black smoke was still rising from sevastopol hours after the attack. russia's ministry of defence said one serviceman was missing. james waterhouse has the latest from kyiv. this is clearly a continuation of ukraine's tactic of specifically targeting sites in occupied crimea, but the apparent direct hit of russia's naval headquarters in sevastopol is hugely symbolic. it's not yet clear what operational damage will be caused for russia, but this is a place where it has exerted such dominance through its navy, where it launches missiles across ukraine, it blockades ukrainian ports. and i think what this attack does is undermine russia's continued occupation in a place that seems a cornerstone of its invasion from as far back as 2014. there is also a connection

between this missile strike and ukraine's continued counteroffensive further north. what they are trying to do is frustrate russian supply lines and isolate swathes of occupied territory in the hope that troops will run out of supplies. now, president zelensky hasjust completed a visit to the us. he's in canada currently, and i think what we're seeing now is battlefield progress increasingly getting linked to the politics of it all. because, yes, he is being warmly welcomed by both countries, but there are political corners that are growing increasingly sceptical as to what the ukrainian victory might look like and as for how long western allies should be pumping billions of dollars into ukraine. so it's becoming increasingly high—stakes for president zelensky, who's now having to do a fair bit of negotiating in his foreign policy. volodymyr zelensky is wrapping up his week—long trip to north america. on friday, he travelled to ottawa, where he made

an address to canada's parliament. canada is home to the world's largest ukrainian dispora, numbering over 200,000. and in his speech, mr zelensky spoke to the strong ties the two countries share. ukraine and canada are the same. we stand and we fight for life. ukraine, not genocide, will be victorious in this war. people will be the winners, not the kremlin. freedom will be the winner. justice will be the winner. you can know this for sure about us, because you know for sure about yourself that you would never submit to evil. applause so what did mr zelensky get for his efforts? canadian prime minister justin trudeau pledged nearly $500 million in aid to ukraine. that includes 50 armoured vehicles as well as training for f16 pilots and engineers. that's in addition to a $325

million package from the us. earlier i spoke to the former us ambassador to ukraine, steven pifer. very good you have you on bbc news this evening. thanks forjoining us. first of all, this package of weapons announced from the us, also the aid from canada — how significant do you think this will be, ambassador? this is a continuing flow from the united states and by canada and other countries to ensure sure that ukrainian�*s military has the tools to fight. i mean, sure, there is certainly the will in ukraine, but they need the weapons to press forward and fight. and even beyond the formal announcement there was some hopefully good news today that the united states is ready to provide ukraine some atacms missiles. these are longer range missiles that could allow ukraine to strike targets much further behind russian lines than they had been to date, and that could give the ukrainians a new and very important military capability. rights. those reports have not been

confirmed yet, but certainly would be a big difference, wouldn't it, on the battlefield 7 but i want to ask you about some of the scepticism that we saw on capitol hill in washington during president zelensky�*s visit among house republicans, especially as the counteroffensive in ukraine has been moving a little bit slower than many had desired. would more accountability and more oversight over how us aid in particular is spent in ukraine — would that be a good step to actually quell some of the concerns that we have seen? let me say i think some of the calls for accountability are a bit of a smokescreen. i mean, you are not going to have american military personnel on the frontlines counting every bullet, every rocket the ukrainians use, but thus far had been no significant reports of any american or western military equipment being diverted, and remember the ukrainians have every incentive to make sure that stuff gets to the right place, the troops on the frontline, because they see this as a life—and—death struggle.

so, i think some people when they talk about accountability, it is covering up from the fact that have other reasons that they are not prepared to support american assistance to ukraine. what about international support? we have seen poland, one of ukraine's closest allies, now in this diplomatic dispute with ukraine over grain exports, saying now it is not going to send more weapons than its current commitment, and many countries in the global south we saw at the un general assembly are still sceptical about supporting ukraine in the way that the us has. is it going to be difficult for ukraine to continue relying on the international community, particularly western allies? ithink, i mean, there is a bit of a spat going on between kyiv and warsaw, and both sides i think are now trying to tone it down. also, remember that in poland they have an election in just three weeks, and my guess is some of this pushback is motivated not by frustration with kyiv as much as it is motivated by domestic politics within ukraine. but it does seem to me that key

