brent: this is dw news, live from berlin. sri lanka's president bows to public pressure and resigns. troops are still on patrol in the capital and a nighttime curfew was in effect yet again. also coming up -- russia strikes central ukraine. at least 23 people are killed after missiles hit the city, far away from the front lines.

plus a political crisis in italy. mario draghi has offered to resign, the president has said no. he says he can no longer lead the government after losing the support of the five-star movement. and israel's prime minister promised to prevent iran from developing nuclear weapons but the devil is in the details. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers watching on pbs, in the united states, and to all of you around the world, welcome. tonight, after days of uncertainty, the president of sri lanka has handed in his resignation. it comes after he fled the country, arriving earlier this morning in singapore. news of the resignations and protesters -- sent protesters back into the streets to celebrate.

but the nighttime curfew that's now in effect is a stark reminder that the country's crisis is far from over. ♪ reporter: on the streets of sri lanka, people celebrate, after hearing the country's president has resigned. they say that this is a triumph for democracy. >> this is a huge victory. i would like to say, at this moment, i feel this is a good lesson for all politicians in sri lanka. >> ekstrom happy for us -- >> extremely happy for us. as it -- it is an extremely happy day for us. reporter: he fled sri lanka to the maldives, ending up in singapore before emailing his official resignation. 's letter awaits legal procedures --

his letter awaits legal procedures in order to be confirmed. sri lanka has seen weeks of antigovernment protests. with people storm and government buildings and taking over heavily guarded compounds. many are frustrated with the worsening political and economic crisis that's caused food and fuel shortages. a day early, protesters entered the prime minister's's office. the man they were will take over the country. some occupied the sitting areas. and others took selfies. the army has been brought in to restore law and order. after the prime minister is now the acting president and called for a state of emergency. for now, the streets seemed calm, as demonstrators agree to vacate the occupied buildings, but many say that they still do not have confidence in their leaders.

>> this is for the future. reporter: while the president's resignation as a start, the protesters say they want a complete overhaul of sri lanka's leadership. they vowed to continue to take to the streets, until they believe there is real change. brent: it looks like the president's resignation will be confirmed tomorrow. i spoke to the international cris group in london and asked what this means for sri lanka. >> it's certainly taken a while. it was a wild goose chase. but he seems to have landed in singapore and agreed to resign. that is good news i think for sri lanka. up to a point. what ces next? that is a question -- the estion. it looks like the prime minister is next.

he is now the acting president. he will be sworn in in a more official way tomorrow and then he will have 30 days for his presidency to be either challenged or confirmed, through a parliamentary vote. i am hearing different things. but it doesn't seem like he is likely to be -- does it seem like he is likely to be voted in by parliament sometime next week. and importantly, with the support of the political vehicle, the slpp party. raising questions about how much there will be a change. whether he can prove that he is something different and not just the agent of the last president. brent: it brings us to the question, is he going to get these 30 days to do anything? are the protesters going to turn the volume down and let him stay in office for any amount of time? >> yes.

my hunch is that there will be a little bit of a wayne in the energies -- wane in the energies of the protest movement. they are eausted. it is exhausting to be in sri lanka when you don't have food and the high prices, than to be spending all your time on the street demonstrating and taking over buildings, they are going to probably take a little bit of a break. but i do think there's a real potential here for attention further down the line. because the demands t last few months have been not just for the resignation, but for the prime minister to go from being from minister to president. from the protesters' point of view, that is not good. more generally, he is the quintessential professional politician in sri lanka. one of the targets of the protests is not just the family, but the whole system. and he is not only close to and has been protecting the interests of the president, but

he is the essence of the system that people want to change. so i think there's the potential trouble -- there's potential trouble coming down the pipe. brent: we know the country is in an economic crisis, the likes of which they have not seen in at least 2-3 generations. this is a time when the imf would usually be opening up stores, willing to talk about -- up its doors, willing to talk about a possible bailout. is that in the realm of possibility when you have so much political instability? >> yes. i think on that front, my reading is, it all depends on how tense things become again. if the tension levels of the protests can be sort of kept to a reasonable amount from the government's perspective, i think the imf is eager to help. and something needs to happen. so i suspect the imf deal will be formalized, if the prime minister is made president. assuming anybody really becomes president. who has some credibility. but i think the imf package is

