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announcer: and now, "bbc world news". >> >>his is bbs america. president biden stop short of declaring a climate emergency. in europe a heatwave wave has intensified drought conditions. then there were two credit the former finance minister and former secretary will battle to become the next conservative party leader and british prime minister. political crisis continues in italy. mario draghi wins a confidence motion but three boycott the vote. the new president of sri lanka appeals for unity.

welcome to world news america on pbs in the u.k. and around the globe. while wildfires rage across europe, and the u.s. one third of the country is sweltering unr a heat dome that spans 28 states. president biden announced he will use executive powers to address the climate crisis. he called it a clear and present danger and says it must be treated that way but stop short of declaring an emergency. >> when it comes to fighting climate change, i will not take no for an answer. i would everything in my power to clean our air and water, protect people's health, to win a clean energy future.

our children and grandchildren are counting ons. it's not a joke. we don't keep to 1.5 degrees centigrade, we lose it all. we don't get to turn around and the world is counting on us. >> for more on the speech, i am joined by samantha who is the director of the energy security and climate initiative at the brookings institution. how meaningful is president biden's announcemen of more money when executive action can be undone? >> notuch new happened in the speech today. even though he announced $2.3 billion, it was money that was containe in the infrastructure bill for climate action before. today's announcement was to put a line in the sand to say he is planning to take executive action, but there was not a lot

new today. >> where does this leave climate policy in the u.s.? >> we are stuck with what the administration c do on its own right now. through executive action and workg under existing laws. it is not appear we will get anything new congress, although joe manchin is holding out saying he might do something someday. that leaves us with the ability to regulate pollutants under the clean air act, to regulate efficiency, and perhaps if the president declares state of emergency, he will have some ability to move funding around. a power that he gets under emergency declaration. action is not dead but it is in a different place than it would be otherwise. >> why did he not clear an emergency? >> it's a great question.

i'm not sure if he doesn't want to antagonize republicans hoping he can get something out of congress. maybe they are still working out at they want to do under an emergency declaration. >> one broader question. without active engagement by the u.s. on climate change, where does this leave global efforts combat it? >> it is unfortunate that the u.s. is having a hard time getting legislation in place and actions in place to meet its own goals. we still see the u.s. doing important things abroad. i will use one pledge as example. the u.s. is leaving -- leading an effort to reduce methane emissions. it's not that the u.s. is ing nothing, it's just we are having a very hard time adding our house in order to meet our goals. >> are we able to meet the goals which are specific without u.s.

leadership in this field? >> it will certainly be difficult. the u.s. is the number two greenhouse gas emitter in the world after china and it will be difficult to meet goals. >> thank you very much for joining me. >> my pleasure. >> in france, emmanuel macron has visited the southwest of the country where wildfires have forced nearly 30,000 people from their homes. fires continue to blaze in spain. many people have died from heat related conditions. italy and greece are also dealing with heat related drought. >> fire chiefs are too cautious to talk about a turning poi, but the fire here has stabilized enough for emmanuel macron to vit to congratulate the cruise. >> we know the witnesses in the

management of the forest. we have to make it grow again but with different rules and precautions. >> you can see how unstable the situation is even from the forest road. the soil is still smoldering. the clearance crews are still at work. this is what it takes to stop the fires. corridor 300 meters wide cleared of all trees or fuel for the flames. firefighters say the flames could leap across the corridor if the wind is in the wrong direction. for those now waiting out the fire in shelters, fears will linger long after the flames are out. >> i think it is a global problem for everybody. in the future, it could be the case for other regions or other country like in the u.k.. what we are living now, they can

live it tomorrow or in future years. >> what buyers like this can do is becoming hard to ignore. in greece last night, firefighters watched as wins slept flames through athens. residents said the fire was moving faster than a car. is this the future of summer in europe? when pressure on firefighters has eased again will the pressure on politicians keep going? >> the mayor of london says the fire service had its busiest day since the seco world war as it dealt with blazes and reco-breaking temperatures. the british capital was one of many arias to declare a major incident. one of several houses were destroyed in the west of london.

