this is bbc news. thousands flee the breakway region of nagorno—karabakh into armenia overfears of ethnic cleansing. us presiden biden meets with pacific island leaders in his charm offensive to counter china. and hollywood's writers and major studios have struck a tentative deal, possibly ending one of tinseltown�*s longest walk—outs. hello, i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. more than 200 people are reported injured after an explosion at a fuelling station in territory disputed by both armenia and azerbaijan. it comes as thousands of of ethnic armenian refugees try to leave the area of nagorno—karabakh. the breakaway enclave is recognised internationally as part of azerbaijan, but has been controlled by ethnic armenians

for the last three decades. last week, azerbaijan seized this disputed region. fears of ethnic cleansing and persecution have driven over 6,650 people to cross into armenia, according to the armenian government estimates. roads leading towards the armenian border are jammed with traffic as people leave in search of shelter, safety, and humanitarian aid. our reporter natasha zotova is on the ground at one of the aid tents in armenia where refugees have sought help. she sent in this update. we are in this village right on the border between armenia and nagorno—karabakh. we can see the refugees coming through the border to armenia. here in this tent, they are being registered. people are fleeing with their belongings because they are afraid, theyjust don't believe they can be safe in nagorno—karabakh under azerbaijan rule. some people told me they don't expect to get home ever. azerbaijan is promising not to target civilians and to respect the rights

of ethnic armenians living in the region. the problem is lack of trust. armenians do not believe they can be safe under azerbaijan rule, that's why they are fleeing with all their possessions. now to ukraine, where the country's special forces claim a missile strike killed the commander of russia's black sea fleet on friday in occupied crimea. in a statement, a military spokesman said admiral viktor sokolov died in the attack, but wouldn't name him directly when approached by the bbc. the navy building in sevastopol suffered a direct hit by western—supplied missiles. our correspondent in kyiv, james waterhouse, has more. we have seen a lot of russian missiles land in ukrainian cities that moscow can't control. it was without doubt dramatic. the site of western supplied missiles directly hitting the building, it was also significant notjust for significant not just for ukraine in significant notjust for ukraine in terms of its attempts to try and we

commercial�*s control on a peninsula it has occupied so firmly for the past nine years but it was also significant for russia too because it is through its black sea fleet that it has exerted such dominance in terms of how it launches continued missile strikes across ukraine from areas blockading ukraine imports but until now it's been unclear what the operational significance of this strike was for russia. today we had a flurry of claims from ukrainian special forces, flurry of claims from ukrainian specialforces, leading to have killed 3a senior officers who were having a meeting at the time including the commander of the black sea fleet, admiral sokolov. we have got in touch with a military spokesman in ukraine who refused to name him directly but they stand by the reports, and a lot of pro—ukrainian channels are taking a lot of delight from this. the kremlin has yet to comment on these latest planes and we don't expect them to. but i think we can expect a

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

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

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

determine whether or not this case continues, whether it continues, thejudges continue to hear the merits of the case brought by ukraine arguing that russia used fake claims of a genocide in order to justify the invasion. a day of mourning has been marked in kosovo following the death of a police officer in a deadly clash between ethnic serb gunmen and police belonging to the albanian—led government. the interior minister of kosovo says at least six men suspected of participating in deadly clashes in northern kosovo on sunday are now in serbia. police are continuing to search for others involved in the ambush and subsequent stand—off at a monastery. kosovo is a small landlocked country in the balkans in southern—eastern europe. it borders albania, north macedonia, montenegro and serbia. many serbs consider it the birthplace of their nation. but of the 1.8 million people living in kosovo, 92% are albanian and only 6% serbian. the rest are bosniaks, gorans, turks and roma.

our balkans correspondent guy de launey has more. we've had a reminder of the human cost of the ongoing tensions between kosovo and serbia and the issues with the ethnic serb minority in north kosovo. that's because of the funeral of the police officer who was killed at the start of sunday's shooting. ambassadors and government ministers came to his funeral. but perhaps the words which will stick strongest in people's minds, were delivered by his daughter. she said she didn't know how she was going to live without her father, but she thought that kosovo would be proud of his sacrifice and of his heroism. when it comes to the events of sunday, the initial shooting and what carried on throughout the day with at one point police saying that they had an armed group of 30 men surrounded near a monastery in north kosovo — we still have more

questions than answers. there are six people in custody at the moment. only two of them are believed to have been shooters. and that leaves a question about where all the others have gone. kosovo says that it believes six people are being treated at a hospital in serbia and it wants the authorities to hand them back to kosovo. serbia, of course, has said that the killing of the police officer was reprehensible, but it's blamed kosovo for stoking tensions, which led to the shooting. the european union, for its part, is reminding everybody that the facts need to be discovered before we can draw any firm conclusions about what actually happened. and it's calling on both serbia and kosovo to de—escalate tensions urgently. president biden has confirmed that the united states will establish diplomatic relations and recognise the independence of the cook islands and niue. though self—governing, the two small pacific nations are part of a free association with new zealand, which currently conducts most

