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announcer: and now, "bbc world news". ♪ >> i'm laura trevelyan, and this is "bbc world news america." another mass shooting here in the u.s. as country was celebrating independence day. at least six people are dead after a gunman opened fire on a july 4 parade north of chicago. dozens have been taken to hospital. russian tanks in the center of melissa chan's -- of lysychansk. ukraine vows to fight back. almost 10 months after the taliban takeover, afghan girls are educating themselves. we report from a secret school in kabul.

in australia, sydney braces for another day of flooding, with more evacuation orders for thousands of people. scientists discover the largest waterlily in the world, hiding in plain sight for almost 180 years. welcome to "world news america" on pbs and around the globe. it is independence day here in america. near chicago, a parade to celebrate july 4 turned deadly. at least six people were killed and more than two dozen were injured when a gunman opened fire with a high-powered rifle. hundreds ran for cover as the shooting began. the mayor of highland park said, on a day when the community should have been celebrating, it was instead in mourning. for the latest, we are joined by our correspondent. across america todayhundreds

of communities were holding july 4 parades like this. how did this one turned so deadly? >> there are reports of multiple shots being fired in the highland park area just after 10:00 a.m. local time. police have confirmed at least six people have died and 24 others are injur. they described the suspect as white, male, aged between 18 and 20. he is said to have opened fire on the parade using a high-powered rifle from a rooftop in the city. at the moment, they say his motive is still unclear, and police have described this as a random act of violence on america's biggest national holiday. laura: this is only the latest mass shooting here in the united states. president biden has issued a statement. he's called this "senseless." he just noted he signed the first piece of gun control legislation in almost 30 years. what else is the president saying in that statement?

>> president biden has firstly said his thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected and that he has also sent in federal law-enforcement to aid the investigation, but he has acknowledged that there is much more work to do, in his words, in the fight against the epidemic of gun violence. laura: it's interesting to note that illinois, where the shooting happened, is somewhere that has relatively strict gun laws. how about the state around it? -- the states around it? >> this comes in the wake of several mass shootings across the states. illinois has strict laws, but it's neighboring states don't. that has led to calls for tougher federal restrictions. congress recently passed new gun safety measures, buthese were seen as not going far enough, especially at a time the supreme court has just expanded the right of people here to bear arms. it's all happening at a time where it'sow estimated there are more guns than there are people here in the states. laura: thank you so much for joining us with that update.

well, president putin has ordered his forces to push ahead with their offensive in eastern ukraine, after ceding control of the entire new hands -- luhansk region. -- after seizi control of the entire luhansk region. russian troops are now attacking the donetsk reason -- region, including the city of slovyansk. the ukrainian forces try to counter russia's assault. >> [speaking foreign language] >> ukraine's artillery lines were still firing, even as their troops were pulling out of nearby lysychansk. it's been unorganized. ukraine says to ensure their troops can fight another day.

this unit has been relying on old soviet era artillery. still waiting for more western weapons to arrive. they have helped coordinate the fallback from this command bunker to new lines of defense. >> [speaking foreign language] >> more modern technology, like u.s.-provided communications, has helped them target russian armor. this is from your artillery. the commander says they are making sure every round counts, but there are so many targets. listen carefully to the old -- odds stacked against them. >> [speaking foreign language] >> [translating] there's at least five times more russian artillery here than what we have, or even up to 10 times more. daily, we pinpoint up to 169 enemy positions that are active all at the same time. >> ukraine's forces had already left lysychansk when the

russians walked in, claiming to be liberators. they had surrounded the city. they are now targeting the neighboring donetsk region. this, the aftermath on the city of slovyansk. this was slovyansk today, the sound of artillery getting ever closer. russia's forces are still advancing in the donbas. they've already taken key cities and are already targeting the -- next line of ukraine's differences, including the city of slovyansk. can ukraine's forces stop them? nearby, another city has been hit. when i was last here, the streets were busy. now they are mostly deserted. the mayor says this month could be make or break for ukraine's defense of the donbas. he says it all depends on the west providing more heavy weapons. >> without weapons, we are not

able -- we are not able to stop russians without enough weapons. because without weapons, only with kalashnikovs, it's not possible. it's not possible to stop artillery and not possible to stop the missile attacks. >> some western military support has arrived. more is on its way, but not yet in the quantities ukraine says it needs. barricades of earth will do little to stop the russian advance. jonathan beale, bbc news in the donbas. laura: to afghanistan, where an all-male gathering of more than 4500 taliban leaders and clerics has been criticized for not addressing the question of when girls can return to secondary school. it's been nearly 10 months since the taliban stopped teenage girls from attending secondary

education, making afghanistan the only country in the world to enforce such a policy. we've been to a secret school where girls are taking matters into their own hands. >> hidden away on the outskirts of kabul, a secret sool. around 60 girls usually come here daily, desperate to learn. >> [speaking foreign language] >> today, only a handful show up, afraid of our cameras and worried about their identities being revead. they've been locked out of their classrooms for almost 300 days by the taliban simply because of their gender. despite the risks and fear, these brave girls tell me they have no choice but to take matters into their own hands. >> [speaking foreign language] >> they are nervous to speak about the new rulers. >> [speaking foreign language] >> [translating] it's cruel not

to open schools for girls. we have as much right to learn as boys do. it would be cruel if the taliban -- of the taliban not to allow us to return to our schools. >> their teacher, as defiant as her students, is determined to help them. >> [speaking foreign languag >> [translating] we can to be in a situation where we go back centuries -- we can't be in a situation where we go back centuries. we should be moving forward and uplift others. we want sup. education is a basic right, and we should not be denied this. >> they are also well aware that this is no replacement to formal education. back in march, it seemed schools were finally about to reopen, but hours after girls started arriving, the de facto authorities announced they needed to go back home. this sudden change in policy left millions devastated.

