soccer team continues to represent a country that does not recognize them. ♪ welcome to world news america. we started israel where protests have erupted and appears set to continue into the night. the outrage comes after the passing of the key part of the israeli government's legal

reforms that will limit the powers of the supreme court to challenge government decisions. after compromised talks broke down, the measure passed unanimously with opposition parties boycotting the vote. opponents claim it will destroy israel's democracy. the opposition leader called the passing of the bill a set day and said he would petition the supreme court to annul the law. the biden administration released a statement saying as a lifelong friend of israel, president biden has publicly and privately expressed his views that major changes in a democracy to be enduring must have as broad a consensus as possible. it is unfortunate that the vote took place today with the slimmest possible majority. the white house also said it would continue to support israel's president and other israeli leaders as they seek a broader consensus. now to our next top story. russia is accusing ukraine of launching a drone attack on its capital. the defense ministry said two

drones hit nonresidential buildings with one crashing close to its headquarters. no casualties have been reported. a ukrainian defense official said kyiv is responsible and it comes after ukraine said it would retaliate for a russian missile attack on odessa on sunday that killed one person. overnight, local officials in southern ukraine say russian ukraine -- russian drones destroyed grain storage infrastructure. it is a key export route for kyi v. the world food program says it has already caused a rise in the global price of wheat. james waterhouse has more on the attacks and potential global response. >> there was a period when odessa was more bearable in the sense that it didn't come under such heavy aerial but environment compared with other southern cities. the last week has seen that change.

nights are also accompanied with the booming sounds of counter offenses. this afternoon, grain terminal ports have been hit on the mouth of the river. that is significant for two reasons. first, it is close to the border with romania which is a nato member. if any of those missiles had gone over, it would have put the alliance in a difficult position in terms of what to do next. secondly, the river is seen as an alternative for ukraine to be able to export its grain. the timing of these attacks is no coincidence. moscow pulled out of a landmark agreement last week which allowed ukraine to export through the black sea and it worked. tens of millions of pounds made it out but that deal is no more and cities are now finding themselves as targets. sumi: earlier, i spoke with

angela, the director for center for eurasian and russian studies at georgetown university. i want to start with russia accusing ukraine of launching a terrorist drone attack on moscow early on monday. they say an unmanned aircraft crashed close to the defense ministry, also a different drone hitting a high-rise building. what do you make of ukraine stepping up attacks in russia because we have now seen ukrainian defense officials confirming that ukraine was indeed behind this? angela: russia has been stepping up its attacks, horrific attacks on odessa for the past four or five nights, including destroying a cathedral library, killing people. i think with ukrainians are doing is in retiation for what russia is doing to them, particularly in edessa. sumi: do you think we might see further escalation from rsia in response to what they are calling terrorist drone attacks on moscow? angela: i think it is quit

possible there will be further escalation from russia. that has already been pretty bad, particularly the last week. today the ukrainians hit some depots in crimea, too. i think we will be seeing greater escalation as russia has pulled out of this grain deal and is now trying to reorganize the way all of this is done. sumi: you mentioned odessa that has sustained a wave of deadly aerial attacks, and the latest struck the city's cathedral. this is a city that ukrainians say is very much in the line of sight for president putin in russia. what do you think the significance of these attacks is? angela: this significance of these attacks is to intimidate the ukrainians. it is also to intimidate the outside world, as russia has pulled out of this grain agreement. russians are now trying to present to the global south, african countries, that they are prepared to have humanitarian

grain assistance and accusing the ukrainians of not having done that. russia definitely at the beginning of the war had its sights on taking odessa and has not given them up. sumi: president putin had indicated that in some sense, he would be willing to reach an agreement on this grain deal for safe passage for grain and food products from ukraine. is there any room at this point for negotiation to reach an agreement with russia? angela: the russians want some sanctions lifted and they want their agricultural bank that is involved in this to be reunited with the international payment system. it is possible that other concessions were made to russia, they might reenter it, but it does not look at the moment that they are willing to do this unless they get significant sanctions relieved. sumi: you mentioned african leaders, and president putin is holding a summit with those leaders later this week. what assurance since is he

