this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. fierce street fighting in eastern ukraine — president zelensky says his forces are "holding on", but warns troops are running low on ammunition. the british government defend their plan to look at changing the law to allow agency staff to be brought in to cover for some striking rail workers, as the opposition party criticises the move. we've got to look at every option out there and explore what we can do as a government to support people to get to work, to school, to hospital, wherever they need to get to in

their everyday lives. this government _ their everyday lives. this government is _ their everyday lives. this government is acting - their everyday lives. this government is acting as| their everyday lives. this government is acting as arsonists rather_ government is acting as arsonists rather than — government is acting as arsonists rather than firefighters, it's grossly _ rather than firefighters, it's grossly irresponsible. tens of thousands rally across the us to call for stricter gun laws, in the wake of recent mass shootings. china says it'll fight to the very end to prevent taiwan from being declared independent. and queen elizabeth ii becomes the world's second longest serving monarch — only louis xiv of france has ruled for longer. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. reports from eastern ukraine say a huge chemical plant in the town of severodonetsk where hundreds of people have been sheltering is on fire. the governor of the region says the azot plant had come

under intense bombardment but was still under ukrainian control. the fierce fighting comes as ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky says his troops are running low on ammunition as they try to repel russian invaders in the east. and he's appealed for more help from western powers. helena wilkinson has the latest. this is the east of ukraine, in the donbas region, it's one of the areas russian forces have focused their firepower. ukrainian soldiers are still holding out here, but the intense fighting goes on. ukraine's army says it is running low on artillery shells. the ukrainian governor of the luhansk province claims they could hold on to the besieged city of severodonetsk, if western allies sent them enough long—range artillery. in ukraine's capital, kyiv, the european commission president met

with ukraine's president, there to discuss ukraine's request for eu membership. president zelensky argued that the eu's future depended on letting his country in. translation: all of europe is a target for russia, - we are sure of it, and ukraine is just the first stage in this aggression. this is why a positive eu response to the ukrainian application for membership can be a positive answer to the question of whether the european project has a future at all. the eu will decide next week whether ukraine should be given candidate status. you have done a lot in strengthening the rule of law but there still needs to be reforms implemented to fight corruption, for example. translation: very fruitful talks with the president of the european commission ursula von der leyen, were held in kyiv today. i'm glad to note her sincerity. it is the european commission that will prepare a conclusion

about our application. ukraine has provided all the necessary answers in a very short time and it was done in a proper way. in the south of the country, fighting has left villagers devastated. homes and churches have been destroyed. ukraine now waits to find out if the eu will allow it to become a member. in the short—term, though, the country says it needs more weapons, and quickly, from the west, to be able to defend itself. helena wilkinson, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent in kyiv, joe inwood, about the latest on the fighting. the main development overnight, it seems, is a huge fire at the azot chemical works. now, this is a big industrial complex in the centre of the city and it's one of the places that ukrainian forces have fallen back to, along with, we understand, 800 civilians who are taking shelter

there as well. now, the whole city is under constant russian bombardment and in particular, this factory has been hit. and we understand there has been a huge fire and explosion there and many tonnes of oil have leaked out from radiators. we don't know the exact stages of the chemical plant exactly what the wider consequences could be. but of course, this is raising many fears for the safety of the soldiers inside, but particularly of the civilians as well. and we've heard so many pleas from ukraine for more weapons supplies from the west, but now they're saying in particular, they're running out of ammunition of shells. yeah. and the battle in severodonetsk is why this matters. this whole fight for the eastern donbas region has become an artillery battle, big guns pounding each other, pounding enemy positions, but particularly trying to hit the enemy guns. and we know we've heard from a senior security official

