♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by...

woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> this is bbc ameri. cuba accuses is ally russia of trafficking its citizens to fight in the war in ukraine. less than a month remaining to avert a government shutdown, the u.s. senate is back in session. controversy continues with the world cup champions spain,

women's soccer team, who have now fired their coach. hello and welcome to world news america. cuba says they have uncovered a human trafficking ring, and it has all to do with the war in ukraine. the government says it is aimed at recruiting cubans to fight for russia in ukraine. in a statement, they are working to neutralize and dismantle human trafficking network. they added cuba is not part of the war in ukraine. the small island nation a few has been an ally of russia since 1969, but these trafficking allegations show a rare lack of harmony between the two nations. meanwhile, we continue to file -- folloreports that russia's president vladimir putin will

meet north korean leader kim jong-un. a u.s. official told the bbc partner cbs that the two leaders claim to meet this month to discuss the possibility of north korea providing moscow with weapons to support his war in ukraine. in a recent development, russia did not confirm the meeting. when asked about it, a kremlin spokesperson said they had "nothing to say." while ukraine makes advances, first lady alayna zelenka will host a summit dedicated to mental health. dozens of countries are expected to participate, although the exact number and names of the guests all caps for security reasons. the ukrainian first lady spoke to the bbc about the impact of the war on mental health in ukraine and within her own family. >> first lady olena zelenska, thank you for taking the time. i went to ask you about the

summit you are hosting. if you could tell me a little bit more about it. ms. zelenska: thank you very much. we started this in 2021, and luckily this works. we could see it basically from the first days and weeks, with russia's full scale invasion of ukraine and 2022. as first lady of ukraine, i saw it starting to help straightaway. it became faster when the first ladies or gentlemen get involved, so in a couple of days, it will take place, which will be the topic of mental health. it is an important scene for discussions in many countries, therefore this year we gather the record number of ladies and

gentlemen, as well as a record number of experts. >> you got this national campaign for mental health called "how are you" but i guess how often do people ask you how you are? ms. zelenska: it is difficult question. i could respond honestly, which will be a long answer, and a time for this interview will not be enough. all i can respond is the way we respond here to each other. i'm holding on, really for a year and a half now, we cannot be sure about tomorrow. we don't have confidence in our future in a month or two. we have a huge hope for victory, but we don't know when it comes, and as long wait, constant stress, it has its toll, so everyone finds their own way here to deal with it. for me, at work, including our interview, because when you have a reason to wake up and go to

work, it does not give you a chanceo stop and think, why this is happening to us, and very much supported by stories of ukrainians every day. there is a story of saving, health, heroism, and it inspires me a lot. i'm holding on to that, and so are, i think, most of my colleagues and friends. >> how do you deal with other strains on your family? i mean, for example, your husband being compared to winston churchill? how do yorespond to that? ms. zelenska: well, it depends on the way you like to look at winston churchill. of course, he is an historical figure. i did not dream about my husband becoming an historic person. maybe it is selfish, but i need

a husband, not a historical figure beside me. but on the other hand, if it is about a leader who loves his country through the difficulties of war, that kind of comparison would be accurate, and i love it. he really does have the energy, inspiration, and stubbornness to go through this war, so we finally see our long awaited victory. i believe in him, and i support him. i know that he has enough strength, for any other person i know, i think it would be much harder to handle this situation. he really is a very strong and resilient person. and this resilience is what we all need right now. >> the manhunt for escape convicted murderer continues in pennsylvania nearly one week

later. august 31, danelo cavalcante escaped. he was spotted on home surveillance video on monday night. they think he is traveling at night and hiding during the day. to draw him out of hiding, police helicopters and vehicles are broadcasting a message, recorded by cavalcante's mother in portuguese. cbs news was told that he is desperate, dangerous, and probably exhausted. we are trying to keep him on the move. this is what we do get his desperation will not outlast our dedication. the u.s. senate returns back to session on tuesday, with a big

to do -- fund the government or risk a shutdown. . a short-term funding measure is expected to be on the plan, alongside funding for ukraine and disaster relief aid. earlier i spoke with andrew, senior congressional reporter, about what happens ahead. andrew, the clock is ticking, just 25 days until a potential shutdown. if politicians do not agree on appropriation bills to fund the government with the next fiscal year, is the senate bracing for that? andrew: yeah, i would say absolutely that is the case. you have members of the house majority calling for all of these conditions to be added to a government funding bill, even a short-term one, whereas in the senate, they want to pass thinking into by themselves time to do full year appropriations. you will see this come to a head