not going to come from quite a while. the actual money, even in the best case scenario, is estimated to take six months. what's going to happen in those six months? brent: that's a very good point. time is certainly not on the country's side for sure. we appreciate your time and insights,. thank you. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy has condemned a russian missile attack far from the war's front lines, calling it an open act of terrorism. the rockets had an office block and damaged residential buildings in a central ukrainian city. at least 23 people died. about 100 more were wounded. three children are said to be among the dead. ukrainian forces claimed the attack deliberately targeted civilians in locations with no military power. reporter: russian missiles have been striking deeper into ukrainian territory. the city is in central ukraine, far from the front lines.

thousands of people from the east had fled here after russia invaded. seeking safety. >> when the first rocket hit, glass fell from my windows. and when the second wave came, it was so deafening, that my head is still buzzing. reporter: ukrainian officials said two missiles struck the city on thursday and ignited a fire. >> these are quite high position missiles. the russians knew where they were hitting. this is a civilian building. reporter: while addressing a conference in the hague, focused on investigating suspected were crimson ukraine, president volomyr zelenskyy said that tack deliberately taeted civilis. >> today in e morning, russian missiles hit an ordinary, peaceful city. the missiles hit to mmunity

buildings. houses were destroyed. a medical cter was destroyed. cars and tms were on fire. this is an active ruian terr. -- act of russian terror. reporter: he is calling for a special tribunal to investigate russia's invasion. the kremlin has repeatedly claimed it is not targeting civilians. but each day, russian missiles struck cities. in the southern ci of nikolai v, rockets hit early on thursday, just one day after an attack killed several people. in the eastern the next region, ukrainian troops are trying to reinforce new defensive lines. with the help of weapons from foreign allies. >> i think about -- while lying in a trench and taking a rest. i think that it could be the last tea i ever drink. the last night that i go to sleep.

reporter: russian forces have failed to make any major gains in the east in recent days. but ukrainian authorities say the constant strikes have made life here too dangerous for civilians to stay. brent: earlier i spoke with our correspondent, and i asked her to tell us more about the attack in the city, which is miles -- kilometers away from the front lines. reporter: yes, the city is in central western ukraine. it is a city that a lot of people actually saw as a safe haven, if you will. there are so many people from kyiv and eastern ukraine who felt it was safer to go to the west. so many of them took shelter in this city. for what result? today we have seen another attack. another russian missile attack on residential areas of the

city. there are at least 20 people who died. in numbers keep on rising. -- the numbers keep on rising by the hour. there are dozens of people still missing. there were 90 people counted as injured, 50 of them had to the hospital. 30 critically injured. this is just happening on a daily basis here in ukraine. brent: how is this attack -- how can this attack be part of russia's strategy in this war? >> well, if it is a strategy, then they actually do not say it is one. because time and again, russia says it does not target civilians. but time and again, day in and day out, we see the attacks happening on shopping malls, on residential buildings. near odessa, donetsk, where more than 40 people also

died only a few days ago. this is a systematic attack on civilians. whether or not russia acknowledges it. brent: the latest tonight from kyiv. as always, thank you. italy is an political crisis tonight after prime minister mario draghi tendered his resignation. but the president of italy has rejected it. he says he wants to resign after a key coalition partner, the five-star movement, refused to back a government bill. he survived the confidence vote in december despite the rebellion, but he says the coalition backing his government no longer exists. gupta as a journalist near rome, we asked her to explain how it came to this rather surprising offer to resign. reporter: what essentially happened today was a very crucial vote in the senate, in which --ssentily it was a vote on the cost bill. some 26 billion euros worth

to help citizens and businesses deal with the high energy costs. the five-star movement, which is part of this unity government, coalition government, led by prime minister mario draghi, said they would both cut the snow -- boycott this vote because they did not agree to the bill. they felt the government should be doing more to help citizens. they particularly were against a specific prohibition in the bill which talked about allowing rome to build a trash incinerator to help with the trash problem in the capital. something the government has always been against. the essentially boycotted the bill. while the bill and the motion of confidence was actually passed, it was passed without support of the five-starovement. something which mario draghi has already said very clearly in recent days that he will not continue meeting the coalition government without that support.

