♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... brett: you know as somebody coming out of college, it can be very nerve wracking, not knowing what to expect, whether you'll like your job or not,

whether you'll make friends, whether you'll fit in, and here i feel like it's so welcoming and such an inclusive place to work, you just feel like you're valued. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. announcer: and now, bbc news. >> i'm sumi somaskanda in washington and this is bbc world news america. benjamin netanyahu says the gaza cease-fire will end if hamas does not return hostages by noon saturday. the king of jordan visits washington to discuss trump's plans for the future of gaza. an american schoolteacher released from a russian prison in a show of good faith from the russians. ♪

sumi: welcome to world news america. israeli prime minister netanyahu says intense fighting will resume if hamas does not release hostages held in gaza. it follows a four hour meeting tuesday where he discussed the announcement from hamas a day earlier that it may postpone the next release of israeli hostages, due to take place saturday. hamas reiterated its commitment to the cease-fire saying, it holds israel accountable for delays. they blame israel for jeopardizing the deal, claiming they violated the agreement by blocking vital humanitarian aid to gaza and targeting civilians. israel denied this and said they fired on people who disregarded warnings. netanyahu said the israeli army will reinforce, including

reservists. >> in light of hamas' announcement of its decision to violate the agreement and not release our hostages, last night ordered the military together forces inside and around the gaza strip. this operation is being carried out at this time. it will be completed in the near future. the decision i passed unanimously in the cabinet is this -- if hamas does not return our hostages by saturday noon, the cease-fire will end, and military will return to intense fighting until hamas is finally defeated. sumi: hamas urged president trump to, respect the gaza cease-fire deal following his comments monday that quote, all hell will break loose if all the hostages are not released. netanyahu said he welcomed trump's calls and his quote revolutionary vision for gaza. families of hostages and

supporters held protests. hamas holds 76 hostages as of monday. this as the king of jordan is meeting with president trump to discuss the future of gaza. king abdullah offered to take 2006 children from gaza. this after pushback over trump's proposal to transfer gaza's population to jordan and egypt, which would break international law. trump doubled down his plan saying, palestinians will live elsewhere in the u.s. will run gaza. and said it would become the riviera of the middle east. tuesday he said he would not personally develop it, and suggested were palestinians could go -- pres. trump: i believe we will have a parcel of land in jordan and egypt. we may have someplace else. but when we finish our talks, we

will have a place they can live happily and safely. don't forget, they only want to be on the gaza strip because they don't know anything else. they don't have an alternative. they don't want to be, but they have no choice and they are being killed there, no place is as dangerous as the gaza strip. sumi: jordan's king says arab nations will offer a united response to trump's proposal to take control of gaza suggesting egypt would lead the talks. king abdullah has rejected trump's plan to relocate palestinians saying his country is at a boiling point as it already hosts 2 million refugees. trump suggested he may withhold or -- aid from jordan and egypt, but backed down and that today. king abdullah will not be answering questions from journalists about gaza's future. >> do you want to see the u.s.

on the gaza strip? >> as i said earlier, they are looking at egypt to present that plan. we will be in saudi arabia to discuss how to work with the president and the u.s. let's wait until egyptians can present it to the president. >> is their partial land in jordan you're willing to have? >> i have to look at the best interests of my country. i think the president is very happy we do this thing with the 2000 children as quickly as possible. i believe the president is looking forward to [no audio] sumi: tom, on the cease-fire agreement itself which was discussed, where do things stand? tom: president trump doubled down on that noon saturday deadline, an ultimatum to

release all the hostages. the phrase he used, otherwise all bets are off. we heard him yesterday talk about a similar phrase saying there would be hell to pay if all the hostages are not released. what he added today was a phrase saying, hamas think they are tough. we will see how tough they are. a real sense of brinksmanship president trump is trying to take on hamas. it is not clear what the threat is, the or else. but israeli leadership is reiterating the same language, though it is unclear exactly what they mean by it. in theory the cease-fire hostage release deal signed remains in force, despite it being fragile, both sides accusing the other of

