from berlin. u.s. president joe biden arrives in israel kicking off a high-stakes trip to the middle east. today, biden paid tribute to hollis cost -- two holocaust victims, a moment of reflection ahead of what promises to be days of difficult diplomacy. also, a nationwide curfew is in effect across sri lanka. earlier today protesters storm to the office of the prime

minister, who now claims to be acting president. plus, a hope for millions threatened by famine and starvation. ukrainian negotiators say the are cautiously optimistic after talks with russia on resuming grain exports. and a damning report on the chaos at soccer's championship final. police, not liverpool fans, were responsible for the ugly scenes in paris in may. ♪ i'm brent goff. to her viewers watching on pbs in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. tonight joe biden is in israel at the start of his first trip to the middle east as u.s. president. on his first day, he declared his country's bone-deep bond

with israel. he also paid respects to holocaust victims. but the diplomacy will grow more difficult by the day. biden is due to address a host of tough issues. among them, israel's -- and saudi arabia's human rights abuses. reporter: -- since he became president. he is meeting with israeli leaders to strengthen ties he says is already firm. >> the connection between the israeli people and the american people is bone deep. it is bone deep. reporter: among the leaders was israel's defense many are -- leader. the iron dome is israel's state-of-the-art defense system. biden stresed whtier --

>> -- including partnering with israel on the most cutting edge defense systems in the world. reporter: biden then visited a memorial for victims of the house -- of the holocaust. he lit an eternal flame of remembrance and met survivors. >> the visit by the president of the united states is always important, because it helps to amplify the voices of the survivors. it helps to amplify the plight of the victims. reporter: biden's visit comes at a time of political turmoil in israel and will take him next to the west bank. and then to a controversial stop in saudi arabia. brent: my first guest tonight is an expert on conflict solution at university college london. she joins me tonight from tel aviv.

it is good to have you with us. the situation in the middle east has dramatically shifted since joe biden visited the area last, which was six years ago. how has that changed u.s. policy? guest: i think it is time for the u.s. to revisit an understanding of how much the middle east has shifted. a recent survey that will reportedly be released tomorrow actually shows a radical change across five key countries in the middle east with 72% for saudi arabia's wide range reforms and reducing the power of religious authorities and liberating societies and economic diversification. i think this will lead to a shift with president biden. brent: this should be music to

the ears of the biden administration though, right? these sound like positive changesn public opinion you are describing. guest: absolutely, but interesting enough as the report detail says, there is a great misunderstanding with the assumption that whereas only 46% of the west believe that the middle east -- 72% see the west as partners. i think there is a lot that has been going on in a very polarized u.s. that has distorted the reality on the ground and how fast the middle east is moving into a ace that is potentially a more positive ally for the united states. brent: would you say that the

nuclear threat posed by iran, is that the main reason we are seeing a shift in security cooperation? guest: the iranian threat has definitely been a galvanizing force, particularly between israel and countries within the gulf. i think there's also wider cooperation. it is not just the nuclear factor. it is the wider nature of how threats can operate in highly connected systems. particularly thinking of how many of the countries across the gulf are connected to things that iran is an increasing cyber threat. that threatens a wide conception of what security is today in the middle east. then we are going to see a real

galvanizing of the partners, particularly in the relationship with israel with its tech advantages. brent: you talk about these changes and yet here we are with the israelis and the palestinians. the president visiting. and yet we know that the two state solution is not a reality in the near future for either side, right? guest: the general consensus is that the timing that would be required for both parties to sit down and really have a productive set of talks that can be delivered at home to their home constituency is not quite there yet. having said that, i think this is a particularly important step forward for president biden to be here, to be able to -- the process has been put on hold for a long time. a series of measures by

traditionally the israeli governments have not held much state any democratic narrative coming out around the peace process. palestinians have felt equally put to the side in the wake of advances in the middle east. as an initial step this is an important bloc for moving forward. my belief is that president biden will release news about an increased package of a that he will be visiting palestine and the first meeting with their president is a big step forward. brent: and doing a lot about the trump administration did. joining us tonight from tel aviv, we appreciate your time and your insights. thank you. guest: thank you very much. brent: tonight, a curfew for all of sri lanka is in effect. prime minister and acting president has asked the

parliamentary speaker to nominate a new prime minister. this comes after protesters stormed his office demanding that he step down. demonstrators also want president gotabaya rajapaksa to step aside. he fled the country before he was due to hand in his resignation. protesters blame hand and his long ruling family for sri lanka's worst economic crisis in decades. reporter: sri lanka is on the brink of change. a people's uprising has ended a family dynasty's long grip on power. after the president's sudden departure, angry protesters have now tured their focus on the prime minister, who is now the acting president. >> i have been informed by the president that, since the president is out of the country,

he has appointed the prime minister under the constitution to carry out his duties. reporter: they tried to disperse the protesters with tear gas but the people are not going anywhere just yet. many are camped at the presidential palace. >> the president's house and the prime minister's recidence are maintained by tax money. the people did not understand when they were told. it is only now they realize the luxurious lives that they had paid for with tax money. reporter: demonstrations have been taking place across the capital city of colombo for months now.

