the business news now with samantha simmonds. we begin in the us and the strike action affecting the auto industry. because us presidentjoe biden is today expected to join workers on the picket line in michigan. the industrial unrest has highlighted a clash between the president's support for unions and his push for clean energy. 0ur north america business reporter, erin delmore, joins me. good to see you. joe biden�*s visit comes a day before donald trump is due to visit the picket line. is it more about politics or the issue at hand for the president question both candidates are vying for a crucial block of voters in the 2024 election, and even though it is more than a year away they are focused firmly on it. michigan is a critical swing state, a must win for biden and donald trump, as you saw when he won in 2016. president biden took the state in 2020. they are peeling to the workers and try to show solidarity. president biden is standing with union presidents and shoulder to shoulder with the union workers on strike, and he's putting a face and a picture to the statement he's been making that he is the most pro—union president in history. what is challenging for him as he is driving his prounion stance with his clean energy push, which requires a transition to electric vehicles. they require fewer workers and rely on workers whose jobs aren't unionised, and donald trump is sticking to this and pointing it out, and we expect to hear more from him. ~ . g ., �* �* , out, and we expect to hear more from him. . , , him. what will joe biden's presents mean for those _ him. what will joe biden's presents mean for those striking _ him. what will joe biden's presents mean for those striking workers? . mean for those striking workers? will it give them more added weight in their negotiations? some will it give them more added weight in their negotiations?— in their negotiations? some workers sa it will in their negotiations? some workers say it will bring _ in their negotiations? some workers say it will bring attention _ in their negotiations? some workers say it will bring attention and - in their negotiations? some workers say it will bring attention and heft i say it will bring attention and heft to the arguments. when he says workers should get a fair contract, he harkens back to 2008 when the crisis. they took a lot of concessions. joe biden says profits are up so workers should get a record deal. they think having the biggest voice is helpful. president biden doesn't have an active role at the negotiating table.— biden doesn't have an active role at the negotiating table. thank you for the negotiating table. thank you for the u date. the international energy agency has warned fossil fuel demand will need to fall by 25% by the end of this decade if governments want to limit the rise in global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius. the iea added coal, oil and natural gas all need to be replaced by clean energy if the world wants to keep on track to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. speaking to me earlier, the head of the agency put the onus on governments to lead the change. what we do is we look at the numbers. scientists around the world, they all agree in order to have a livable planet, we can see the temperature and increase maximum 1.5 celsius. if it is higher than that, the current extreme weather events will be much more severe and more frequent. what is a source of this temperature increase, fossil fuels. coal, oiland gas. if we this temperature increase, fossil fuels. coal, oil and gas. if we want to limit the temperature increase, we have to use these fossil fuels much less than today. the climate change issue is an issue which cannot be left to the markets only. governments should be in the driving seat, but of course providing the incentive to the markets. when it comes to their decisions, especially in advanced economies, we would like to see advanced economies in fact increase their emissions. this applies to all advanced economics. some breaking news from nigeria, their main workers union plan to start an indefinite strike next week to protest against the cost of living crisis, after the government scrapped a popular but costly petrol subsidy. i'm sure we will cover its more in further detail. jp morgan chase has agreed a settlement with the us virgin islands over the bank's association withjeffrey epstein, and his human trafficking operation. it involves a $55 million payout which will go to local charities and assisting victims. the settlement could bring an end to damaging lawsuits that revealed details of the bank's ties to the late sex offender. meanwhile, jp morgan also reached a settlement in its claim againstjes staley— who previously became acquainted with epstein as a senior private banker atjp morgan. jp morgan has denied any responsibility for epstein�*s crimes. in the us, there are fears that millions of americans may not recieve their pay and welfare cheques this weekend as right—wing republicans block attempts to pass a budget. the next financial year begins on sunday and, so far, the party hasn't even managed to advance a short—term funding bill. president biden has said funding the government is one of the most basic, fundamental responsibilities of the congress — and lawmakers who refuse to should stop being elected. the tech giant meta, which owns facebook, instagram and whatsapp, has paid £149 million, orjust over $180 million, to break a lease on one of its london office buildings. that's been revealed by the property developer british land. meta has let the space from 2021, following a refurbishment, but has never actually moved into the space. meta is in