where senate publicans and house republicans at starting to increasingly speak out and make their views known on this. of course senate republicans and house republicans will not be on the same page here. >> do you expect them to be on the same page then? andrew: lok, i think it is always possible, especially with a deadline, but as of right now, nobody knows how to get there. we are in a situation where we know what the solution is. the solution is a stopgap, short-term funding bill. nobody knows how to get to that point right now. the senate of course already back this week. those conversations will accelerate, but they a going to need some sort of short-term patch in the meantime, because they do not have enough time to pass all of the full year, fiscal 2024 appropriation bills before the end of this month. it is not realistic. >> senate majority leader chuck schumer has been warning people

against what he calls hostagetaking sing earlier this year, but based on what you -- seen earlier this year, but based on what you're saying, it will be the 11th hour. andrew: senate majority leader kevin mccarthy, when he is saying is we need to kick the can down the road a little bit more, give us more time to have an upper hand with the senate and our appropriation bills, where you have a lot more conservatives in the house that areaying they will not go along with that request, and they will make it as stable as possible for him. and -- make it as painful as possible for him. this will be an issue. >> do you think kevin mccarthy will get that freedom caucus under control? andrew: he has shown a willingness to entertain that request, ever since he got elected as speaker in january, but he has not had much success in actually mollifying them and satisfying them. >> at issue is the farm bill

that is set to expire, which supports farm measures and so on. do you think they will have that deadline? andrew: you have to pair the farm bill with the faa reauthorization, the federal aviation those are long term authorizations. it is quite difficult to extend with a short-term patch, but it sounds like they will need to do that. the house has already cleared their version of the faa bill, and neither chaer has touched the farm bill yet, so, again, there's a lot of work to be done, and as i mentioned before, it is not realistic to expect it all gets wrapped up before the end of this month. so they will need to do some short-term patch. i think the most realistic weight will be government funding, the faa, the farm bill, and maybe some of president biden's supplemental appropriation requests all into one piece of legislation. the latter part of that is the disaster recovery money for

fires in hawaii, flooding in vermont, the hurricane we saw in florida, and of course money for ukraine and for the u.s.-mexico border. so that is going to be something that, you know, you are talking realistically here, the way to wrap up is to get all of these done in a timely manner as to put all of them together in one piece of legislation. >> if i can just ask you then briefly about senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, who seems to have two moments in front of the cameras in recent months, what is the latest on his health? andrew: this morning, leader mcconnell's office pu out a letter from his position saying that he consulted with leader mcconnell's neurology team and concluded there was no evidence of a seizure disorder, no evidence that he had suffered any strokes or is suffering from parkinson's disease or something like that. they said it was just basically the normal course of his recovery from that fall he had a washington, d.c. hotel during

march of this year, during which he had a concussion and broke a rib. he spent six weeks away from the capital recovery from that injury, and what doctors are saying basically is something that could happen as you are recovering from this type of injury. the problem here is that his office has not given much more detail other than what i just outlined, and a lot of republicans, very quietly, are wondering how much longer mcconnell can go on as senate minority leader and as leader of the senate republican conference, more importantly for them, knowing that they have so many critical stretches coming up and they will need someone who is in that leader scott who is 100% there -- spot, who is 100% there, ready to fight for what they say they are going to do in government. >> all right, andrew the city every -- andrew desiderio, thank you for joining us. mitch mcconnell's house has been a big talking point, and he briefly addressed this on tuesday.

sen. mcconnell: one particular moment back home has received his fair share of attention in the press over the past week, but i assure you all this was a busy and production -- august was a busy and productive month for me and my staff back in the commonwealth. >> the cost-of-living prices is increasingly being felt by the world's children. lebanon is one country heavily affected. families met $1.5 billion of the country's annual education cost, with the government spending only 1.2 billion dollars. runaway inflation has led to major drugs and household income, spikes in private school fees, and a nationwide teacher strike. now 50% of households have taken children out of school to it as part of our series on how the world's children, the bbc's caroline hawley has been speaking to families,

compromising futures to make ends meet. caroline: there's no other option for children he but to go -- grow up fast. catherine has been working, selling cigarettes. >> i am trying to get the money, and because it is better than being in the streets. caroline: i asked him if he prefers school or work -- >> school. caroline: selling vegetables for a living, but prices have risen so fast, these are now a luxury for many people in lebanon. the global pricing prices is hurting a country already suffering an economic meltdown and currency collapse. nine out of 10 families cannot afford the basics anymore. >> i could not afford to send him to study. working is not the best thing for him, but it brings in money. caroline: together, they help

make sure the whole family has what they need to growing numbers of children are having to do the same. lebanon's poor are getting poorer. this family never had much, but until three years ago, use enjoy school. then even that became a luxury. he dropped out and started cleaning other people's houses. she's 14 now. two of her sisters were married at the age of just 13. >> i was in school, but i had to leave, because i cannot afford to go. at least at school, you dream of your future. caroline: and now? >> i stop dreaming. i can continue my schooling -- i could not continue my schooling. caroline: nine-year-old karim and six-year-old adan are