he says he came into this role as prime minister back in in february of 2021 and he wanted a unity government to push forward the reforms the country needed at that time. now he has gone out to see the president to hand in his resignation, but we are now hearing that the president has rejected it and essentially has called him to return back to parliament to see whether he does indeed have a parliamentary majority. e five-star movement that was part of this government has seen a lot of deflections in recent months -- a lot of members of the party have moved on to other parties or to jointher parties. perhaps he has the numbers in parliament. we will have to see whether mario draghi accepts this idea the president has put forward. but he has indeed rejected this offer of resignation. brent: that was reporting from

italy. here's a quick look at the other stories making headlines around the world -- a swedish court has handed a life sentence to a former iranian prison official, for crimes committed during the 1988 purge of dissidents in iran. the trial is the first related to atrocities in the 1980's iran-iraq war. this person assisted in the execution of several political prisoners. mali's military government has suspended troop rotations amid a growing route with ivory coast. they arrested 49 soldiers were -- soldiers for allegedly entering the country illegally. they say they were part of the u.n. peacekeeping forces. tons of human ashes have been found in a forest near the sold-out concentration camp in poland. they are thought to be the remains of 8000 poles killed by the nazis in 1939. whose bodies were burned up and

buried in an attempted cover up. they will continue searching for more remains. hollywood star kevin spacey has pleaded not guilty to sex offense charges. the once celebrated actor arrived at london's central criminal court where he faces charges of assaulting three men in england between 2005 and 2013. a trial date has been set for june of next year. you are watching dw news. still to come -- why woodpeckers do not come down with headaches. a new study reveals some fascinating insights that you definitely will want to stick around for. u.s. president joe biden has pledged to do whatever it takes to prevent iran from developing nuclear weapons. he made the comments after meeting with israel's prime minister in jerusalem. the u.s. president is currently

on a tour of the middle east. >> we had a very long conversation about american baseball, which i know nothing about. reporter: it is clear that to leaders like each other and agree that iran poses a serious threat. he was president joe biden and the israeli prime minister made that clear in their press conference. but they differ on how that threat should be addressed. >> today, if you and i also discussed the commitment to ensure iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. this is a vital security for israel and the u.s., and i would add for the rest of the world as well. i continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to achieve this outcome. >> words will not stop them, mr. president. diplomacy will not stop them. the only thing that will stop iran is knowing that if they

continue to develop their nuclear problem, the free world will use force. reporter: biden indicated he would be prepared to use force, as a last resort to stop iran acquiring nuclear weapons. the joint declaration also included a commitment to expanding israel's security alliance with arab states. they then headed off to join an online summit, focus on developing a new partnership with india and the uae. the four countries want to work more closely on energy and food security. specifically the emirates, promising a 2 billion-dollar project to promote agriculture in india. it is seen by many as a first step towards listening ties to russia. -- lessening ties to russia. from then on, another warm is really reception. friday president biden will meet

with the palestinians before traveling on to saudi arabia for more delicate negotiations. ♪ brent: earlier i spoke with the director of the brookings institution center for middle east policy. i asked him if the fear of a nuclear iran is the only driving force behind efforts to integrate israel into the middle east and to establish ties with its arab neighbors. >> it is an essential force of course. the arab neighbors have a joint fear of iran. and in some cases active fighting with iran or proxies of iran. it is not the only element. two other things stand out -- the first is a sense of future economic opportunity with cooperation. you see that in particular between the uae and israel, where there is a great deal of investment these days. a huge number of tourists, coming from israel to the uae. since the abraham accords were signed. also other regions as well. we have seen israel, the uae and