a recent gathering of more than 4500 clerics, elders, and taliban leaders was held to tackle the biggest issues facing afghanistan. girls' education and women's rights barely rated a mention. this was one of only two scholars who called for girls to be allowed to go back to school. is it un-islamic that the taliban are banning girls from school? >> [speaking foreign language] >> [translating] it is un-islamic to ban girls or boys from school, and taliban says they are not against education, and they say they will open schools soon. >> since the taliban swept to power, the lives of women and girls has changed dramatically, literally overnight. there is now growing concern, both in afghanistan and internationally, that if the taliban continued to deny them their basic rights, the future of millions of girls and women

will remain bleak. laura: that report from kabul. for more on afghanistan and other places in the world where young people are in need, we are joined by save the children's deputy humanitarian director. girls are educating themselves. what are you doing with your organization to try to help teenage girls, when the taliban won't let them go to school? >> we've been based in afghanistan for several decades now. over the past and recent months, we are continuing our education programs across the country. our established presence in afghanistan makes us utely aware of some of the barriers preventing girls from coming to education. some of the work we are doing is community-based programming, to enhance literacy skills, but also looking at how we can get girls qualification to become teachers, to help try to

mitigate some of the barriers preventing girls going to school. for the sake of girls' survival and for the future of the country, we are advocating and calling on the authorities to allow for the immediate access to education for girls. laura: afghanistan is far from being the only place in the world where young people are imperiled. you have just returned from somalia, where there is a looming threat of famine. what did you see when you were there? >> the sights i witnessed whilst i was in somalia were far worse than i expected. starvation and famine are escalating faster than many of us had previously feared. the number of people in catastrophic famine like conditions has increased. there were 80,000 people in june, more than 250,000 people come september expected. we have children at risk of sere malnutrition and at risk of dying if they don't get the

emergency aid that is desperately needed in the country at present. but it seems that the world is very slow to wake up to what's happening. there's much more focus on other crises aroune world. laura: there's -- but what do you do about that attention fatigue when there's a crisis in afghanistan, war in ukraine? how do you get people to care about somalia and to give money and to help? >> you're doing absolutely everything we can possibly do in our power, to advocate with governments at the g7 meeting, to working with one of our corporate partners, working with institutional governments around the world. i can honestly say i heard the most heart-wrenching stories when i was in somalia, and it's the worst emergency i think i've seen in the 23 years i've been responding. i spoke to mothers who have buried multiple children this year. one lady i met said she buried three children in the first six months of the year, and her

fourth child had severe acute malnutrition, which is the worst form of malnutrition you can get. obviously, children at that stage are at high risk of getting other complications, like pneumonia or diarrhea and measles. the children are incredibly vulnerable. laura: claire, just tell us, if you could, how is the war in ukraine making the situation in somalia even worse? >> look, it's exacerbating the situation in somalia. somalia relies on 90% of its wheat imports from russia and ukraine, and they are simply not getting through. ere are escalating food prices, which are creating huge issues in somalia. the country is facing the most prolonged drought it has ever faced in 40 years. it has -- they've had a locust infestation, and now they have the covid impact, which we've

all felt across the globe. in addition to that, the ukraine crisis is hampering aid coming into the country, but escalating food prices, making everything far more expensive for people living in somalia. laura: thank you so much for joining us. thousands of people have been told to leave their homes in australia's largest city, sydney, after torrential rain caused major flooding over the weekend. our correspondent has been to sydney's western suburbs, which were badly affected. >> the third day of this disastrous wet weather. the rain has been relentless, wreaking havoc across western sydney. people trying to move to safety and salvage what they can. more evacuation orders have been issued today, with tens of thousands of residents affected. >> we've got about 30,000 people who are the subject of either an evacuation order or an evacuation warning.