here that the russians are running out. they reckon they're outnumbered ten or 15 to one in terms of the number of guns they have. the russians are firing ten times as many shells a day, ten times as many rounds a day as the ukrainians can manage. and so it doesn't matter how accurate you are when you're coming under that level of fire, you just need to have more. and the problem they're having is that we've got a lot of promises from the western powers that they'll send more long range artillery, particularly precision missile, rocket artillery. but much of it isn't getting to the front lines. now, of course, that is partly because it needs training. this is different equipment to that which the ukrainians currently have and have used in the past. it's nato standard, not old soviet equipment, but that training, those delays are costing the ukrainians lives when it comes to the fight for places like severodonetsk. yeah, i was talking to the ukrainian ambassador to london this week and he was talking about they're grateful, particularly to britain and to the united states for arms supplies, but less grateful really to countries like france and germany, which they feel are sort

of dragging their feet, really, and making promises, as you say, but not necessarily delivering. yeah. there is quite a lot of controversy around this suggestion. and we should say these are always suggestions or always accusations, but the suggestions that the germans in particular are making promises, but they're not really following up on them and therefore giving hope to the ukrainians, giving the impression that they're getting the support they need. but then it's not actually being followed through on. we're seeing this diplomatically as well. there have been the beginning, the suggestions of splits start to emerge. a few days ago or maybe a week ago or so we saw olaf schulz, chancellor of germany and president macron of france, having a call with president putin. the suggestion was that they were trying to find a diplomatic solution here. when the ukrainians say at the moment, given that the invasion is still in full swing, there really is no diplomatic solution here. so we are seeing some criticism of those two powers. but as you say, a lot of gratitude, particularly to the british and the americans,

for the amount of support that they are giving. mcdonalds in russia is set to reopen under a new name, and a new ownership today. the new restaurant chain replacing mcdonalds in russia is called vkusno & tochka, meaning delicious. the russian chain is scheduled to reopen 15 restaurants this weekend with a revised menu. mcdonald's temporarily halted its business in russia in march, later deciding to sell up in russia altogether. the transport secretary grant shapps has said the government is preparing to lift a ban on agency staff filling in for striking workers. the potential change in legislation could allow companies to hire temporary workers to cover roles to prevent disruption. if the plan goes ahead, it will not come in time to affect the planned walkout by 40,000

rail workers at the end of this month. secretary of state for northern ireland, brandon lewis spoke to the bbc's sunday morning programme on the conservative's support for railway workers before a proposed strike at the end of the month the transport secretary has outlined his not taking anything of the table, he wants to look at everything we can do is to support the rail industry and function people get to work. the median salary in the railway sector is about £46,000 a year already, let alone what they're asking for already against an average wage in this country of £26,000, so it's a well rewarded sector and i think it's important we look at everything we can do to keep the railways working. earlier, the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves, spoke to the bbc�*s sunday morning programme on what the government should be doing in order to tackle the disruption caused by rail strikes. because people who need to get

to work on the trains, people need to get to doctors and hospital appointments, businesses like tony danker from the cbi was just talking about who are desperate to help get the economy growing again, need our train service to be functioning properly. and so the government... do you support the strikes? i don't want to see strikes, but nor do people who work in the rail industry want to see strikes. they want to see the government working with the industry, working with trade unions to resolve this. but this government, as per usual, seem to be more interested in sowing chaos, in sowing division, than actually in resolving the issue. with me is our transport correspondent simon browning. tell us more about what we think the government is proposing in terms of using agency staff during a strike? there's lots of discussions going on about these train strikes, as the dates approach, the 21st, 23rd, 25th

ofjune, it seems the proposals came in today that were in the sunday telegraph, the suggestions are there will be a change to secondary legislation which will not affect this coming strike but potential strikes later in the summer which would allow agency workers to fill the role is effectively vacated by striking workers. there are 40,000 workers who are walking out from the railways during the strikes, enormous number. but some of the people we've spoken to this morning, aslef and one of the senior rail sources, some of these suggestions are completely impractical so why? some of the railwayjobs on the network are hugely safety critical, signallers who run the signal boxes up signallers who run the signal boxes up and down the lines that control the flow of trends in safety, rail sources say there aren't signallers working for agencies available and other safety critical roles, station staff, guards and others who deploy trends. while the government is trying to come up with suggestions

