of hollywood actors have gone on strike, with picket lines formed in new york and los angeles. as a result, film and tv productions in the us and around the world have come to a halt. it's the industry's biggest shutdown in more than 60 years, and it affects the vast majority of american film and television productions, including highly anticipated motion pictures like the avatar and gladiator sequels. while the strike is going on, actors can't appear in films or even promote the movies they've already made. so what is it that actors are calling for? the screen actors guild wants streaming giants like netflix and disney to agree to what they say is a fairer split of profits and better working conditions. but other demands, like protecting actors from being replaced by digital replicas, reflect wider challenges. the union wants guarantees that artificial intelligence and computer—generated faces will not be used to replace actors.

not since 1960 has a there been a strike on this scale — that dispute was led by the future us president ronald reagan, seen here with his wife nancy, and fellow actorjames cagney. today, sag—aftra president fran drescher was out on the picket line in la. 99.9% of the people that i am fighting for right now are working—class people. they are the ones that are being squeezed out. everybody that is famous and rich, that stands on these picket lines or goes and does press to talk about this, it's not as much for them, although they are very concerned about al and its invasion of their likeness, because no matter how successful you are, you are selling your likeness, your voice and your talent. and emmy—award winning actor brian cox spoke to the bbc aboutjust how long he

thought the strike might last. iam, laughs , i can see it going on to the end of the year.— , i can see it going on to the end of the year. and that is a lona end of the year. and that is a long time- — end of the year. and that is a long time. they _ end of the year. and that is a long time. they are - end of the year. and that is a long time. they are trying . end of the year. and that is a long time. they are trying to | long time. they are trying to freeze us out, they're going to try and beat us into the ground, because there is a lot of money to be made in streaming and they know that. and the desire is not too particular want to share it with the other writers or the performers. let's go live now to our correspondent peter bowes in los angeles. we have heard from some of the actors there, but what are they saying on the picket lines? we are saying on the picket lines? - are getting a real sense of what the rank—and—file members of this union feel because we are hearing them talk on the picket lines, we have known about the possibility of the strike for some time but now they are getting the chance to express themselves, and there is a real sense of anger and a sense of concern. anger that there hasn't been a deal so far, after weeks of negotiations between the union, its officials and the

employers, the studios, there was an offer by the studios, which the union says doesn't go far enough. and there is anger about that in terms of pay, the actors are working in a very different ecosystem, entertainment ecosystem now with the streaming services, and they want their contract to reflect the way that they work. there can be long times where these actors are not working and they want that to be reflected in the kind of deal that they get, and huge concern about artificial intelligence, the fact that they could possibly work for just one day and have their images scanned to be used in the future, possibly not being paid for it. these are some big issues that these two sides are trying to deal with. what have we heard from the big studios, have they been speaking today? the? from the big studios, have they been speaking today? they have not. we haven't _ been speaking today? they have not. we haven't heard _ been speaking today? they have not. we haven't heard anything. not. we haven't heard anything from the big studios, the streaming services today, when we heard that the strike was definitely going to go ahead theyissued definitely going to go ahead they issued a joint statement describing their offer to the

actors as "historic agreement". well, it isn't an agreement yet because the union has rejected it. we also got in from the studios that they disapprove more generally about the concept of a strike, because they said it would cause widespread pain to many rank—and—file members of the union. i think that is true, that many of these low—paid actors are going to suffer during the course of this dispute, and especially if this strike drags on. we dispute, and especially if this strike drags on.— dispute, and especially if this strike drags on. we heard from some of the — strike drags on. we heard from some of the biggest _ strike drags on. we heard from some of the biggest stars, - strike drags on. we heard from some of the biggest stars, but| some of the biggest stars, but many actors are not making millions of dollars that somebody like tom cruise would. do we now have any sense that, because this is such a historic strike now, with the writers and actors on the picket lines, how this might affect this enormous entertainment industry?— enormous entertainment indust ? �*, ., ., industry? oh, it's going to affect the _ industry? oh, it's going to affect the industry - industry? oh, it's going to affect the industry hugely. industry? oh, it's going to i affect the industry hugely. in fact, notjust the entertainment industry, the los angeles economy, indeed any