the midst of a jobs—cutting programme that is likely to impact on its need for office space. sick days have soared in british workplaces, according to new reseach by the chartered institute for personnel and development, along with simplyhealth. workplace absence is now higher than at any point in the past ten yea rs. before the covid—19 pandemic, we were taking an average of 5.8 sick days every year. that's now gone up to 7.8 days. the cipd has described the rise as a "worry" and blamed stress, covid and the cost—of—living crisis. i asked her what is behind the figures. it i asked her what is behind the fiaures. , . , ., , i asked her what is behind the fiaures. , . , ., figures. it is a big leap and we haven't seen _ figures. it is a big leap and we haven't seen absence - figures. it is a big leap and we haven't seen absence levels . figures. it is a big leap and we | haven't seen absence levels as figures. it is a big leap and we - haven't seen absence levels as high as in 15 years. i think it is a complex picture. when we look at the causes of long—term absences, and short—term, we can see mental health and stress figure. mental health is the leading cause by far. behind those statistics, also sets a backdrop of very challenging few years for people, notjust backdrop of very challenging few years for people, not just a pandemic but the cost of living crisis. we know many worries can contribute to stress, and we also see musculoskeletal injuries as well feature quite prominently. there's a lot going on in terms of health and absence. pare lot going on in terms of health and absence. �* , absence. are they the same in the office and home? _ absence. are they the same in the office and home? we _ absence. are they the same in the office and home? we didn't - absence. are they the same in the | office and home? we didn't collect the data like _ office and home? we didn't collect the data like that. _ office and home? we didn't collect the data like that. we _ office and home? we didn't collect the data like that. we looked - office and home? we didn't collect the data like that. we looked at i the data like that. we looked at when you are working when you aren't well. we compared those figures. they are high for people working at home and in the workplace. that is the other end. it is a complex picture. there is a high level of absence but a high—level people working when unwell. employers need to understand what is going on with absence and ill—health and their employees in their own organisation. did you look at the truth behind people's claims? are some people putting off going back into the office, used to being at home? does it come into it? he. office, used to being at home? does it come into it?— it come into it? no, not really. the fiuures it come into it? no, not really. the figures don't _ it come into it? no, not really. the figures don't suggest _ it come into it? no, not really. the figures don't suggest that. - it come into it? no, not really. the figures don't suggest that. this - it come into it? no, not really. the figures don't suggest that. this is l figures don't suggest that. this is absence data collected by organisations, added covers 6.5 million employees. that is a big chunk of the market. mental ill—health and stress were real concerns before the pandemic. we've had crisis upon crisis since then as well. i think it is a wake—up call. i want to ask you, this will be costing businesses hugely, financially, lost output. what do they need to look at to reduce the number? ~ ., they need to look at to reduce the number? ~ . , , , number? what support they can rovide number? what support they can provide an _ number? what support they can provide an signpost _ number? what support they can provide an signpost to _ number? what support they can provide an signpost to it. - number? what support they can provide an signpost to it. it - number? what support they can l provide an signpost to it. it could be occupational health, counselling, and assistance programme. but also, even small organisations can do a lot, who haven't got a big budget. they can put in place good people management. line managers are a gateway for health and well—being support. they manage sickness, return to work, they can make changes. sometimes flexibility can really help people to manage the symptoms of their illness and carry on working. symptoms of their illness and carry on working-— on working. around the world and across the — on working. around the world and across the uk, _ on working. around the world and across the uk, this _ on working. around the world and across the uk, this is _ on working. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc - on working. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. l pounding the streets of the capital ahead of a poignant anniversary, and this perhaps the most pain. the croydon custody block where this man was fatally wounded. time to reflect on a piece of art created in his honour. the friends finished a few miles of this emotionaljourney accompanied by a police patrol boat, accompanied by a police patrol boat, a silent sentinel on the embankment as they took the last step on an 85 mile trek from east sussex to scotland yard. i mile trek from east sussex to scotland yard.— mile trek from east sussex to scotland yard. i think one of the thins, scotland yard. i think one of the things, everybody _ scotland yard. i think one of the things, everybody has _ scotland yard. i think one of the things, everybody has a - scotland yard. i think one of the things, everybody has a story i scotland yard. i think one of the i things, everybody has a story about matt. his legacy is enduring. his time as a police officer, whether his coaching through rugby, everyone that came in contact with him has a story to remember. you're live with bbc news. straight to reaction on what bp and listening to from the uk home secretary, the speech in washington about illegal immigration. let secretary, the speech in washington about illegal immigration.