♪ >> intense heat on three continents. here in europe, greece and italy are recording some of the hottest weather, which has caused wildfires and medical emergencies. after axing the grain deal, russia says as of tomorrow, ships traveling to ukraine's black seaport will be suspected of carrying military cargo. video services which appears to show russian mercenary chief you're getting for goshen for the first time since his

short-lived rebellion last month -- russian mercenary chief yevgeny prigozhin. welcome back. thank you for joining us. we begin with the latest on the heat wave in europe, which has brought with it temperatures in excess of 40 degrees centigrade. greece is seeing some of the worst of it. firefighters are currently battling forest fires on the outskirts of athens. planes have been dropping water on the fires. italy is one of the other countries facing sweltering temperatures, but it is not just here in europe. millions of people on three continents are right now in the grip of extremely warm weather. >> for, great columns of smoke billowed into the sky near athens -- pick, great -- thick, gray columns of smoke billowed into the sky near athens. firefighters scramble to

evacuate hundreds of people. while many got out safely, their homes were not spared. >> in 20 minutes, this fire went up the mountain and came down again. in 20 minutes. it is the first time in my life that i have seen such a thing. >> europe is baking. in italy, all major cities have been placed on red alert, a classification that means the entire population is at risk. temperatures in the u.s. state of arizona have also hit all-time highs. for 19 consecutive days, the state has suffered 43-degree heat, forcing residents to adapt. >> we are out walking and going to the park, so i guess we are vampires in this kind of weather. >> it is and historic heat wave sweeping across three continents. umbrellas, facemasks, and fans

-- all shields in the war against sizzling temperatures in china. >> at noon, it feels like it is bursting my legs. it feels like my skin is burning. >> beijing has broken a 23-year record with 27 consecutive days of temperatures above 35 degrees. >> meanwhile, in the united states in the city of phoenix, temperatures have been above the 40-degree centigrade mark for more than two weeks now. more intense heat is expected during the coming days. >> highs of 45 degrees for 19 consecutive days. this is the new temperature record set in phoenix, arizona. the city is used to hot, desert climate, but the national weather service in phoenix says this year's temperatures have broken records set almost 50

years ago, and now residents have to adapt. >> we have rearranged our schedule. basically, we get to the dog park about 5:00 in the morning. >> my air-conditioner right now is running almost all the time. >> climatologist worn heat may continue to intensify. >> it sounds as though it will be several more days to a week before we see it go below 10 degrees and the previous record will be crushed, not just broken. >> nighttime temperatures have remained at 30 degrees, making it difficult for people to cool down. outdoor events have been canceled and parks remain empty until evening as residents stay home. 200 hydration centers have been set up to help residents stay hydrated and firefighters remain on high alert. last year, more than 400 deaths in the phoenix area were linked to heat. this is 25% more than in 2021.

>> just a few days after scrapping a grain export deal, the russian defense ministry says as of tomorrow, cargo ships on the black sea headed to ukraine will be considered potential carriers of military cargo. russia carried out overnight drone and missile attacks damaging critical infrastructure such as grain and oil in the south of ukraine. >> russia has targeted ukraine's grain, damaging critical port infrastructure. ukraine's agriculture minister says 60,000 tons of grain have been destroyed. the ministry estimates it could take up to a year to restore damaged facilities. >> last night, russian missiles were aimed at ukrainian port

infrastructure used for escorting military products. such attacks are not only against our country but against global stability. >> attacks on ukraine's core facilities followed russia's withdrawal from the grain deal wednesday. i'm put in us covering the port city with a hail of bombs for the second night in a row. in doing so, he robs the world of any hope of ukrainian grain. the russian president says he would immediately return to the grain deal if his conditions were met. he said that as the russian defense ministry issued at threat saying from midnight moscow time, warships proceeding to ukrainian ports in black sea waters will be considered potential carriers of military cargo. the grain deal enabled the export of more than 32 million

tons of ukrainian grain last year. the imf says the end of the deal threatens to decrease global food -- threatens to increase global food insecurity and raise food prices. >> and telegram channel linked to the wagner mercenary group appears to show the group leader addressing fighters in belarus. when the video, which we cannot independently indicate, for goshen -- prigozhin the fighters will not have any military role for now but said it was not an end for them but rather a beginning. >> i have made the decision to stay here in belarus for some time. during this time, i'm sure we will make the belarusian army the second army in the world,

and we will stand up for them if necessary. we continue training and improving our skills. we are off to a new path, and we will probably return to the special military operation when we are sure that we won't be forced to put ourselves and our experience to shame. >> that was, we believe, yevgeny prigozhin speaking. we speak to a political analyst now. thank you for joining us. does this video look genuine to you? >> thank you for having me, and according to everything we have seen from yevgeny prigozhin in the past months and years, this

