i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. the headlines: a day before the american midterm elections, president trump says it's all about immigration. the us secretary of state says he expects to make real progress ahead of new talks with north korea. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: the search for the crashed indonesian airline is extended for three days. divers are still seeking a second black box. grieving together — leicester city footballers attend the funeral of their clubs owner in thailand. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 9am in singapore,

1am in london and 8pm eastern time in the us, where final campaigning has been under way ahead of tuesday's mid—term elections — a key test for president trump. he's been addressing supporters at a rally in georgia, while barack obama, for the democrats, is campaigning in indiana. the bbc‘s chris buckler reports. # proud to be an american... donald trump has been nothing but relentless in his campaigning. georgia is just the latest stop in a frantic week of rallies held in state, after state, after state. this is a president trying to defend his power, and saying whatever he can to shore up his support. that means talking up the economy but it also means talking tough on the subjects that divide this country, including immigration. turn back now, because you're not coming into the united states unless you go through the process. cheering

turn back. so, if you want more caravans and you want more crime, vote democrat. it's very simple. booing if you want strong borders and safe communities, vote republican. cheering along america's southern border, the first of thousands of troops have already arrived to defend this country against what the president has called an invasion. he's talking about this caravan of migrants from central america. they're still many weeks away from the us. this election, on the other hand, is only days away, and it's clear with this, and issues like iran, the president is trying to present a certain image. in washington, sunday was game day for american football fans, but they know the truly crucial contest will happen on tuesday. if we don't have a secure border, we don't have a secure country. we just need to get the republicans out. if you don't like something, vote. i don't want to hear any talk after. you're too late. it's a biggie.

as barack obama knows all too well. in the midterms, floating voters tend to favour the party that opposes the president, but democrats are well aware that nothing feels certain in american politics any more. america's at a crossroads. the healthcare of millions is on the ballot. a fair shake for working families is on the ballot. perhaps most importantly, the character of our country is on the ballot. hundreds of candidates are taking part in hundreds of elections across this country, but donald trump cast a shadow over all of those races. it's hard to see the midterms as anything but a referendum on his presidency. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. don't forget, you can find lots more background on the us

midterm elections on our website — just go to bbc.com/news — or download the bbc news app. and we'll have special coverage here on bbc world news as the results of those midterms come in. our other top stories: us secretary of state mike pompeo says he will meet his north korean counterpart to revive nuclear negotiations. this as pyongyang threatens to revive its nuclear weapons programme unless us sanctions are lifted. the meeting will be held this week in new york. mr pompeo says it will be an opportunity to resume denuclearisation talks. the meeting this week in new york city, with my counterpart, kim yong—chol, we'll have a good opportunity to continue the denuclearisation discussions that were set up just a few months back — it seems like a long time ago in news world but it was just this pastjune, when president trump and chairman kim met and set us on the path that we're on today. we have not had any missile tests,

there have been no nuclear tests, we have had returns of american reamins — these are all good steps. we are continuing to negotiate with the north koreans to achieve what president trump set out — the full denuclearisation verified by the united states of the korean peninsula and then a brighter future for the north korean people. and we'll have more on north korea later in the programme. also making news this hour: rallies have been held across iran denouncing sweeping us sanctions due to come into force on monday. the demonstrations have been taking place on the 39th anniversary of the occupation of the us embassy in tehran. earlier this year president trump decided to pull out of the international nuclear deal with iran. the italian authorities say that 29 people have lost their lives in fierce storms that have battered the country. in the past 2a hours, 12 people, including nine from the same family, have died in floods on the southern island of sicily. in the uk the pro—brexit businessman, arron banks, has insisted that all the money he provided to the campaign to leave the eu — amounting to millions of pounds ahead of the referendum came from his uk companies.

he's facing a police investigation into claims that he was not the true source of the funding. the main tamil political grouping in sri lanka has urged president sirisena to reconvene parliament immediately so as to end a severe political crisis, triggered by his sacking of the prime minister ranil wickramesinghe. mr wickramasinghe says his dismissal was illegal as he still commands a majority in parliament. a search operation for a lion air plane that went down in waters off western indonesia has been prolonged for three days because some major items have not been recovered. authorities still haven't found the cockpit voice recorder — the second of the jets two black boxes. i spoke to geoffrey thomas,

