live from washington, this is bbc news. armenia has called for international intervention to prevent ethnic cleansing in nagorno karabakh days after azerbaijan seized control of the territory. ukraine claims russian navy commanders have been killed by a missile strike in crimea. and sudan's army chief tells the bbc he's ready for peace talks with rebel forces. we start with the war in ukraine. russian foreign minister sergey lavrov says the united states and ukraine's

other allies are "directly at war" with moscow. lavrov also blamed the collapse of the black sea grain deal on ukraine. he further criticized kyiv�*s peace plan as not "feasible" or "realistic". here's mr lavrov addressing the un general assembly on saturday. translation: the collective west has a calling card and iti has long been to reject the principle of equality and their total inability to reach agreement. being used to looking down at the rest of the world, americans and europeans make all sorts of promises and they take on commitments inter alia, written ones and legally binding ones, and then, theyjust don't fulfil them. as president putin pointed out, the west is one that is truly an empire of lies. russia, like many countries, knows about this firsthand. the bbc spoke to phillips o'brien, professor of strategic studies at st andrews university. he said a lot was missing

from mr lavrov�*s address. it was a speech that you would say really comes from a point of view of weakness on ukraine that he couldn't even mention the ukraine war, that there was no discussion of russia's right to invade ukraine, of russia's annexation of ukraine — the parts of ukraine, so in that sense, it was really running away from the story of the moment, which is the fact that the russian army is in ukraine and fighting a huge war, so i think we have to say, you know, meanwhile, the speaker of the us house of representatives says he will include a $300 million aid package for ukraine in a wider military spending bill up for debate this week. on friday, kevin mccarthy, the most powerful republican on capitol hill, said he would split the ukraine aid package away from the military funding bill, in hopes of convincing ukraine sceptics in his party to keep the us military funded. less than 2a hours later

though, he has told reporters from the website politico that doing so would not be feasible. the move leaves the aid package, which ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky pushed in a visit to congress this week, in limbo. during mr zelensky�*s trip to north america this week, my colleague, sumi somaskanda, spoke to alexander rodnyasky, an adviser to the ukrainian president. he explained ukraine's position when it comes to military aid from the us. would you support, alexander, provisions that would involve more direct us oversight of how aid is being spent in ukraine? by every indication that i know of and by everything that i can tell you in terms of the evidence, everything that we've received — all of the support, all the military assistance — has been spent exactly the way it should've been spent, without any sort of risks that could've occurred along the way. we've put it to use very effectively and, again, that's everything that i know. so, i think first of all, you know, ishould mention this, i don't think there are any measurable significant risks that we can think

of right now when we talk about this but if our partners want some additional conditions, then, i'm sure our political leaders should be willing to consider those conditions, provided that we can still operate effectively and get the support and the military assistance that we desperately need. if we talk about the bigger picture of global support right now, we're talking after a 620 when we saw wording in the final statement that was watered down, essentially, in order to create some sort of consensus when it comes to condemning russia for its invasion of ukraine. do you think there is a sense in president zelensky�*s administration that support for ukraine is waning as this war stretches on? i don't think there's such a sense among us in the presidential office and even though you might — you know, the public — might perceive it as some sort of dilution of the common position that we have in a civilised democratic world, i don't think that's what we are perceiving when we talk to our partners and that's certainly something

that i think the president has said and other people in the office in the presidential office have said more recently, even including during this trip to the us and canada. so, look, i mean, there's always going to be politics, as i said before, and it does have its turbulences but i think support, by any measure that we can see, is firmly behind ukraine. yeah, that is what we saw at the un general assembly, of course, from president biden, where he reaffirmed the us�*s unwavering, as he said, support for ukraine. there are americans, however, who have urged negotiations — including richard haass, the former diplomat. china has continued to reiterate its position that there needs to be a ceasefire and peace talks — that's the only way to end this war, rather. do you think that conditions are right at the moment to try to start some sort of negotiations? well, look, the big risk here is that any sort of ceasefire agreement potentially at this stage with the current russian regime is not really going to last very long. we want a meaningful change