seems like video that usually comes out from his telegram channels, although we know him as the king of trolls. he had a few fabrics of internet trolls, and he was famous for it for many years before the war began, and starting from 2014, actually, when the first part of the russian invasion to ukraine started. although he had that fabric of trolls, the huge number of people who were working for him in social media, he liked to publish these kinds of videos where you could barely see anything or where the lighting would not be that good. he liked himself to present himself as a regular person, as a regular guy, just a next-door neighbor, who maybe does not know how to film a good video like that, but this style of

filming something is absolutely the style of yevgeny prigozhin. to me, this seems genuine. also, we can hear his voice, and the way he speaks and what he says resembles yevgeny prigozhin. >> so we can be pretty confident it is him. he seems to say to his fighters -- i don't know how many there are, 2500 or so with him in belarus -- that for now, they have no further role in ukraine. what's he got in mind for them? >> first of all, he mocked president putin. he said they now will make belarusian army the second army in the world, and we know that president putin bragged that the russian army was the second army in the world, so probably yevgeny prigozhin is mocking the comely leader this way. we know that wagner group

released all the mercenaries from among former prisoners. they are now awaiting pardon, staying in a hotel, so wagner group is actually coming back to where it started. yevgeny prigozhin or the man who resembles yevgeny prigozhin says they will stay in belarus for some time. they are being treated there as brothers and as heroes, and they probably will move to africa. yevgeny prigozhin started wagner group in africa in south sahara africa, actually, and they worked in syria also. we know a lot of horrifying stories from syria that wagner group was part of, so now it seems that yevgeny prigozhin is staying in belarus for, again,

as he said, some time, most probably to help lukashenko if there is some danger the regimen fighting for ukraine -- regiment fighting for ukraine, and they say they have the goal to free belarus from the regime of lukashenko, so they will probably stay for safeguarding lukashenko and his regime, but the biggest part will most probably move to africa -- come back, i would rather say, to africa to where they have started working. >> we think they are going to be possibly a useful asset in the short-term and keeping a lid on any internal issues that he might face. what about the fighters themselves? they must be a little bit

disorientated and confused right now. they have been told to serve russia, but they are not serving russia. they are serving prigozhin himself. do you think he will be able to maintain morale? >> he maintains morale through some extreme measures, as we know. his fighters are loyal to him, first of all. what we have seen, what has been happening in russia, this mutiny that has been happening in russia, those fighters are loyal, first of all, to per goshen himself. we know now they have been transferred to belarus together with some belarus authorities, so they are really no treated there as heroes. the video that was shot by yevgeny prigozhin, all those

words mean that they are being treated there quite good. most likely those fighters will stay loyal to yevgeny prigozhin. there are some ideas, and some of the insiders are saying the russian government have been preparing for per goshen -- for prigozhin's hike, and they are expecting something like that in autumn, so i'm sure the fighters will stay loyal. >> thank you for taking the time to speak to us. we are out of time, i'm afraid. thanks you for watching. stay tuned france 24. ♪

x it's been a long term for him. >> humans only have one intake. >> hello and thanks for joining us for our weekly film show. we are in peak summer season, so it is time for a blockbuster blowout. thanks for being here. our first film takes us around the world and back again with a familiar face. tom cruise takes the lead in "mission: impossible." does this seventh entry find new notes to play? >> no, not really, but that's also the point. at this point, the formula is crystal clear. the flight plan is set, and the series does not deviate. it promises big action, exotic

locales, and death-defying stunts performed to great fanfare and publicity but tom cruise himself, but the fact that this film dead reckoning is only part one every proposed two-film miniseries in the mission impossible series distills the formula and amplifies it. dead reckoning tells half the story with twice the budget, and this one finds cruise and his merry band of spies crisscrossing the world from some kind of ai thing about bob. of course, it does not really matter. what matters is the action. let's take a look. ♪ >> none of our lives can matter more than this mission. >> i don't accept that. ♪

>> if the plot forces spectacle, what are the main attractions? >> there are many. nuclear submarine to the arabian desert to rome, venice, austrian alps and many other places along the way. car chases, motorcycle jumps, shootouts, and one bombastic sequence on a train falling off a bridge. the fact that the plot itself, though kind of an afterthought, does follow cruise's character as he tries to save the world from a malicious ai algorithm plays on a kind of meta-textual level given the fact that the film was shot during covid lockdowns and had kind of a

troubleshoot, stops and starts. taken together, the film kind of lays this valentine to the screen, the argument for analog over digital and a plea for old-fashioned films and old fashion movie stars, but don't take my word for it. let's hear from tom cruise himself. >> how can i immerse them in the story? how can i get them on the feeling on the edge of their seat? i just want people to sit in that theater and just this summer, just let go of everything and go on a ride, go on a cinematic ride. >> taking mission impossible to new heights. next, christopher nolan's "oppenheimer" has made its premiere in paris. it is about the u.s. physicist who invented the nuclear bomb. what can you tell us? >> it is a really audacious film, especially for a summer blockbuster.

in many ways, it twists the rules of the genre. it has extremely accomplished sound design. this at least one sequence where they are doing a trinity nuclear test that just pops and sizzles off the screen. at the same time, it is not your traditional popcorn film. it is more a biopic and political thriller. it is a three-hour drama that covers a lot of ground. it plays up red scare paranoia, bureaucratic backstabbing and power plays, and very interesting visualizations of the scientific process and scientific thought itself. all these turns around the centric and medic figure of robert oppenheimer played by cillian murphy, with a very dense supporting cast including matt damon, emily blunt, and others. let's take a look. >> i can perform this miracle.