jordan with an important deal on solar energy, and water desalination, deals with morocco, etc. the ne is the negative aspect. which in the past was the palestinian issue. now many of these are in the uae and saudi arabia. they decided to let that lie, let that be on the side while they try to move forward with what they see as their own interests. so it's really a push of the feared iran, the opportunities economic and otherwise, and the pullback you have seen in the past on the palestinian regime. brent: i understand your latest book is titled "does israel have a plan?" referring to the palestinians. if i am reading you correctly right now, for this he was president visiting israel, -- u.s. president visiting israel, it doesn't matter whether israel has a plan when it comes to the palestinians. is that right? >> the book is forthcoming next year i hope. but israel's plan and a sense

for the palestinians and so far has been tt this issue can wait. israel has had an anti-solution is to approach. which is to say in the eyes of israelis, they've gone out of -- run out of opportunities to promote peace for the palestinians and therefore tried to advance other interests, almost trying to forget the issue, as hard as that is of course pay the abraham accords fit in. you would see the u.s. pushback on these issues. with the for -- but for the, foreign policy has not been top of the agenda. the middle east has not been top of the agenda. inside the middle east, the issue is a report from the top of the agenda as well. so there's very little political and policy space for biden right now tonvest in that -- we are seeing him focusing on different things, counting iran, saudi relations. this issue is important for him, for his own beliefs on the issue. but its certainly not central to his mission right now. he is trying to defer the issue

quite a bit, much to the anger and consternation of the palestinians of course. brent: what does biden need to tell palestinian leader -- the palestinian leader when he meets with him? does he need to have any message right now? does it even make a difference? >> it makes some difference. but not in this one. the palestinian ldership was hoping biden would come in and reverse a t of what prompted. in some ways, bidenid try to do that. in particular trying to promote bilateral relations between the u.s.,'s administration and the palestinian leadership. but he has not rolled back any of t moves that trump made on the iseli front. in particular the recognition of jerusalem as the capital, moving the embassy there. the general support for israel is much stronger under the biden administration than you might expect under a different democratic leader. especially a younger democratic leader. the palestinians have been very much frustrated in that

regard and it does not matter from their perspective what biden says. i would add two points -- even if he would get what he wants from the biden administration, a lot has already moved on from that. the second is that although it is not high on the agenda, biden certainly is a supporter fothe two state solution. he very much would like to support that. there's an israeli prime minister right now who was also supportive of the two state solution but the prime minister has limited capacity and the coalition that he needs -- in the coalition that he needs. >> it's been good talking with you. we appreciate your time and insights tonight. thank you. >> thank you very much. brent: did you ever wonder if woodpeckers get a headache from hammering their beaks into trees all day? scientists used to believe that the birds' skull could absorb the impacts. but a study in belgium reveals something completely different.

reporter: woodpeckers smack their heads against trees and forests the world over -- in forests the world over. when the bird hammers a tree with its be, it experiences 10 times a force that would give a human a concussion. it does not seem to bother the birds. but evidence to show how they cope is scant. >> we went to different zoos across europe with a high-speed camera and filmed these birds during pecking. reporter: the scientists then slowed down the films and analyze how different parts of the had moved in relation to each other. >> we almost g a headache ourselves looking at these videos. so it is a logical response to think, they must have me kind of a helmet or airbag that protects their brains. but the more you think about it, the less it makes sense for these birds. reporter: if their heads cushion

the blow from the tree, it would make the headbutting less effective. so rather than absorbing the shock of the impact, the bird's head acts like a stiff hammer and resists it. their small size and small brain help it cope with the impact. the smaller the brain, the lower the load. the woodpecker skull has a spongy bone's that are light and strong itheir skull. the space that contains the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord is small. to prent damage from the fluids sloshing around. one theory is veins and the nec may be compressed so that the brain sits tighter and the school. suppose a shock absorbing qualities of the woodpecker skull has inspired protective materials and helmet design. but these newly discovered rid qualities uld not le to a new generati of materials, resistant to stress. brent: from strong beaks, to some good legs -- a japanese man has climbed into the record

