hello, and welcome to bbc news. in the final weekend of campaigning ahead of tuesday's us mid—term congressional elections, president trump has been addressing voters at rallies in montana and florida. his message focussed on economic growth and immigration. he referred to barbed wire going up on the southern us border as a "beautiful sight." his predecessor, barack obama, has also taken to the campaign trail, warning the character of america is at stake. danjohnson reports from washington. the presidential plane in front of

montana's snow—covered the presidential plane in front of monta na's snow—covered mountains. winter is coming, and so is donald trump. clocking up the miles repeating his familiar campaign themes. a strong economy, record job numbers, promises of tax cuts and tough talking on iran and immigration. remember the war? well, it still isn't ill. so instead it is troops to the mexican border and talk of tent cities. we have our military now on the border. applause . and applause .and| applause . and i noticed all that beautiful barbed wire going up today. barbed wire, used properly, can be a beautiful sight. what's the president doesn't say is that the current group heading through mexico is made up of only a few thousand migrants and there are still a few thousand miles, and probably months away. he claims this is one of america's most important elections.

so do the democrats. a raqqa bomber gave this sort of criticism former presidents usually avoid. they are hopeful of taking control of the house of representatives and frustrating the president's lands. on tuesday you can vote for a politics that is decent. for a politics that is decent. for a politics that is honest. for a politics that is honest. for a politics that is lawful. for a politics that is lawful. for a politics that is lawful. for a politics that tries to do right by people. record numbers have already voted. there are more rallies to address, more crowds to please. in the final few days, it looks like turnout will be high. let's look at some other stories in brief. the husband of a christian woman in pakistan who spent eight years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy says they want to leave the country as it is not safe for them to remain in the country. ashiq masih appealed for him and his wife, asia bibi, to be granted asylum in the united states, canada or britain.

iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, has declared that donald trump's policies are opposed by the rest of the world as washington prepares to reimpose sanctions on iran's oil and financial sectors. he said the us had failed to re—establish the domination it once exercised over iran before the islamic revolution in 1979. people in the french pacific islands of new caledonia are voting in a referendum on weather to remain part of france, or become independent. —— whether. long queues have been reported at polling stations. the vote was promised as part of a peace deal reached in 1988, after a violent campaign by separatists. the island chain is home to the world's largest nickel mine. in syria, a united nations aid

convoy has managed to reach a refugee camp holding more than 50,000 people. it is the first aid delivery to make it to the camp in nine months without being blocked by one of the various sides. in recent weeks, shortages of food and medicine in the camp have led to at least a dozen deaths. leicester city players and officials are flying to thailand to attend the funeral of the club's owner, vichai srivaddhanaprabha, who died in a helicopter crash last week the funeral began at a bangkok temple on saturday. the players will attend the service after winninmg their their first game since mr vichai's death. don't forget you can find lots more background about the issues dominating the campaign on our website. just go to bbc.com/news — or download the bbc news app. eight children have been injured in an accident at a fairground

here in the uk. it's thought a giant inflatable slide collapsed at the site, south of london, ahead of a firework display. some of the youngsters have been taken to major trauma centres in the capital, with serious injuries. andy datson was at the fireworks event. he told us what he saw. there were three or four children that i could see on the floor, i know there were eight, but from what i could see there were three or four. they were being treated by emergency personnel. there was...then they came over and asked people to leave, to evacuate as soon as possible. thankfully woking park has a got quite a few exits, so we were able to do that. but there were at least nine or ten ambulances, dozens and dozens of emergency personnel, and it was very, very quickly obvious that the situation was very serious.

leicester city players and officials are flying to thailand to attend the funeral of the club's owner who died in a helicopter crash. the team beat cardiff i—o in their first game since the crash, which also killed four other people. it was an emotional day at the stadium, with many players and fans in tears. joe wilson has more. saturday afternoon, going to the game. nothing could appear so normal, except, for leicester city right now, nothing is normal. there is consolation in a familiar routine, familiar faces. and everywhere still was the image and the memory of the man whose investment made leicester champions. all our thoughts are obviously still with the family. the funeral is today. we have just come to support the boys because i think leicester has been through a tough week and we just want to show our love and support for leicester and the leicester team. applause.

the coach bringing the leicester team to cardiff stadium this afternoon was applauded by supporters from both sides. what happened last weekend in leicester has touched football as a sport, as a community. in cardiff's match day programme, a tribute to vichai srivaddhanaprabha. around the ground, supporters voicing their own. this is no ordinary foot while match. the outpouring of grief, the support for him, of course it is there to win, but i think, going back to his memory... do you know what? he became one of us. inside the stadium, all those who died were honoured, and every travelling member of leicester city's staff and squad joined the minute's silence. these expressions don't need words. for the same man, a different ritual was unfolding in thailand. a royal temple for the funeral of vichai srivaddhanaprabha.