reneging or delaying. saturday is a critical moment to see what mr. trump means and what hamas will do. sumi: all of this with a remarkable meeting, king abdullah of jordan with trump at the white house, as he reiterated his proposal of ownership of gaza. what did you make of this? tom: i thought it was fascinating. we know king abdullah and the jordanians are categorically rejecting mr. trump's plan to empty gaza of palestinians, to create forcible displacement of 2 million people potentially to egypt and jordan, yet he sat to the right of mr. trump, looked awkward at times, did not criticize him directly at all. what we heard him say was, egyptians were coming up with a proposal that would be discussed in riyadh with the crown prince of saudi arabia. my understanding is, the egyptians are trying to put

together an alternative plan for the future governments of gaza, perhaps involving a technocratic and -- government, not involving a political faction, getting hamas out of the equation, which americans could find hard to swallow. i think arab countries are trying to cobble together an alternative to pushback at the white house and say, this is the future of gaza. it talks to the fact there is a strategic vacuum over a future plan for the governments of gaza. sumi: thank you for your reporting. let's get analysis on all this with my guest, a senior fellow at the washington institute, former director of the task force on palestine. picking up on what we were discussing, jordan's king, a different expectation of what he wants to see happen than what trump is saying.

what does jordan want to see? guest: in the most immediate sense, the king walked into this meeting with one objection, not to have a confrontation with trump, and he succeeded. he did not contradict the president, came up with an idea of receiving 2000 children, which gave the president a win without compromising jordan's positions, so he is biting for time. and punting to the egyptian visit next week, he is working for time as jordan is pushing arab countries for an alternative. if you say no to the president you just get into an escalation match with him. they are working on what u.s. administration officials are saying, the national security advisor and secretary of state said, if arabs don't like this, present something else. sumi: so they are stalling for time. what do you think the plan will

look like? guest: they have to have a number of components. what is the reconstruction plan? it is complicated. there are unexploded bombs, the whole gaza strip is leveled. it will be expensive and time-consuming. who will govern? nobody wants hamas to govern. at the same time, no one is offering. they have to come up with governance. the most important thing is security. who will put troops on the ground? this is what they will try to figure out,, all under the threat if it does not happen, trump might do something unexpected against their interests. sumi: the proposal trump put forward is against international law, yet he has doubled down on that. what do you make of that? guest: i think he was asked during the press conference on whose authority and he said, the u.s.' authority. clearly he does not take international law into account

and would continue pushing it. this is an opening position. it is hard to imagine how it will happen in reality. will be forcibly displaced these people? our american troops going to go? international law is not a factor in the conversation. sumi: where does that leave u.s. allies in the region, jordan and egypt, in the time between now and when a proposal is put forward, and trying to negotiate a cease-fire continues, or we don't see what trump proposed goes forward? guest: for jordanians, to make sure their aid is not impacted, they get $1.4 billion a year, to make sure this gets unfrozen. egyptians are worried about the cease-fire. for them, gaza is a border security issue. it might be falling apart. i think they will be scrambling for time, but you will see

intense intra-arab discussions to signal to the administration we are working on it. sumi: what about palestinian's themselves? we don't know who would be negotiating for them. the palestinian authority is not seen as an authority. who is speaking for them? guest: this goes to the heart of the question. today they have no choices. hamas is a terror organization, seen this way not only by the u.s., but the arab world. the palestinian authority is discredited. the only way is to rehabilitate the palestinian authority through reform, enforcements. the israeli government is playing on this to ensure there is no progress. sumi: a question on the state of the cease-fire agreement we just discussed with tom. do you see the prospect it could fall apart? guest: absolutely.

