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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> caitriona perry in washington, and this is bbc world news about you. workers at three top american auto companies are set to strike within hours in an unprecedented coordinated action. president biden's son hunter is criminally charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm while on drugs. 20,000 people are feared dead in eastern libya's catastrophic floods as criticism of the local authorities mounts.

hello, you are very welcome to world news america. we are following two major stories out of the u.s. as president joe biden's son hunter is indicted on charges and american autoworkers, just hours away from an unprecedented coordinated strike. u.s. president joe biden son hunter biden was currently charged in delacorte. the prosecution accused him of lying about his use of narcotics when he purchased a handgun in 2018. today's indictment marks the first ever prosecution of a sitting president's child, and if convicted, hunter faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. efforts to reach a plea deal collapsed earlier this summer. hunter biden faces three criminal charges, and -- making a full statement in the purchase of a firearm, a false statement on paperwork for dealers, and possession of a firearm by a

person who is an unlawful abuser of or addicted to a controlled substance. his attorney said hunter biden possessing an unloaded gun for 11 days was quote not a threat to public safety. the attorney said in a statement that we think that these charges -- recent rulings of several courts that this is unconstitutional and the fact that he did not violate the law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court. let's speak to our correspondent, gary o'donoghue at the white house. there has been a five-year investigation, why are the charges only being be -- brought now against hunter biden? they had a deal back in july where he would avoid prison on these charges and tax charges, some misdemeanor tax charges, but that deal fell apart and it

fell apart because hunter biden's lawyers believed that they had an indemnity clause where he would not face any further investigations and inquiries. that turned out not to be the case. the prosecutors had to sort of push ahead with the original charges. the irony of this is one of the things they are going to rely on is the expansion of second amendment rights that we have started to see in u.s. courts, particularly in the fifth circuit in newer lanes, where these sorts of restrictions on drug addicts on guns have been challenged on constitutional grounds. the irony of all of this is that you could see hunter biden in court arguing that his second amendment rights prevent him from being prosecuted successfully on these gun charges. he also faces other potential investigations on tax issues and foreign dealings. we don't know the charges for that which may or may not be

brought, we don't have a date for when he will appear in court on the gun charges. >> how will this reflect on the president, has there been any response from him yet? >> no response from the president, but anything that touches on his son hunter really rise up -- while sub joe biden, it's his son, one of his sons died, and he has his surviving son, don't forget, republicans have launched their impeachment inquiry in the house, that is all connected to allegations that joe biden benefited from hunter biden and his business activities. you have got this prospect of republicans attempted to capitalize on these legal problems for hunter biden to put pressure on the president. having said all that, they have got problems of their own in that their leading nominee for the republican nomination, donald trump, is facing 91 state

and federal charges, so talking about hunter biden's legal problems could bring the spotlight back to donald trump as well. this could be intellectually aware entering, but most of us will spend most of next year in the courtroom. >> gary o'donoghue at the white house, thank you for that. one of the largest unions in the u.s. says it is preparing targeted strikes at auto plants if new labor agreements are not reached with three detroit-based automakers by thursday evening. united alkyl work -- the united auto workers president says that if their demands are not, strikes will only take place at a limited number of plants, but it is possible for all 146 -- 146 thousand union members to walk out over time. that includes a 36% wage increase over four years, and they have responded with wage increases up to 20% over a 4.5

year contract. the president says that the union will not back down on its demands, -- >> we will not allow the big three to continue dragging out negotiations for months. the big three can afford to immediately give us our fair share. if they choose not to, then they are choosing to strike themselves, and we are not afraid to take action. >> in an interview with cnbc on thursday, the fort ceo said that the union cements could bankrupt the company. he also said that he is worried but his company is prepared for a strike. >> joining us now is a business and automated reporting for the detroit news, we are just a few hours from that midnight deadline for a deal, what is the latest? >> thank you for having me. the latest is that the two sides have been negotiating around the

clock, although there is some frustration on the company and union with -- with where things are at. they seem to be far apart, still last night, the union president got onto facebook live and showcased the latest authors from automakers at that time. since then, gm has moved its wage increase officer from 80%--- up to 20%. the autoworkers i speak to feel that is not enough and they want to see more. we are waiting, the clock is ticking, and it is looking like a strike is very likely at this point. >> big three have been accused of corporate greed, such as that $21 billion profit, and they say that they are looking for a 40% wage increase. is there any indication that the employers are prepared to move on that offer?