getting ready for school. eir 14-year-old brother is already at work at a supermarket. the mother works two jobs and is looking for a third. their once decent salary is now not enough for middle-class people who have fallen into poverty. another works at school in the kitchen, part of the project funded by the world food program, employing mothers of schoolchildren, given them some income, keeping their children in school, and them and their classmates properly fed. >> they asked for sandwiches for the parents. so many students asked us, can i have thifor my mom? they knock on the door of the kitchen every day. not one or two. caroline: and it did not used to be like this? >> no. i had never seen them do that before. caroline: the children's fund

says one in 10 families in lebanon do not send their children to school anymore, because they cannot afford to. it is a sensitive issue which brings a bear is met, even shame. most of the street sellers here are searing refugees, but more and more lebanese -- syrian refugees, but more and more lebanese children are joining them. up-and-down this country, families have had to sell belongings as well as send their children to work. mohammed is 15, and he works for the whole family. his father cannot work after he injured himself falling from a ladder. mohammed has been out of school since he was 11. there's no time anymore to see his friends. >> we cannot go to school. we need to provide for our family. caroline: i asked him how that felt. >> i'm suffocating.

suffocating. but i have to put up with it. some people pay me not to get any closer. [horns honking] caroline: he's out here day in and day out, all hours, one of many forced to for their families, a childhood a stressful daily grind. >> the head of the champion world soccer team has been fired. the federation named the country's first female head coach after firing the coach. they did not give a reason for the firing, but he is an ally of

the country's football federation president, who is under fire after he kissed a player on the lips. our reporter has more on the development. >> jorge avila, the coach of spain's wilco -- world cup winning football team has been sacked, and the feeling is he has been sacked in great part because of his close relationship with luis rubiales, the controversial president of the federation, has been suspended by fifa, footballs will governing body, because of the kiss he gave in sydney, a kiss he said was consensual and she says was not. now the government is trying to remove mr. rubiales from his

post, and that process is taking longer than the government would like, however, the federation is taking this measure to remove his ally, jorge vilda, and that is seen as significant, as the federation tries t turn the page on this whole affair, even though mr. ruby alice -- rubiales remains in his post. a new coach has been a new coach has been opposed -- appointed, montse tome, who was in vilda's coaching staff, and she was the first female coach of spain's women's team. >> two workers have been arrested in northern china after allegedly damaging a section of china's iconic rate all -- great wall. steve mcdonnell reports. >> machinery tracks were a getaway, and you can imagine the scene. the police have arrived. there's the great wall of china and there is a few hole in it. and they simply follow this

trail down to where there are a couple of people sitting next to an excavator. i know this will seem shocking to people across the world, but just to explain a little bit what it is like, the great wall of china is really a series of structures that goes over vast areas, right across northern china, all these different types of battlements and different states of disrepair, built at different times. and actually, a law of the destruction to the part of the great wall, that's what they're talking about here come a portion i was built between the 14th and 17th centuries, a lot of the destruction to that great wall is because farmers had stolen stones, bricks from the great wall, and used then to buildarmhouses, pig pens, and the like.

over recent years, the government has gone to a lot of trouble to protect the wall, because, of course, is so important historically, and culturally for chinese people, and while those local farmers might be blase about smashing of a section of it, i can tell you a lot of people in china will not be happy about this, and these two people who have been caught by the police, well, they are in a lot of trouble. >> as stephen was describing, parts of t great wall had disappeared in recent years, as challenging climate conditions and human activity have been eroding it. it'll form from the beijing times suggests more than 30% of the main -- a report from "the beijing times" suggests more than 30% of the main great wall has been eroded. u.s. first lady jill biden has has a positive for covid-19. she is separated from joe biden

and is currently expressing mil symptoms. it comes before president fighting assent to travel to the group of. 20th summit in india. -a. . man charged with deliberately running down a family in ontario, canada began with jury selection. he faces four counts of murder and one count of attended murder. that 2021 attacked intentionally targeted to families for their islamic faith. u.s. president biden will nominate former u.s. president obama's treasury secretary jack lew to be the u.s. ambassador to israel. the white house announced on tuesday. if confirmed, it will be a position filled that had be left empty for months.

in alabama, lawmakers refused to create a second district where black voters can at least come close to comprising a majority. back in june, alabama lawmakers take the lead drew new voting districts after the u.s. supreme court said they likely violate of the voting rights act. remember, you can find more about all of the day's news on our website, bbc.com/news. i'm katrina perry. thanks for narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

♪ >> good evening. >> on the "washington week with the atlantic" tonight, congress returns to washington facing a deadline to keep the government funded >> and concerns about the senate leadership. >>the former leader of the far right militia group the proud boys is ate