— about illegal immigration. let me tell ou about illegal immigration. let me tell you what _ about illegal immigration. let me tell you what the _ about illegal immigration. let me tell you what the agency - about illegal immigration. let me tell you what the agency has - about illegal immigration. let me tell you what the agency has told | tell you what the agency has told the bbc, the convention on refugees remains the cornerstone of protection and is relevant and critical now as it was when it was drafted. the agency was reacting to suggestions the convention was quotes absurd and unsustainable and needed reforms. the refugee agency said the convention had saved millions of lives and pointed to the conflicts in ukraine and sudan. they disputed the claim 880 many people could qualify as refugees, saying there were 35 million refugees in there were 35 million refugees in the world, the majority led to low income countries. all of the talk of the river g crisis, she said there isn't one. —— refugee crisis. she went against the distinction of persecution and distinction. she was making those on people who were fleeing because they were gay. she said the refugee agency knew there were people fleeing for their lives because they face threats because of their identity, orientation or gender. she denied it needed updating, saying it remains as applicable as ever. but what is needed and international will and commitment to abide by the obligations to the refugees under the international legal framework. robust comments from suella braverman, but equally robust responses from the refugee agency, speaking to the bbc. we will have more on that in the next few moments. saudi arabia's first non—resident ambassador to the occupied west bank has pledged that the palestinian cause will be a "cornerstone" of any normalisation deal with his country. nayef al—sudairi was speaking after the arrival of the gulf kingdom's first delegation to the west bank for three decades. he met palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. israel's tourism minister haim katz arrives in saudi arabia for the first such high—level public visit there. saudi arabia and israel are looking to forge formal bilateral ties. those are the pictures from the visits. those are the pictures from the visits. live now to our correspondent — tom bateman. your analysis of what we've seen? what we've seen is a day of firsts in the evolving public diplomacy of the middle east. you mentioned haim katz, who it has emerged visited rree had and will spend two days at the conference. the point is this is the conference. the point is this is the first public and official visit by an array is —— israeli to saudi arabia. we've had the first visit by saudi arabia's newly appointed ambassador to the palestinians. he's beenin ambassador to the palestinians. he's been in occupied west bank in the seat of government of the palestinian authority. this is the first visit by a saudi official in at least three decades. what is going on in the background is that american driven process to try and forge normalisation of relations between israel... it would be a historic realignment of ties between two old adversaries. it would be a three—way deal because the us would underwrite it and it would controversy me in the us giving assurances to saudi arabia. 0ne assurances to saudi arabia. one other things in that shopping list is they want advanced american weapons. they want the ability for rich uranium for a power programme. all of it normalising ties with the israelis. these are a long way off, it will be months, but we've heard signals, not least from the leaders from all countries, this process is continuing. from all countries, this process is continuing-— from all countries, this process is continuinr. ., ., , continuing. thank you for taking is throu~h all continuing. thank you for taking is through all of— continuing. thank you for taking is through all of that. _ ukraine is seeking to clarify whether a senior russian naval commander actually died in an attack last week. on monday, ukraine had said the leader of russia's black sea fleet, admiral viktor sokolov, was killed by a missile strike on their headquarters in crimea. russia, though, says the commander is in fact alive. sokolov appeared via video link in a meeting between russian officials — just a day after ukraine claimed he was dead. the video images have not yet been verified. the russian defence ministry says the meeting took place today. with more — here's our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse. not confident language coming from the ukrainian special forces today. i think it stops short of rowing back. but in a statement they have said they are they are looking for clarification, citing what they now call open sources when they claimed that 34 senior officers, including admiral sokolov, were killed in this missile strike last friday. now we have the initial claim from kyiv yesterday, this triumphant claim as to the senior officers who have been taken out, they say, but we had no evidence to accompany that. and this is always the issue when we're talking about deep into russian occupied territory. and today, this morning, the kremlin spokesman, dmitry peskov, said we have nothing to say about the claims coming out of kyiv in regards to who may or may not have