diplomatic relations for the islands. mr biden�*s announcement came ahead of a washington summit with pacific island leaders — held on monday. the conference is widely viewed as part of an american charm offensive to counter growing chinese influence in the strategically important region. the white house says the talks will focus on key priorities including climate change, economic growth, sustainable development, public health and countering illegalfishing. live now to retired us admiral mark montgomery from the foundation for defense of democracies. thank you forjoining us. this is the second time president biden has met pacific island leaders injust over a biden has met pacific island leaders in just over a year. biden has met pacific island leaders injust over a year. is it about a charm offensive, what value do you put on these partnerships?— partnerships? thank you for havin: partnerships? thank you for having me- _ partnerships? thank you for having me. and _ partnerships? thank you for having me. and yes, - partnerships? thank you for having me. and yes, this i partnerships? thank you for having me. and yes, this is| having me. and yes, this is undeniably good that president

biden, antony blinken and their teens are meeting with 18 pacific island states, again, only a year after the last meeting. and look, we have often... there is a good package of assistance and diplomatic support on the table. i think it is aimed at trying to prevent chinese economic coercion and political and manipulation in the area. and i think $40 million as part of the floor of, the president accidentally said 40 billion but clearly it is more in the 40 million range. ijust don't know if the totality of these efforts, if it is enough to counter the chinese efforts to displace the united states, australia and new zealand has the historical partner of choice in the region. indeed, we heard _ choice in the region. indeed, we heard president - choice in the region. indeed, we heard president biden . choice in the region. indeed, l we heard president biden said last week at the united nations that he wanted to responsibly manage competition, as he put it, between the us and china so it, between the us and china so it didn't dip into conflict.

how important is summat like this in terms of building on preserving or improving the china relations? i preserving or improving the china relations?— china relations? i think this summit is— china relations? i think this summit is more _ china relations? i think this summit is more aimed - china relations? i think this summit is more aimed at l china relations? i think this i summit is more aimed at our partners and in some cases allies and it is a broad swath of issues, notjust security being dealt with, the fisheries issues, maritime domain awareness, consumer issues, certainly a lot of climate change issues associated with rising sea levels, that these countries experience at a much greater risk than the rest of the world. so i think it's really focused on them but part of it is a competition with china and trying to show them that what we offer is part of a broader package and that's a bit different than what the chinese have on the table. find chinese have on the table. and on that, chinese have on the table. and on that. the — chinese have on the table. and on that, the us _ chinese have on the table. and on that, the us confirmed today that it will recognise the independence of the cook islands and niue. what message

does that send to china? i think we're to make very clear that for these states, these two are with new zealand, there are three others with the united states, we have a deep level of support for them, these are countries we are going to invest in, but with all of them, trying to demonstrate that we are going to provide them with the diplomatic, economic and security support they need. find security support they need. and on that effort _ security support they need. and on that effort to _ security support they need. and on that effort to win hearts and minds, the solomon islands did not send its prime minister, something the biden administration said it was disappointing. what if anything should be read into that decision by the prime minister not to attend? i decision by the prime minister not to attend?— not to attend? i believe that's the impact — not to attend? i believe that's the impact of _ not to attend? i believe that's the impact of chinese - the impact of chinese investments in both economic investments in both economic investments and political investments and political investments in the solomon islands over the last few

years, and the united states not being aggressively involved. it is to be expected, the chinese have made strong efforts there, so i think the united states should take that lesson is we need to be more gate engaged in this region, it has economic value to the united states, it has security value to the united states and that has a cultural legacy of us support throughout world war ii and since. us support throughout world war ii and since-— ii and since. what is your assessment _ ii and since. what is your assessment of _ ii and since. what is your assessment of the - ii and since. what is your i assessment of the stability ii and since. what is your - assessment of the stability in the south china seas? was the philippines saying it had removed a floating barrier installed by china to block filipino fishing boats entering a contested area. i filipino fishing boats entering a contested area.— a contested area. i think the chinese move _ a contested area. i think the chinese move to _ a contested area. i think the chinese move to place - a contested area. i think the chinese move to place the l a contested area. i think the i chinese move to place the float in there was part of a pressure campaign on the philippines. it's very clearfrom campaign on the philippines. it's very clear from the tribunal�*s ruling was that both countries have access to fishing rights. the chinese

have a nine dash line, it was not a valid basis for sovereignty. the united states needs to be strong in this, we needs to be strong in this, we need to reinforce the 2020 statements that secretary pompeo had, making it clear we don't recognise these illegitimate moves by china in the south china sea in the same way we don't recognise illegitimate moves by russia in crimea and eastern ukraine. united states needs to be clear about that, support our filipino allies, and also where the philippines are being pressured by the chinese in a relentless campaign.- pressured by the chinese in a relentless campaign. retired us admiral mark _ relentless campaign. retired us admiral mark montgomery, - relentless campaign. retired us i admiral mark montgomery, thank you so much forjoining us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making the news.