looking to get from african leaders particularly in the war in ukraine? angela: the african leaders have sent a delegation, peacemaking delegation to moscow and also to kyiv. they have said they want a meeting. they really have not met with much success, but the african leaders so far have been very neutral in this conflict. they have not condemned what russia has done directly and they have not sanctioned russia. i think putin promised the africans quite a lot in the first summer they had in 2019, and much of that has not materialized. i think the african countries are also looking, are the russians really going to invest in their countries the way they said they would? sumi: do you think if putin made assurances to deliver grain, that could tilt towards russia? angela: they already are, but sure, if he makes these assurances and the grain

actually gets there, that would further cement their unwillingness to join the west and condemning russia. sumi: i want to ask you what's happening on the battlefield itself. ukrainians saying they have liberated 45 square miles near bakmuht. ukraine has recovered more than 50% of the territory. we are also hearing the counteroffensive is going slower than desired. how do you assess what's happening? angela: unfortunately, this counteroffensive has proved very challenging for the ukrainians. they have not made as much progress as they thought they would at the beginning. the russians have used the past year to dig in their defenses, making it difficult for the ukrainians to take back territory and the ukrainians lack the airpower if they really wanted to push back. yes, they have taken back some territory, but it has been very slow and painstaking. i think this counteroffensive will go on for a long time. sumi: what do you think they

need at this point because they have received cluster munitions from the u.s.? angela: they need more airpower, more long-range missiles from the u.s. it would probably help them if they have the f-16 fighter air jets. they definitely need more airpower. they do need more munitions but the united states and its allies are also themselves running out of these munitions. so, that is a real challenge too. sumi: thank you so much for your insights today. in the u.s., scorching heat continues to affect tens of millions of americans. heat alerts are currently in effect across a dozen states. temperatures are expected to exceed 110 degrees fahrenheit in parts of california and arizona. the city that continues to be hit hardest by the heat is phoenix where it has been 24 consecutive days with temperatures at 110 degrees. forecasts say boiling temperatures across the u.s. are

expected to linger throughout the week. in greece, heat is fueling wildfires that are wreaking havoc on several islands as well as on the mainland,. more than 80 wildfires are burning and tens of thousands of residents and tourists have been forced to flee. emergency services have been dealing with the fires, including two in areas east and southwest of athens. more than 2000 people have been evacuated from one island. the wildfires are also having a major impact o travel. the travel agency announced it was canceling all flights to rhodes through friday. our reporter is at the airport and sent does this update. >> our team and has been here at the airport throughout the day and one thing is clear, people are upset. they are disappointed with airlines. let down.stories, stories of fao are rushed out to beaches where people were fighting over boats only to that end up at another

hotel where they have to sleep on sunbeds throughout the night. and then to come to an airport where they feel like the airline is nowhere to be found as they are trying to figure out how they can go home to safety. now, the wildfires are not over here. two more villages had to be evacuated. the fire service told us soon after those were evacuated and they receive the emergency call. the fires themselves have been happening on other islands, and even those situations are under control. it is clear that this temperature, this heat, this humidity, these winds are causing wildfires across greece, that with rising temperatures, they are not sure they are able to handle. sumi: now to the u.s. soldier detained in north korea. the united nations command, a u.s. led multinational force that oversees the korean war truce, says it has started discussions with pyongyang ove

the whereabouts of travis king. the u.s. state department said baden not receive a response from north korea and they did not have any details on private king's whereabouts or condition. it has been under a week since mr. king, a u.s. army private serving in south korea, sprinted into north korea while on a tour. the dmz marks the border between north and south korea, and is one most heavily fortified areas in the world. this is what the u.n. said a short while ago. >> first is the primary concern is private king's welfare. a conversation has commenced with the kpa through the mechanisms of the armistice. that process has started, but forgive me because of the very delicate nature of these negotiations if i don't go into any more detail about that. sumi: now the u.s. justice department is suing texas over floating barriers installed by