an elaborate ceremony. in his home country he may have been perceived differently — as a skilled businessman, but a private person, successful at making political connections. the rituals there will continue and leicester players will attend. two very different cultures, connected by football. many leicester fans in wales talked to me today about their owner's legacy, a legacy which belongs in football grounds near and far. of course, it matters to fans that leicester city won a close, competitive match here this afternoon but, beyond that, today's game proves that leicester city football club remains, after everything that has happened, just that. a club proudly playing football. that was a tough game, notjust on the pitch but i think mentally it was a tough game for all of us. you know, i think there is a lot of exhausted people in there now. but, yeah, i'm immensely proud of this team, i'm immensely proud

of this club. the way everybody has handled themselves has been unbelievable. remember, leicester city's triumph was built on a bond between players, supporters and owner. after a week of despair, that bond remains. and maybe it is actually deeper than ever. joe wilson, bbc news, cardiff. ireland's prime minister, leo varadaker, has warned that britain's planned departure from the european union has undermined the long—standing peace deal in northern ireland. the bbc‘s political correspondent chris mason says there's concern that a hard border could provoke a return to violence. because i think he is well aware to just how exposed ireland is to brexit and, in particularly, to a no—deal brexit, a situation where, come next march,

when brexit is due to happen, the uk leaves without a withdrawal agreement with the european union. now, he said, as the british government say, that he is confident there will be a deal but, crucially, they have not yet arrived at this thing called a backstop — an insurance policy to ensure that border remains open if there isn't a trade deal negotiated in the medium term that ensure it can stay open anyway. and the eu is insistent there absolutely has to be that insurance policy which both sides will agree upon. at the moment they both have an idea for an insurance policy but they cannot agree on it. the businessman arron banks has returned to the uk as he faces allegations that multi—million pound donations he made to groups backing brexit may have broken electoral law. mr banks denies any wrongdoing, insisting the money was his. but the national crime agency, is investigating whether the donations came from "impermissible sources." manveen rana's report contains some flash photography. arron banks was in bermuda when the news broke

that he was facing a criminal investigation. as he landed at gatwick airport this morning, it seemed the holiday was definitely over. will you be showing us your accounts? will you be showing us where the money comes from? the man behind one of the biggest political donations in british history is now being investigated by the national crime agency to determine the true source of his pro—brexit funding. arron banks supported the campaign through a series of loans. he maintains the £8 million he provided came through his uk—based company, rock services. however, the electoral commission suspects the money came from the parent company, rock holdings, registered in the isle of man, making it an illegal source of funds under electoral law. that's not the commission's only concern. they also question whether mr banks is actually the true source of the money he provided

for the brexit campaign. he denies any wrongdoing and insisted that no money had come from russia. well, it just hasn't. the money came from me. we're going to co—operate with the nca and they'll have visibility to the entire accounts, won't they? mr banks, why won't you show the electoral commission your rock holdings accounts? goodbye! despite a year—long investigation and a grilling by a commottee of mps, arron banks has failed to show the authorities accounts for his isle of man company, rock holdings. although he now claims he will. with a criminal investigation under way, mr banks faces many more months of difficult questions. manveen rana, bbc news. the radio presenter paul gamba genie has received a pay—out from the crown prosecution service over the way it has handled on founded historical sexual abuse allegations against him. he was arrested in 2013

after claims he sexually assaulted to make teenage boys in the 1980s. he has always denied the allegations, calling them completely fictitious, and he spent a year on bail before the case was dropped. arriving at the bbc studios in central london this morning to host his radio two show, pick of the pops, paul gambaccini declined to comment. the veteran broadcaster, known as the professor of pop, has been paid an undisclosed sum by the crown prosecution service over unfounded allegations of historical sex offences. in a statement, a cps spokesperson said... the 69—year—old, in an interview with the daily mail, talked about how his life had been turned upside down following his arrest, claiming... mr gambaccini was arrested following allegations he had

sexually abused two boys in the 1970s and ‘80s — claims he said were fictitious. the cps dropped the case and wrongly suggested his accusers were underage. mr gambaccini began legal action while calling for changes in the law. if we are to have a just society, we must have anonymity before charge. because what we had during this recent five years was anybody could make an accusation against anybody, whether they knew them or not, and would get publicised. since the cps announcement, the bbc has released a statement to say paul is valued and appreciated. that is why he presents two much—loved shows. frankie mccamley, bbc news. this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump has been speaking to rallies as campaigning intensifies ahead of the us mid—term elections. he was cheered when he did that

barbed wire would have and migrants breaking through the country's southern border. —— would prevent migrants. eight children have been injured after an inflatable slide collapsed ata after an inflatable slide collapsed at a fireworks display in surrey. now, the world is losing plants at an unprecedented rate, with around one in five thought to be at risk of extinction — so the race is on to store back—up copies in seed banks. not all species can be preserved in this way, including many trees. our science correspondent helen briggs reports. coming down into the vault itself. buried beneath the sussex countryside, a bomb—proof, flood—proof, radiation—proof vault. it contains store rooms kept at —20 degrees. we put our coats on... and everywhere you look, there are seeds. the scale of the operation. large seed collections in these kilnerjars. you can see all of these, drawer after drawer after drawer,

