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announcer: and now, "bbc news" s america. s with russia's war in ukraine expanding to alleged international espionage, kyiv's allies consider dialing up their support. the u.s. and the u.k. have sanctions in the wake of the unprecedented iranian attack on israel. and afghanistan's in crisis. the young afghan refugees lacking food and housing. ♪ >> welcome to world news america. a united nations security council vote on the full recognition of palestinian statehood is getting underway at the u.n. headquarters in new york.

we will bring you pictures of the security council chamber voting on the proposal to grant palestine full u.n. member states. it has had non-observer status since 2012 but cannot vote in proceedings. we are going to come back to the story with updates as soon as we get them. for now, we are going to move on to our other top story today. publisher authorities have arrested a man on suspicion of preparing to help the russian military and alleged assassination plots against volodymyr zelenskyy. authorities launched an investigation after being tipped off by ukrainian intelligence. polish prosecutors claim they have evidence a polish national was preparing together security information about -- in order to plan a possible attack on zelinski's life. that airport has become a hub for heavy weaponry and humanitarian supplies for you rain since russia's full scares -- for ukraine since russia's full-scale invasion. it comes the same day as

authorities in germany announced the arrest of two men accused of spying for russia. germany summoned the russian ambassador on thursday. investigators say two dual russian nationals were planning to sabotage military bases in germany where ukrainian soldiers have trained. u.s. military facilities in germany were among the building scouted. one of the suspects is accused of plotting an explosion and arson. the other accused of helping identify potential targets. aid to ukraine dominated a discussion at a g7 meeting of foreign ministers. the nato secretary-general was there and says that countries are constantly aware of the risks of espionage and cyber attacks, but as u.s. members of congress consider whether to approve a multibillion-dollar package of military aid, the secretary expressed optimism about ukraine's fight against russia. >> we now have encouraging messages from the u.s. congress that they will vote on a package

of 61 billion u.s. dollars for ukraine in the coming days. if we put this together with all the other announcements that we have seen over the last week's, i am encouraged by the commitment and determination by nato allies to stand up for ukraine. anchor: as ukraine waits for more aid, our james waterhouse is in kyiv, breaking down what ukraine finds itself in such a desperate situation. james: there is no doubt what we are seeing announced at this summit and with this u.s. military package finally being voted on, there is no doubt that it will be welcomed by ukraine, but what is lacking are specifics around time, because the political delays, as kyiv points out, have caused ukraine to lose territory and soldiers. lives have been lost because they have soldiers with dwindling ammunition, artillery

shells and long-range missiles come all the things you need if you are hoping to liberate territory taken by one of the biggest armies in the world. this is a political changing of the tide, but if this bill is passed in the u.s., and if europe can work out the specifics on when air defenses can be provided, the issue for ukraine is whether these things will arrive on time. we are talking of a period where russia is taking more and more ukrainian territory and the calculations are now centering on what if more cities were to fold to russia. if that were to happen, if you look at the momentum russia is enjoying in the east, that would give this war a different feel for ukraine and would pose difficult questions over not either ukraine could win, but if it were to lose, but that loss would look like, whether ukraine would be fully occupied or

whether russia would stop there. anchor: ukraine's allies say russia will not stop if it defeats ukraine. ukraine's prime minister is in washington urging the passage of aid through congress. i sat down with the prime minister yesterday, and he underscored the aid -- the urgency of further support. >> all of the congressmen have careful optimism for saturday, so we share this optimism, and we need this money yesterday. we need this support yesterday, because liberation of the front line is difficult enough. we need their support from our biggest partner, the united states. anchor: let's talk about this with congressman ami bera. great to have you. the printing is say they are watching this closely, hopeful ukraine aid -- the ukrainian