economy around an area where there is a major studio base is going to be affected by this dispute. so you've got the costume as and the other ancillary services that really are in business because a film or television show is being made. so that will affect the economy, the entertainment business, of course films and television shows won't be made, if they are partially made and they need the services of the actors to redo some scenes, that won't happen so the television programmes and films will be delayed possibly indefinitely.— will be delayed possibly indefinitely. will be delayed possibly indefinitel . , indefinitely. peter bows in los anaeles indefinitely. peter bows in los angeles for — indefinitely. peter bows in los angeles for us, _ indefinitely. peter bows in los angeles for us, thank - indefinitely. peter bows in los angeles for us, thank you - indefinitely. peter bows in los angeles for us, thank you so l angeles for us, thank you so much. there are fears for guatemala's democracy after a series of contradictaory moves by electoral authorities. guatemala's prosecutors' office says it will continue its investigation into the lead candidate bernando arevalo's party. the courts threw his candidacy into question last month, freezing the election's results temporarily. earlier this week, his party

was suspended, but a top court reversed the ruling after international outcry. arevalo is still set to run in the 20 august run—offs, but many worry that the chaos could undermine the country's already fragile democratic institutions. live now to carolina jimenez sandoval, president of washington office on latin america, an organisation focused on human rights in the americas. we heard about some of the chaos that has been surrounding the selection so far, some analysts are concerned about guatemala's democracy, what has your organisation been seeing in guatemala?— in guatemala? indeed, unfortunately - in guatemala? indeed, unfortunately the - in guatemala? indeed, - unfortunately the elections have been full of chaos. and surprise as well. chaos because they are happening in the contest of a democracy, with all this before the elections, and unfortunately a lot of arbitrary disqualification of candidates. but one —— once

guatemalans went to the poles on 20 june, what we saw was a population that is rejecting the status quo. and both national and international election services said they have voted for two candidates to go for the second round of votes, the former first lady, sandra torres and arevalo from the movimiento semilla party. what have we seen since then? multiple attempts to stop this from becoming a reality, and unfortunately the guatemalan political establishment has been trying some different means, especially to stopped arevalo from going into the second round.— arevalo from going into the second round. how legitimate are these _ second round. how legitimate are these legal _ second round. how legitimate are these legal concerns - second round. how legitimate l are these legal concerns around the semilla party? we are these legal concerns around the semilla party?— the semilla party? we have not found any legal—

the semilla party? we have not found any legal base _ the semilla party? we have not found any legal base to - the semilla party? we have not found any legal base to be - found any legal base to be investigating or suspending a political party in the middle of an election. in fact guatemalan electoral law is very clear, you are only supposed to spend —— suspend —— not supposed to suspend a political party when you are in the middle of an election. i think it is very clear to most observers and human rights of organisations that all these baseless accusations are politically motivated and at the very end of the day, the political establishment is trying to stop change from happening in the country. i understand that even before votes were cast in this election your organisation had raised some concerns about this election. just looking at the bigger picture, why is that? i think a few reasons. in the first place, what a marlin democracy has been in distress for a long time now and the lack ofjudicial independence, especially when it comes to the way the attorney general�*s

office carried out investigations and persecutes people had has an impact on election does well. so i think the electoral tribunal disqualified candidates and now the investigation —— attorney general has opened this baseless investigation. the way political erupt —— political corrupt elites want to cling to power and it has a terrible impact on the election integrity, but also we are worried that guatemalans are eventually going to go to the second round and to the poles and hopefully, will be able to express their will in free and fair elections on 20 august. how concerned are you that these elections in the end will not see a free off our outcome? well, if you ask me a few months ago, we went to one hour we were talking to people, and