>> daybreak revealed the devastation wreaked by the fire on the far east edge of london. homes, cars, businesses, all consumed by flames that appeared almost out of nowhere. london's fire brigade had been stretched to the limit. >> it was incredibly busy, challenging. people were physically exhausted after a hard day. that continued throughout the night and we had resources throughout the night planning for the next few days as well to get the resources we need. >> it wanot just wellington, this was just down the road where a fire slept in from a nearby park. >> near our house there is a fire. >> this afternoon, we could see homes that had apparently melted in the heat. around -- several homes had been

completely destroyed. it was a terrifying site. >> it was pitch black. you couldn't see anything, just the fire. the popping and everyone was running. the cars were trying to get out. they said everyone needs to get out. when i ran back, i looked back and i just kept hearing things popping. it was like what you see in film. >> the devastation is so bad in london that the mayor said the fire brigade had its busiest day since were to. -- world war ii. today, london was still burning with fresh blazes like this one. firefighters have difficult days ahead. be on the capital, one village in norfolk saw five homes burned down. there were several bad fires elsewhere as well. fire engines were sent to

norfolk from all over england. the day revealed the extent of the damage to a nursery where all of the children and staff had been quickly affected -- evacuated. >> the contest to become britain's next prime minister has been narrowed to two candidates. they now have six weeks to persuade members that they have what it takes to lead the country. one of them will replace force johnson in september. >> the question for our members is who is the best? i believe i am the only candidate. >> i am the only person who can go into number 10, hit the ground running, and get things done. that's what i want to take to conservative members around the country. >> today, mr. johnson ended his

final session of prime minister's questions by advising his successor to cut taxes, stay close the americans and stickup for the ukrainians. he said goodbye to lawmakers in parliament with a quote from the movie terminator. parks mission largely accomplished for now. i want to thank all of my friends and colleagues. i want to thank everybody here. hostility's death -- hasta la vista, baby. [applause] >> i am joined by nathan blake. is this the last we are going to hear from oris johnson? >> it will not be the last. the question is, in what capacity will he stick around in parliament and be a thorn in the side of the next prime minister

as his pet assessor has been -- as theresa may has been for him or will he continue as a journalist and deliver speeches around the world? it was a fiery performance by boris johnson in the house of commons today. mp's rose to their feet to clap him out when the session was finished. it was the same mp's brought him down. after a string of resignations and letters of no-confidence submitted in boris johnson which has triggered the leadership contest now and await. >> what about the two candidat? what for and chase them and how contentious is this likely to be? parks i think we are in for a feisty few weeks ahead.

the candidates who have been chosen to face the final runoff of conservative party members are diamrically opposed in terms of economic policy at least. in the early stages where mp's have narrowed down to the final two, the foreign secretary has been talking about immediate tax cuts as soon as she takes office. she says that' the way to stimulate economic growth and ease the crisis for many. re-she soon at -- sunak has talked about getting a hand on inflation. there are two different strategies and the question is

what the conservative party members will want to see and hear and what is the best approach. >> will they be looking for something different? >> it is a different electorate. around 200,000 conservative partmembers across the u.k.. they will favor tax cuts, but they also might have and i own broader issues. perhaps foreign policy things like defense spending crime and punishment policy and green policies environmental policies also. tax cuts and economic policy will likely be the main fault line. >> tnk you for joining us. the italian prime minister has one confidence motion in the senate, but three parties from his own coalition boycottedhe

vote. that means he is likely to tender his resignation on thursday. political upheaval in italy is absolutely nothing new. the best context. how big of a context is this -- issue is this? >> italy has seen almost 17 governments the end of the second world war, th has been dizzying. that mario draghi, a man who used to be the president of the you see the appointed last year to lead italy through this time post-pandemic recovery, vast reforms to get eu recovery funds is supported by the majority of italians. suddenly, his government has collapsed. last week, one of hialition partners wavered in support. tendered his resignation back then who said go back to

parliament and see if you can get your broad-based of support revived. he did that but italy's politicians, political parties fused his call to work together. three parties in the coalition government refused to back him and the confidence vote and now it looks likely that he will have to tender his resignation tomorrow thursday after a second debate. pikes if mario draghi can't do it, who can? >> that is a good question. he is called super mario because he was credited with saving the eurozone at the height of its crisis. there is one person in this country who was thought would be able to hold together italy's politicians and bickering political parties. a lot of italians will be saying who can do this? who can govern this country?

