this is bbc news. time is running out for us lawmakers to make a deal orface another government shutdown. ukraine claims a new advances in its fight against russia. and hollywood's writers and major studios have struck a tentative deal, possibly ending one of tinseltown's longest walk—outs. hello, i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. here in washington, the us government is due to run out of money if congress doesn't pass a spending bill by the end of month. president biden says republicans, who control the house, should honour the spending deal negotiated with the white house back in may.

this small group of house republicans to want to live up to that deal and america could be faced with paying the price for that. republican hardliners want more spending cuts. a partial shutdown could result in paycheque delays for millions of americans, air travel distruptions and impacts to public programmes focused on everything from poverty to environmental safety. earlier on monday, the us agriculture secretary, tom vilsack, warned that if a decision isn't reached by october 1st, millions risk food insecurity. it isa it is a programme that impact and effect of a 50% of all newborns in this country. nearly 7 million pregnant mothers, new mothers and young children count on it every single day to receive support. with a shutdown, what we would see across the united states is a denial of those benefits and opportunities. in some cases,

it would be literally within a matter of days. the last government shutdown in the us was in 2019. us senator bob menendez says he's confident he'll be cleared of all federal corruption charges. prosecutors say senator menendez and his wife accepted cash, gold and luxury gifts in exchange for political favours. federal agents found hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in his home, which menendez says came from his cuban parents' fear tht their money could be seized by authorities. menendez spoke for the first time since being indicted on bribery charges by the us government last week, rejecting calls from both democrats and republicans to resign. on friday, the southern district of new york brought charges against me. i understand how deeply concerning this can be. however, the allegations levelled against me are just that, allegations. i recognise this will be the biggest fight yet,

but as i have stated throughout the whole process, ifirmly believe that when all the facts presented, not only will i be exonerated, but i will still be newjersey�*s senior senator. now to ukraine, where the country's special forces claim a missile strike killed the commander of russia's black sea fleet on friday in occupied crimea. in a statement, a military spokesman said admiral viktor sokolov died in the attack, but wouldn't name him directly when approached by the bbc. the navy building in sevastopol suffered a direct hit by western—supplied missiles. our correspondent in kyiv james waterhouse has more. the friday attack on russia's naval headquarters in sevastopol was without a doubt dramatic, the site of western supplied missiles directly hitting the building, that was also significant notjust for also significant not just for ukraine also significant notjust for ukraine in terms of its attempts to try and we can brush up�*s control on eyre

peninsula it has occupied so firmly for the past nine years but it was also significant for russia too because it is through its black sea fleet that it has exerted such dominance in terms of how it launches continued missile strikes across ukraine. from there it has blockaded ukrainian ports. but until now it's been a clue what the operational significance of the strike was for russia. today we had a flurry of claims from ukraine special forces, leading to have called 3a senior officers who were having a meeting at the time including the commander of the black sea fleet admiral soccer law. we have got in touch with a military spokesman in ukraine who refused to name him directly. —— admiral sokolov. but they stand by the reports. the kremlin has yet to comment and we don't expect them to. i think we can expect a

continuation of kyiv�*s tactics here, the targeted precise strikes inside crimea on military targets as it looks to both we can's control in the area but also support its own counteroffensive further north. meanwhile, the united nations has found what it says is continuous evidence that russian armed forces are committing war crimes in ukraine. during a presentation to the human rights council in geneva, the commission reported unlawful attacks with explosive weapons, attacks harming civilians, torture, sexual and gender—based violence, and attacks on energy infrastructure. un investigators have also claimed that some of the war rhetoric and propaganda appearing on russian media could amount to incitement to genocide. investigators told the un's human rights council that they were also looking into moscow's policy of deporting ukrainian children to russia. it comes as ukraine tries to pursue a case against russia at the world court saying the kremlin tried to justify its invasion using false claims of genocide in ukraine.