>> the politicians should realize the power of the people and they should listen to the people. reporter: the island nation is facing its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948. but with public trust in the political class running critically low, it is not clear who will ultimately take the country out of financial ruin. brent: through sri lankan president has still not handed in his written resignation. earlier i spoke to alan keenan from the international crisis group in london, and i asked him if the sri lankan leadership is trying to buy more time. guest: that would appear to be the case. in gotabaya's case it is a bit more clear. he is liable to criminal prosecution for alleged war crimes and other crimes within sri lanka. as long as he is head of the

state, he has head of state immunity. so i think he wants to get somewhere where he has asylum or where he feels very secure, some other country, before he gives up his head of state position and becomes more reliable to prosecution. the rumor is he is traveling from the maldives to singapore tonight. whether that is where he will stay, who knows. that may explain his delight. we hope it -- his delay. the hope is that he will sometime soon resign. what the prime minister is aiming for is less clear. he has always wanted to president. he has run for president multiple times. he has clearly long desired the position. it may just be he wants to be in that role when he has a chance. but unfortunately, his immediate turn to a state of emergency, his calling the protest movement fascist and announcing his

desire to bring order, that is extremely dangerous and very worrisome. his assumption of the position of acting president, which i think is unprecedented, has flamed tensions. he's as much a target as the protester's rath and the general population's anger at the established political elite as gotabaya. so what sri lankans want is a current -- is a clean start. brent: so if they are not going to get this clean start anytime soon, where do you see this situation heading? guest: well, the ideal, which is far from ideal but is the best option, is for him to resign, for gotabaya to resign, then the speaker becomes the acting president, i believe it would be

called interim president, until parliament sometime next week votes on a replacement president, who will act for as long, up to the full remaining part of gotabaya rajapaksa's term, but possibly a shorter period. that president, selected by parliament, would then have to come up with a prime minister would also have to win the confidence of parliament. so it should go as the constitution has described to parliament. it should not be through backroom deals between the rajapaksas. but whether he will, once gotabaya resigns, whether he will then leave the stage and follow rules as laid out in the constitution remains to be seen. brent: the process is codified in a remains to be seen whether or not these leaders will follow the constitution. we appreciate your time and your insights tonight. thank you. guest: you're welcome.

brent: here's a quick look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. pope francis has appointed three women to the vatican department that chooses new bishops. the two nuns and a lay woman will become the first women to serve on it. it comes as he seeks to give women more influence within the government of the catholic church. a tokyo court has ordered four former managers of the company that operated the fukushima nuclear power plant to pay the equivalent of $94 billion u.s. in damages. shareholders sued them for not implement and safety measures they say could have prevented the 2011 disaster, which was triggered by a tsunami. britain's former finance minister rushi sunak has won the first round of voting to choose boris johnson's successor with 88 votes. six candidates are still in the running, including foreign minister liz truss and penny

mourdant. turkey's defense says russia and ukraine have made progress in their efforts to get urgently needed grain exports out of ukraine. he said talks will continue next week in the hope of a final deal on releasing 20 million tons. wednesday's discussions in istanbul ended with a tentative agreement about how to transport the grain across the black sea. stockpiles stuck in ukraine have caused global prices to rise sharply, making food less affordable. reporter: alexander's warehouse should be empty and ready for the new harvest. instead it is full to the rafters with wheat from last year. stuck here because of russia's war. >> how ukrainian grain cannot enter the international market now because they are not working. -- ports are not working. because of this, the demand for

grain increased. reporter: but the harvest will not wait. and the grain keeps piling up, even as the farmers run out of space for it an estimated 22 billion tons of grain is stuck in ukraine. some of it is stored in silos like these in the port of odessa waiting for export. before the war, 90% of ukraine's grain was exported via ports on the black sea. but russia is now blockading those ports, and kyiv has laid mines across the black seat to -- black sea to -- >> i don't see that ukrainian farmers will survive.

reporter: known as the breadbasket of the world, ukraine is a top global exporter of crops like wheat, barley and corn. with the harvest stuck inside ukraine, key supplies are missing and prices worldwide have shot up. the u.n. says a solution must be found urgently to avoid starvation on an unprecedented scale. brent: our correspondent in kyiv, i asked him how much progress was made at the talks in turkey to break the grain deadlock and whether a deal is really insight. reporter: first and foremost, we have to keep in mind that neithe sid wants to be seen as causing a global famine. some 300 million people around the world face hunger, not eating enough to be healthy, because of this blockade of ukrainian grain. so they are participating in these talks. not to be a cynic, but to be in