which will keep services running, those in the industry think bringing in agency staff is impossible because there isn't the source of people working for agencies who have safety critical skills and are able to drop in when strikes happen. the unions are angry because they see this as a way of breaking strikes, bringing in agency staff to take their place?— bringing in agency staff to take their lace? ~ ,,., , , bringing in agency staff to take their lace? ~ , , ., their place? absolutely, there is a reason why _ their place? absolutely, there is a reason why strikes _ their place? absolutely, there is a reason why strikes are _ their place? absolutely, there is aj reason why strikes are happening, the rmt says it wants its workers to receive a pay rise linked to inflation because they say their workers have not had inflation linked pay rises for 2—3 years but the government says the railway network needs to modernise, it spent 16 billion propping up the railways during the pandemic in the system needs to modernise, with too many staff and it's a classic battle of workers' rights and the strikes are approaching. we understand negotiations will continue but we understand there will be suggestions coming to try and avert this and the impact. coming to try and avert this and the im act. ., ., ., ., «a ,,

impact. for now it looks like the strikes are _ impact. for now it looks like the strikes are going _ impact. for now it looks like the strikes are going ahead? - impact. for now it looks like the strikes are going ahead? as - impact. for now it looks like the - strikes are going ahead? as planned, the 21st, 23rd. — strikes are going ahead? as planned, the 21st, 23rd, 25th _ strikes are going ahead? as planned, the 21st, 23rd, 25th of— strikes are going ahead? as planned, the 21st, 23rd, 25th of june, - strikes are going ahead? as planned, the 21st, 23rd, 25th ofjune, 50,000| the 21st, 23rd, 25th ofjune, 50,000 workers walking out including those on the tube. britain will bring forward legislation on monday that complies with the law to fix the northern ireland protocol that governs trade following brexit. northern ireland secretary, brandon lewis told the bbc that the new legislation would be "lawful" and "correct". britain agreed to the protocol in 2019 to allow britain to leave the eu's single market and customs union without controls being re—imposed on the border between the irish republic and northern ireland, vital to the 1998 good friday peace deal that ended three decades of violence. earlier, the secretary of state for northern ireland, brandon lewis told bbc sunday live his plan for the northern ireland protocol. people see the bill, they'll be able to see that this is working within international law, but we'll also set out the government's legal position on it. and i know people want to see our

legal position, so we'll do that to make sure people see this is within international law. but let's not forget, even in 2019, the then attorney—general was very clear. the primacy has to be in, for us as a government, rightly, is on the belfast good friday agreement, in all three strands. and that's what we're going to focus on delivering. the headlines on bbc news... fierce street fighting in eastern ukraine — president zelensky says his forces are "holding on", but warns troops are running low on ammunition. the british government is looking at plans to change the law to allow agency staff to be brought in to cover for some striking rail workers. and queen elizabeth ii becomes the world's second longest serving monarch — only louis xiv of france has ruled for longer. tens of thousands of people have been demonstrating across the united states, demanding stricter gun laws in response to a series

of mass shootings. president biden encouraged the protesters to keep marching, and called on congress to pass common sense gun safety legislation. the democrat—controlled house of representatives passed a package of gun reforms last week, but republicans in the senate are likely to block them. barbara plett usher reports. another march against gun violence banging on the doors of the nation's capital. this is a movement powered by young people, demanding the country's leaders take action after yet another school shooting — a horrific massacre in uvalde, texas. if our government can't do anything to stop 19 kids from being killed and slaughtered in their own school, and decapitated, it's time to change who is in government! all: vote them out! again! vote them out!