the state to block migrants crossing from mexico after they failed to meet a deadline to remove them. the lawsuit comes after texas governor greg abbott sent a letter to the biden administration on monday directed to biden that said "texas action is a side issue. the fact is if you would just enforce the immigration laws congress has on the books, america would not be suffering from your record-breakg level of illegal immigration. texas will fully you i's its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused." the white house responded to the letter on monday. >> instead of coming to a table and trying to figure out a way to work together, he continues to do this really cruel, unjust, inhumane ways of moving forward with a system that has been broken for decades. this is a president that has taken action from day one and has continued to show what he can do to help deal with the border situation. but, governor abbott is not

about that. the department of justice has been very clear. we have been very clear about that, they have been very clear about taking him to court about his unlawful actions so i will let them speak to it. sumi: monday marks 100 days since the war in sudan started, and 20 years after dark force genocide, that region is seen the most casualties. human rights groups have called it an ethnic cleansing backed by rsf. they have been fighting the sudanese army in a power grab since the middle of april. we traveled to the border and spoke to mothers who fled the violence to try to save the children. a warning, their testimony is disturbing. >> 20 days before we met just as she crossed into chad from sudan. >> on the road, there was no one to help. everyone was running to save their lives.

no one was even looking at me. when i delivered and realized the baby was out, i didn't think of anything else as i continued walking. >> a mher of eight. she crossed over with her four girls, but she left the bodies of her three sons behind and buried. they were 3, 7 and nine. she says the forces killed them in an attack. the rsf come for them wherever they had. at home, schools and health facilities. and it is the men and boys that were killed first. thousands of people keep flowing into this camp every day and most of them are women and children. very few men here. there are two possible explanations. one, that is very difficult for the men to move across from sudan into chad because they are the ones targeted most by the militia. and the second possible reason

is that they have remained behind to fight and protect whatever little is remaining of their community. there are tens of women in this tent with their babies, all of them have gunshot wounds. they come from various towns and villages in sudan. both she and her nine month old son were shot as they fled their village. >> i was carrying my son and walking on the street. everyone was leaving, trying to get away. the bullet came from the direction of the nth. we were headed west. my son struck my back, i heard a bullet go through him and hit me here. now missing my kidney -- narrowly missing my kidney. the boy was bleeding and so was i. >> doctors without borders set up these tents to help the hundreds of refugees coming in every day. here we are, which was something

around 35 to 40 days total. now in the past two weeks, we have more than 1000 surgical cases. >> refugees in this camp say their ethnicity was questioned at every rsf checkpoint on the way to the border. some pretended they were arabs to get through, but was found to be -- they were doused with petrol and bound or shot. the bbc has asked of the rsf for delegations but has not received a response. in the past, they have denied similar accusations. one of the few males who made it to this camp. sumi: let's return to our top story now and those protests that have erupted in israel. we can speak to our middle east correspondent tom bateman standing by for us. tom, thank you for joining us. what have you been seeing on the streets?

tom: well, it has been an extraordinary day both inside and outside the israeli parliament. i saw things pick up from 8:00 to 9:00 in the morning outside the parliament building, as protesters were determined to block the major intersections and roads heading up to the parliament building. even within a few hours, we were seeing israeli security forces trying to forcibly clear protesters from those roads, from those intersections. pretty violence couples. at least one -- pretty violent scuffles. at least one person carried away on a stretcher by paramedics. inside the parliament building, the vote took place over the first series of proposals of the israeli government having trying to push through to overhaul the judiciary in the country. highly contested. and the opposition actually walked out when it came to the vote itself.;