to the russian position, to the russian regime, in order to have a meaningful, genuine ceasefire or even end to the war with the liberation of all of our territories. just giving russia some breathing space in order for them to regroup and then rearm themselves and launch yet another offensive, you know, is not something that is in our common interest and that's something to keep in mind, both when we have these discussions among the west but also, more generally. remember, you can't trust these people. they've broken literally every major agreement, every major promise that they've made over the last years, especially when it comes to ukraine, so that is not a trap to be really — that is a trap that we need to be very careful about. alexander rodnya nsky there. kevin mccarthy's u—turn on the ukraine aid package is part of his wider attempts to avoid a looming us government shutdown. congress must approve a spending bill by the start of the new fiscal year on october 01, but mr mccarthy has faced an uphill battle to convince some of his more hardline fellow republicans to do so. just a short time ago, us presidentjoe biden laid

the blame squarely at republicans�* door. let's be clear. a government shutdown, that means numbers let's be clear. a government shutdown, that means numbers in congress and militarily will have to work and not get paid. government shutdown means... they had starts for programmes will not go ahead. funding the government is one of the most basic responsibilities of congress and it's time for republicans to start during the job that america elected them to do. let's get this done! if lawmakers cannot avoid a shutdown in the us, hundreds of thousands of federal workers could go without pay and some government services would be disrupted. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, says he is "deeply concerned" for the safety of ethnic armenians in nagorno—karabakh four days after azerbaijan took control over the long—disputed territory. the state department says

mr blinken made the remarks in a conversation with armenia's prime minister, held in the past few hours. the region is internationally recognised as part of azerbaijan, but its population is mostly ethnic armenians, who ruled it as a breakaway republic for three decades. earlier this week, an azerbaijani military operation routed the ethnic armenian separatists, and azerbaijan has begun taking full control of the region. now, tens of thousands of armenians have sought refuge in the main city, stepanakert, many of them gathering at the airport. they are coping with dwindling food, medicine and fuel supplies. the red cross has managed to deliver 70 tonnes of aid for the first time since hostilities ended. the organisation's spokesperson, jason straziuso, said the shipments contained basic staples like wheat. it's an indication of how dire the situation is — not enough food, not enough medical supplies. the convoy that we sent in today did drop off some medical supplies. it also dropped off body bags — not so pleasant to think

about but an important aspect of this is a dignified management of the dead. earlier on saturday, azerbaijani forces showed off weapons captured from ethnic armenian forces. local officials said the terms of a ceasefire were now being implemented, including evacuating the wounded. but later the truce was apparently violated, with an azeri soldier wounded in an exchange of fire. in new york, azerbaijan's foreign minister jeyhun bayramov told the un general assembly that baku was determined to reintegrate karabakh armenians as equal citizens. but his armenian counterpart demanded the un establish a mission in the region to prevent further killings of ethnic armenians. the bbc�*s olga ivshina is one of the first journalists to have reached the region since this week's hostilities began. she filed this report. this is the first time journalists have been allowed into karabakh since the start of recent possibilities.

——hostilities. we're currently in susa, a key point in the area. it sits on the mountain which overlooks several strategic roads and towns. the conflict between azerbaijan and armenia has taken tens of thousands of lives. so, the question everyone is asking now — will this ceasefire hold 7 azerbaijan military has told us they're currently in control of khankendi, a city down there, which karabakh armenians call stepanakert and consider their capital, so it's very important. however, azerbaijan has provided no details, no evidence, and this is as close as we are allowed to go. the biggest question now is what happens to karabakh armenians who have lived here for several decades? an azeri official has just told me that they will only target armed rebels and they are ready to provide security guarantees for the civilians. we are currently conducting mine cleaning. we also established camps — temporary camps. in these camps, we can

