strategy, undersecretary state blanket and under the national security adviser but also under president biden has been fairly straight and forth right now. i think this is some free ranging by speaker pelosi. doesn t have a reputational impact in the united states? of course it does. but beneath the surface, as we all know, the administration is desperately trying to stop talk speaker pelosi out of it. as a friend and partner of the united states but now heading a think tank, i would also urge speaker pelosi simply to postpone the visit, send some other congressional representatives at this stage. they are so many tender boxes at the world of the moment. why unnecessarily add an additional tinderbox when we ve got so much else we are wrestling with?- else we are wrestling with? kevin, thank yom the us secretary of state, antony blinken, says the us has offered a substantial deal to russia, aimed at freeing american detainees brittney griner and paul whelan. mr blinken sa
how is the strike affecting you? are you working from home? did you have a trickyjourney to work? do you support the strikes? we d like to hear your thoughts. get in touch with me on twitter @annitabbc and use the hashtag #bbcyourquestions. in other news, a senior ukrainian official says russian forces have almost captured the strategic city of severodonetsk, with ukrainian forces holding on to just one factory. a russian nobel peace laureate auctions his medal for £81; million to raise funds for children displaced by the war in ukraine. and to mark his 40th birthday, new photos are released of prince william selling the big issue we look back at his four decades in the spotlight. good morning. the biggest rail strike in 30 years is under way, with an almost total shutdown of the network in england, scotland and wales. members of the rail, maritime and transport workers union are staging the first of this week s three 24 hour walk outs due to an ongoing dispute over pay, p
rubbish will keep on getting bigger. we ll be live with our business and political correspondent, and assessing how whoever s our next prime minister will deal with these strikes and the cost of living crisis. also this lunchtime. an attempt to cut the price of school uniforms by removing unnecessary branding. a bbc investigation has revealed an online community secretly sharing and trading sexual images of women without their consent. and the duke and duchess of cambridge are moving their family to a new home near the queen in windsor. and in the sport on the bbc news channel, england confirm they will play test cricket in pakistan for the first time in 17 years when they tour the country in december. good afternoon. criminal barristers in england and wales have voted for an all out strike next month, joining a wave of industrial action as workers seek pay rises to keep up with high inflation. some barristers say they earn less than the minumum wage. the government claims st
has voted to stop transgender athletes from competing in women s elite races if they have gone through any part of the process of male puberty. as the conflict in ukraine continues the new head of the british army tells his troops they should be prepared to fight in europe once again . it s two hours until voting closes in the final round of parliamentary elections in france, with president emmanuel macron facing an alliance of left wing parties. good afternoon. the transport secretary says it s not for the government to intervene to try to prevent three days of strikes on the railways this week. grant shapps dismissed calls from the rmt union to get involved in the dispute as a stunt, saying it s for the employers and unions to reach an agreement. mr shapps says the strikes would be an act of self harm . the labour leader, sir keir starmer, says the government wants the strikes to go ahead to sow division in society. here s our political correspondent, damian grammatic