part to show the world the take this famine seriously. you are mentioning the negotiations about how to get the grain out. it can go through europe. that is why turkey is a player and hosting these talks. antonio guterres, the u.s. secretary general, who i think can be trusted as an independent observer, said a big step was taken forward and another big step should be taken next week. the turkish defense minister said the parties would be gathering again ne week. i think we can only really feel comfortable a deal has been struck when we see big ships of grain sailing out of ukrainian ports. brent: we know that more than 20 million tons of grain are stuck in ukraine. what about alternative ways of getting the grain out? reporter: yeah, well, you know, the subsidy is the mother of -- necessity is the mother of inventn. ukraine and partners are finding ways to get maybe 20% of what

they managed to get out of a typical year out of the country, and that includes rail and road into poland, and now increasingly smaller vessels into romania. if you look at how the danube has all kinds of estuaries, or little rivers that smaller bolts can go up -- boats can go up. we're not talking about big ports. but those are some solutions ukraine are looking at and the people who buy ukrainian grain in desperation, essentially, because they need to empty those silos. otherwise the harvest that is in the fields now will essentially rot. so this is a situation that will not last just one year but possibly two. brent: we understand attacks have intensified in the south where much of the grain is stored. is there no let up in the fighting?

guest: no. w've talke about an operational pause on the russian side. they took the province more or less completely, so they are regrouping. they are basically wagin scorched-earth, blowing up cities, leaving just rubble behind. ukrainians evacuating strategically to set up defensive positions elsewhere. they are punching down south in the bottom of the country, using these american very precision rocket systems to take out ammunition depots to stop the artillery barrage is. that is the priority. they have a range of 70 kilometers so the russians have to move them back 100 kilometers away to be safe, which means it takes them a long time to get them up to the places where they need to be to be fired. but we just have this in from the pentagon. russia is to be procuring from

iran, drones, which will allow it to see where the systems are located, so the balance could shift again in the future. brent: that is news just coming in. nick, as always, thank you. we want to bring you up-to-date with some of the other developments related to the war in ukraine. the russian energy company has apparently cast doubt on nord stream one returning to full capacity anytime soon. they are blaming the difficulty of getting replacement parts due to sanctions against russia. the pipeline, which delivers natural gas to germany, was shut off monday for 10 days of routine maintenance. the european union and russia has reached an agreement to exempt goods from kaliningrad to economic sanctions. goods traveling by rail but not by car or truck will now be allowed. they imposed restrictions on transit through lithuania to the -- citing eu sanctions linked to

the war in ukraine. a french report into the chaos which marred the champions league final in paris in may blamed police and organizational failings. liverpool fans were initially blamed, which of report concluded was unfair. these are vital lessons, the report says, that should be learned ahead of the 2024 paris olympics. reporter: it should have been a celebration of european football, but may's champions league final turned into a nightmare for liverpool fans. french police fired tear gas at english supporters after tensions flared when huge queues built up. the most watched annual sporting event on the planet had to be delayed by over 30 minutes. officials including the french interior minister initially said liverpool fans were at fault, but now a report by the french senate blames police and

organizers, including the french football organization and uefa for what happened. >> it was a succession of mistakes which took place at the administrative level. it was all quite vague and no one really spell responsible for organ or -- four overall organization. reporter: some fans exacerbated the problem, but police had a quote, outdated view that football fans were hooligans. >> the use of teargas concerned people. it appeared to be particularly aggressive towards -- reporter: liverpool lost the match to reality -- to real mad rid. two months on, the fans now have victory in their fight for the truth about what happened outside. brent: golf's oldest tournament

gets underway thursday. there's controversy due to a recently established series backed by saudi arabia that has caused division among golfers, with some choosing money over tradition. reporter: it's golf, but not as we know it. the liv series, bankrolled by saudi arabia, held its second ever event earlier this month. staggering prize money of $4 million went to winner, brandon grace. he's not at the open, but other big-name rebels who have defected to the new tour are still eligible to compete this week. australian greg norman twice won the open, but he is now the face of liv and was banned from the champion's dinner. one golfing great has bemoaned the split. >> greg norman is an icon in the

game of golf. a great player. we've bn friends for a long time. and her godless of what happens, he is going to remain a friend. he and i, unfortunately, we don't see ida why and what is going on -- eye to eye in what is going on. reporter: saudi arabia has been accused of trying to sportswash its image. tiger woods thinks the rebels may be banned from future opens. >> some may never be able to play major championships again. we don't know that for sure yet. it's up to all the major championship bodies to make that determination, but it is a possibility that some players will never get a chance to play in a major championship, never get a chance to experience this.

rerter: the sport is at a crossroads. it will be another uncomfortable few days for golf. brent: here is a reminder of our top story. u.s. president biden is in israel. he laid a wreath at the holocaust memorial ahead of talks with israeli leaders. his itinerary also includes a controversial visit to saudi arabia. you're watching "dw news." after a short break i will be back to take you through the day. we'll be right back. ♪

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♪ >> protesters in colombo storm the official compound of the prime minister. instability grows across sri lanka a natural -- a nationwide curfew has been protect -- has been imposed. >> joe's first official -- it starts in jerusalem to move on to riyadh. at least five people have been