it is a risky situation. i believe one hamas said they were -- they might not release hostages were trying to increase leverage, but did not realize trump would escalate, and hamas has to climb off this ladder, but so does israel. what netanyahu said compared to trump, trump said all the hostages saturday. netanyahu did not say that. for netanyahu, he has his own complications. if the cease-fire collapses, the right wing part of his government might be happy, but more than 70% of the israelis want the cease-fire. so he has to manage his public. in many ways trump has put him in a corner. sumi: great to get your perspective. thank you. let's move on to other news. an american mad held in russia

since 2021 on drug charges has been freed. 63-year-old schoolteacher marc fogel is on his way home after an exchange was negotiated with russia. he was arrested in 2021 at an airport for the illegal possession of cannabis which he was prescribed in the u.s. he was charged and given a 14 year prison sentence. this is mr. fogel on his way home from russia. a statement from his family said they were beyond grateful, relieved and overwhelmed their father, son and husband is finally coming home. the family said quote, thanks to the unwavering leadership of resto, mark -- president trump, marc will be back where he belongs. they said the deal with russia was assigned the two nations were moving in the right direction toward ending the war in ukraine.

in washington a new executive order from trump will give elon musk greater authority to shrink the size of the federal workforce. mr. musk was with the president trump when he signed it. the text has not been released. a fact sheet from the white house says it orders the head of federal agencies to work with mr. musk's doge to reduce the number of employees and freeze all but essential hiring. starting in april agencies will only be able to hire one new employee for each four they higher --hire. and agencies have to indicate which parts could be eliminated up to and including shutting down the agencies entirely. trump praised musk for tackling what he called waste, fraud and abuse and attacked judges who halted his plans to freeze federal grants, making -- offering resignations to every

worker. he refused to say he would abide by justices rulings. pres. trump: i think we cut over billions of dollars already in two weeks. it will go to numbers you will not believe. much is incompetence and dishonesty. the only way to catch it is to look for it. if a judge says you are not allowed to look, that is pretty sad for our country. i don't understand how anything works. sumi: author salman rushdie told the court a knife attack 2.5 years ago [indiscernible] he initially thought he had been punched by hadi matar, charged with attempted murder, but soon saw he was bleeding profusely. our correspondent not atrophic --nada tawfik is outside the

courthouse in new york. tell us what you heard. nada: it has been more than two point five years since salman rushdie was last in this quaint lakeside town to give evidence to the court given his alleged attacker hadi matar has pleaded not guilty. on the stand salman rushdie gave a very graphic account of exactly what happened to him that day. at times he illustrated turning to the jury, some of the injuries, discussing how painful it was to be stabbed and slashed 15 times in a matter of seconds, just as he was about to give a talk. at one point he took down his glasses and showed jurors his right eye, the one he had been stabbed in, left blinded, the eyelids having been sewn shut.

he also said he had been slashed across his neck. he held up the hand he had used in self-defense and said he has several tendons and nerves permanently damaged. he walked through the jurors the horror of that day and the toll it has taken on him. he spoke about how he is not 100% recovered, how he never will be, and that it is a moment where he was almost certain he was going to die. sumi: remind us again who hadi matar is and what he is facing. nada: hadi matar is a 27-year-old from new jersey, a dual lebanese and u.s. citizen. prosecutors have not outlined the motive. they say it is not necessary to prove their charge of attempted murder. certainly hadi matar in

interviews in the past from jail discussed how he did not like salman rushdie as a person. he did not respect his writings, thought he was disrespectful to the islamic religion. salman rushdie is someone in the 90's who was in hiding over a decade because of threats to his life over his fourth book, "the satanic verses," a book many regarded as blasphemous. salman rushdie has spoken about how he thought all those threats were behind him until this attack. hadi matar, the trial will go on for a number of days, and he is facing 25 years of convicted. sumi: thank you so much. afghanistan's women cricket players vowing to fight for recognition after playing their first ever official match.