the us is investigating an "attack" on the cuban embassy in washington. in a statement, national security advisorjake sullivan called it "unacceptable". cuba's foreign minister posted photos on x, formerly twitter, of two molotov cocktails that hit the building sunday. nobody was hurt. it occurred just after cuba's leader returned to the island after events at the un last week. the speaker of canada's house of commons apologised for praising a ukrainian man who served in a nazi unit during world war ii. the 98—year—old received a standing ovation in parliament after speaker anthony rota called him a hero during a visit by ukrainian president zelensky. mr rota says he takes full responsiblity for his actions. scottish—born actor david mccallum has died. known for playing a secret agent on the hit 1960s spy drama the man from u.n.c.l.e and more recently as pathologist dr mallard on the hit cbs tv show ncis. mr mccallum's family called him a "true renaissance man, fascinated by science

and culture." david mccallum was aged 90. you're live with bbc news. here in washington, the us government is due to run out of money if congress doesn't pass a spending bill by the end of month. president biden says republicans, who control the house, should honour the spending deal negotiated with the white house back in may. we have a small group who don't want to live up to that deal. america can face paying the price for that. —— couldn't face. republican hardliners want more spending cuts. a partial shutdown could result in paycheque delays for millions of americans, air travel distruptions and impacts to public programmes focused on everything from poverty to environmental safety. the longest strike to hit hollywood in decades may be nearing its end. screenwriters and studio bosses in the us have reached a deal to end a walk—out that's halted the film and television industry since early may. the writers guild of

america says a tentative agreement was reached. but before the wga returns to work, its 15,000 members still have to vote to ratify the deal. experts say writers were likely successful getting most of their demands met, some of which were: gaining higher pay and increasing retirement and health benefits protections from content produced using artificial intelligence, increase residuals for under—compensated reuse markets and strengthening regulation of options and exclusivity in writers' employment contracts. presidentjoe biden has since issued a statement applauding the writers' union. he said it did not come easy, but "its formation is a testament to the power of collective bargaining. there simply is no substitute for employers and employees coming together to negotiate in good faith toward an agreement that makes a business stronger and secures the pay, benefits, and dignity that workers deserve." actors, meanwhile,

are still on strike — with similar demands. 65,000 members of sag—aftra union have been on strike sincejuly. earlier, i spoke with duncan crabtree—ireland, who's executive director and chief negotiators of the screen actors guild. thanks forjoining us. if i can start by asking you about the wga deal, what does it mean for you and your members, are you happy about it?— happy about it? definitely i'm ha - happy about it? definitely i'm happy about _ happy about it? definitely i'm happy about it _ happy about it? definitely i'm happy about it and _ happy about it? definitely i'm happy about it and i'm - happy about it? definitely i'm happy about it and i'm happy| happy about it and i'm happy for the writers' guild and their members in the industry. it gives me a bit of optimism that the companies, the studios and streamers might be ready to come back to the table with us soon and hopefully in a mindset of fairness and respect. i haven't seen the specific terms of the writers' deal yet but i'm eagerly looking forward to seeing that and to seeing how it might impact our prospects for moving forward with the companies. he

for moving forward with the companies-_ companies. he “oined the writers in _ companies. he 'oined the writers in their- companies. hejoined the writers in their strike - companies. hejoined the writers in their strike in i companies. he joined the l writers in their strike in july writers in their strike injuly and you said the talks broke down shortly afterwards, is there any indication of getting back to those talks again? i mean, i don't have any specific indication but of course the fact that the writers were able to get in the room with the ceos and reach a deal is in itself something that gives me some level of optimism, because while our proposals are not the same and obviously the writers' guild represents writers and we represent actors and those are not the same occupation, our themes and philosophies are very much aligned. sign i'm hopeful that reflects the kind of progress that will help us move forward towards a deal but i do want to be the cautious and make sure everybody understands we are not the same union, we have our own independent priorities and we are going to be looking to achieve those key goals we've been talking about 474 days in the striker long before that, in order to reach that fair