to international support for ukraine continuing is going to be the united states, and i think one thing that president zelensky�*s conversation yesterday on capitol hill helped persuade more republicans, and again today there was a report that said 130 members of the house, house republicans, have come out by name in support of american assistance to ukraine. that is out of a total republican caucus of about 220, so the question is will kevin mccarthy, who has had a lot of trouble controlling his republican caucus, will he now listen to the majority of his members who want to support ukraine? if there was an open vote it would easily pass in the house with support from republicans and democrats alike. and, ambassador, i also want to ask you about the prospect of peace negotiations. we have heard some calls here in the united states, also internationally, to get both sides somehow

to the negotiating table, especially as winter will be approaching in just a few months and the battlefield situation will also change with the advent of winter. do you think that the conditions are right at this moment to bring both sides to the table? i believe at some point there will be a negotiation between kyiv and moscow, but i just don't see the possibility now. russia has not backed off any of its maximalist demands, despite the fact that russia has not been winning on the battlefield now for over a year, and in fact they actually escalated their demands last fall even though they had been losing on the battlefield. so, until there is some kind of signalfrom moscow that the kremlin is prepared to negotiate in a serious way, i don't see why the west should be pushing the ukrainians to negotiate. the ukrainians also have to contend with the situation, and that is that for president zelensky, there is a very unified ukrainian population now that wants to see all of ukraine liberated, and this war over the last 18 months that has been conducted by russia in fact has solidified that opinion, and my guess is that for president zelensky, you know, he has limits in terms of how far he can

negotiate because of the intensity of the ukrainian public opinion. yeah, that is a good point. ambassador, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us tonight on bbc news. thank you. newjersey democratic senator robert menendez is facing growing pressure to resign after he was indicted for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. his own state's democratic governor, phil murphy, called for him to step down friday, just hours after menendez temporarily gave up his position as chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. after a years—long investigation, federal prosecutors claim menendez and his wife, nadine, accepted bribes from three newjersey businessmen in exchange for using the senator's influence and power to protect them , and to benefit the egyptian government. federal agents found about $500,000 in cash at the senator's home

in a safety deposit box. according to the indictment, the money was "stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets and a safe". fbi agents also discovered a lot of gold at his home — roughly 3kg worth of gold bars, worth about $150,000. both mr and ms menendez have vehemently denied the charges. all five defendents, including menendez and his wife, are expected to appear in court on wednesday. the bbc�*s nada tawfik has more. with these charges, senator bob menendez is now no longer the head of the senate foreign relations committee. of course, he has been here before, six years ago. he was also forced to resign because of a separate bribery case. in that one, a jury was deadlocked and he was eventually acquitted. what we have here today though is a separate bribery case involving three newjersey businessmen. apparently, these are men that were his friends, that were big fundraisers for him, and he tried to not

only enrich one of them but you shield to others from law enforcement prosecutions and investigations. prosecutors in new york also alleged that he tried to help the egyptian government by in part passing on sensitive information into their officials. now, of course, senator menendez has come out and said these are baseless allegations and he intends to fight them. he will continue for now in his senate seat. prosecutors say that the fbi found gold bars, envelopes full of cash in his suitjackets when they searched his home and the envelopes of cash had the fingerprints of one of the newjersey businessmen. no doubt throughout the coming weeks, perhaps months, democrats will want to know what else comes to light, but bob menendez faces re—election next year and this is a critical year for democrats as they face already a narrow majority in the senate and cannot afford to lose any seats.

for more, my colleague catriona perry sat down earlier with robert costa, chief election and campaign correspondent at cbs news. things look like they are very serious for senator menendez 110w. they are serious and he has said he will defend himself along with his wife against these charges but you have the democratic governor of new jersey, phil murphy, someone considered a possible presidential contender down the line, to step out so early after this latest indictment and to call for menendez�*s resignation, it reflects what i have heard in recent hours behind—the—scenes from top democrats. they are concerned about menendez and his political standing in newjersey. two of them that are represented by democrats, it is a reliably blue state, at least in recent cycles, though it has also been a state where a republican like former governor chris christie had found