provide food, water, electricity and also heating for up to 1000 people in each camp. however, there is a lot of mistrust on both sides. destiny of these people is now the factor in azeri hands. olga ivshina, bbc news, karabakh. turning to sudan now. the head of the army claims he's ready to talk peace with the rebel commander whom he is battling for control of the country. the brutal civil war has left more than 5,000 people dead according to the un with five million displaced. general abdel fattah al—burhan of the sudanese armed forces has told the bbc he's prepared — in principle — to sit down with mohamed hamdan dagalo, leader of the rebel rapid support forces. our diplomatic correspondent james landale spoke to him in new york and began by asking him why neither side appeared willing to engage in peace talks. translation: we have the desire and the will to end this war. -

we know the suffering of the sudanese people. we know the atrocities committed against the sudanese people. we are ready to engage in negotiations whenever. are you prepared to sit down and talk with the rsf leader, hemedti? if the leadership of this mutinous force has the desire to return to its senses and pull its troops out of the residential areas and return to its barracks, then we will sit with any of them. but, in principle, are you ready to sit down and talk with him? absolutely. whenever he commits to what we agreed injeddah, we will sit and resolve the problem. are you confident of victory? definitely. if you are so confident

of victory, why have you relocated and moved to port sudan, effectively giving up khartoum? in khartoum, the diplomatic missions, the ministries, and all government organs cannot carry out their duties as normal because it is a war zone. there are snipers and military operations taking place. your army is accused of killing civilians, by the united nations, by ngos. why are the civilian casualties so high? why are your forces deliberately targeting civilians? this is not correct. there are fabrications of some stories by the rebel forces. they bomb civilians and film it as if it was the armed forces. we are professional forces.

we work with precision and select our targets in areas where only the enemy is present. is the future of south sudan a failed state like somalia or a divided state like libya? the sudan will remain united. the sudan, because of its zones, it will remain a state intact, not a failure state. shortly after speaking to general al—burhan, our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, sent us this assessment of the sudanese army leader's aims while he was attending the un general assembly in new york. general al—burhan is on a global diplomatic tour, trying to drum up some kind of international legitimacy, and that's why his language is incredibly positive. he says he is in favour of peace, he is willing

to discuss a ceasefire, confident of victory. but language like this — very positive language — in past months has not led, at any stage, to a lessening in the fighting, so i don't think we should expect any kind of peace talks any time soon. what i think the general really wants is more international engagement — and engagement that is more supportive of him. that's why he is denying, against all the evidence, that his forces are targeting civilians. the un says very explicitly that they are. but the problem is that the world is distracted by other issues at the moment — ukraine, global economic woes — and so, its focus is not on the fighting in sudan. if you talk to diplomats here at the united nations in new york and you ask them about sudan, they throw their hands up in some frustration. it is not a conflict that they are confident of influencing. but i think the big problem, the big risk, is that the fighting spells out over the borders of sudan

—— spills out over the borders of sudan and fuels regional instability and i think if that happens, then this war will then rise very fast up the international agenda. haiti's prime minister, ariel henry, has called for urgent united nations action to bring stability to his country. he says the security situation has led to a new humanitarian crisis displacing thousands of people. mr henry said kidnappings for ransom, arson, massacres, sexual violence and people trafficking are all on the rise since violent gangs took control. he told the general assembly the security council must act to authorise an international force to help haiti's overstretched police and military subdue rampant armed gangs. the country's stability has deteriorated as its largest economic driver — agriculture production slowed due to natural disasters like the devastating earthquake in 2010. those have led to illnesses such as cholera spreading on a mass scale.