90,000 collections of 39,000—plus species. seeds from nearly every country can be found within these walls, an insurance policy against the extinction of plants in the wild. but not all seeds can be preserved in conventional seed banks. it doesn't give full cover for some very important groups of plants, particularly threatened species, rainforest trees and even in the uk, some iconic species, the oaks, their seeds cannot stand drying and cannot be frozen. we need to work on alternative methods. one alternative being tested is cryopreservation. it involves separating the plant embryo from the rest of the seed. in this state, it can survive very cold temperatures. when thawed out, it will grow into a new tree. this baby oak tree has come out of the deep freeze and is starting to grow. trees in a test tube could be

the answer to protecting our forests in the long—term. trees face many threats in the wild, from climate change to diseases like ash dieback, which can wipe out whole populations. scientists say it's crucial we have a back—up. and scientists say there's a need for more investment if we're to stop many of our plants from being lost forever. helen briggs, bbc news. a new public transport system in the northern italian city of bologna, rewards citizens for taking sustainable modes of transport. the bbc‘s ‘world hacks' team has been exploring the social and environmental benefits of taking residents out of their cars — and encouaging them to move aroud the city in a greener way. travelling green can now earn you free stuff, like beer, ice creams or cinema tickets. so how does it work? in the italian city of bologna, and antipollution scheme

is rewarding people who get out of their cars and cycle, walk or take public transport instead. it is called bella mossa or "good job". urban planner, marco amadori, set it up in 2017, to make sustainable travel more appealing. so first you download the betterpoints app. log your green journeys and finally swap your points for rewards. for the first time we have been able to involve all people. everybody will have the possibility to change a car trip in to a bike trip or a bus trip and be able to get some discount for good behaviour. over 100 local businesses have signed up to give away discount vouchers and people compete against each other to see who can earn the most points. we decided to try it out. travelling green around the city over a few days. 200 points for that journey. i still need quite a few more to be able to get a cinema ticket. the system of point collection

is based not on the distance you travel but on the single trip because it is important that even if you go an a short trip of one kilometre, you do it in a sustainable way. a gps tracker makes sure people do not cheat and are using the form of transport they say they are. the app also shows how much co2 you saved on each journey. you can only log fourjourney each day so people have to keep using it over time to win rewards. grazie. prego. so that cost me about 3000 points. bella mossa only runs for six months of the year and has been funded by the eu and bologna's local government. so is it making a difference? last year bella mossa recorded 3.7 million kilometres of sustainable journeys just here in bologna. over 16,000 reward vouchers were claimed. so far, in the first three months of this year, 10,000 people have already used it.

translation: it encourages people to get moving. loads of physical activity is always good for people's wellbeing. it is very fun but we also do it for the rewards. so i think more and more discounts would be better. being able to create music without hearing it worked for beethoven — and now it's working for one londoner, kevin walker. he goes by the name of signkid, and his story is inspiring others — and notjust those with hearing impediments. kevin was 11 years old when he realised music was his passion.

he had already seen michaeljackson videos and he says he could feel the beat of the music through the moves. he studied a course at a special music school in hackney, called deaf rave. i think one of the advantages of music production is it's very visually based. you can see a lot of what it is you're doing. he is a natural beat maker. the lyrics he writes about, well, he is very much reflecting on life, his experiences, the way he sees things, and he's a very tuned in individual. soon kevin was performing his own music in front of thousands of people and he explains how his attitude helped achieve his ambition. great advice there.