for years, congress has failed to pass gun safety measures, blocked by opposition from the gun lobby and the republican party. but people here feel now is the right time to renew their campaign. rallies took place in hundreds of cities across the country — in new york, where a gunman recently killed ten people in a racist attack, and in florida, where a school shooting four years ago launched this movement. the theme of these rallies is this time will be different, meaning this time, there will be action on gun control. many of these people have been fighting for this for a long time. some have told me they feel more hopeful, rather than optimistic, but this is a time when the issue has captured the national attention in a very visceral way — we have to keep our kids safe. protesters have pushed through gun restrictions at the state level, but they want national action. do you feel that there is a bit of momentum around this issue? i think so, definitely, for our generation. this is one of our biggest pushes because we're the ones dying in schools,

in movie theatres. it's been happening since before i can remember. something has to change. we can't keep letting our children die like this. but even here, a few minutes of panic. there was a disruption onstage and people ran. the fear of a gun attack is alive and everywhere. earlier this week, a young survivor of the texas shooting described her terrifying experience to lawmakers. emotional testimony from the families brought the pain and horror to capitol hill. gavel bangs. hours later, the house passed gun control legislation, but republican senators will almost certainly reject it. some are working on a very modest compromise — that may have a chance. the nays are 204 — the bill is passed. the president told the marchers to keep up the pressure. keep marching. it's important. look, this has to become an election issue. the way people listen — senators, congresspeople — is when people say, "i'm gonna —

this is gonna affect my vote". too many people are dying needlessly. and what's even being proposed in the house and senate is marginal. i mean, it's important, but it's not all that needs to be done. in uvalde, another vigilfor the dead. in public opinion, at least, the mood is shifting — americans agree the killing of children has to stop. more and more say that should involve national gun controls. barbara plett usher, bbc news, washington. police in the us state of idaho have detained 31 white supremacists and charged them with conspiracy to riot at a gay pride event. officers found them dressed in riot gear, with white balaclavas covering their faces. they wore arm patches and insignia that identified them as belonging to the patriot front hate group which calls for a white ethnostate in the united states. police said they had come from at least 11 states. voting is under way in local

elections in mainland france. the vote, which takes place in two stages, with run—offs being held a week from today, will elect 577 seats in the lower house of parliament. emmanuel macron, who won a second term as president in april, will be hoping to gain support among mps to back his legislative programme. china says it'll fight to the very end to prevent taiwan from being declared independent. speaking at a security meeting in singapore, china's defence minister, wei fenghe, stressed that any foreign interference was doomed to failure — in a reference to the united states. translation: we notice, separate to the us secretary of defense lloyd austin's remarks on the indo—pacific strategy, that the strategy is an attempt to build an exclusive small group in the name of a free and open indo—pacific — to hijack countries

in our region and to target one specific country. it is a strategy to create confrontation, to contain and encircle others. well our singpore reporter nick marsh has more on what was discussed on the last day of that security conference. yesterday it was the us defence secretary lloyd austin laying out the american vision for the indo pacific and today it was the turn of china and as you heard, china responded with some force. the message was for other countries to mind their own business and he said china �*s development was not a threat to others and it was neither wise nor possible to try to contain it and that includes the issue of taiwan but let's get a bit more detailed analysis on this. i'm pleased to say i am joined by a senior fellow from the international institute for strategic studies specialising in the chinese military. taiwan is the hot button