birds by running up and down mount fuji four times in under 10 hours. roy a. completed the grueling 57 -- the 57 km run, beating the former world record by almost two hours. he has no effect on his body. mount fuji is japan's largest mountain, standing at more than 3700 meters. it normally takes climbers 10 hours to rch theop just once. you are watching to doubly news. after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day." stick around. we'll be right back. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> mario draghi's resignation is refused by the interim president. the prime minister weekend after coalition partners refused to back his 23 billion euros economic plan to her patella families and businesses -- to help return families and illnesses. sri lanka's president, on the run, since his resignation but email. the anger is not easing on the streets. ukraine helped shape the still

day, with a strong east european presence in the country. president macron said france is ready to extend humanitarian, economic, and political aid to ukraine in its fight against russia. thank you very much for being with us. we start with the developing story in rome. mario draghi says he is going to resign. the prime minister faces an untenable situation after his coalition partners refused to take part in a confidence vote. but his resignation has been refused by italy's president. this political crisis was sparked by the five star leader giuseppe conte's decision not to support mario draghi's economic aid package for italian families and businesses. he says draghi is not tackling the root causes of the cost-of-living crisis. even though the government comfortably won a vote in the senate, the prime minister warned that without five-star

support, the government could not continue. since the end of world war ii, italy hasn't had 69 government, lasting an average of one euro each. our correspondent is in rome. reporter: it has clearly been a very dramatic day, full of back-and-forths on all sides. you mtioned the five star movement, making the decision not to vote in that cost-of-living bill. that said, though, the bill eventually got past. they got 170 two votes to push it across the line, as well as the confidence motion links to it. that mr. draghi said clearly, there have been tensions between him and the five star movement in recent weeks, and he said he did not feel that he had the majority that was necessary as part of the national unity government that he took on in february 2021. so with a fractured coalition, he decided to head -- handed down his resignation.

you have sergio mattarella, the president of italy, saying, no, i reject your resignation. instead go back to parliament and see if you have a elementary majority in order to move forward. and we understand mario draghi is expected to address ornamental next week on wednesday -- address argument next week and wednesday. we will have some idea of how they can go on. if he cannot get support -- many from the five star movement, it is important to mention, have defected from that party and have moved on to set up their own other parties, or into other areas. so maybe he can get that support, but if he does not, sergio mattarella may have to look for arnold toynbee to dissolve parliament and call for an election, something which no one wants, in a situation where italy has a series of norms and issues that they are dealing with. mark: that is interesting,

because mario draghi was brought in as a solution to the blooms they are seeing. you have reported in great detail on that for us. is there an issue between conte and draghi? a personal thing? seema: let's not forget, it was prime minister konta at the time who was removed when the coalition government decided to pull itself apart because they did not want the five star movement in there. as such, prime minister contee was forced to resign and in february 2020 one, sergio mattarella called in mario draghi, former head of the european central bank, a man who has been dubbed super mario, who uses language like "whatever it takes to save the euro." dealing with the pandemic, dealing with the economic crisis at the time. the problems are a little bit different now but they are still there, the economic crisis as a result of inflation, the energy

crisis in the country, europe at war, the war in ukraine, and inflation. several issues. and let's not forget the pandemic and vaccination that is supposed to start once again. it is a lot of issues that the country is dealing with, and that is probably why sergio mattarella decided to reject this, hoping for stability, because that is what the country needs now. lots of them italians today, talking about the irresponsible behavior that they felt of the five star movement in making this decision, hoping that we in the five days perhaps this situation can be saved. this parliament situation is supposed to expire by spring of 2023. so the is still a few more months to go. the hope is that they will reach an election in the spring, instead of autumn, something italy has never had in the past. because in the arts home is when the budget gets past. that is going to be hard if

there will be elections. it could be as early as late september or in october, but we will have to see what happens in the next couple of days and also at the address that mr. draghi to parliament on wednesday. mark: from far, it is fascinating to hear this explanation of what is going on. your knowledge is supreme, and we thank you for that. you wondering about coming down the scale, the everyday life of ordinary italians, how are they coping? i imagine the issue here is the cost-of-living crisis is biting hard in italy? seema: yes, it is very much on their minds. the cost-of-living, how it is impacting businesses. business owners are concerned that soaring prices, are they evenoing to survive? at this point in time when they are dealing with so many issues -- let's not forget the war in ukraine as well, having to face so many issues, a lot of italians are very frustrated. they see this is a very irresponsible move.