no—one expected this was going to happen. many people felt in a way resigned, and felt that because many candidates had been disqualified, there was no possibility for a change in the status quo was going to be made. and now we are in a completely different situation really, so we know, we have seen it in the last few weeks, that many political actors who do not want to see any positive change or do not want democracy to be renewed, will continue to try to stop people from voting or continue to try to disqualify bernardo arevalo from running and he and his party. but i think it has been incredible to see many guatemalans peacefully demonstrating against these actions, and the international community being on the side of guatemalans and demanding the guatemalans and demanding the guatemalan authorities respect the result of the third round

and so we can see a free and fair election during the second round. ., ., ._ round. carolina jimenez sandoval, _ round. carolina jimenez sandoval, thank- round. carolina jimenez sandoval, thank you - round. carolina jimenez sandoval, thank you so | round. carolina jimenez - sandoval, thank you so much for joining us. belarus says instructors from the russian mercenary group wagner have begun training its troops. the country's defence ministry released this video of masked men drilling soldiers in a camp south—east of the capital minsk. the announcement is the first official confirmation that some wagner fighters have moved to belarus, weeks after their abortive mutiny in russia. ukraine says it's monitoring events in belarus closely but has not detected any large—scale threats. the belarusian leader alexander lukashenko is a close ally of vladimir putin and helped negotiate an end to the wagner rebellion. the whereabouts of the wagner leader yevgeny prigozhin are currently unknown. india has launched its third mission to the moon, aiming to land a craft on the lunar surface and to establish itself as a leading player in space exploration.

the lander is due to reach the moon around 23 august. 0ur india correspondent arunoday mukharji watched the blast—off from the island of sriharikota in the bay of bengal. india, aiming for the moon a third time. chandrayaan—3, an unmanned mission, is to land on the lunar surface and create history. this mission is also india's attempt to launch itself into an elite orbit of nations. if indian scientists do manage to achieve that soft landing on the lunar surface, india will become only the fourth nation in the world to have achieved that feat, up there with the likes of the us, china and russia. success or failure, we won't know till late august, when the landing is scheduled. but for now, scientists are optimistic. congratulations, india. applause

we have already put chandrayaan—3 craft into the precise orbit around earth... four years ago, a setback in the moon mission had dented india's space ambitions. prime minister narendra modi consoled indian scientists after a vehicle crash—landed on the lunar surface. and those risks remain even today. anything can happen for the failures, from software to communication to the temperatures there. because the landing itself is being tried where the sun is not there, where all the batteries, where all the equipment have to operate in very, very adverse conditions. but the challenges up in space haven't dampened spirits on the ground. translation: we were notj deterred by our past failure. we moved on and have proved to the world that we don't need to depend on any other country. the mission to the moon is not

just carrying india's space ambitions, but also the hopes of millions of its people. arunoday mukharji, bbc news, the sriharikota launching facility. here in the us, lawmakers have narrowly approved president biden's latest defence budget in the face of opposition from members of his own party. all but four democrats voted against the legislation, after republicans added these include controversial amendments that would restrict military personnel�*s access to abortion and to transgender healthcare and would repeal diversity programmes. the bill now heads to the democratic—controlled senate. the german foreign ministry has released its first comprehensive strategy on china as an effort to de—risk their relationship. it comes a month after chinese premier li qiang met with german president frank—walter steinmeier to discuss bilateral relations between the two economies. the report says that germany will take countermeasures on a domestic and european level against transnational

repression, especially on the issue of chinese overseas police stations and cybersecurity. germany wants to expand its close relations with taiwan while continuing to adhere to the one china policy. germany also plans to relaunch human rights and rule of law dialogue with china. they believe china is not credible in its defence of ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. germany is pushing for a clearer position there. china is germany's largest single trading partner. my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke to german mp nils schmid. mr schmid, thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. when your party formed a government in 2021, it made very clear that china strategy was a top priority and this strategy has just been released. what took so long? well, it was the first time that the federal government proposed a whole of government approach on china, so it took some time to bring together