issue here i get the impression the stakes are higher than ever after hearing the speeches, is that the impression you get or as a part of the theatre of these events? i don't think it was — the theatre of these events? i don't think it was theatre, _ the theatre of these events? i don't think it was theatre, i _ the theatre of these events? i don't think it was theatre, i think - the theatre of these events? i don't think it was theatre, i think there i think it was theatre, i think there was a _ think it was theatre, i think there was a genuine effort by lloyd austin but also _ was a genuine effort by lloyd austin but also the chinese general to we stayed _ but also the chinese general to we stayed formal position when it comes to thailand~ — stayed formal position when it comes to thailand. for america, that was particularly — to thailand. for america, that was particularly important following the statements from joe biden, questions on whether— statements from joe biden, questions on whether the us was abandoning strategic— on whether the us was abandoning strategic ambiguity and for the chinese — strategic ambiguity and for the chinese general there is a domestic audience _ chinese general there is a domestic audience at — chinese general there is a domestic audience at home that needs to hear audience at home that needs to hear a certain— audience at home that needs to hear a certain message so there definitely was an effort to reemphasise those traditional lines. that said. _ reemphasise those traditional lines. that said, the issue of ukraine i think— that said, the issue of ukraine i think played very heavily on mines here whether we can compare the cases— here whether we can compare the cases of— here whether we can compare the cases of ukraine and taiwan is a different— cases of ukraine and taiwan is a different discussion but it brought relevance — different discussion but it brought relevance to the fore.— relevance to the fore. ukraine dividin: relevance to the fore. ukraine dividing these _ relevance to the fore. ukraine dividing these military - relevance to the fore. ukraine - dividing these military superpowers and the world but we saw on friday a significant meeting between lloyd austin and his chinese counterpart,

the first of its kind at this top level since 2019, has significant was not, was there a thought in the icy relationship? i was not, was there a thought in the icy relationship?— icy relationship? i think the --urose icy relationship? i think the purpose of _ icy relationship? i think the purpose of the _ icy relationship? i think the purpose of the meeting, i icy relationship? i think the | purpose of the meeting, the icy relationship? i think the - purpose of the meeting, the phone calls and _ purpose of the meeting, the phone calls and face—to—face meetings we have seen— calls and face—to—face meetings we have seen between the sides is to try and _ have seen between the sides is to try and build a floor underneath the relationship bilaterally, to have opportunities to pass messages and red tines _ opportunities to pass messages and red lines and i think it served that purpose. — red lines and i think it served that purpose. to— red lines and i think it served that purpose, to re—engage after a difficult — purpose, to re—engage after a difficult few years between the countries. , , . , . , countries. difficult few years indeed. thank _ countries. difficult few years indeed. thank you _ countries. difficult few years indeed. thank you for - countries. difficult few years i indeed. thank you for speaking countries. difficult few years - indeed. thank you for speaking to us. this conference really is wrapping up, we've heard from the major military superpowers, still deeply divided on pretty much every issue you can think of. but they did meet and dialogue is happening, something which is ever more crucial given all the issues that this region and the rest of the world is facing at the moment. that

region and the rest of the world is facing at the moment.— region and the rest of the world is facing at the moment. that was our re orter facing at the moment. that was our reporter nick _ facing at the moment. that was our reporter nick marsh. _ more now on the war in ukraine — and while the fighting could continue for months or even years, some efforts are already under way to repair the damage which has been caused. in particular, around the capital kyiv, which is now no longer under immediate threat of invasion by russian forces — but where the mines which were laid by both sides remain a hazard. experts have now been brought in to try to start immediate threat of invasion by russian forces — but where the mines which were laid by both sides remain a hazard. experts have now been brought in to try to start clearing the explosives — joe inwood went to find out how. ukrainians are a resilient people, already back on the land. it's just a couple of months since these fields were the scene of fierce fighting and they still bear the scars. this network of fortifications were dug by the ukrainians as they prepared for the advance of the russian forces. but trenches aren't the only thing that remain under the surface of these fields. anti—tank mines, as the family in this minibus discovered, a deadly and hidden all over the countryside.