>> it seems that they would likely have to. the president of the union has made it clear that those wage increase officers, they are still at 17.5 in salina, ford is at 20%, and those are not enough. they need to see more. unless we see some movement there, it's -- and some movement on other things, including the tier wage system, the automakers did move from an eight year grow in. two eight years to get to the top rate, but they feel like many of those numbers that i talked to don't like that, they want to see folks come in and get hired after 90 days, and top rate. we are still very far apart in the stocks. >> what are you hearing about how the talks are taking place

because we have heard that the boss is not acting in good faith, and they put an offer that has not received a counter offer. >> i have heard that as well, and from the other side i heard that they are negotiating, we have not released anything like this, both sides are very much coming up to the public, and saying where they are at, and sending the automakers, they have sent direct to medications to their employees so that they know what the offers are. gm just did that this afternoon. we are in an intense situation here in detroit. and it's going to be an -- not going to be online but spread strike, with all of them going on at once, it's going to be a

targeted plant strike, and like a said, it is looking like that is what to come. -- what's to come. >> there have never been strikes at the big three before, what is the likely impact in the local area there? >> we will have to see what specific plants are selected, but without question, i covered the 2019 strike against general motors which lasted 40 days, and they -- they definitely work effects from that on the workers themselves, they lost wages and jim reported eight huge loss. we will have to watch how this plays out. the president of the union says that they will take some specific plants down, and over time they will take more down, and yes, i think it is something we need to watch about how this affects the economy, and i'm sure all of these suppliers and makers and foreign automakers are watching this very closely

to see how we progress here. >> given that potential for knock on impact, what support is there locally or politically for the workers? i think that you have seen the labor movement have a lot of support nationally, just today i discovered -- talked with the president of one of the automakers, answer -- she promised support for the union. talked to the teamsters, and they are sponsoring it, tomorrow there will be a rally in detroit with senator bernie sanders. the union really has a lot of people in this corner right now, and i think the companies recognize that, and they're going to have to move even more than they initially wanted to on some of these demands. >> kaylee at the detroit news, thank you for bringing us up-to-date.

>> now turning to libya where emergency teams are searching the ruined city in the wake of catastrophic floods. this growing criticism of the authorities in eastern libya, where politicians are dramatic an official investigation, many libyans have claimed port infrastructure maintenance after two dams collapsed leading to a storm surge. the united nations has also criticized libyans alert system saying that casualties could have been avoided had residents been properly warned and given time to escape. more on that in a moment. let's have a look at the latest numbers. the red crescent says that 11,000 people have died in the north african nation. however, the made up of the port city of genesis that up to 20,000 people may have -- below may have died. many the red crescent has ported as mission, -- missing, and we explain how this deposition

began. >> one of the worst disasters in the bee's, but how did it happen? this satellite footage shows storm daniel, which some analysts called a mediterranean hurricane, killing 50 people in greece and making its way across southern europe and making landfall in libya on sunday. the worst hit area has been the northeast coast. right to the city center runs the river valley. that is the river flowing down from the mountains. it's dry for most of the year, and nobody was prepared for this. there are two dams, the upper one being the one here, eight miles south of the city, due to the sheer amount of rainfall and floodwater from the storm, it burst and you can see that in the footage here. after that first dam collapsed it sent water pouring down the valley before reaching a second dam which lay much closer to the

city, less than a mile from it. the sheer force of the floodwater meant that this second dam was also overcome. what will we know about the dams themselves? we understand that both of them were constructed by yugoslav engine nears around 50 years ago, with cores made of clay protected by a stone parapet or shell. they were not strong enough to cope with the storm are flooding, of this magnitude. all of this was compounded by libya's dysfunctional politics, it's a country risk -- which nationals -- natural resources but lacking in the stability that its people crave. >> thousands of deaths could have been avoided had warnings been issued and regulations taken place, i spoke to the royal meteorological organization secretary-general who explained more.

>> thank you very much for joining us. we have seen thousands of lives lost in libya after catastrophic flooding. do you think that some of those lives could have been saved? >> the government of libya is not in good shape, and especially this auto sector, they cannot automate these functions as well as they could before these crises broke out. that has meant that they have had very limited resources and difficulties, they have staffing difficulties with their observer systems and the emergency management with difficulty functioning duck -- during this administration, and this has all meant that this storm and this

flooding, the public was not warned. and there was no evacuation of the people. and they might even have no ability to respond in some cases. that's the situation in libya which has led to higher numbers. >> given that fact, what can we do now? >> hopefully they pay attention to early warning services and help communicate services, especially with emergency management. that has been the missing piece in these cases, and that has been unfortunate with a high number of casualties.