said they are watching this closely, hopeful ukraine aid will pass in a houseboat. you think it will? rep. bera: i do. i wish we passed this back in october when the president had originally proposed it, but yes, i am very optimistic. we know we have to stand with the ukrainian people. we have to pass the bill and get the supplies there as fast as possible. anchor: you also sit on the committee of foreign affairs and intelligence. there has been a lot of discussion on how to support ukraine. some of this bill includes aid in the form of loans and loan guarantees, and also military oversight and review. what do you think of those provisions? rep. bera: that is fine. whatever allows us to get the billions in aid and artillery and missiles to ukraine as fast as possible, let's get that done, and we will work everything out on the backend. anchor: some hard-line

republicans in congress say they do not want this bill to be voted on. they are rejecting any further ukraine aid at this point. what is your message to those colleagues? rep. bera: my message to those colleagues is if we don't stop today, he will actually be a threat to continue on to the baltic nations, to other parts of europe. we have to stop this now. look at the lessons of history. look at world war ii. we should have stopped eight of hillary in his tracks early on, and when he did not, it got worse. -- we should have stopped adolf hitler in his tracks early on, and when he did not, it got worse. our allies in asia are watching this. aid and secretary for our asian allies, taiwan. it is also about trying to contain a conflict in the middle east, looking for a way to bring that to an end.

that also includes necessary humanitarian aid. anchor: i will come back to the middle east, but i want to ask you about the politics inside the house right now, because there has been more discussion among hard-line republicans about efforts to possibly remove the speaker of the house from his position. we know it takes one person to trigger that motion. the speaker has talked about changing that down the road. would you support that? do you think it is possible? rep. bera: i think it would be a good idea, because i do not think you can operate the house of representatives under threat of removal on a constant basis. we thought it was a bad idea when kevin mccarthy negotiated that away at the beginning of his speakership. mike johnson has shown courage in terms of bringing things to the floor, having us pass bipartisan votes. we will take a look at what he brings to the floor, but i do not think that one motion to vacate is a good idea.

anchor: we will have to see what happens, but i do want to come back to the middle east. u.s. and israeli officials met to talk about concerns of a possible ground invasion into rafa and southern gaza. both sides say the agreed on the shared objective to defeat hamas, but questions still remain on what is going to happen on the ground. do you want to see the u.s. put more pressure on israeli officials to prevent that kind of offensive from going forward? rep. bera: i think a rafa offensive would be a bad idea. there are other ways to eliminate hamas, make sure it is not a political entity, but you have a pending humanitarian crisis, unfolding in front of our eyes in terms of starvation, lack of food, lack of water. there is an urgency to get into a prolonged cease-fire negotiated. and then tried to come up with a context for a longer-term solution, so the israelis can

feel secure, but the palestinians have some homeland for themselves as well. anchor: so you're saying there are other ways to do this. the israelis maintain they do need to go into rafa. what do you need to see the white house do here? rep. bera: i am certainly aware that secretary blinken and president biden have been in direct communication with israelis, putting pressure on them, giving them advice on a different way to eliminate, degrade hamas that does not involve what we saw in the northern portions of gaza. we've got to, again, there is an urgency of getting hamas to agree to a cease-fire, to get the hostages back and to get that humanitarian aid into gaza. anchor: congressman, thank you so much for joining us today. the u.s. and u.k. have announced new sanctions against iran in

the wake of tehran's unprecedented attack on israel. the white house says the new sanctions will target leaders and entities connected to the islamic revolutionary guard corps and iran's missile and drone program. european leaders have announced a similar measures, with the president of the european council saying it is important to do everything to isolate iran. we went to a military base in southern israel and were shown parts of a southern -- parts of an intercepted missile that landed in the dead sea. correspondent: this is part of a ballistic missile intercepted on its way to israel. israel said it was carrying a warhead with 400 kilograms of explosives. the question for israel now is how to respond, whether to respond. it's allies say the fact that all but a handful of these missiles were shot down before they hit israeli territory puts israel in a strong position. there has been a string of