meanwhile, political corruption has made it nearly impossible for the prime minister to manage the chaos. the un says more than 2,000 people have been killed in haiti since the start of this year. while the biden administration said they will not be sending troops to haiti, they will continue to offer financial and humanitarian support. us secretary of state antony blinken promised a further $65 million to help haiti's police and he prompted the council to sanction the deployment. he said there was no time to lose. washington says 12 countries have pledged to join the force, which kenya is offering to lead. secretary blinken spoke of additional measures the us is taking to support haiti. today, we're taking steps to impose additional visa restrictions on current and former haitian officials who are enabling the violence. with that step, we've designated more than 50 individuals. in ghana, hundreds of demonstrators gathered

in the capital, accra, on saturday for a third day of anti—government protests linked to economic hardship. dozens have been arrested for defying a police order not to assemble. our newsroom reporter daniel dadzie has more. so these are the scenes on the streets leading up to the seat of ghana's government in the capital, accra. for three days the protestors have waved placards and nationalflags among others. they decry the high cost of living and the lack ofjobs as they march under the watchful eye of riot police. the occupyjubilee house demonstration began as a hashtag on x, formerly known as twitter. —— julorbi house. on thursday, police picked up 49 of these protesters for violating the public order act and gathering unlawfully. since then, these policemen

have barricaded the streets leading up to that very presidential residency. but democracy hub gh, which organised the demonstration, has vowed to occupy that very premises. tell him! we cannot afford a meal. this is very, very dangerous for the whole country. we have kids, age of 14 or 15, taking people's belongings just to survive. the government does not care. now, ghana's economy is facing its worst crisis in a generation with spiralling public debt. growth is forecast to hit 1.5% this year down from 3.1% in 2022. government has sealed a three—year $3 billion imf loan in may, but critics say they have done too little to help those who are most in need in this protracted downturn.

daniel dadzie, bbc news. there's been another dog attack in england believed to involve an xl american bully. a man was taken to hospital after being bitten on the arm at a park in south london. meanwhile, dog owners marched to protest government plans to ban the breed. barry caffrey reports. this is pasley park, walworth. it was here where a man was attacked by a dog just after 6:00 yesterday evening. he is currently in hospital with serious injuries. a local resident told me the dog jumped over this fence of this dog exercise area and bit the arm of a man in his 40s. police say the owner of the dog, believed to be an xl bully, fled the park before they arrived. efforts are now being made to try and track down the owner. these people had mixed views about american bullies being in the park. i have fear when i see one of these dogs.

i tend to walk on the other side of the street and it does worry me for children and other vulnerable people. if you have an xl bully, you should have the dog muzzled all the time if it's out in public, kept on a lead, and if you are going to let it off, it needs to be in a secure place. idon't think it is the dogs, i think it is the owners- because some owners train their dogs to be protectivel over them and when they say "attack", they attack, - but with this dog here, it is ok. i this dog is not trained to be an attack, - he is trained to be friendly and good to everyone. - a number of other recent attacks including in walsall where a man died, prompted the prime minister rishi sunak to say he had ordered urgent work to define and ban the animals. chanting save our bullies! today, protesters gathered to march to parliament to voice their concerns about the government's plans

to ban the breed. they say despite their fearsome appearance and build, the dogs make lovable household pets. personally, my dog is as soppy as anything. you know, he's around my grandchildren. i have an autistic grandson and he is really, really calming for him. literally sleeps beside him and it does him good. i agree that they are dangerous. none of us that are here today discriminate that. we're not saying they are not dangerous in the wrong hands there. my female is 53kg, of course she is dangerous in the wrong hands but she is trained and well mannered and well loved and she's fed correctly. the dog control coalition, a group including the rspca, battersea dogs home, and the royal kennel club, said banning specific breeds was not the solution, pointing to irresponsible breeding, rearing and ownership. barry caffrey, bbc london. this weekend, a capsule is expected to fall from space

and land in the american state of utah. it contains rocks and dust from the surface of an asteroid called bennu, which could give important clues about how the earth was formed. no pressure! scientists from nasa are eagerly awaiting the capsule's arrival in the utah desert where our science editor rebecca morelle filed this report. the clock really is ticking for the team. they are gearing up for the dramatic conclusion of this seven—year long osiris—rex mission. so, after travelling for billions of miles through our solar system, this capsule — which is carrying the precious fragments of asteroid bennu — will make its way through the atmosphere and all the way down to the ground here in utah. but that descent is going to be perilous. it will speed through the atmosphere at 27,000 miles an hour, experiencing temperatures of 3,000 degrees celsius.