our correspondent in the hague, anna holligan, was inside the courtroom. this is where the case is being heard, inside the peace palace, home to the international court ofjustice, and russia has been laying out its final arguments. speaking in english, maria zakharova, russia's deputy permanent representative to the un, talked about the days preceding the invasion. she says russia was acting in self—defence when it sent tanks over the border. and though she acknowledged president putin mentioned genocide when announcing the so—called special military operation, that was not the justification for the invasion, therefore she argued ukraine's case was invalidated because of course, ukraine brought this case to the icj under the genocide convention. russia's ambassador to the netherlands, alexander shulgin, had the final word of the day,

saying that the judges should find they do not have jurisdiction in the case should be dismissed. ukraine will have a chance to respond on wednesday. ukraine of course supported by an unprecedented 32 states intervening, and earlier this week, last week, i spoke to the uk's attorney general who was here representing the uk, and she said the very fact that these two warring nations are sitting side by side in this courtroom should be a reason for optimism, a sign that ultimately, international justice can prevail. worth remembering, though, although this court's decisions are binding, it has no power to enforce them. in terms of next steps, the judges have to decide whether or not they do have jurisdiction and that will determine whether or not this case continues. whether it continues, the judges continue to hear

the merits of the case brought by ukraine arguing that russia used fake claims of a genocide in order to justify the invasion. more than 200 people are reported injured after an explosion at a fuelling station in territory diputed by both armenia and azerbaijan. it comes as thousands of ethnic armenian refugees try to leave the area of nagorno—karabakh. the breakaway enclave is recognised inernationally as part of azerbaijan, but has been controlled by ethnic armenians for the last three decades. last week, azerbaijan seized this disputed region. fears of ethnic cleansing and persecution have driven over 6,650 people to cross into armenia, according to the armenian government estimates. roads leading towards the armenian border are jammed with traffic as people leave in search of shelter, safety, and humanitarian aid. our reporter natasha zotova is on the ground at one of the aid tents in armenia

where refugees have sought help. she sent in this update. we are in this village right on the border between armenia and nagorno—karabakh. we can see the refugees coming through the border to armenia. here in this tent, they are being registered. people are fleeing with their belongings because they are afraid, theyjust don't believe they can be safe in nagorno—karabakh under azerbaijan rule. some people told me they don't expect to get home ever. azerbaijan is promising not to target civilians and to respect the rights of ethnic armenians living in the region. the problem is lack of trust. armenians simply do not believe they can be safe under azerbaijani rule, that's why they are fleeing with all their possessions. a day of mourning has been marked in kosovo following the death of a police officer in a deadly clash between ethnic serb gunmen and police belonging to the albanian—led government. the interior minister of kosovo

says at least six men suspected of participating in deadly clashes in northern kosovo on sunday are now in serbia. police are continuing to search for others involved in the ambush and subsequent stand—off at a monastery. kosovo is a small landlocked country in the balkans in southern—eastern europe. it borders albania, north macedonia, montenegro and serbia. many serbs consider it the birthplace of their nation. but of the 1.8 million people living in kosovo, 92% are albanian and only 6% serbian. the rest are bosniaks, gorans, turks and roma. back here in washington, the us is investigating an "attack" on the cuban embassy in washington. national security advisor jake sullivan called it "unacceptable" in a white house statement. cuba's foreign minister posted photos on x, formerly twitter, of two molotov cocktails that hit the building sunday. nobody was hurt.

to the uk, where london metropolitan police have launched an investigation into allegations of sexual offences following the recent claims against russell brand. they are already looking into a possible offence back in 2003. police also describe these new claims as "non—recent". russell brand has denied all the allegations against him, which include rape and sexual assault. 0ur entertainment correspondent, colin paterson, gave us this update on what the met police have been saying. well, without mentioning russell brand by name, the metropolitan police have said they have launched an investigation into allegations of sexual offences. this follows the channel 4 dispatches and sunday times joint investigation into russell brand, in which one woman accused him of rape and three women accused him of serious sexual assault, including one who was 16 at the time. what's significant about this development is it's the first time the met police have said they have launched an investigation.