the halo trust are starting to remove them, but it will be a long process. it's a massive scale given the nature of the conflict, and it is very difficult to put an estimate on how long. there's huge work ahead. we're talking years, maybe decades, to clear ukraine. what we see at halo is the impact on the local level, it's civilians being killed. and it's notjust mines that are scattered over this once peaceful land. 0lena shows me the collection of rockets that landed in herfields. but the real danger to her comes from cluster bombs. banned by most countries, the russians have used them liberally in their invasion of ukraine. 0lena takes me to the field where two landed. translation: you can | imagine how scared i am. the cluster bomb was behind a tree. they took it away, but what if there is something left? as we were filming,

the danger became apparent. just down the road from 0lena's house, a truck drove over a mine. these shots were taken by the halo team. so, as you can see, it was the rear right wheel of this truck that went of the anti—tank mine. there's a huge crater back there. what's important is that roads like this are essential for the agricultural economy of this country and that agricultural economy is essential for feeding the world. well, i mean, the problem is, this is one of the breadbaskets of the world. the grain from here will go all over the world. and if the farmers can't plant it, then the rest of the world will suffer. there is already talk of a global food crisis caused by this ill—fated invasion. farming has always been a precarious business, now it is a life—threatening one as well. changing that will take many years. joe inwood, bbc news, kyiv. the queen is now the second longest serving monarch in world

history. as of today, her majesty has been on the throne for 70 years and 127 days. 0nly louis xiv of france has ruled for longer. his reign began when he was just four—years—old and lasted more than 72 years. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello again. well, for many it's already been a lovely start to the day. we've had plenty of sunshine across the skies in england and wales. this was how we started off in norfolk. but looking deeper into the week ahead, it's going to get quite hot for some of us with temperatures towards the end of the week hitting the 30 degree mark — by a country mile, the hottest weather we've seen so far this year. but before we get there, today, we've got some blustery conditions with quite a bit of cloud in the north west, bringing scattered showers. for england and wales, for the most part, it's a dry day with some warm spells of sunshine throughout the day, really. now, on the satellite picture, we can see a lot of cloud coming into northwestern areas. and it's this cloud that's bringing those widespread showers

at the moment to northern ireland, scotland and a few into the north west of england as well. now, through the day, into the afternoon, those showers become a little bit less widespread, so there'll be a bit more sunshine poking through the clouds here. it stays quite windy, though, with gusts into the 30s mph. further south, the winds lighter, there'll be more sunshine and it will feel warm with just a bit of fairweather cloud. temperatures reaching about 23 in the warmest areas. 0vernight, a few showers in scotland, but then later in the night, we'll see this area of rain develop in the western isles and the highlands. away from the northwest, though, it's a dry night with some clear spells and temperatures eight to 11 degrees for most. now, tomorrow, we start off with that area of rain for the highlands and also the western isles. this is the weatherfront and it will push its way towards 0rkney and shetland eventually bringing rain here late in the day. further south, variable cloud. but many areas will see some sunshine and with the winds lighter across northern areas it will feel warmer. 17 in aberdeen and for belfast. england and wales, further south again having the best of the sunshine and that

slightly warmer weather. it's a similar pattern really into tuesday, a few showers for northwest scotland. otherwise, it's dry with some sunshine. the sunniest skies, the highest temperatures towards the southeast where we're looking at those temperatures climbing to the mid—20s, 25 celsius, 77 in fahrenheit. and then at the end of the week, high pressure just moves to the east. that will start to draw up some southerly winds. and it's those winds that will really start to boost the temperatures. now, the hottest weather is always going to be across england and wales, cardiff up to 26, friday, london, 29 or 30. scotland and northern ireland, high teens to low 20s at best.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines.

fierce fighting in eastern ukraine — president zelensky says his forces are "holding on", but warns troops are running low on ammunition. the british government is looking at plans to change the law to allow agency staff to be brought in to cover for some striking workers. tens of thousands rally across the us to call for stricter gun laws, in the wake of recent mass shootings. china says it'll fight to the very end to prevent taiwan from being declared independent. and queen elizabeth ii becomes the world's second longest serving monarch — only louis xiv of france has ruled for longer. now on bbc news, hardtalk�*s stephen sackur speaks to russia's ambassador to the un, vassily nebenzia. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.

when vladimir putin ordered his invasion force into ukraine in late february, is this the scenario