success so you are seeing some nervousness from democrats about whether menendez not only can legally survive but politically survive. talk to us about the indictment and of course, senator menendez is not convicted of anything at this point. it is just an indictment. it is just charges. menendez is being accused alongside his wife nadine of accepting bribes and of taking cash, cultivars, gifts, having a luxury carfrom egyptian businessmen who were doing business in and around newjersey, some of it related to a halal business relating to food contracts and he is also being accused of in some way of assisting the egyptian government in terms of the information he was providing to certain people. menendez is a powerful figure in washington — the chair of the senate foreign relations committee. due to the senate democratic rules that might not to the law — he has two stepdad from his position as a committee chairman.

that decision has been applauded by the senate majority leader chuck schumer though he continues publicly to defend menendez so we will see how this all plays out. it is a fast moving story. in other news — niger's military regime that took power injuly has criticized un secretary—general, antonio guterres. the leaders said mr guterres had been deceitful by rejecting their chosen delegation to the un general assembly. earlier this week, the un sided with niger's internationally recognised government and chose not to welcome a diplomat appointed by the coup leaders. also at the un general assembly on friday, haiti's prime minister urged the security council to authorise an internationalforce to help haiti's overstretched police and military to subdue rampant armed gangs. earlier, the us secretary of state antony blinken promised a further $65 million

to help haiti's police. king charles and queen camilla have wrapped up a three—day state visit to france. they ended the trip at a vineyard in the south western city of bordeaux, where the king and queen sampled wine. the trip included two days of formal events in paris, where he gave a speech to the french senate. russell brand has posted a fresh video online in which he thanked his supporters. 0bviously, obviously, it's been an extraordinary and distressing week and i thank you very much for your support and for questioning the information that you've been presented with. he doesn't address the sexual assault allegations raised last week. brand has previously said all his relationships were consensual. thousands more auto workers here in the us are now on strike, expanding the protest that began last week. the walkouts threaten to raise car prices and disrupt an industry that makes up about 3% of the entire us economy. president biden announced he will visit the striking auto

workers, saying on x, formerly known as twitter: the united auto workers union said strikes are expanding against detroit auto makers general motors and stellantis, but not ford. the uaw noted they are making real progress in their talks. this comes as the uaw seeks a rise in pay and an end to a system allowing newer hires to be paid less. they're also seeking automatic pay increases tied to inflation, among other demands. with friday's expansion, the auto workers�* union is now striking against 38 more plants across the us at general motors and stella ntis. the uaw represents more than 140,000 workers at the detroit big three auto makers. about 5,600 more workers went on strike friday.

in total, there are now 18,300 auto employees on strike. union president shawn fain spoke earlier on the lack of movement in negotiation. both companies are still offering a deficient cost of living allowance that is projected to provide zero increases over the next four years. both of those companies have rejected all of ourjob security proposals. both gm and stellantis have rejected our profit—sharing proposals. and both companies have rejected our proposals to convert temps. 0ur correspondent michelle fleury has the latest from new york. with presidentjoe biden heading to michigan next tuesday and with republican presidential hopeful donald trump due to talk to auto workers on wednesday, there is no doubt that pressure is being ratcheted up on the two sides

to try and reach some agreement. with the expansion of the uaw strike, specifically targeting general motors and stellantis but leaving out stella ntis but leaving out ford, stellantis but leaving out ford, just seeing a return to a perhaps more traditional negotiating style by the union where, in the past, they have tried to strike a deal with one company and then put pressure on the other two firms to sort of match that deal and i think in some ways, but is what we have seen this friday. there is also a benefit to that. the union has offered to pay workers who are on strike $500 a week. i taking this limited targeted approach, they get to conserve money and make things last longer. they have chosen as their next target car parts and distribution centres. where you could start to see that have an impact is on dealers if they are unable to get the parts and that in turn will start to affect the american consumer. it's also fairly limited in terms of the kind of pain that they could

