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>> this is bbc worlds america. as ukraine pushes to retake a key city, we look at a team on the front line. concerns grow after an american nurse and her child are kidnapped outside haiti's capital amid the violence. a suicide or -- suicide bomber in pakistan leaves a community in morning. -- mourning. welcome to world news america. in this special report from ukraine, ukrainian forces are still trying to retake a city and russian forces say the captured it in may after nearly

a year of fighting. the bbc got exclusive access to a team of elite snipers who conduct night raids close to the city. jonathan beale joined them on a journey to the front line. reporter: we are on our way to a secret location, a place they call the edge of existence. behind the wheel, the man known as ghost. he tells me his team of snipers are all known as the ghosts because they silently bring death. their base is already well within range of russian artillery. >> i was close. reporter: but they will be going even closer towards enemy lines. you can hide from artillery, but

not from snipers and their work is more precise. do you know how many russians your team has killed? >> yes. the confirmed number is 524. 76 of them are mine. reporter: the ghosts have been operating on the edges of box mood for the past six months, often looking for high-value russian targets. they record every kill. this man will be the marksman for tonight's mission. before the war, he worked in a factory. >> when i was a civilian, i did not like weapons. but now i have had to take up arms to defend my country. of course i am scared. only a fool would not be. reporter: a quick lesson --

blessing. we leave with desk approaching. the music to lift the mood and mask the sound of artillery. several times, the driver wants [indiscernible] they wear british supply uniforms. the insurgency can often be the most dangerous part of the mission. from here, they will have to walk another mile to reach their target. that is a big explosion. we soon discover shrapnel has torn through one of the back tires. it is a long, nerve-racking limp home. now the anxious wait for the team to return. he says he handpicked each man

for patriotism. he waits for news and calls his seven-year-old daughter. he has already taught her how to strip a gun. seven hours later, the two man team are extracted, early morning, just before the shelling. the relief is palpable. >> the sniper says the mission was a success. >> just one shot. reporter: one shot, one target, he says. the commander, ghost, is just relieved they are safe. >> every trip could be our last. but we are doing a noble deed. reporter: it also part of ukraine's psychological warfare. killing from a place that cannot be seen and with a sound that cannot be heard. jonathan beale, bbc news >>.

also in ukraine, an area with special meeting to president zelenskyy is the latest. james waterhouse is in kyiv with the latest. reporter: the search is finished. president zelenskyy's hometown, russian missiles struck overnight. we know six have been killed, including a mother and her 10-year-old daughter. all 70 have been injured and one does not are trapped under rule. a familiar yet still horrifying site where you have a residential block with a chunk missing, smoldering debris and rescue dreams -- rescue teams frantically trying to save who they can. when you have wave after wave of missile strikes, there was always a place in ukraine that is the most you -- the most acutely hit. alongside this, ukrainians

desperately trying to seize the initiative and the counteroffensive which is coming up towo months old. the gains have been modest and intensely contested. we do see an increase in fighting. it is true to say they are concentrating men and machinery in the southeast and eastern parts of the front line but we get comments from the kremlin alleging the counteroffensive is not going according to plan, in their words saying the western hardware is getting wasted in the endeavor. but kyiv still sees its destiny in this invasion and its own hands and it will be desperate to try to achieve the ultimate goal of repelling russia completely. it is refusing to accept russia's presence in the country but you fear that as long as russia keeps hold of what it has taken, it might start to slip away from kyiv control but i have to stress that neither side

has pyed their full military hand in this counteroffensive in the next two months could well be crucial ahead of the onset of autumn and winter and any development will be near to impossible. >> in haiti a christian aid group is reporting the kidnapping of an american nurse and her child outside of port-au-prince. the u.s. invite -- advised all citizens to leave the country because of worsening security situation. the nurse was the wife of a director and the u.s. state department said it is aware of the situation and will continue working with the haitian authorities. gangs control large part of the capital and ransom for kidnapping is common. kenya is leading a force to restore stability in haiti. >> conduct an assessment mission which they plan to do in the coming weeks and once they have,

as the lead of this multinational force, they will talk with other partners about additional assistance needed and what other countries might participate and kick off discussions of which the u.s. will be party. >> the first pictures have emerged of the ousted president nice share who remains -- niger who remains in custody. mr. w held talks with the leader of the military who led the takeover and leaders of the coup continues to claim they are about to be attacked and that france has been considering an assault on the presidential president to free the president. this follows last week's takeover by the head of the presidential guard unit. i spoke about the conflicts with the country's ambassador to