we want to acknowledge the impact that these latest floods are having on those communities. >> this is the third time in 18 months residents in the northwestern town have had to deal with the same extreme weather. the newly built windsor bridge is barely visible, with water nearly 12 meters high. just over a year ago, i stood in the same spot, reporting on a major flooding event here. since then, there have been two devastating floods, one in march and now this. some residts have only just finished cleaning up there properties after -- their properties after the deluge months ago. now, they ha to do it again. >> i can't believe i'm seeing it in my lifetime. it's just crazy. >> i've never seen it this bad. we've had four floods this year. each one just gets worse and worse. more and more houses are going under each time. it's scary how this keeps happening. >> once again, australians are

faced with an extreme weather event, andnce again, a country where climate action is still politically fraught is seeing firsthand the impact of a warming climate. bbc news, sydney. laura: it's a very different story across the indian ocean, in south africa. nelson mandela bay in the southeast. authorities are in the race against time to stop cap from running dry --top taps from running dry. day zero, as it's known, will see 2 million people without water. we went to the region. >> a warning many here have become familiar with as the city braces itself for the arrival of day zero. residentave been urged to use water sparingly. with less than 10 days left of supply, taps are fast becoming

dry in more than 100 suburbs and townships. water levels in many dams, including this one, are criticallyow. no significant amount of water can be extracted from here. and with no heavy rainfall focast in the near future, the fear of reaching day zero is dangerously close. but the poorest townships are already suffering. there are only three taps for hundreds of people who live here, and most days, they don't work. >> where there is no water, we have to fetch the water. we take it because we don't have an alternative a we don't have a choice. we need the water to drink. we need to cook. what is worrying us more are those people who are sick and disabled and elderly. >> environmentalists have said water scarcity has been amplified by climate change over the last seven years.

but mismanagement has also played a role. millions of liters are lost every day, despite water shortages. 1/3 of the city's water supply is lost through leakages, such as thi one. they are now working to fix more than 3000 of them, to prevent ta from running dry. activists have warned of a possible humanitarian crisis, prompting aid organizations to address governments' slow response. >> it makes it -- providing water so there's no disruption the school calendar. and 24/7, the community in those areas can benefit, getting access to clean water. >> a second south african city is facing this major crisis, after cape town averted its own

water shortages four years ago. >> we are investing in the d salinization -- desalination. to ensure that we will be able to reduc the impact of drought going forward. as i've said, we have a cycle. the idea is to be able to insulate and future proof the city from a water resilience point of view. >> plans are in place to make sure that no other city faces water scarcity. bbc news, south africa. laura: now, a new species of giant waterlily has been discovered, breaking all known records. the huge flowers were mistakenly identified for almost 180 years as something else. the team in london realized there was more below the

surface. our editor now reports. >> they are a marvel of the botanical world. giant waterlily's dominating the pond. but these are not just extraordinary to look at. they are also a species that's new to science. they are huge, aren't they? they feel so strong when you press down on them. >> there is a network of nerves. it's like a floating map. >> for years, these plans have masqueraded as another species, but carlos, one of the world's leading experts, long suspected this wasn't the case. >> when you think this, you have to demonstrate it. i believe, looking at every single aspect -- i cannot put it into words. i believe this is the highlight of my career. >> this new species is called

victoria boliviana, named after bolivia, where it grows in the world. standing here, you get a sense of how huge this is. this is one plant, and it is still growing. not onlys this the first discovery of a new giant waterlily species in more than 100 years, it's also now the biggest waterlily in the world. with leaves that grow to more than three meters, that's 10 feet in size. astonishingly, the new species had been hiding in the archives for more than 150 years. a specimen was collected and dried and stored, but wrongly identified. the discovery now bris the number of giant waterlily species to three. a key part of studying them is to make detailed botanical drawings, where the differences start to stand out. >> this is the open flower of the new species.

i think it's one of the most -- maybe unbiased, but out of the three species, i think it's one of the most beautiful flowers. >> drawings of the different waterlilies reveal their unique features. >> as i was able to get access to the flowers and looking at the leaves, as an illustrator, i could highlight those differences that i saw. and, in fact, while i was awing those differences, they became even stronger in my mind, and i found new ways of telling them apart. >> waterlily house was built in the 1800's to showcase their extensive collection. waterlilies were a natural wonder of the victorian age, but this new discovery shows these giants, even today, hold some surprises. and scientists say they still have much to learn about these remarkable plants. laura: amazing. now, for something you don't expect to happen when you are flying, an easyjet flight was

escorted to its destination by a spanish fighter jet, after u.k. teenage passenger made a bomb threat on social media. the plane landed safely, but the 18-year-old who allegedly made the hoax spent the night in jail and is now awaiting a court hearing. we want to end tonight's program with a holiday tradition that captures hearts and turns stomachs each independence day. the coney island hot dog eating contest. 63 hotdogs in 10 minutes, that's what joey chestnut has done to win. mikki won her eighth title in the women's competition. it's one of the main events of the fourth of july festivities in new york. the rules are simple, try to eat as many hotdogs, as many bonds, and as much cap -- buns, and as much ketchup as you can in 10 minutes. i'm laura trevelyan.

thank you so much for watching "bbc world news america." ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by ctributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs. ♪ da-da-da-duh-da-da-da♪ ♪ da-da-da-da-da-da ♪♪

♪ >> good evening and welcome on this fourth of july area judy woodruff is away. >> our commuty was terrorized by an act of violence that has shaken us to our core. >> another mass shooting. at least six are killed and thousands wounded after a gunman targeted a fourth of july of chicago. high gas prices and canceled flights cause headaches. no let up insight sight for the summer. a historic turn. the rapid transformation of the supreme court and what this year's monumental rulings tell us about the new conservative enjoyed a. >> this is a very conservative, new court.