welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: the rhetoric heats up ahead of next week's midterm elections. president trump says the american economy is the best its ever been. a blistering attack on donald trump from iran's supreme leader, as the us prepares to re—impose sanctions on the country. eight children have been injured after an inflatable slide collapsed at a fairground in the uk. and a minute's silence as leicester city play their first game since the death of the club's owner last saturday. 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 focused 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 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 wall? well, it still isn't built. so instead it's troops to the mexican border

and talk of tent cities. we have our military now on the border. applause. and i noticed all that beautiful barbed wire going up today. barbed wire, used properly, can be a beautiful sight. what the president doesn't say is that the current group heading through mexico is made up of only a few thousand migrants and they‘ re still a few thousand miles and probably months away. he claims this is one of america's most important elections. so do the democrats. barack obama gave the sort of criticism former presidents usually avoid. they are hopeful of taking control of the house of representatives and frustrating the president's plans. on tuesday you can vote for a politics that is decent. for a politics that is honest. 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 on tuesday will be high. don't forget you can find lots more background on all the stories we're covering, including the us midterm elections, on our website — just go to bbc.com/news — or download the bbc news app. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has launched a blistering attack on president trump ahead of the united states reimposing sanctions on the country's economy. they're due to take effect on monday. more from the bbc‘s middle east analyst, sebastian usher. as the hours tick away to the reimposition of sweeping us sanctions on iran, the rhetoric from the country's supreme leader has been

predictably fiery and defiant. translation: the us is much weaker today than it was a0 years ago when the 1979 revolution was victorious. the power of the us is on the decline. this is the important point. most of the world's politicians and global affair analysts believe that the us‘s soft power is worn out. it is being destroyed. president trump himself was singled out by ayatollah khamenei, who described him as bringing disgrace on his country and to the very notion of liberal democracy. certainly, mr trump's aim from the moment he pulled the us out of the nuclear deal has been to exert maximum pressure on iran, notjust to curtail what he sees as its continuing quest for nuclear weapons, but to rein in its involvement in conflict across the middle east. at this year's un general assembly, mrtrump rammed home that message once again. all us nuclear related sanctions will be in full force by early november.

they will be in full force. after that, the united states will pursue additional sanctions, tougher than ever before, to counter the entire range of iran's malign conduct. any individual or entity who fails to comply with these sanctions will face severe consequences. the sanctions are hitting iran's most vital source of income, oil. the trump administration has said it wants to reduce its output to zero but it has already given waivers to eight countries, allowing them to continue trading with iran in diminished quantities. the other signatories of the iran deal have said they will still honour the agreement and are setting up ways to do so. but iran's businesses are already in dire straits. the currency has been in freefall for months. anti—government protests have sporadically taken place across the country since the start of this year,

fuelled by the failings of the economy. this is the vulnerability of iran's political leaders that the us is hoping to exploit. in his customary style, president trump is presenting his iran policy as if it were a prime—time tv drama. but, on the streets of iran, the latest showdown with the us is a bitter finale to the hopes for a better life raised by the nuclear deal in 2015. sebastian usher, bbc news. 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. all of the patients have been taken to "major trauma centres" — one flown by air ambulance. 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 are flying to the funeral of vichai srivaddhanaprabha the club ‘s owner. it was an emotional day at their last game. 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. this is no ordinary football 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. fish farmers in iraq have been left struggling, after thousands of dead carp were found floating down the river euphrates, south of baghdad. local people depend on the fish both

for food and for their income, as lebo diseko reports. this river might look peaceful, but its waters are the scene of a deadly mystery. thousands of lifeless fish floating down the river euphrates in the province of babylon in iraq. no one knows what is killing them, but the impact has been devastating. around 90% of fish in local farms are thought to have died. translation: i have 28 fishponds with 50,000 fish. the losses amount to $80,000. i woke up and found all the fish floating dead. it is not clear of the issue comes from the water, pollution, or poisoning, but there are fears that water and food supplies could be contaminated. many local people depend on fishing for their livelihoods. it provides food and is key for the economy.