the group of players now living as refugees in australia say they received no support from the icc since fleeing their home country following the taliban takeover three years ago. we spent time with them in melbourne. reporter: the afghanistan women's 11 may not have won their first game, but the true victory was the match itself. three years after they fled their home country, this moment marks a new chapter in their remarkable story. she is one of the 19 players who escaped to australia. she said the day the taliban returns still haunts her. >> in that moment i was shocked. reporter: take your time. did you know in that moment that day them going back into power you would have to leave? >> absolutely. are we going to live or die? reporter: under the taliban

government, women are banned from sports, universities, parks, and from having their voices heard outside their homes. it was only things the three women in australia who decided to help the team escape. >> the three of us put our heads together to figure out how to set up a backyard immigration system to connect with government, the players. everyone said it was impossible. reporter: after arriving safely in australia, players had to fight a new battle, this time against international cricket council. back home they had contracts with the icc, so they asked them what happened to the contracts and the funds meant for their development. >> they got a reply to say, contracts are an issue for the afghanistan cricket board, the very board women have been ostracized from, and funds given to them is for them to decide how it is spent. reporter: players wrote a second

letter, this time requesting permission to set up an international refugee team. they never received a response. >> these women have such big hopes for their futures in cricket, but right now all they want is to be recognized by the rest of the world, to be seen, heard. so why isn't the icc doing more to help them? >> we asked the icc why it did not communicate with the women's team more or support them. in a statement the icc chair told us, though we continue to support the afghanistan cricket board, we acknowledge the absence of the women's program and are addressing this through the afghanistan cricket task force. within the statement there was no mention of money nor permission to play as a recognized refugee team. this match sent a big message to those in charge of the sport. >> unbelievable. i feel like i'm dreaming.

it is reality. >> we are so happy to play together on a team, and hope to push the icc to support our team. >> we are doing this for afghan women, and i would say don't give up. reporter: one thing is certain. at a time when women in afghanistan may feel they have no voice, this is a team that refuses to be silenced. bbc news, melbourne. sumi: now to the big artificial intelligence summit taking place in paris. the u.k. and u.s. refused to sign the final statement or communiqué at that summit, it focused on efforts to make ai inclusive and sustainable. keir starmer's spokespersons of the u.k. quote had not been able to agree to all parts of the declaration. the summit also sparked a debate between two tech giants.

reporter: in an ongoing feud between elon musk and sam altman of openai, musk and a consortium of investors raised $97.4 billion with the intention of buying part of the company set up for profit. openai's ceo sam altman hit back by x, no thank you, but we will by twitter if you want. ouch. as he arrived at the paris ai action summit, altman made his position clear. >> that is the deal. not for sale. reporter: on his first foreign trip as vice president, jd vance did not pull any punches regarding the u.s. position on ai and regulation. >> we believe excessive regulation of the ai sector could kill a transformative industry just as it is taking off. reporter: a none too subtle

jabber regulation outside the u.s. e.u.'s commissioner said that you would invest $2 -- 200 billion euros in a public private deal for infrastructure, but admitted the e.u. needs to be flexible to be competitive. >> we have to cut red tape and we will. reporter: as this event draws to a close, a theme of collaboration has fallen flat as the u.s. and u.k. have refused to sign the diplomatic declaration, a document that supports the sustainable and inclusive development of ai. while talk is moving away from collaboration and towards competition. the race to become an ai superpower is on. it seems ai's latest achievement is political point scoring. bbc news, paris. sumi: that is our program.

remember you can always find more on all the days news on our website, bbc.com/news. we are following the latest on the cease-fire agreement. plus to see what we are working on anytime, check us out on your favorite social media site. i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you for watching world news america. ♪ narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... bdo, accountants and advisors, funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. ♪ ♪ usa today calls it "arguably the best bargain in streaming" that's because the free pbs app let's you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is on assignment. on "the newshour" tonight -- in a white house visit with the king of jordan, president trump doubles down on his plan to take over gaza and push out palestinians. we examine the long-term effects of the trump administration's plans to cut medical research