deal. what are some of those key goals for your new members? 0ne key goals for your new members? one of those rooms is to measure the minimum compensation for the lowest paid workers among our 160,000 members keeps up with inflation, so that they don't make less money in 2023 than they did in 2020 or even worse, make less money in 2026 in real terms than they made in 2020, that's just not ok and that's really important piece for us. also, guardrails and protections around the use of ai, we are not saying ban it but we are saying if you are going to use it to create digital replicas of performers, to use theirface digital replicas of performers, to use their face or voice or likeness without the person themselves being involved in a project, you have to have their informed consent about that use and you have to pay them, give them fair compensation for that. whatever other big priorities we have talked about is the streaming services need to share some of the revenue they generate, it is the talent

whose creativity and performance has allowed those service to exist so we proposed a 2% revenue share for the revenue contribution of those streaming shows, the companies never responded to that proposal but it is really important and i think coming in with a mindset of fairness, respect, those are the kind of things that will help make sure the strikes come to an end in the strikes come to an end in the near future.— the near future. how is the strike affecting _ the near future. how is the strike affecting your - the near future. how is the i strike affecting your members at the moment in a practical way this mob is the sum of them are very well—known and very wealthy but not all of them are jealous of the vast majority are not in fact. we do have members who are very successful and well—known. but members who are very successful and well-known.— and well-known. but the vast ma'ori and well-known. but the vast majority do — and well-known. but the vast majority do not _ and well-known. but the vast majority do not make - and well-known. but the vast majority do not make more i and well-known. but the vast i majority do not make more than $26,000 a yearfrom acting. in fact that's not even enough so they can earn coverage under our health insurance plan. we are talking about working people and is a mention, a bunch of our proposals are focused on things like minimum wages, there are not things

that affect big stars, they affect working people who are trying to keep up with inflation, pay their bills and take care of the kids. that's what we're fighting for and also for just what we're fighting for and also forjust a against what we're fighting for and also for just a against abusive people —— but a piece of people because my image and likeness through ai, and that's something that all of us should be concerned about.— something that all of us should be concerned about. october has been a sort _ be concerned about. october has been a sort of — be concerned about. october has been a sort of line _ be concerned about. october has been a sort of line in _ be concerned about. october has been a sort of line in the - been a sort of line in the sand, after that point, the damage to the studios would hit a catastrophic point in terms of financial lawsuits. are we getting to that kind of point now, do you think?- getting to that kind of point now, do you think? there have been significant _ now, do you think? there have been significant losses - now, do you think? there have been significant losses to i been significant losses to everyone in the industry as a result of the strikes having to happen and the people that i first worry about are our members, the writers and also the crew members, who are members of the teamsters, all of whom have been put out of her by the situation. and frankly, the companies could have been talking to us 74 days

ago, they could have talked to the writers' guild, it was over 120 days before they reached out to the writers' guild. so it's been disastrous that the companies have refused to talk during this entire time but i am very glad that they are finally getting back to it, glad they've made a deal with the writers' guild and i hope they are ready to come back to they are ready to come back to the table with us imminently and give us a chance to actually find that fair deal that could be the industry back to work. i also think the companies should be contributing just like our members are and other unions are to the relief funds that are to the relief funds that are helping to take care of people who have been devastated by this. as much as people want to talk about the balance sheets on things like that i think it's the impact on people thatis think it's the impact on people that is what we should be most focused on. we that is what we should be most focused on-_ focused on. we will wait to see what happens _ focused on. we will wait to see what happens next. _ focused on. we will wait to see what happens next. duncan, i what happens next. duncan, thank you so much forjoining us. thank you so much for “oining us. ., ~' thank you so much for “oining us. ., ~ , ., precious samples collected from an asteroid have

arrived at a houston, texas lab for analysis. the material, taken from what's been described as "the most dangerous rock in our solar system", came down to earth in utah in a nasa spacecraft. it's the largest ever sample from an asteroid that has made it to earth — and it's an achievement nearly 20 years in the making. here's how it happened. american scientists first pitched the idea to nasa in 2004. it wasn't until their third attempt in 2011 that the project was finally approved by nasa. five years later in 2016, scientists launched 0siris—rex into space. on december 3rd 2018, the capsule arrived at asteroid bennu. 0siris—rex collected a sample from bennu in october of 2020. then on may tenth, 2021, 0siris—rex began its journey back to earth, leading us to this weekend's events. on sunday, it successfully landed back here on earth. scientists hope the samples will provide some answers about how life began more than four billion years ago. stay with us here on bbc news.

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

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

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

joe biden is set to join car industry workers at the picket lines in michigan. we look into what's at stake for the us president. nissan's chief executive tells the bbc the car—maker is accelerating plans toward electrification even as the uk takes its foot off the pedal. hello and welcome to asia business report with me, arunoday mukharji. we begin in the us, with the strike affecting the auto industry, because the us presidentjoe biden is expected to join workers on the picket line in michigan later today. the industrial unrest has highlighted a clash between the president's support for unions and his push for clean energy. 0ur north america business correspondent michelle fleury has the latest from new york.

the fight between america's biggest car companies