been inside the naval headquarters in sevastopol, which is such a significant command structure and location for both russia's occupying forces and as well as in terms of a desirable target for ukraine. and then we have this statement from the special forces, which says, basically, we're going to double check after footage was released by russia's defence ministry, as you say, of what they say was a recent meeting where you can see admiral sokolov dialed in on a video call. and again, even with the meeting, it is difficult to verify just when it took place and whether it was indeed admiral sokolov appearing on the large screen on the wall and even by the standards of this information war. this has been a particularly difficult one, where typically, even if there is a falsehood put out by one side, you won't see the other instantly correct it. for example, there is a bit of a nuance here. there is a typical game that is played, but it is clear that russia has wanted to respond quickly whether that response is true or not. just with kyiv�*s claims yesterday, it's too early to tell. satellite images show sea ice around antarctica this winter shrank to its lowest since records began. the reduction byjust over a million square kilometres equates to an area the size of egypt, easily beating the previous record low in 1986. scientists say the sea ice never fully recovered from its record summer shrinkage this year. the loss of pack ice directly affects breeding penguins and other reliant animals, but it doesn't raise ocean levels because it is already formed of seawater. just a quick pointer on what will concentrate on, because one of the things we are verifying is some of the claims made by suella braverman in the speech in washington. that the claims made by suella braverman in the speech in washington.- in the speech in washington. that is alive nae, in the speech in washington. that is alive page. we _ in the speech in washington. that is alive page, we will _ in the speech in washington. that is alive page, we will have _ in the speech in washington. that is alive page, we will have plenty - in the speech in washington. that is| alive page, we will have plenty more reaction to the story in the next while. just going through those she made and verifying. more in the next few minutes. water companies in england and wales have been ordered to repay customers a total of £114 million, after failing to meet key targets. the industry's regulator, 0fwat, said that firms aren't performing well enough on issues including leaks and reducing pollution. the money will be returned by reducing household bills. 0ur environment correspondent jonah fisher has the details. this is the water companies' end—of—year report. written by regulator 0fwat, it assesses their performance against a number of indicators such as plugging leaks, the quality of the water supply and whether they have managed to reduce the number of pollution incidents. for most of the 17 companies, it's not pleasant reading. there is no top of the class this year, with none getting the highest score. ten were rated as average, and seven told they are lagging behind. poor performance comes with financial consequences. thames, the uk's biggest water company, is firmly bottom of the class. it reported an increase in serious pollution incidents and will have to hand back about £100 million next year. if shared out equally among its customers, well, it is pocket money, a bit more than a fiver, and will be swallowed up by other inflation—linked rises. water and sewage here in wales is a bit different to england. it is run by a not—for—profit company, but its performance still isn't good. it has failed to hit its targets for stopping leaks and has been rated as lagging by 0fwat and told to pay back £24 million to its customers. several water companies have been judged to be doing so well that they can charge customers more next year. severn trent will get an extra 88 million, much to the disbelief of this wild swimmer in shrewsbury. i'm pretty surprised that they are being rewarded, yes, because there is still sewage spilling into the rivers. we're trying to swim in the rivers and clean them up. obviously, it is notjust the sewage and notjust the water companies that cause pollution problems, but to see any water company being rewarded while there are still sewage spilling into the river doesn't seem right at all to me. responding to 0fwat, the water companies' trade body water uk looked for the positives. there has been important progress in some areas. for leakage, that is down 7% since 2020, come down every year since the start of the decade. next week, the water industry will be producing its plans for massive investment in infrastructure. if that is approved, bills will rise still further. jonah fisher, bbc news, in cardiff. an nhs trust has apologised after it failed to send out 24,000 letters to patients and their gps because of a computer error. newcastle hospitals said the problem, which dates back to 2018, is significant and the healthcare regulator has asked for assurance that no—one's treatment has been delayed as a result of the mistake. sharon barbour has the story. the unsent letters date back to 2018, when a new computer system was introduced. many are discharge summaries, which explain what the care was that the patient received in hospital and what medications the patients need to now take. but there are also a significant number of unsent letters from specialist clinics which may spell out that urgent treatment is needed. all these letters are vital for a patient�*s continuing care. it is very important because, one, we will have the results of the investigations, that