iraq exports nearly 30,000 tons of fish each year, according to un figures. the health ministry has taken samples were from the river and the dead fish and the tests are still ongoing. in the meantime, people nearby are trying to manage their losses. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: how an argument between france became a multimillion dollar business— paintball. the israeli prime minister yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated. a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested and an extremistjewish organisation has ta ken responsibility for the killing. at polling booths around the country they voted on a historic

day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear — the monarchy would survive. for the american hostages there was no chance, they are being held somewhere inside the compound and there have been threats that should the americans attempt rescue they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyager one is now the most distant man—made object anywhere in the universe, and itjust seems to keep on going. tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the rhetoric heats up ahead of next week's midterm elections. president trump claims the american economy is the best its ever been and there's been a blistering

attack on donald trump from iran's supreme leader, as the us prepares to re—impose sanctions on the country. bad weather is hampering the recovery of a cargo ship that ran aground outside iceland's capital, reykjavik. the vessel appears to have missed the entrance to a harbour near helguvik in poor weather and hit the rocks. there are also fears of an oil spill, but the icelandic government is yet to decide on how to act. georgina smyth has more. a ship is stuck on rocks outside reykjavik. it is cold wet and windy in the middle of the night. 14 sailors stranded on board, but the icelandic coastguard helicopter retrieves them, a rescuer breaking every during the operation. translation: the circumstances were difficult. it was dark. we were using nightvision goggles.

but there was a lot of like all around, which can be distracting. but luckily visibility was fair and there were clear skies but strong winds. the 3000 tonne ship which was carrying concrete from denmark, is still wedged up on a sea walljust outside the harbour of helguvik, near the capital. translation: it was much worse this morning with waves washing over the ship on the boardwalk. there are fears it could be leaking oil. iceland's notoriously wild and changeable weather is making difficult to check, but there is a strong smell of fuel in the air. government officials have been meeting to discuss retrieval efforts, but it seems the bad weather which caused the incident is likely to further delay a decision on its recovery. georgina smyth, bbc news. tens of thousands of islanders in new caledonia

in the french pacific have been voting on whether their territory should remain an integral part of france or become independent. the vote was promised as part of a deal three decades ago after a violent campaign by separatists from the indigenous ka nak people. the world's largest nickel mine is sited on new caledonia's main island. our correspondent phil mercer is following events from sydney. he explained what the referendum means for islanders. they are being asked one of the most fundamental questions they are ever likely to hear. do they want to stay part of france, or do they want to go it alone as a nearly, freshly minted independent country? this is a nation that was colonised by france in the 1850s. there has been ethnic unrest over the years and at the heart of the independence campaign are the indigenous kanak people. they make up about 40% of new caledonia's population. they complain, in many instances,

of persistent discrimination and economic inequality. their campaign is about having the right to self—determination. on the other side of the debate you have many new caledonians who are worried about what it would mean financially of the country was to break away from france. so you have two distinct sides. opinion polls are suggesting that new caledonia will vote no, but there are many undecided voters, and the result is too close to call. phil, you just mentioned ethnic unrest. that really is the backdrop to this vote, isn't it? are yes, within a couple of decades of colonisation in the 1850s, there were a series of outrages perpetrated by indigenous islanders. they murdered french families, including many children. french authorities responded with retaliation that was extremely brutal. hundreds of kanak islanders were killed or executed,

and that really did foment great unrest. the underlying feelings today probably stem back to those days in 1988, kanak militants murdered four policemen and held many others hostage in a cave system. it took french soldiers to break that siege, and about 19 rebel fighters were killed. that did set in train peace talks that led to the noumea accord in 1998. that did promise new caledonia a referendum further down the track and today that moment has arrived. being able to create music without hearing worked for beethoven, 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. 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. swapping bikes for baseball. tour de france winner geraint thomas and his team sky companions in japan. 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 no, well, it is a race, isn't it? on sunday, thomas is set to don the yellowjersey again and face stiffer competition as japan hosts a series of world—class races. you watching bbc news stay with us. bye for now. 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. we've got 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. some cloud and patchy 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, 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. the wind still quite gusty across the north—west. 13 in glasgow, 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 west wales. maybe getting a bit further east. i think for most places, if you're off to a fireworks display on sunday evening, it should be dry and relatively mild as well. that sort of theme 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 it's way across western parts of the uk. further east, largely dry. the odd patch of mist around, and those temperatures not dropping fast, mild air continuing to come in from the south. 7—10 degrees. 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. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has attacked the united states after its decision to reimpose economic sanctions against iran. on monday the trump administration will reinstate all us sanctions which were removed under the 2015 nuclear deal. leicester city players and officials are flying to thailand to pay their respects at the funeral of the club's owner, who died in a helicopter crash last week. the players will attend the service after winning their first game since the crash.