>> world war ii would be over. our boys would come home. >> the world will remember this day. >> our work here will ensure peace mankind has never seen. >> i think primarily, the impulse of the film is trying to create the reality of the manhattan project. we want to put the audience there in that bunker. that meant really trying to make these things beautiful and frightening and awe-inspiring as they would be two people at the time. >> for something a little bit brighter, greta gerwig's "barbie" hits screens,

premiering on july 9 starring margot robbie and ryan gosling. there's a lot of buzz around this one. how did they manage to build a film around and all? >> with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek, for certain. for those who have not been inundated by the publicity blitz -- and i envy those who have not -- "barbie" finds margot robbie and ryan gosling playing the titular dollar and her boy toy, can -- ken, and follows them under adventure into the real world. greta gerwig was not the most obvious choice, so she really brings some senate file zeal to the project. you can really feel those kind of musical and comedic touches. >> from interviews, it seems to cast loved making this film. here's margot robbie saying

greta gerwig was like their onset mom. >> it was put in much all of us hoping that greta was going to come up, and she would because she mostly showers you with love as a director. >> robbie and gerwig really had a challenge with this film. they wanted to play up the effervescence and likeness of the barbie character, but they also wanted to at least address the fact that nadal has often been seen as standing in for oppressive gender stereotypes and playing off that. meanwhile, gosling kind of steals the show as the plastic himbo ken, going back to his roots from "the mickey mouse club," singing and dancing. >> the winner of the palm door in cannes, "anatomy of a fall."

the film promises a blockbuster of a different sort. >> yes, and the palm door was extraordinarily well deserved for this film. it is a fascinating bit of cinema. the director really mixes genres and takes part of the legal thriller and part of the domestic drama and sort of fuses them together. the film stars a german actor as an acclaimed author who is put on trial for her husband's death. the film kind of leaves the question of the central character's guilt or innocence an open question. you are never really sure if the character did it -- >> what do you think? did she? >> you have to watch it. >> i did watch it. i still don't know. >> that's the point. you're not supposed to come away asking if she did it or not, but it's about how the case and trial effects in a destructive way the entire family structure. >> as you can see, the

accidental fall is going to be hard to defend, given the height of the windowsill. the -- that's why there is an investigation for suspicious death, and you were the only person there, and of course, your his wife. stranger walks in, kills him, he had no enemies -- >> stop. i did not kill him. >> that's not the point. >> the film is really tense, but also kind of loose and free. it moves from this hitchcock and -- hitchcockian whodunit and kind of sums up as the family's tragedy was the couple's son is brought into the mix.

it brings in ambient tension against the heart and rational light of the legal system, the need to find order in chaos. it is also a film very much about the creative assets. the main character, whose name is also sandra, and, is an author who minds her own life for artistic inspiration, and in a way, so it is the director herself. she calls this her most personal work to date, and it is an absolute must see when it comes out this summer. >> especially as it was this year's topic at the cannes film festival. we are going to close out looking at the king of the musical. >>'s work still lives on to this day. he directed 35 films, all of which will be shown the summer at the retrospective. "an american in paris" and "gigi

" both won boards. he stretched his muscles with event tsurenko biopic that started kirk douglas, he remains best known for his song and dance work as she stretched his muscles with the -- stretch his muscles with the vincent van gogh biopic that started kirk douglas. this work remains just this joyful and accessible today. we spoke a lot in today's show about modern hollywood blockbusters, so i could not imagine a better way to close out then on silver screen spectacles of a different sort. minnelli's work still has that lust for life. even if you cannot make it to paris this summer, try to catch one of these screenings yourself. make a bucket of popcorn and put

on one of these musical fantasies because that is entertainment. >> thank you so much for joining us. thank you for watching. we will leave you with that retrospective. see you next time. >> ♪ a swaying getting slain for the love of a queen some great shakespearean scene everyone ends in mincemeat the gang made the waving the flag again the american way the world is a stage the stage is a world of entertainment ♪ ♪

07/19/23 07/19/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! as the war in ukraine approaches its 17th month, we will speak to two reporters who have closely looked at the role played by neo-nazis in the war from the azov battalion in ukraine to the anti-putin russian militia that attacked russian targets in may. >> it is the asov