potentially inflict and i think it's deliberate. union wants to slowly turn up the dial, turn up slowly turn up the dial, turn up the pressure on these to try to reach a deal. at the same time, the companies question whether the union is negotiating in good faith and in a statement from gm and stellantis, they have both raised that question and they say they are still prepared to return to the bargaining table but, at the moment, it is a long way from this dispute reaching some kind of conclusion. the us is just over a week away from the deadline to fund the federal government orface a shutdown. let's take a closer look at what a shutdown would mean. the funding for the government expires at the end of the day on saturday, september 30th at midnight, which marks the start of a new fiscal year. if congress fails to pass legislation to renew funding by then, much of the federal government will shut down. many government operations come to a halt. but some services deemed essential continue — those could include border protection, federal law enforcement and air traffic

control, but they will not be paid during the shutdown. federal employees whose work is deemed non—essential will be put on furlough. earlier, i spoke with republican representative zach nunn of iowa for his thoughts on a possible shutdown. thank you forjoining us. the clock is ticking, there is no deal done yet — are you preparing for a shutdown at this point? we will use every measure possible to avoid a shutdown that puts us military members on the front line without pay, making our southern border less secure than it is already by making our customs and border guys be furloughed and put in situation where american families may not have the resources they need to be successful stop that is why i am staying in dc over the weekend to work

with this away from my family so i can fight for the families in my district get a plan before a shutdown becomes inevitable. you may be staying there for the weekend but the entire house is not. should kevin mccarthy have kept everyone there? i think that we have only a few days left until the end of the fiscal year and we need to be all hands on deck working on this. so, from leadership down to every single rank—and—file member of congress, we all need to be here working towards solutions. yet, the speaker has not mandated that. he has empowered a number of us to start having conversations one—on—one. i have reached out to a small group of what i consider people on the very right, as well as talking to folks in the middle and on the left to say what can we agree on? what can we do that will keep the government cut back the spending that is coming out of washington, that would secure our nation and make sure that our military troops have access to it? in fact, i've led three bills on this and members of congress, if we do shutdown, they do not paid.

this is what we see too many people leaving the city to do, to make a personal name for themselves and not do the hard work required to make sure that the us government takes care of the us people. yet, twice this week, a defence bill — funding for defence failed to get passed. what do you say to that part of your own party who are really the ones standing in the way of a deal here? i have very direct words — come to the table and find a solution and pass appropriation bills, as we want to do on the 12 that are nceessary and i also have a direct conversation with my colleagues on the other side — don't block rules so we can have a debate. this is not on the actual bill. this is on the rule that we can have the debate about passing budgets. this is something that every american, every member of congress should make a priority. what does it say about the republican party, though, that a relatively small percentage of the party is able to hold everything up like this? i

think that we have a diverse group of individuals who are here and they are representing their districts and i also think they have the real desire to see spending levels cut back to see spending levels cut back to pre— covid levels that drop a lot of the inflation in our country right now but what i would say to them, wherever they are within the spectrum of they are within the spectrum of the republican party, as they need to be pragmatic. i'm a military guy, i'm focused on solutions. a lot of people who want to see mission accomplishment, everyone working towards a solution, a few folks peeling off and in some cases trying to get their name in the news or have another fundraiser over the weekend. another fundraiser over the weekend-— weekend. given that kevin mccarthy _ weekend. given that kevin mccarthy is _ weekend. given that kevin mccarthy is not _ weekend. given that kevin mccarthy is not able - weekend. given that kevin mccarthy is not able to - weekend. given that kevin. mccarthy is not able to rally those individuals and hasn't kept everyone in dc, as you have said they should have, is in the right person to be speaker of the house right now? look, i've supported kevin mccarthy 15 times and has proven himself time and time again ready to come together and help leave this but ultimately it's not the speaker responsible, it's the members of the majority party who need

to lead and so, i will hold every single person accountable within our congress to say what are we doing to help move forward? i'm doing my part. i think many others are along with me. we have 200 plus members who agree with the plan and a few folks who have their own plans who have not even spoken to each other so for those individuals, we can work together, as long as we are focused on not shutting the government down for a news cycle but really working towards cutting government spending, protecting the american people and working together so that we can get something over to the senate and ask them to do theirjob as well. and ask them to do their 'ob as well. , ., ., well. so, will there be a deal or what can _ well. so, will there be a deal or what can you _ well. so, will there be a deal or what can you say - well. so, will there be a deal or what can you say to - well. so, will there be a deal or what can you say to those | or what can you say to those hundreds of thousands of federal workers who are wondering if they are going to havejobs to go wondering if they are going to have jobs to go to the week after next? in have jobs to go to the week after next?— have jobs to go to the week after next? ,, ., ., after next? in the south china sea there _ after next? in the south china sea there are _ after next? in the south china sea there are us _ after next? in the south china sea there are us submarinesl sea there are us submarines patrolling. those men and women who are serving i going to come up who are serving i going to come up and not know if their families back home are being taken care of. i think that's a pretty direct indicator that everyone in washington needs to