last week when they put out a statement, it simply said they had received a report of an alleged incident in soho in 2003. no mention at that time of launching an investigation. and the metropolitan police have also said they ve received a number of allegations of sexual offences committed or allegations of elsewhere in the country, and these will be investigated, adding that all the allegations are "non—recent". that is the phrase they used, "non—recent", and that there have been no arrests and that inquiries will continue. this was all about lizlispm uk time when this statement came out. 20 minutes later, russell brand took to his online channel and started a broadcast. it was on his rumble channel, and he had said in advance over the weekend that he would be broadcasting on monday. this is often when he speaks about thoughts or the issues of the day that are is his head, and today's subject that russell brand spoke about, 20 minutes after this

metropolitan statement, was are we being silenced — the battle for free speech. and one of the things that russell brand said is, "it's hard for me to be objective given the events of the last week, but that is what we must try to do." around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the philippines announced that it removed a floating chinese barrier on monday in the south china sea. it's a move that could stoke tensions in asia's most disputed waters. manila says china violated its fishing rights and posed a hazard to international law by installing the barrier. beijing claims expansive sovereignty over territory in the sea, causing tense disputes in the region. the speaker of canada's house of commons apologised for praising a ukrainian man who served in a nazi unit during world war ii. the 98—year—old received a standing ovation in parliament after speaker anthony rota called him a hero during

a visit by ukrainian president zelensky. mr rota says he takes full responsiblity for his actions. scottish—born actor david mccallum has died. known for playing a secret agent on the hit 1960s spy drama the man from u.n.c.l.e and more recently as pathologist dr mallard on the hit cbs tv show ncis. david mccallum was age 90. you're live with bbc news. the longest strike to hit hollywood in decades may be nearing its end. screenwriters and studio bosses in the us have reached a deal to end a walk—out that's halted the film and television industry since early may. the writers guild of america says a tentative agreement was reached. but before the wga returns to work, its 15,000 members still have to vote to ratify the deal. experts say writers were likely successful getting most of their demands met, some of which were: gaining higher pay and increasing retirement and health benefit protections from content produced using artificial intelligence.

increase residuals for under—compensated reuse markets and strengthening regulation of options and exclusitivity in writers' employment contracts. presidentjoe biden has since issued a statement applauding the writers union. he said it did not come easy, but... actors, meanwhile, are still on strike — with similar demands. 65,000 members of sag—aftra union have been on strike sincejuly. 0ur correspondent azadeh moshiri has a closer look. the message from the guild is that the details of this deal still need to be finalised, but that the deal is exceptional

with meaningful gains and protections for writers. they have to see whether members agree that this is what they will be looking at. negotiations have previously broken down over staffing levels, there are also concerns over royalty payments from streaming shows. writers argue these were only a fraction of what they would have received from broadcast tv shows. there are also real concerns of artificial intelligence, wright is concerned that these could have a very big impact on their jobs. but whether they agree to this deal or not, this strike has already had a big impact on the economy. in fact, $5 billion it has cost the economy so far. it has shut down production of popular tv shows as well as other films and the results of the personal cost. charities have had to step in to help some of the workers with their rent and mortgages. and so while they wait to see whether members agree, the governor of california gavin newsom has already said he is

grateful the two sides have come to an agreement. and that benefits all parties and give it a major piece of california's economy back to work. in terms of what is next, members not only have to vote on the deal but they have to agree to a three—year contract. right now reports suggest that late—night talk shows to be the first to come back. those have no actors, remember, actors as well as other behind—the—scenes workers like camera operators and directors, are still on strike. so this hollywood battle is not over yet. earlier, i spoke with duncan crabtree—ireland, who's executive director of the still—striking screen actors guild. duncan cra btree—ireland, thanks for duncan crabtree—ireland, thanks for joining duncan crabtree—ireland, thanks forjoining us. if i can start by asking you about the wga deal, what does it mean for you and your members, are you happy about it because you'll definitely i'm happy about it. have the writers' guild and the members and the industry. it

gives me a bit of optimism that the companies, studios and streamers might be ready to come back to the table with us soon and hopefully in a mindset of fairness and respect. i haven't seen the specific terms of the writers' deal but i'm eagerly looking forward to seeing that and to see how it might impact our prospects for moving forward with the companies.— moving forward with the comanies. ~ ., ., companies. who “oined the writers end _ companies. who 'oined the writers end their- companies. who joined the writers end their strike - companies. who joined the writers end their strike in l writers end their strike in july and you were saying the talks broke down shortly afterwards, is there any indication of getting back to those talks again? i indication of getting back to those talks again?— indication of getting back to those talks again? i don't have any specific — those talks again? i don't have any specific indication, - those talks again? i don't have any specific indication, but - those talks again? i don't have any specific indication, but of. any specific indication, but of course, the fact that the writers able to get in the room with the ceos and reach a deal is in itself something that gives me some level of optimism, because while our proposals are not the same and we are obviously, the writers' guild represents writers, we represent actors, our themes