the country needs stability. we are right in the middle of the summer, let's not forget italy is also dealing with the problem of drought, farmers struggling with the fact that there isn't enough rains. that is another issue for regular italians. he said this is really the last thing that they need. another round of elections, more instability. many will be hoping that mr. draghi remain. he is seen as a figure of stability, but that remains to be seen as the different parties are out to make sure that they will get the best situation for themselves -- the five star movement, as well as the center-right, the far-right 30's, and the far left parties on the other end as well. mark: seema gupta, on the new political crisis in italy, the fate of mario draghi as prime minister in the balance, his coalition partners turning against him over his 23 billion

euro package to help families and businesses across italy. the upshot is that draghi wants to resign, his president, sergio mattarella, telling him he needs to go back to parliament to try and get his backing. seems like a political, vicious circle. we will bring you all the developments as they happen. the war in ukraine made a mark on today's french national holiday celebrations. the traditional bastille day parade, taking place along the shump's alize. french troops marching down the famous savinykh in paris alongside allies from europe. the parade featured warplanes, military vehicles and a drone performance showing off fran's's might end military efforts to support ukraine in the struggle against the russian invasion. reporter: they are the symbols of france's support for ukraine. these howitzers have been parading on the champs-elysees in the bastille day marked by

current events. the session was led by eastern allies, including flag bearers of countries such as portland, estonia, romania and hungary. the guests of honor were welcomed by the crowd. >> i am proud they are here and that people know that france is with them. >> it is a strong symbol to chopard and reported that he needs to stop this pointless war. reporter: among those watching were family and friends of the shoulders who were able to witness the military flag passed varies. one plane was being flown by the son of this couple from britain. >> it is great. reporter: others are going up onto shoulders, and finding other creative methods in order to avoid missing any of the action. >> they are defending our country, so we should be here

too. reporter: different army regiments took part, with nearly 5000 men and women on foot. ♪ [applause] reporter: and of the gaze of president macron, a drone flies over the french capital for the first time, which is being used by french forces in the sahara to track jihadists. . the greatest applause for the day was reserved for firefighters. athletes closed out the displays, with medalists from the tokyo olympics present. in two years time, there will be looking to challenge for honors in the 2024 edition in paris. mark: sri lanka's president has officially resigned, gotabaya rajapaksa fled the country two days ago and is believed to be in singapore, having first fled to the maldives. he went in the wake of growing anger over economic hardship gripping the nation. one person was killed and 80 entered in protests on wednesday into thursday. prime minister workers seeing --

prime minister wickremesinghe's residence was stormed by protesters, even as he was named acting president. if he cannot get enough parliament will have to present in new presidents. the protests on the streets are continuing. to get an update, let's bring in our correspondent in colombo. good evening to you. what is the latest where you are ? an good evening. as the news broke that gotabaya rajapaksa has finally resigned officially, here at one of the main protests sites against him, under the banner "gota go home," people have been dancing. there has been music. people are very happy. they say it is a big win for them. when they started the protests three months ago, they thought nobody would see this day but they were able to remove gotabaya rajapaksa from office. so it is a big win for them

today. mark: and in terms of how the protesters feel, clearly they have been extremely passionate and at times violent. the protesters feel that they got what they want? reporter: for them, it is a half-won battle because since the beginning of the protest, their main demand was that gotabaya rajapaksa should quit office, not only him, but his entire family. so they managed to do so. it looks like they managed to uproot the political dynasty of rajapaksas from the political landscape of sri lanka. so that is a huge achievement for them. but the struggle still remains for them to recover from this economic crisis. so they will only know in the coming days. mark: navodita kumari in

colombo, thank you for joining us. we are watching the developments. while, suspending rotations of the u.n. peacekeeping mission. the leader says it is for national security reasons. this includes operations already scheduled. the suspension will last until a meeting is held to facilitate the coordination and regulations of the rotation of contingent, the words of the military june top. -- of the military junta. the mission was launched in 2013 to help one of the worlds worst countries cope with a bloody jihad this campaign. it is one of the u.n.'s biggest peacekeeping operations, with arou 12,200 soldiers, 1700 police, sent by 50 countries to help. the end of the operation, the eviction of french troops by the malian