think u.s. london, this is bbc -- the u.s.. two more cabinet ministers have been arrested. what do you make of these latest developments? >> the general has no intention to respect human rights despite claiming he will dohat. he has no reason whatsoever and there was no political tension or worsening security situation like he claims. in our country, you ascended to power by the ballot and we had elected a legitimate president and want him to be restored like

all the international community echoes us like african union, united states, france, european union, all are asking them to give the president power back. >> the economic community of west africa and has threatened the military action. would you welcome that? military intervention? >> my position is that of course i would hope and wish for a peaceful solution that the general will see reason and give power back to the president and parliament that were elected in a fair and transparent election. but if that is not possible, i would not rule out any solution

that would restore democracy in my country. including military intervention. i would not rule out any solution. because this general in africa is coming to power by force. this is not acceptable. they are doing the same as the terrorist and jihadist groups we have been fighting. >> if there was military intervention we could see a full conflict between military leaders and intervening forces. are you worried about that? >> i am worried about anything that will create damage to my people. but if the choice is, they have to come back to reason. just because you have the

bullets, you are not ruling a country. if you want to rule a country you have to have an election. >> what about the people? protesters in the streets have been waving the flags of russia and burning the flags of france and supporting the leaders of the coup. what do you make of that and does this open the door for russia to gain more influence in your country? >> first, demonstration. if you know west africa and or cities, we have a lot of young people without jobs. these people are easy to manipulate and make demonstrations. >> so you say the demonstrators are being manipulated? >> yes. and demonstration is not the us -- and demonstration even if it is not manipulated is nothe

same as election. >> a recent survey showed 52% of the people serving your country said they thought the country is going in the wrong direction and they want the government to do more for the economy and reduce inequality between rich and poor. do you think there is a level of frustration that the president did not anticipate? >> what you are asking me is that if the opinion [indiscernible] if the positive rating is not good, the president should go. but if it goes by this one there would be [indiscernible] so yes, people can be upset and impatient for policies to deliver but we have had 7%

economy growth and the first peaceful school year in 15 years. no strike at all in our country last year. so yes we are a poor cotry and people have time in their day-to-day life but the people who have the arms are supposed to protect us and our president and our freedom and liberty and they have come and seized power. >> you are the ambasdor here in washington. what do you want to see washington and the allies do? >> washington is already doing a lot. have you seen all the statement by secretary blinken? he keeps doing it and that is what we want him to do and that is what he is doing. our partners are standing with

us, firm and strong. they want democracy back immediately in niger and that is what we want. >> ambassador, thank you so much for your conversation -- conversation today. the first official re-engagement between the u.s. and taliban concluded monday in qatar. the parties discussed the lifting of travel and other restrictions on taliban leaders and unfreezing of afghan bank reserves. no immediate comment from the u.s. on the talks. in pakistan, a group affiliated with the islamic state calle the i.s. kp is claiming responsibility for sunday's deadly suicide attack in the country. pakistan government says they will find those responsible for the bombing that killed dozens and wounded hundreds. our reporter is in islamabad. reporter: the so-called islamic state in the providence where the blast took place has claimed

responsibility for the bombing that took place sunday afternoon and taken the lives of 45 people. the news agency is often the outlet the so-called islamic state uses to announce tclaim different attacks and affiliate groups. while the declaration included the name of the suicide bomber, it has not contained further details of the motive or intention but the fact that this is not the first time has happened and that the islamic state has carried out attacks in pakistan, many are suggesting this shows a growing rift between the islamic state and other religious groups operating here and this is becoming increasingly serious. >> i spoke with former u.s. ambassador at large nathan sales

on the security environment. >> for decades the pakistani and government has played a risky double game with the u.s. and nato and western countries. on one hand partnering with us on certain occasions to combat terrorism and on the other hand secretly and maybe not secretly bolstering the fortunes of the taliban and afghanistan. today we are seeing the results. the afghanistan taliban is not capable of countering the threat posed -- proposed by isis-k. they seem more concerned about the threat of women and girls going to school and working. so it is sorry to say there is a sense in which the dyer security environment pakistan faces today is the direct result of the pakistan efforts to bolster the taliban over manyears. >> the planet's hottest month on record is growing to a close but the sweltering hit is set to