is very significant. and also, frequently there are tests which have been undertaken, blood tests and scans and so forth. so it's very important that we know the result of that. and also once the patient has been to the outpatients, medication, tablets, what is going to be prescribed in future for the patient? so how has this happened? it appears that when it comes to discharge summaries, at least, one person would draft it and prepare it for a second person to sign the top. that second person had to make sure that on their computer, they changed their status to signing clinician. if they didn't, the discharge summary wouldn't leave the hospital as the consultant expected it to. instead, it went into a separate folder that one consultant told me they didn't know existed. it was hidden. an action plan now sent to the cqc says the trust will immediately deal with a 6000—letter backlog from the last year alone. more than 1200 of those relate to medicine and emergency care. consultants have also been asked to record incidents of patient harm as a result of the backlog. in a statement, newcastle hospitals trust said, "a review is under way. if any concerns are identified, we will inform patients and their gps directly. we are taking this issue seriously and we are working quickly to put things right." the cqc says after receiving concerns from staff, they took immediate action to understand the extent to which people may be at risk, and evidence of the steps being taken to review the impact on patients. we have a busy hour coming out, so don't go away. we have a busy hour coming out, so don't go away-— we have a busy hour coming out, so don't go away. we've had that speech from suella braverman, _ don't go away. we've had that speech from suella braverman, and - don't go away. we've had that speech from suella braverman, and we'll- don't go away. we've had that speech from suella braverman, and we'll be l from suella braverman, and we'll be hearing from both sides and verifying some of the things she said. we have that coming up, and we have president biden in detroit. we have president biden in detroit. we have live pictures, and we will get the latest from spotter by in their views on al. a busy 60 minutes, which is after the weather. hello there. it's a little bit more unsettled today than what we had yesterday. we had some heavy even thundery rain around this morning. most of that is clearing northwards. that's going to leave an afternoon of sunny spells and scattered showers. so some eastern areas actually staying dry altogether. so there they are, a couple of weather fronts which have brought the rain through this morning, continuing to move their way northwards, taking its time to clear, i think from northern scotland. but for the rest of scotland, northern ireland, england and wales, it's an afternoon of sunny spells, blustery showers, most of the showers towards the west, many eastern areas staying dry, feeling quite pleasant as well. pretty decent temperatures for this time in september, up to 23 degrees in the south east, mid to high teens further north and west. the showers rattle on for a while this evening across northern areas. then they fade away. winds turn lighter. clear skies, it could turn quite chilly across some of the scottish glens, but the temperatures will start to rise across the south ahead of storm agnes starts to throw up stronger winds and cloud from the southwest. so storm agnes then will be plaguing much of the west of the uk on wednesday with rain and gales and the system looks like it's going to barrel across ireland. so i think here where we see the biggest of the impacts, heavy rain spilling northwards as we go through the day. but the winds could cause some concern around irish sea coast. parts of the northern and western wales, northwest england, south west scotland could see gusts up to around 60 to 70, maybe 75 miles an hour. but less than that further inland. heavy rain also pushing northwards across many western areas, but actually much of northeast scotland, central eastern england, escaping all the action and staying largely dry. some sunny spells quite breezy, though. temperatures up to 22 degrees closer to the mid—teens further north and west where we have the rain and gales. storm agnes continues to barrel northwards during wednesday night across scotland. could see some gales and heavy rain here. but then we're in between weather systems for thursday. so a quieter day, i think, we should see quite a bit of sunshine around, especially across eastern areas. cloud tending to build out west though, as the next frontal system pushes into northern ireland, then into western scotland, other parts of western england and wales later in the day. temperatures a little bit lower, up to 20 degrees in the southeast, mid to high teens further north. and it's quite a mixed picture as we head through friday and the weekend. low pressure always fairly close by. looks like most of the rain will be in the north and the west, southern and eastern areas tending to hold on to the dry weather. see you later. live from london. this is bbc news. uk home secretary suella braverman says failing to control migration poses an "existential challenge" to the west. uncontrolled immigration, and adequate integration at the misguided dogma of multiculturalism has proven a toxic combination for europe over the last few decades. the exodus ramps up. over 19 thousand ethnic armenians leave the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh. we'll speak to our correspondents on the border with armenia. spotify�*s chief explains why the audio streaming giant will not ban content created by artificial intelligence.