all the relevant ministries. and we have even a more ambitious project, which is to encompass also municipal and state level actors and civil society. so, for the first time, this is a really comprehensive china strategy, and it's rather detailed. so, there are lots of positive recommendations in this strategy — that's why it took some time. 0k. so, you said there's lots of policy recommendations. how concretely do you think this could immediately change germany's ties with china? well, even before publishing this strategy, the government has already changed its approach on china. so, diversification, de—risking is already under way. and i believe that with the strong emphasis on coherent

eu policy vis—a—vis china, germany is now leading the way to have a stronger european position but not only in a defensive way, meaning to fend off unequal and unfair practices from china, but also in a more assertive way. after all, we can be rather self—confident in the systemic rivalry. —— in the systemic rivalry we are entertaining with china because the european union is a strong and innovative single market and we are really competitive. 0ur companies are competitive and we need to strengthen the hand of our companies in this global competition. i want to ask you specifically about trade and the economy because on the one hand, germany wants to reduce dependence on critical technologies but german car companies sell about a third of their vehicles in china. and in april, the chemicals company basf announced their plans to spend 10 billion euros on a new chemical production complex there.

and their chief executive martin brudermuller said the following at the company's earnings conference — quote: so, the question, mr schmid, is germany at this pointjust too dependent on china to be able to de—risk? well, it's an interdependency. china is also very much dependent on the european single market for her exports. but it's right, german companies need to diversify, and this document makes it very clear to all these companies that there will be no government bailout in case of a crisis or of a shutdown of the chinese market for whatever reason. and so, basf and volkswagen entertain their relationship with the chinese market at their own risk and there will be no government funds available in case of a meltdown of the chinese market.

we believe that for the usual products like machinery and also chemicals, companies are up to the task to de—risk and to mitigate risk on their own. when it comes to raw materials like rare earths, when it comes to delivery chains and especially when it comes to high—tech goods which can be used for military purposes as well, there is a definite need for government intervention and restrictions. china is still germany's biggest trading partner. so, are you concerned about china's response to this strategy? well, as i've said, they also are keen to continue to export to the european single market. they might be not very satisfied but they should be now in all transparency where we stand. and i think it's only fair to our chinese counterparts to make these statements. we are also open for cooperation, especially when it

comes to global common goods like global health and the protection of our climate there. we need to promote cooperation because china is a rising economic power and should be part of all the global efforts to protect our climate. and one final question, mr schmid — the us government here in washington has taken a sharper tone towards china and it is focused on moving manufacturing and production back to the us. do you think germany is aligned with its allies, particularly with the us, on how to deal with china? as we are also trying to reinforce european sovereignty in new technologies — that's why the european union has also invested billions of euros and dollars to bring back battery cell production to europe, to invest in artificial intelligence and quantum computing. these are technologies which would be entirely mastered and also not only developed, but also produced

in europe and in germany. so, you think europe is actually going its own way when it comes to dealing with china, compared to how the us is dealing with china? well, we are more or less in sync because we also want to not only complain about the rise of china, we want to get stronger and competitive because we know that innovation is the key for prosperity and growth and social cohesion in the future. that's why it's not only about preparing to fend off threats from china, it's also about investing in our own future and our own possibilities. mr schmid, thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. thank you. to the uk now, where the state rooms of buckingham palace opened again to the public with the coronation robes worn by the king and queen forming part of this year's display. 0ur royal correspondent sarah campbell has more. the first coronation

for 70 years. most of us either watched it on television or from a distance, and much of the detail was difficult to pick out among the pomp and ceremony. two months on, a chance for visitors to see in close—up what was worn and the history behind the outfits. take the queen's coronation dress. painstakingly embroidered, look closely and you'll see the names of her children and grandchildren and pictures of her two jack russell terriers, bluebell and beth. queens throughout the 20th and now, in the 21st century, have had a degree of choice about the embroidery which goes on all of their clothing for a coronation and it's wonderful to see her majesty's interest in the natural world and that acknowledgement of herfamily upon her dress and her robe. historical threads run through much of what was worn. the coronation glove and girdle were last used by the king's grandfather, george vi, in 1937. and take a look at the