start working towards a solution and get off there, you know, individual high horse here. the reality is not only will federal issues happen but we are going to put our country at risk, our allies at risk, our interests at risk and we all know that a shutdown ends up all know that a shutdown ends up being far more expensive thanif up being far more expensive than if we would have just solved the problem on the front end. ., , , . solved the problem on the front end. ., ,, . ., ~ end. congressman nunn, thank ou end. congressman nunn, thank you indeed _ end. congressman nunn, thank you indeed for— end. congressman nunn, thank you indeed forjoining _ end. congressman nunn, thank you indeed forjoining us. - end. congressman nunn, thank you indeed forjoining us. i- you indeed forjoining us. i appreciate your time. thank you. and finally, some small signs of hope sprouting in maui after wildfires devastated lahaina and its iconic banyan tree. this is what the 150—year—old tree looked like after deadly fires ripped through the town in august, some residents fearing it might die altogether. but now, the tree is showing fresh signs of life. you can see green leaves shooting up along what is believed to be the largest banyan tree in the country, providing a signal of hope to those still recovering from the fires. 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. they will have a news update for you at the top of the next hour. thank you for watching. hello. it's the autumn equinox on saturday morning, so the first day of autumn, officially. how about the weather? it's looking a little mixed this weekend and quite an interesting headline there — the tail end of a hurricane is expected to bring us some warm weather to some parts of the country but also a dose of wind and rain. and here it is. hurricane nigel soon to become an ex—hurricane, also being absorbed by the weather systems in the mid latitudes and all of that is heading our way and also, a south—southwesterly wind ahead of it will develop ahead of this large area of low pressure and that means somewhat warmer weather streaming in from the south. so, it's a tale of two halves, quite literally. so, the forecast, then, through the early morning shows clear skies across

most of the uk. having said that, it is going to be quite chilly, despite this remnant storm heading our way. temperatures will be around eight degrees even in the south of the country and close to freezing, if not below, in the sheltered glens of scotland. now, here it is, that weather front, by this stage bringing cloud, a shield of cloud, to northern ireland, wales, and the south—west. within it, some outbreaks of rain. but out towards the east and the north, it's a cracking day both in the morning and the afternoon. we're expecting sunny spells. temperatures around 18 in london, a bit fresher there in scotland. and then, it's saturday night into sunday that that weather front sweeps across the uk. the winds will freshen and we are expecting some rain. some of the rain will be heavy at times. so, here's the forecast, then — out towards the west and the north, increasing winds, gale force winds around some of the coasts, and some heavy rain at times. the further east and south—east you are, the sunnier and warmer

it will be — in fact, 20 degrees in london. but even further north where it's cloudy and rainy, temperatures will be close to 20. but let's take a closer look. and here are the gusts of wind, 50 to even 60 miles an hour. now, that is a strong wind blowing out of the south. and then, all of that rain sweeping across the country as well sunday evening into the early hours of monday. now, here's the outlook into the week ahead. those temperatures remain in the low 20s across the south of the country but be warned — at times, we could be seeing some pretty gusty, rainy, windy weather in the week ahead. bye— bye.

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. reporters speak spanish. it was once the murder capital of the world. cries. for decades, rival gangs ruled the streets of el salvador through violence, extortion and fear. until now. for a year, the country's young, media—savvy president has declared war

on the gangs... ..imposing emergency security measures and giving police sweeping powers of arrest. thousands are now behind bars and the country is transforming before people's eyes. but there's a dark underside hidden from view. human rights groups are dismayed, as are relatives, at the thousands that have been arbitrarily arrested. peace may have come to el salvador, but at what price?