foreign leaders coming to israel in recent days, including foreign secretary david cameron, urging israel to think. quickly before any response. -- to think very quickly before any response. i ran change calculations last weekend when it sent hundreds of drones and missiles towards -- iran change calculations last week and when it sent hundreds of drones and missiles towards israel. this landing here is a reminder of what has changed. lucy williamson, bbc news, israel. anchor: a humanitarian crisis in afghanistan is deepening. nearly three years after the taliban took power, the countries economy is in tatters and foreign aid is dwindling. it is the only country in the world where girls are banned from schooling jan age 12, and there are crisis levels of hunger. now nearly a quarter of a million afghan children need proper homes, food, and access to education after being forcibly returned from

neighboring pakistan. last year, pakistan announced all undocumented refugees must leave or face deportation. the aid group says that nearly half of afghans that have returned since december our children. pakistan says it is not targeting afghans specifically, but they made up most of the million undocumented migrants in the country when the repatriation plan was introduced. many afghans fled to pakistan to escape persecution. 99% of the families that have crossed back into afghanistan say they do not have enough food for the next one or two months. save the children's director of that because he spoke with me for more on the dire situation facing children there. can you talk about what families who returned to afghanistan are facing and why? >> families coming back to afghanistan are coming back to a dire situation. we have seen that almost half of

families are coming back with almost nothing. many children are forced to displace themselves from their communities and where they used to live in pakistan. some of these families have lived there for decades. unfortunately, afghanistan is facing quite a dire situation. we are seeing that the country is facing the brunt of climate change, where it has experienced its third year of drought, and most recently a series of devastating floods that have killed many people in several provinces have also caused quite a dire situation. many families right now are unable to provide basic needs in the form of food, shelter, health care, and education. we have seen the children are currently providing basic needs in the form of health and nutrition services, where we are running five clinics in two provinces.

we are also providing fresh water to returning families. we have set up some other services like child protection services to provide some of the psychosocial support these families need. however, the reality is the needs are much greater. anchor: you described the fact that some of these families were living in pakistan for quite some time. when they arrive back to afghanistan, do they have family, friends, support networks that can help them in this process? >> a recent assessment has shown that about 40 percent of families have integrated back into communities, but many families are forced to live out in the open. for example, 1/6 of families we have interviewed in our assessment are living in tents. others are living in informal settlements. many of these families do not have a sick services that they require, and many of the children are unable to obtain

education because they have come back without the necessary documentation needed to put them back into schools. anchor: i want to ask specifically about schools. i found it remarkable that 65% of children who have returned have not been enrolled in school back in afghanistan. that impact does that have? >> of course children have a basic right to education. the inability of children to go to school at an early age has a long life effect on these children. we have seen that a lot of children are enabled to -- are actually forced into harmful labor, for example, many children are forced to work on the streets to provide for their families. at the end of the day, they are faced by severe child protection concerns. this causes their families to resort to harmful practices that may include putting children in

unsafe conditions. anchor: what do you think the international community can do to support these families? >> we are grateful for international partners and donors who are providing emergency humanitarian assistance. but at this time, we believe international donors need to provide longer-term resilience to provide the necessary services that will help families reintegrate back into society. we are calling on international donors to provide more flexible funding in order to allow organizations like save the children to provide the food security and livelihood support that many of these families require. at the same time, we believe that international donors need to prolong the type of

assistance that is provided and ensure that the education secretary in afghanistan is also funded to ensure that children can gain access to education. anchor: thank you so much for speaking with us today. thank you for your insights. let's return to new york and significant vote taking place at u.n. headquarters today. we are going to bring you pictures to remind you of the story. the un security council has voted on a palestinian bid for full human membership. palestine was granted nonobservance permanent members status by the u.n. general assembly in 2012, but full membership needs the support of at least nine security council votes and no vetoes by the u.s., france, britain, russia, or china. today's draft resolution could have had the support of up to 13 councilmembers, but the u.s. has just used its veto. what's get to our correspondent at the united nations following this story for us. bring us up-to-date on what has