paintings of monarchs past in their coronation outfits. this is queen mary, crowned in 1911. her necklace may well look familiar. we see the coronation necklace, which was worn by queen camilla — it was actually made for queen victoria in 1858 and has been worn by queen consorts since then at all coronations. and we can see in the painting as well, alongside the crown that was made for queen mary for her coronation in 1911, this is the same crown that queen camilla used, but four of the detachable arches were removed to give it a little bit of a lighter feel. teams of experts were employed to craft the outfits and upholstery in time for may 6th, spending hundreds of hours either restoring or creating brand new items, including the screen used to shield the king from view during the most sacred part of the ceremony, the anointing. it was designed by nick gutfreund, a furniture maker and project managed by him,

but it involved a huge number of other skills — gilding, bronze foundry, embroidery, both hand embroidery and digital embroidery. and also, it was the key moment in the coronation where we were able to acknowledge the commonwealth, so it's in the design of a tree and every leaf on the tree has hand embroidered upon it the name of a commonwealth country. and then, there's the carriage which protected the king and queen from the inclement weather on their way to the abbey, now on display in the palace quadrangle. not surprisingly, visitors won't be able to actually sit in the diamond jubilee state coach but i can tell you the windows are electric, it has air—conditioning and i'm reliably informed it is a very comfortable carriage. a gilded mix of history and modernity for a 21st—century coronation.

sarah campbell, bbc news, buckingham palace. let's take you to france now, where the country has been celebrating bastille day. it's been marked with the annual military parade along the champs—elysees, ending with a flypast led by the french air force acrobatic team, who painted the national tricolour in the skies above paris. the eiffel tower was lit up with fireworks for people to admire as the celebrations came to an end. stay with us right here on bbc news. hello there. i think it's fair to say that the weather doesn't look and feel much like summer at the moment. these were some pictures taken on friday. it was particularly windy in the south—west of england and we actually had more rain in cornwall on friday than fell during the whole of last month, and we had rain far and wide across the uk as well. that rain has been working its way northwards on that weather front there, which is wrapped around an area of low pressure, and that will dominate the weather through the rest of the weekend. now, the rain, by saturday

morning, is in the far north of scotland. temperatures 12—14 degrees. some showers already arriving and we'll see more of those as the winds pick up, particularly across england and wales, with the strongest of the winds in the south. a0 mph gusts, quite widely, maybe a bit stronger, especially around some coastal areas. and it could bring some damage and some disruption, especially as those downpours arrive. and we'll see these showers breaking out more widely through the day. some wetter weather, particularly for wales and western parts of england. thunderstorms almost anywhere. some heavy showers arriving in scotland and northern ireland, where it's not going to be quite so windy here, but temperatures are still a bit disappointing, really, for the time of year. we're likely to find 18 or 19 widely. a touch warmer in the south—east, where there shouldn't be as many showers in the afternoon. the low pressure itself is continuing to push northwards. it may take away the worst of the weather for sunday. although, having said that, it could be a bit windier than saturday for scotland and northern ireland and we've

got some showers here, some of them heavy, maybe some longer spells of rain. but not quite so windy on sunday for england and wales. there may be a bit more sunshine around but there's still the chance of some showers, too. even though there aren't as many showers around, we've still got those temperatures peaking at only 20 or 21 celsius in the afternoon. now, looking ahead to next week and some changes on the way. it's not going to be quite as windy next week. there may be a bit more sunshine around and fewer showers but we're not going to get any of the heat that's affecting southern parts of europe — you may be pleased about that. 22 or 23 degrees the top temperature, probably, over next week. it's going to be much hotter across southern parts of europe. temperatures not quite so high around coastal areas but it will be especially hot as you head inland.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. as an art critic and a journalist, i feel like a very lucky man indeed, because i get to spend tonnes of time inside museums, places i've loved ever since i was a boy. and during my working life, i've witnessed something astonishing — how radically they've changed.