now, one summer in the early 1980's, two american friends argued about who could survive better in the wild. to try and settle the matter, they got two agricultural paint guns, shot at each other, and a unique sport was born. it is of course, paintballing and is enjoyed by millions around the world. our witness team spoke to charles gaines, paintballing's coinventor. paintball originated with a bet between myself and my best friend charles gaines. he was a very successful stock trader on the new york stock exchange. he believed the capacity to survive and do well is an inherent, inborn talent. he would argue he could be a survivor anywhere. i spent my life in the woods

hunting and fishing. i argued, on the other hand, that survival is more a function of learning certain behavioural tactics. and that they are environmentally specific. and i said to him, if you came up to new hampshire and went out in the woods with me, you wouldn't have a chance. a friend of mine sent me a catalogue that had a pistol, and it shot a little ball of paint about this big, and it was used by foresters to mark trees to be cut down and so forth. and i had one of those eureka moments. two things coming together. i called him up and i said, i figured out how we're going

to prove this argument one way or another. so i ordered two of these guns and a bunch of the pallets and he came up to my house and we decided we would test these guns out, because as far as we had known, nobody had ever shot a person with them. he shot first and he missed. and i shot him right in the butt. and it hurt. so then, what we did, we went out into a0 acres of woods, and he went at one end and i went out the other and we hunted each other. within about 20 minutes i came around a big maple tree and he was sitting on a rock and i walked right up behind him, put the barrel of the gun right on his neck and said, all right, i don't want to shoot you. who wins? we had so much fun doing this that we decided we didn't want to just drop it there. what we would do, we would invite ten other people who had demonstrable survival capacity, who had distinguished themselves by succeeding in whatever chosen line of work they got into more than normally. the first official game of paintball

was played injune of 1981. the original game required four flag stations and those flag stations were marked on a topographic map and each competitor was given, along with a gun, i think we gave them ten pallets, a pair of goggles, a compass and this map. so that game rewarded stealth, woods skills, strategy. we started up a company called national survival games, and set up franchises. and what we quickly found out was that what people wanted to do was shoot. we had fields all over the country. the idea of running through the woods, competing and, in a way, sort of symbolically surviving. those go way back into our genetic development.

he's triumphed at the tour de france and holds a clutch of world and olympic titles. now cyclist geraint thomas has taken on a new challenge on a visit ofjapan. but as andy beatt reports it didn't exactly go to plan. sobbing bikes for baseball. the idea of hitting balls straight into the crowd is perhaps a little off base. as the front row took cover, the welshman channelled his best babe ruth only to connect with the fan base in a whole new way. cue an

apology and a hasty invitation to meet the team. i enjoyed that. well, managed to get one person in the face, but apart from that, though, it was good. a good reason perhaps to get back to what he does best. a charity event with the champion racing some young challengers. he's a bit better than he is making out, so a bit better than he is making out, so no, well, it is a race, isn't it? on sunday, thomas is set to don the yellow jersey again and on sunday, thomas is set to don the yellowjersey again and face stiffer competition as japan hosts a series of world—class cyclists. time now for the weather. hello there. the weekend so far has brought a real mix of weather. dry for some, wet for others. for a few, very wet indeed. this is the satellite picture. look at this beautiful swirl of cloud. a deep area of low pressure just here, drifting to the north—west of the british isles. this band of cloud, a frontal system which has

brought quite a lot of rain in some places during saturday, and is still sitting in place for the first part of sunday. the rain fizzling away, at least for a time. patches of rain across lincolnshire, the midlands, east wales as we start the day. sunny spells throughout the day, parts of the south—east getting away with a completely dry weekend. and further north, sunshine and a much drier and brighter day across scotland on sunday. lots of sunshine to be had. the odd shower in the north—west. black wind arrows indicate wind gusts in excess of a0 miles an hour. wind still quite gusty across the north—west. 12 degrees in belfast, a nice looking afternoon for northern ireland. a bit more cloud across england and wales, with the odd spot of rain. east anglia and the south—east escaping dry and fine. this rain pushing into the far south—west of england,

likely to turn heavier as we get into the first part of the evening, drifting into western wales. maybe getting a bit further east. i think for most places, if you're off to a fireworks display on sunday evening, it'll be dry and relatively mild as well. that sort of thing continues for bonfire night itself. let's pick up the story weatherwise as we go through late sunday evening into the early hours of monday. rain fringing across western parts of the uk. further east, largely dry. the odd patch of mist around, and those temperatures not dropping fast, while they're continuing to come in from the south. this is the pressure pattern on monday morning. another area of low pressure, a new one, developing to the south—west. this front just grazing its way across western parts of the british isles. parts of south—west england, west wales, particularly northern ireland and western scotland. we could see a bit of rain through the day, that rain coming and going, not raining all day long. further east it will be dry with spells of sunshine and very mild indeed, 15 or 17 degrees. really, it's more of the same on tuesday. bands of rain scraping their way into western parts of the uk. further east, largely dry with some spells of sunshine and, wherever you are, once again, it will be mild. mild is the big theme to take us through the week ahead. wind and rain at times, but not all the time.

this is bbc news, the headlines: in the last weekend of campaigning ahead of tuesday's mid—term elections, president trump focused on economic growth and his hard—line stance on immigration. democrat leaders have warned the character of america is at stake. polls suggest the democrats may win control of the house of representatives.