continue in the u.s. with tens of millions under heat alerts. areas of the east coast saw some relief from the heat but the city of phoenix continued the streak of heat. i have gone 30 days in a row of temperatures above 110 fahrenheit and forecasters say monday could -- monday showers could bring that streak to the end. bbc news took a look at july. >> going outside the last 24 hours or so, it is very hot outside. ♪ >> here in phoenix as temperature records continue to

break. >> it feels like an oven. ♪ >> this is something we have to deal with living in arizona. >> it looks like a disaster movie but this is reality in vermont. homes, garages, businesses destroyed by severe flooding. >> the power of the water and mother nature is devastating. ♪ >> the water is so hot that beachgoers say it is not cooling them off. they say it is like a hot tub. >> a wild fire burning out of control has crossed into the u.s. from canada. evacuation orders for residents in washington state and a canadian town. the wildfire is estimated to be burning more than 12,000 acres between the two countries. it is just one of more than 1000

wildfires burning in canada. canadian wildfires have burned more than 31 million acres of land so far this year. that's bigger than cuba. in china roads turned to rivers as a typhoon because the worst flooding in over a decade, forcing mass evacuations nationwide. in a coastal province more than 350,000 people were forced out. as the typhoon made its way towards beijing, the flood department mobilized rescue personnel. rainfall is forecasted to slow by tuesday but people are closely watching another typhoon on the horizon. now to do claims about pressure being put on muslims living outside china. hundreds of thousands of members of the group have been subjected to mass incarceration in the northwest of the country and researchers say chinese authorities are pressuring those

living abroad to spy on human rights campaigners by threatening families back home and refugees and activists say the tactic is tearing apart communities. one refugee in the u.k. spoke to us about his experience. >> a demonstration outside the foreign office with a dark twist. they want the government to speak up about human rights abuses in china. someone has been asked to infiltrate their ranks, gather intelligence, and send details to chinese authorities. we call him adam and conceal his identity. he's a refugee living in the u.k.. >> when they called me, i recorded it with my other phone. reporter: he has shared recordings of the calls. we have adapted a few to mask some details. >> we paid a visit to your family in xinjiang. my colleague collected details.

if you want to see them, i can set up a video call. >> please arrange it. i want to talk to them and find out how they are. i will not ask about anything else. >> no problem. i will arrange that for you. >> i was granted an unusual video call. the officer connected them by holding two phones facing each other. >> he used one phone to connect with my mother and another one to contact me, allowing me to see my mother through his screen. when i saw my mother, i could not contain my emotions. it had been six or seven years since i last saw her and it was incredibly heart-wrenching. there was a price to pay. the officer wanted something in return. >> we have heard activists are planning to meet next month. we want you to attend and find out what they say. especially the leaders. we know who they are. >> they took my family hostage,

putting me through this ordeal, even though i might appear fine on the outside, on the inside, i am suffering. >> a report published this year says 60% of the 400 of them living in the u.k. have been approached with similar requests, to inform on their peers or stop speaking out about what is happening in xinjiang. >> the chinese government harasses and threatens regular people abroad and tries to control their daily activities and friendships. most face threats and harassment from police and government officials. all experience family separation. >> those outside china can speak but those are astute -- for those still in xinjiang, telling the world about the internment camps where one million people have been detained in the last

few years. adam refused to cooperate and we understand the vast majority of requests made by chinese police are rejected by those in the community. >> in response, the chinese embassy in london says these allegations were groundless and added that china will protect them and their communication with overseas relatives in accordance with the law. before we go, we want to show you a daring feat. an estonian athlete has walked nearly 500 feet along a line tied between two towers in qatar. 675 feet above the ground. the rope holds less tension than a tight rope. 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. ♪ ♪

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that's one small step for man. amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the “newshour” tonight, even as he dominates the republican primary, former president trump spends millions of campaign dollars on legal fees in the many cases against him. amna: states across the country debate how to use the billions of dollars obtained from opioid settlements with major pharmaceutical companies. >> what we want is for this money to go to help people who are struggling with opioid addiction. so the money is required to go to that purpose. geoff: and an executive order creates new military protocols for investigating sexual assault in the armed forces. ♪