president in the introduction of mercenary troops in the region, is adding to the instability on what is happening in mali. we are watching all the developments from a distance, because our journalists have been basically banned from mali by the military junta. next, protesters take to the streets in haiti over anger about fuel shortages and inflation, problems aggravated by violent clashes between gangs in the capital, port-au-prince. 89 people have been killed over the past seven days. here is our correspondent with this. reporter: protesters have blocked the roads of port-au-prince to express their anger. they came out onto the streets of the haitian capital on wednesday. many are enraged by the steep price rises and severe fuel shortages. >> each time they want to raise fuel prices, they claim there is a shortage. it is not true. there is some available. it is unnecessary to make people

suffer. >> our situation is very critical because we are doing with hardship, hunger, and our children could no longer go to school. the government is useless. we are calling for them to go. they must go. reporter: long queues in front of petrol stations, but most remain closed. the shortages have increased in the past week due to clashes between two rival gangs which are fighting for control of the sun city, a vast slam of the rest of the capital port-au-prince. though. is home to an oil terminal which supplies the capital in the north of haiti. operatio have now been suspended due to the extreme violence in the city. and local human rights group says at least 89 people have been killed in a week. neither the police nor ambulances have been able to intervene, leaving thousands of families struggling, lacking food and water. 155 kidnappings have taken place in june. the war on gangs is also threatening humanitarian aid deliveries.

according to the world food programme, more than 11 million haitians face food insecurity. mark: for all the world news, stay with us. you are watching france 24. ♪

>> woody allen spoke with us from his new york apartnt. >> since coming here, my mind started playing tricks on me. ♪ >> now i am beginning to question everything. what i watch. who are am. who in the world am i? >> hello, woody allen. the festival, although set in the present, affectionately boosts the work of bergman, bubuel, and others. for our younger viewers, can you explain the impact of european art house films on you and americans in general in the 1960's? >> when i was a young man, the commercial american cinema was delightful. as time passed, european cinema became so interesting for us and so innovative and so fresh and inventive and exciting.

innovations by truffaut and others, they were just sensationally creating a vocabulary and an art form, a landscape that forever influenced cinema as an art. >> hey, where have you been? >> where have i been? i went out first, then i stopped off at the doctor's office. >> why, did someone give you a gift certificate? >> i have a ringing in my air, but it is all gone now. >> it is, like, 8:00. how long have you been there for? >> there was a lady. and i got let in at the end. >> you kind of smell like alcohol, have you been drinking? >> me? >> yeah, you. what is going on with you? you are in a daze. reporter: at the press

screening, i had the good luck to be seated behind the french director, and it was so sweet to see his face in the dark, laughing, smiling every time there was a reference to his film "a man and a woman." i think there are three in risk and festival. he definitely loves the technology. he has shot a few films using cell phones, whereas you work with the world's greatest cinematographers. do you worry that what makes cinema special is getting diluted by the rise of streaming? >> the problem is that two things have happened, one is that the studios have found that they can make the most money and be the most profitable by making blockbuster films. the tom cruise film that is out is making like $1 billion or something. you know, that is what they want

. they weren't films that are commercially exciting. that is one thing that happened. and then another ththing that happened was, television became a different medium. it became in your home, big. screens got very big. access to so many films, both classics and modern films. now, the influences are from films that they see on television a lot. and you see all of these marvel films, science fiction films, big productions, that is what influenced these young people. >> a fabulous bongo pler. isn't that an exciting word?

>> not since louis armstrong walked onto the moon. >> luis is entertaining as the french film director for whom rifkin's wife is working as publicist. he himself is french from royalty. he is playing a film director who is trying to be humble and honest still manages to come across as pretentious. or did he bring to the role? >> he is a wonderful actor, very attractive and charming. he has to play a film director who is very successful and does very good films but is pretentious and a little grandiose, and he played it perfectly. he played it realistically. but amusingly. >> you know, that is actually a good isaiah. can you imagine -- a great idea. can you imagine the press coup if we had a new york premiere question what it would be incredible write?