it is going to need two parachutes to slow it down and offer, hopefully, a soft landing. the capsule has no tracking or gps on board so the team are going to have to use long—range telescopes and infrared cameras to try and find it through, so it will be a nerve—wracking wait for them. once they have the co—ordinates, they will get into their helicopters and head out to the recovery site because the key thing is to get the capsule and its contents into a clean room as soon as possible. they do not want any contamination. the big question, i guess, is — why go to all of this trouble? the first reason is a really good one. we want to find out about asteroid bennu because it tops the list of nasa's most hazardous space rocks. there is a one—in—i750—chance of it hitting earth in the next 300 years, which is small, but significant. so if you want to stop or prevent something like this from happening, it helps to know what the asteroid is made of. but bennu is not all bad.

in fact, it could actually tell us about our origins because asteroids are perfectly preserved time capsules, they are these relics, leftovers from the formation of the early solar system. so there is an awful lot we can learn from them. scientists are desperate to get their carefully gloved hands on this asteroid sample once the capsule is open. it will be a painstaking process, a few weeks long, but they say the wait is going to be worth it. sad times for us here. washington, dc�*s national zoo is preparing to say farewell to three of its most popular celebrities — giant pandas tian tian, mei xiang and xiao qiji will be feted at a nine—day panda palooza, starting this saturday through october i. the party will celebrate dc�*s famous furry residents before they return to china as part of the zoo's agreement with the china wildlife conservation. the departure will leave the us capitol pandaless

for the first time since 1999. that is it from us. we are handing over now to our colleagues in london. hello. the weather in the north atlantic is becoming a lot more turbulent. thejet stream is increasing in strength and the weather will be turning more and more unsettled in the coming days, in fact, rest of the weekend. for some of us, it's going to be a real mixed bag with spells of wind and rain sweeping across the country. here's one such weather front that's sweeping across the uk right now. it's bringing outbreaks of rain almost anywhere. it won't be raining all the time. you can see sort of these distinct clumps of rain crossing the country, but with that, also strengthening winds. and they are coming in from the southwest. actually, remnants of an old hurricane here. so temperatures early in the morning, 16 in plymouth, even about 1a or 15 there in the lowlands of scotland. and it is a large area of low pressure ahead of it.

the winds are coming in from the southwest. so a relatively warm direction. and these weather fronts will be brushing the uk all through the day on sunday. but it is not a coherent area of rain. in fact, pulses of rain sweeping across the country. could be wet for a time in the morning. then the sun will come out. then the winds will strengthen again. and then towards the second half of the afternoon, i think that's when we'll see the really heavy rain and gale—force winds around western parts of the uk. but all the while, i think, in central and eastern parts of the uk it's not bad at all. warm by day and actually the evening is not looking bad at all either. but this is 7:00. look at that heavy rain sweeping across western parts of the uk. the wind roses there showing gusts of wind in some places, 50, 60, maybe even approaching 70 miles an hour around scottish coasts. and then that weather front sweeps across the uk monday and behind it i think it's going to be quite a strong

westsouthwesterly wind. it'll bring showers to scotland, but elsewhere i think a pretty decent day and quite warm highs, approaching 20 degrees widely across england, high teens there in scotland and northern ireland. and then midweek we're watching a particularly — potentially — particularly nasty low coming our way, could bring severe gales, perhaps even stormy conditions around some coasts. so i think the time when that's going to happen will be around about wednesday. so if you're travelling this week, especially middle parts of the week, keep track of the weather. i think we'll firm up the forecast some time late sunday and into monday. 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. hello and welcome to the new series of unspun world. we've been off the air during the summer and life has moved on quite noticeably, in russia, for instance. having unsuccessfully challenged vladimir putin injune, yevgeny prigozhin paid the price in august.