they believe the entire thing is illegitimate. the bill passed 64-0. what that will mean is that judges in israeli courts have a more limited power now to judicially review and overturn some government decisions. that is one of a raft of proposals that the religious national coalition of benjamin netanyahu wants to carry through. they want to get more of it through by november. sumi: what is the israeli government and prime minister saying specifically about these protests and the criticism of this legislation? tom: well, in terms of the israeli government's position, netanyahu has said this is about preventing overreach by the israeli courts. they believe the judges in israel have become effectively activists, prepared to make politicized decisions to block the agenda of the religious nationalists in the israeli

government. mr. netanyahu has presented this, he says this is about restoring democracy because it is theill of the people, the elected governments program, so they want to get it through. what many critics will say to that is what you end up is with is a form of populist government, and crucially in israel where there is no really other form of check and balance on the executive power of the government other than the supreme court. there is not a written constitution or a second chamber of parliament. this becomes such a heated issue that s led to divisions in israel. sumi: tom bateman, thank you. now, and has been a busy weekend in the women's world cup, beginning with the u.s. 3-0 win over vietnam. in her tournament debut, sophia smith scored two goals. at 22, she has become the send youngest women's soccer player

to score multiple goals in a world cup game. germany and brazil had strong showings in their first group match ups, shutting out morocco and anime respectively -- panama respectively. the u.s. women's team will continue on wednesday against and that aligns -- the netherlands. there is an afghan women's team in australia but they are not there for the women's world cup. when the taliban took over nearly two years ago, many members of the afghan women's football team escaped to australia. they have now settled in melbourne and continuing to play, but because the taliban has banned women's sports, fifa has refused to recognize them as a national team. our correspondent has been spending time with the players. >> this is not prep for a world cup game but these women have already come a long way. two years ago, they were running for their lives, fleeing their home country after the taliban takeover. they are safe now following their dreams. but it is not lost on them that

millions of the country women cannot do the same. everything you see here, the jerseys they are wearing, the hairstyles, even the laughter is enough to get them severely punished or killed if they stayed in afghanistan. >> now there are many people who are in a voiceless journey and i have to be the voice for them. i have an obligation to represent those ladies back in my home country, those who cannot study, those who cannot work, those who cannot play soccer or do anything they like. now i am representing them, and i feel more strong and proud. it will be awesome to represent that country that women and ladies are banned from everything there. [applause] >> it is a bittersweet moment for these players, representing afghanistan nearly two years after they fled their home country. many say this is much more than just about football for them. we play for afghan women, they

tell me, and pray for their freedom. none of them take this moment for granted. the taliban government has banned women's sports, which means they are not officially recognized by the country or fifa. >> i'm very sad. i was expending a lot from the governing bodies of football to stand with these women when the taliban say women of afghanistan belong in the kitchen. these women sacrificed a lot to change that mindset, that women don't belong in the kitchen, they belong everywhere in society and that is what we want. we want the leadership, with us, and don't keep silent. >> we have asked fifa for your response and they sent us this statement, saying the selection of players and teams representing the member association is an internal affair. adding that fifa does not have the right to officially recognized any team unless it is first recognized by its own

association. they said they would continue to closely monitor the situation of the afghan team. doing what they love comes at a heavy price. the constant anxiety about the safety of family and friends back home, and the loneliness of having left everything behind. these players have given up a lot for football, and they are hoping that football does not give up on them. bbc news, melbourne. sumi: just before we go in the u.s., the dumbest the method debut of two very different movies created -- the domestic debut of two different movies created a phenomenon. barbie and oppenheimer. oppenheimer was beat out by barbie which tallied around million, the highest movie opening of the year. barbie marks the biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman. thank you for watching world news america. ♪

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. geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is away. on the “newshour” tonight, unrest grips the streets of israel as its parliament approves a measure to weaken the country's judiciary. new findings reveal startling connections among gun ownership, young americans, and white supremacy. and ups workers threaten to strike if union negotiations fail, a move that would ripple through the economy. >> nobody wants to go on a strike. but at the same time, look what's happening with the company making all these profits and we're not getting none of the piece of the cake. ♪