>> are there other countries that could face similar risks in terms of flooding and potential tragedies? >> we are in very poor shape there as well, i spoke with that service last week at the african climate summit, and some of them have moved to the northeastern part of the country where they can make very limited operations and services. we have a handful of countries worldwide that are this poor, and when there is a high impact weather event, it is those countries where we see more casualties and more economic losses. >>, place, coups, unstable power bases like what you have been describing, what does this bode

for the international community for organizations like yours? >> we need early warning services for all, in over 100 countries by 2027, and we have the mandate to promote that as a program and other donor countries have allocated resources for this, and also more developed countries are sharing their expertise, we have improved the early warning capacities of half of our member countries and want to make sure that there is relevant emergency management authorization for users and customers of those services. >> how can you do that if there are perhaps challenges using control in a country, or in the

case of sudan where the meteorologists have fled? >> we have done this military conflict -- with this military conflict going on, there is no way to operate in the short-term, and with the uprisings in suit on, in the over -- coming years and months. we have 30 come change -- countries that are functioning, and the moment there is no ability -- at the moment there is no ability to improve their services in sudan. >> thank you very much for joining us on bbc news. >> are most welcome. >> let's go to benghazi, where we can speak to abc's anna foster. we are seeing reports about her devastation there. what can you tell us about the scene? >> this is the city that appears

to have been worth to buy all of this. the reason being that when storm daniel moved in across the eastern coast of libya it brought heavy rainfall, abutting the case of the city, it destroyed these two dams that were designed to hold away large accumulations of rain and water from the population on the coast, but that didn't happen. and the speed and the force of the water, enough to break two dams as wash away little huge part of the city. the death toll could be as many as 20,000, which is almost impossible to comprehend, when you think it could be as much of a quarter as the population -- as a quarter of the population as -- of the city. whole apartment blocks were swept away, and many of those bodies have been swept up to see. it is very difficult, even now, to get an accurate idea of how many people have been killed.

many more have been injured. and many more have been displaced from their homes, which, in a country like libya as you talking about there, has been so ravaged by conflict over more than a decade, it makes people's situations even more dire than it already was. >> there has been much criticism of the handling of the authorities of this recovery mission, what have you seen off of those rescued efforts? >> the difficulty is that as we were saying, the conflict in this country, the infrastructure is in many ways completely destroyed. they don't have other countries around the world -- what they would have like a planning operation for something like this. when you don't have those things that hand and they are not available even in the country, it makes it difficult to respond quickly. we are seeing offers of international help from some countries, but even to get into

libya is enormously difficult. we are talking about the political situation, about the different factions that fight for control here libya, and that means that flying into the airport is simply not an option to deliberate in the way that it would be in other countries around the world. and that is really hampering rescue efforts. and of course people in those worst-hit towns, people interna -- here look to authorities to answer questions about the structural integrity of those dams to hold -- that should have whole -- held the water back, and whether or not they could have mitigated this disaster. questions which will continue to be asked, but questions which are in the mix of people being numb in many ways to this disaster. when i arrived at the airport, i was struck i the sound that was coming across the passport patrol hall, two men looking at videos on a mobile phone, i went

across because i could hear the sound of women screaming and sobbing, and they were watching video after video and strolling down the page on social media, just showing me all of these different things that are coming out, and that people here are consuming. with a sense of real helplessness. they have known that this is happening in their country. they know that there's very little that they can do about it. and there is an enormous sense of collective grief for people here right now as this continues to unfold. i wonder how they are going to do with it. >> anna foster, thank you for that. in other news, the ukrainian president says that he will attend the united nations annual gathering of world leaders next week in new york, according to a senior ukrainian government official, solesky hopes to make his case for support, both in the speech to the u.n. general assembly and during several meetings with fellow leaders, including president joe biden. reports say that biden will host solesky at the white house after the general assembly.

russia's foreign ministry expelled to united states marine corps employees after accusing them of spying -- working with an accused spy. they are accused of liaising with a russian citizen and acted -- from legal activities. the state department called the accusations wholly without merit. power is being restored in nigeria after the country experienced a nationwide power outage for about 10 hours on thursday. nigerian authorities say that the country's electrical grid collapsed due to a fire. the grid has collapsed multiple times in recent years, and power supply is erratic, forcing households and businesses to use diesel and petrol generators. the president has promised to improve supply, by allowing state governments to build their own power plants. before we go, a knitted sweater

once owned by princess diana has sold at auction for $1.1 million. the red woolen jumper is covered by white sheep with a single -- single black one. she wore it to a polo match in 1981. i'm caitriona perry, 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. ♪ ♪

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the "newshour" tonight, the flooding catastrophe in libya sparks renewed scrutiny of the nation's divided government, as the rising death toll forces officials to bury thousands in mass graves. president biden's son hunter is indicted on federal gun charges weeks after a plea deal fell apart. and, facing the daunting prospect of trying to detect countless unexploded mines, ukraine looks to advanced drone technology to prec