been happening. correspondent: well, palestine already has what is called observer status here in the united nations. that allows it to attend meetings, but not to vote. what has been happening today is a result of a request from palestine itself. the security council has been considering his bid to grant full status. there has been a day of speeches by the various parties, not just the members of the security council, but other invited and interested parties. israel was there, palestine was there units observer status, but after a day of discussion, to be honest, what many people expected has transpired, which is it was brought to a vote just

a few moments ago, and although there were 12 members of the security council voting in support of the motion to grant full status, the resolution failed as a result of the united states using its veto. that was long anticipated. there has been clearly heavy lobbying behind the scenes of the u.s. that did not -- it's clear to see did not want this to come to a vote, did not want to be forced to use its veto, but it signaled in advance that where that code to be brought, it would have no choice but to vote against. anchor: how significant do you think this is? what does it show us? john: well, in some ways, as i say, it is expected. this was almost never going to get across the line today. the united states' position is that while it supports steps

towards a two state solution, it felt that granting palestine full state membership at the united nations would be premature, and that move should be predicated on negotiations and a bilateral agreement between the palestinians and the israelis. it felt it would be unhelpful. the arguments were rehearsed during the discussions today. we heard from the palestinian representative saying that although there was recognition that this in itself would not change the facts on the ground, it would bring hope to palestinian people. but we also heard from the israeli ambassador saying that six months on from the hamas attack's, it would simply be a reward for terror. we have seen, if you like, the familiar positions being discussed, debated, and to some extent entrenched today, but ultimately it has folded.

it is symbolic because a lot of people, even knowing that this was going to fail, still seemed intent to bring it to a vote. countries like russia and china, of course. anchor: i think we are going to just listen to a moment to the united states speaking. >> essential focus of u.s. policy prior to october 7 -- the october 7 hamas terrorist attacks was to promote normalization between israel and its arab neighbors, and is a critical element of a normalization package, generate tangible benefits in a political horizon for the palestinian people. this was based on the u.s. judgment that normalization is the most viable pathway to make progress in what had been an intractable situation between

the israelis and the palestinians. in the aftermath of october 7, congress -- conversations on potential normalization and the political horizon for the palestinians that would lead to statehood and membership at the u.n. have continued. hamas and its iranian backers would probably prefer this effort not succeed, but we are determined to see it through. it remains the u.s. view that the most expeditious path towards statehood for the palestinian people is through direct negotiations between israel and the palestinian authority with the support of the united states and other partners. we believe this approach can tangibly advance palestinian goals in a meaningful and enduring way. we also believe, in light of iran's unprecedented and outrageous actions over the last week, that israel's neighbors, who stand to benefit greatly from normalization.

the united states is committed to intensifying its engagement with the palestinians and the rest of the region, not only to address the current isis in gaza -- the current crisis in gaza, but to advance a political settlement that will create a path to palestinian statehood and membership in the united nations. anchor: ambassador robert would speaking there. we have just about 36 seconds left, but what happens next? john: well, the palestinians will continue to lobby for this to take place. this is not the first time they have attempted it. but you have heard it there from the u.s. ambassador. i think we can be clear this is not a position they wanted to be forced into today, but even lobbying the palestinians, there was still that intent to bring it to a vote, perhaps, you might argue, with the intention of exposing the americans and heavy diplomatic and international pressure, forcing them to do this will not help.

anchor: we will have to leave it announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. bdo. accountants and advisors. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

william: good evening. i'm william brangham. geoff bennett and amna nawaz are away. on the “newshour” tonight, after some setbacks, the jury in the trump hush money trial is filled. the u.s. and britain target iran with new sanctions as the world waits for israel's response to iran's weekend attack. and scientists sound the alarm as warming waters trigger massive bleaching of the world's coral reefs. ♪