and philosophies are very much aligned. so i'm hopeful that reflects the kind of progress that will help us move forward towards a deal but i do want to be cautious and make sure everybody understands we are not the same union, we have our own independent parties and we are going to be looking to achieve those key goals we've been talking about a74 days achieve those key goals we've been talking about 474 days on the striker long before that in order to reach that fair deal. what are some of those key goals for you and your members? 0ne goals for you and your members? one of them is to make sure that the minimum compensation for the lowest paid workers among our 160,000 members and keeps up with inflation, so that they don't make less money in 2023 than they did in 2020 or even worse, like studios have proposed, make less in 2026 in real terms than they made in 2020, that'sjust 2026 in real terms than they made in 2020, that's just not ok and it's really important 0k and it's really important piece for us. also, guardrails and protections around ai, we're not saying ban it but we

are saying if you're going to use ai are saying if you're going to use al to create digital replicas are performers and use their face replicas are performers and use theirface or voice replicas are performers and use their face or voice without the person themselves being involved in the project, you have to have their informed consent about that use and you have to pay them, give them a fair conversation. of course, one of our other big priorities is the streaming services need to share some of the revenue they generate, with the talent whose creativity and performance has allowed those services to exist. we proposed a 2% revenue share for the revenue contribution for streaming shows, the companies never responded to that proposal but it's really important and i think coming in with a mindset of fairness, respect, doing some sharing, those are the things that will help make sure that the strike comes to an end in the near future. ., , , ~ future. how is the strike affecting _ future. how is the strike affecting your _ future. how is the strike affecting your members| future. how is the strike l affecting your members at future. how is the strike - affecting your members at the moment in a practical way? 0bviously some of them are very well—known and wealthy individuals but not all of them. ., , individuals but not all of them. ., . ., , individuals but not all of them. . ., , .,

them. the vast ma'ority of them are not, them. the vast ma'ority of them not. yes. _ them. the vast ma'ority of them not. yes. we — them. the vast majority of them are not, yes, we do _ them. the vast majority of them are not, yes, we do have - are not, yes, we do have members who are very successful and well—known, but we have the vast majority of our members from over 80% do not make more than $26,000 in a year on marketing, in fact that's not even enough so they can earn coverage and our health insurance. we are talking about working people and as i mentioned, a bunch of our proposals are focused on things that minimum wages, not things that minimum wages, not things that affect big stars, they fight working people trying to keep up with inflation and pay their bills, take care of the kids. that's what we are fighting for and of course we are fighting for the protection against abuse of people's image through ai and frankly that's something that not only performance should be worried about all of us should be concerned about that. october has been said _ concerned about that. october has been said to _ concerned about that. october has been said to be _ concerned about that. october has been said to be somewhatj concerned about that. october i has been said to be somewhat of a line in the sand, after that point, the damage to the studios would hit a catastrophic point in terms of financial losses for the industry. are we getting to that can appoint now, do you

think? ., , think? there have been significant _ think? there have been significant losses, - think? there have been - significant losses, everyone in the industry as a result of these strikes and the people i first worry about are our members, the writers and also the crew members, members of teamsters, all of whom have been put out of work by the situation. frankly the companies could have been talking to us, 74 days ago, they could have talked to the writers' guild. it was over 120 days before they reached out to the writers' guild. so it's been disastrous that the companies have refused to talk during this time but i am very glad that they are finally getting back to it and i'm glad they have made a deal with the writers' guild, hope they're ready to come back to the table with us imminently and give us a chance to actually find the path to that fair deal that could be the industry back to work. i also think companies should contributejust work. i also think companies should contribute just like our members do and other unions due to the relief funds that are

having to take care of people who have been devastated by this. as much as people talk about balance sheets and the impact on stock prices, i think it's the impact on people that's really the biggest impact on what we should be most focused on. we impact on what we should be most focused on.— impact on what we should be most focused on. we will wait and see what _ most focused on. we will wait and see what happens - most focused on. we will wait and see what happens next. l and see what happens next. duncan crabtree—ireland, thank duncan cra btree—ireland, thank you duncan crabtree—ireland, thank you so much forjoining us. in sweden, protesters have targeted oil ports. the protesters say they will block any oil tankers that come into the oil port over the next couple of hours. but this is also a protest against the swedish government. the centre—right coalition that's beenin centre—right coalition that's been in power here for about a year has pushed back on some of the previous government's promises to cut emissions and last week there was a budget here and taxes were cut from