the average tenure of the government is just over one year printed this is a crucial time, because italy is a key pillar in the international coalition to support ukraine. mario draghi received public pleas of support and calls for him to remain here in italy and also from world leaders and the white house. this is you - the european union's third-largest economy. italians are left scratching their head thinking here we go again. pikes the rest of the community much be -- ostby looking at this with some alarm. what is the implication this could have more broadly? >> one of the concerns is that it could prompt snaplections. that is the likely result. if the polls are to be believed, that could usher in a right-wing government with the prime minister likely to beeorgia

milani. she is the leader of a right political party called brothers of italy that is allied with others in france and hungary. that could be a concern in brussels and the markets with italy, a core part of nato and the eu, if that we to swing to the far right. italian politics are notoriously hard to read. anything could happen between now and an early election. >> thank you for joining me. a feature of the war in ukraine has been the media presence of president zelenskyy who has addressed a number of parliaments around the world as he seeks to drum up support. he has done that via video link but today, his wife spoke to the u.s. congress in part -- in person.

she took up an invitation from nancy pelosi and thanked the u.s. for its continued support during the invasion. she also appealed r more military support and aid. >> i am asking for something now i would never want to ask. i am asking for weapons. weapons that would not be used to wage a war on someone else's land. but to protect one's home and the right to wake up alive in that home. >> the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov has said russia's military focus in ukraine has shifted. in an interview, he said russia is broadening it operation to include more than just the east of the country. the u.s. accused russia of trying to annex parts of ukraine. the year pink commission has called for eu countries to reduce their gas consumption by up to 15% amid concerns that

russia could stop supplies. russia has been accused of trying to blackmail the eu. >> to make it through the winter, assuming there is a full disruption of russian gas, we need to save gas to fill our storage faster. to do so, we have to reduce our consumption. i know this is a big ask for the whole of the eu, but it is necessary to protect us. thiss why today we propose an emergency instrument on the basis of article 122. two objectives, one is every member state should reuse the use of gas and -- reduce the use of gas and the second is to provide a safety net for all member states. >> let's have a quick look at today's other news.

the funeral for ivana trump has been held in new york city. she died last week at age 73 after reportedly falling down the stairs in her manhattan apartment. former president trump along with the couples three children attended the funeral. the who has said there have been 14,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox worldwide with five deaths reported in africa. most confirmed cases have been reported in europe among men who have had close physical contact with other men. on thursday, the who will assess the severity of outbreak. the military government in ma is expelling peacekeeping spokesperson. she has been accused of controversial statements online which have undermined medical relations.

lawmakers in sri lanka have voted for a prime minister to become the new president. despite his uopularity with the president -- with the public. he is charged with restoring order after months of protests. >> sri lanka's new president is not a popular man. there was heavy security outside of parliament. politicians assembled to select a new leader. >> he is a political figure leading the country struggling with its worst ever economic crisis. earlier this month, his offices were temporarily taken over by angry protesters who forced the previous president to flee. demonstrations have continued

but now, they are far smaller. >> they would never accept him as president. there is clearly still a lot of anger, but no sign of the kind of mass protests we have seen in recent weeks. >> people are burned out after four months of continuous ests. election should happen as soon as possible. >> the new president faces major challenges. petrol cues stretched for miles. sri lanka is basely bankrupt. unable to afford enough fuel while prices are soaring. >> my children ask for milk in the morning but i cannot afford it. my electricity has been cut off because we can't pay the bill. >> with cooking gas too hard to find, or too expensive, it has become common to see bundles of

firewood for sale. a dressmaker now has to cook for her grandchildren on a makeshift stove outside. >> i am not a person who has spent her life like this, but now have to. for the sake of these children, i to find a way. >> protesters see the new president as to close to the old guard. they want change, but for now they seem resigned to accept him. the anger that saw his home burned down earlier this month could rekindle at any time. >> before we go, you might like to know it is international chess day. in lebanon, it is a welcome distraction from the economic crisis. one coach says it helps to shed light on the beautiful things in

lebanon. thank you very much for watching bbc world news ame 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 foundaon. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions 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 ♪♪

♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight. at the extreme -- the climate crisis remains in the forefront as historic heat waves grip the united states and europe, prompting the president to consider declaring a national emergency. then, protecting marriage -- congress moves to codify federal protections for lgbtq unions amid fears of future supreme court actions. and, 10 years later -- the mass shooting in an aurora, colorado, movie theater still haunts survivors and relatives of the victims. >> for some people, there's detachment. for some people, it's loss of hope. for some people, basically, their perspective of the world has changed. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs nsh