>> can i have about, teeny? >> with a twist -- can i have a vodka martini? >> with a twist of lemon. >> your previous film, "a rainy day in new york" got rave reviews, and he played for over a year here in france. that english-language reviews of late insist that you keep making the same movie, and you have nothing new to say. do you think you keep making the same movie? >> i think i am always making a different movie. i don't see any connection between rainy day in new york, and matchpoint or zelig, and rifkin's festival. i see a great difference. but i have used this comparison before, it sounds like chinese food. chinese food is seen as 200

different dishes. but they kind of all taste like chinese food. i think my films are all different. but i can completely understand why, to an audience, using the chinese food analogy, that it is all chinese food. >> from gina rollings to judy davis to cate blanchett, now gina gershon, you have probably written more rich, interesting rules for women of a certain age than any screenwriter since the golden age of hollywood. and yet, the idea persists that you're films are obsessed with young women. can you explain this mischaracterization of your body of work? >> it's a strange thing. if they saw fillike "matchpoint," in summerside, he likes to write about murder. the fact that i have made 50

films and probably 40 of them at least have comedies, not about murder, it doesn't matter. it is whatever misconception gets floated out there. it doesn't bother me, but it is not true. [siren wailing] ♪ >> it has become an accepted notion in the u.s. that 1979's hit movie "manhattan," is about the shocking romance between a 17-year-old girl going on 18, and a 42-year-old man, and that it is somehow in favor of large age gaps in relationships. could you give us your take on "manhattan?" what is the film about? >> marshall and i wrote it, we would be sitting in a room, trying to think of what would entertain people and thinking, oh thi would be funny if th guy has a younger girlfriend,

that gives usome jokes, this person is a pseudo-intellectual, and that gives us jokes. we think about some incident that happened in this life that would be funny, some incidents that happened in my life that uld be if, that would show new york -- we both love the city --e ner ga a second thought. any pect of the, other than what would be romantic and what would be funny. >> new yk was s town, and it always would be. >> woody allen has come under fire in the u.s. in recent years after an allegation by his adult dauger that he molested her when she was 7 resurfaced in the wake of the metoo movement, an allegation that woody allen has always denied, and no charges were ever

formulated. but several u.s. actors have distanced themselves from the director. >> i keep reading in the u.s. press that actors don't want to work with you anymore. if you only make a few more films, have you considered casting the actors have said they are very eager to work with you? starting with catherine deneuve and isabel who pair= -- isabel huppert. i ner think when making movies of casting anybody. if you have ever tried writing yourself or with the a room by collaborator sometimes, but mostly, i am myself. you are hard up for ideas. it is rd to get good ideas. scripts are the hardest thing. you don't think of actors or locations. he didn't think of, is this serious, is this funny? you think, what is a good idea? do you think, oh, gee, i once

went on a trip to someplace and therwas a woman doctor and she was very pretty, and i thought about maybe pretending to be si so i cld see h often. that gives me a story. that is the movie. so i never think of writing for actors. >> but you are aware that catherine deneuve and isabel huppert, these two incredibly talented actresses, have asked their desire to work with you? >> every now and then, someone will tell me that some great actor or actress wants to work with me. you know, i have written over the years, many, many good parts for women. when i started making movies, i could never write for women, i always wrote for men, mostly myself. and then i met diane keaton, and

she was a very big influence on me. and i started writing for women more. and we wrote anyhow her -- annie hall for her. and ecstatic to see things more from the female point of view. i enjoy writing for women. i would be honored, if the idea occurred to me for isabel or for catherine i would be honored to write for them. >> thank you very much, woody allen. >> thank you. ♪ >> i have had a chance to look my life or the last few weeks and every alleged to have made a lot of decisions. so, do u have anything to say to me after everything that i have told you? ♪ ♪

07/14/22 07/14/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: now as president, i am proud to say our relationship with the state of israel is deeper and stronger in my view than it has ever been. with this vision, we are strengthening our connections even further. amy: president biden arrives in israel bound to deepen the united states even if you basis [indiscernible]