cars with diesel and petrol so the protesters here say that sets the context also for the protest and they are planning to carry out further direct action later in the week, in gothenburg and also in malmo in the south of sweden. this is a relatively new group of activists, they've been around since march, aged between 12 and 30 and they said they wanted to take a new approach to trying to tackle the climate crisis, to raise awareness. we've seen the fridays for future move that started here with greta thunberg over the last four years, growing all of the world. but people here say they want to try something a bit different. she has attended some of their protests before, she isn't here for this one. she's previously been arrested in the group has tried to block oil tankers at other ports. two of the protesters are still on top of the oil tanker that they are stopping from getting inside the storage depot here. they have been in the area for

a couple of hours, there were about 25 of them in total. police are on the scene but so far, things are calm, no arrests so far. this is the same group that greta thunberg belongs to, she ended up in court for refusing to leave the scene of another protest earlier in the year. she is facing another court case in october of another protest in malmo in the south of sweden. she's not here today but this a group made up of young activists aged between 12 and 30 who say they wanted a different approach to the fridays for future school strike movement that greta thunberg started here a few years ago. they say this is a chance for them to show more direct ways are protesting against the industries that they view as most harmful to they view as most harmful to the planet and they say they will be up and were protests in the coming weeks and months. stay with us here on bbc news. that's all from us here in washington. we leave you with these live pictures of london as we hand

off to our colleagues there. hello there. we've got a bit of rain on the way today, but also should see some spells of sunshine developing. and at the moment, the rain is edging into northern ireland, where it's turning quite heavy. we've got southerly winds feeding in, so it's a mild start to tuesday with temperatures holding up into double figures. and that rain in northern ireland will soon spread to scotland, see a bit of wet weather as well for a time across northern england and north wales. across central and eastern england, a few showers will develop through the day, it'll turn quite cloudy for a time as well. but it is a day where we'll all see some sunshine at some points during the day, and those temperatures continue to run above average for the time of year, about 16—23 degrees. then we've got storm agnes on the way for the middle part of the week, bringing some potentially disruptive weather. now, at the moment, agnes is this lump of cloud in the mid—atlantic — it's got 30 mile an hour winds on it, it is a very weak area of low pressure. however, it's going to pass

underneath a very strong atlanticjet stream blowing at 140 mph, and that will deepen this low pressure rapidly. pressure falls by over 24 millibars in 24 hours. it's an example of a weather bomb. now, thankfully, the peak intensity of this low pressure will be well away from our shores. and actually, as the low pressure moves away from the jet stream, it's going to start to weaken. as that weakening takes place, well, that's what will determine exactly how strong the winds get. now, i think through the irish sea coasts, it's here where we'll see the strongest gusts of wind, could get gusts of wind around 70 or even 80 mph, potentially damaging and certainly disruptive gusts of wind. inland, yes, you could see 50, 60—odd mile an hour gusts across parts of south—west england, across wales, across northern england and northern ireland. but it's the coast and the hills where we could see those much stronger gusts of wind, reaching 70 or even 80 mph. now, it will stay quite windy into thursday. agnes, or what's left of it, will be heading out

into the norwegian sea. we'll be left with lots of showers across western areas, with more general rain pushing back into northern ireland. it will stay quite blustery, temperatures around 14—21 degrees celsius. now, beyond that, i think friday and saturday looking 0k. there'll be a few showers across the northwest, but a fair amount of dry weather. however, rain looks set to return from sunday and into the early part of next week as well. that's it for now.

welcome to hardtalk from tallinn. i'm stephen sackur. estonia has vivid memories of invasion and rule from moscow, and that collective hurt underpins this country's staunch support for ukraine in its war with russia. but standing up to vladimir putin doesn't come risk—free for this small baltic nation. my guest today is estonia's prime minister, kaja kallas. are people here beginning to question her decision—making when it comes to russia and ukraine?