aviation expert and editor—in—chief of airlineratings.com, and asked him if the decision to extend the search was unusual. they need to find that cockpit voice recorder, they also need to recover more bodies as well, so i guess in some cases these searches go on — in the case of air france a47 — for several years. that was my next question to you — how much longer can this go on for and also given the fact this was a brand—new plane, with an airline that granted has a sort of patchy safety record, but has been investing in safety over recent years, what kinds of questions does this raise the indonesian authorities? look, very good question but first, the search can go on as long as it needs to. mh370, four years and it is still going. lion air has certainly passed some major international audits, as has the indonesian government. yes, it is a brand new airplane, which makes this crash extremely

unusual and right out of left field and against the trend of improved safety at lion air. with lion air's improved safety or its attempts to have improved safety, given the fact that this happens or it has happenend in a country that has seen aviation boom over the last few years, the last few decades, what kinds of lessons do indonesian transport authorities need to learn from this sort of situation? will, it is a very good question and the whole world is sort of looking at this with great scrutiny because, as you say, and as i have said, ticking the boxes — the lessons to be learnt we will have to wait for the reading of the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder when they find it to actually understand what on earth went on on this air plane for it to end up at the bottom of the ocean. it is just so strange and totally against the trend, so we will have to wait on that one. geoffrey thomas there.

players from leicester city have attended the funeral in thailand of the club's owner, vichai srivaddhanaprabha, who died last weekend. they attended a prayer ceremony at a temple in bangkok — part of several days of buddhist rituals. jonathan head reports. they'd flown straight from their match in cardiff to be here. the leicester players and their manager, in bangkok, to show their late chairman how much he meant to them. theyjoined a traditional buddhist funeral, which will continue for several days, attended by some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country. they were greeted warmly by mr vichai's sons, who will now run the company and must try to maintain its lucrative hold on thailand's duty—free business. this is a far more formal occasion than what the players will have experienced during those moving tributes to their late chairman back in britain. it is an important religious ritual, and also an affirmation of the power and status that mr vichai achieved as a businessman here in thailand. but it is their last farewell to the man who transformed the club,

and it's bound to be an emotional one for the leicester team. after more than an hour inside the funeral pavilion, it was time to head off for a rest after their flight. but they are expected here again tomorrow night, before making the long journey back to britain in time for the next match. jonathan head, bbc news, bangkok. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the pacific territory of new caledonia votes to remain part of france, but independence activists still call it a victory. 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 taken responsibility for the killing. for australia. 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 ourarms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories. immigration dominates the campaigning a day before the us mid—term elections, widely seen as a referendum on the trump presidency. the us secretary of state says he'll discuss a possible second summit between president trump and the north korean leader kim jong—un at talks in new york this week. let's take a look at some of the front pages of newspapers around the world. let's start with the south china morning post reporting on president xijingping as he gives a keynote speech at the import expo in shanghai. the newspaper says the chinese leader will use it to promote china's position on globalisation and free trade. we will have lots more for you on that story on asia business report,

so that story on asia business report, so stay tuned. the gulf news leads on tuesday's midterm elections in america. the photo is of democrat stacey abrams, who is hoping to become the first black woman governor of any us state. at a rally in georgia just a few hours ago, president trump called her one of the most extreme far left politicians in the country. and the japan times has the story of novelist haruki murakami who annouced he will donate original manuscripts of his works to the university he graduated from. the paper says without having any children he wanted to leave behind his writings in case they got lost. very sensible, babita, given the fa ct very sensible, babita, given the fact that even if we were to pass down writings to children, i am not sure they would look after them very well, so what else is going on in your world in terms of stories sparking discussions online? well, take a listen to a bit.

of this, it was a big night out for north korean leader kimjong un. he watched a concert by put on by chinese and north korean artists in pyongyang, and he really seemed to enjoy it. let's have a listen to what he was watching. singing. yeah, he really seemed to enjoy the performance — many singers and actors took to the stage, including these opera singers as well. yes, it was an entertaining evening indeed. president macron of france says he's immensely proud that people in new caledonia have rejected independence in a referendum. the pacific island near australia has belonged to france for more than 150 years. gemma coombe reports. this was a referendum decades in the making.

it was promised as part of a peace deal following a violent campaign by separatist from the indigenous kanak people. but although close to 57% of voters chose to remain part of france, the yes voters are still celebrating. the losers, the pro—independence side, they regard this outcome as a victory. the leader came out and said that anything more than 40% was a victory and they have achieved 43%. independence has long been a goal of the kanak people who were dispossessed of their traditional land in 1853 when the french took control. about 175,000 people were eligible to vote and over 80% did. translation: you know why i am voting yes? for historical logic, for the peace, for the beauty of the kanak people and of our caledonian population. they agreed to let us a vote

and the kanak people accepted this, so we need give back to them a little. the french president emmanuel macron welcomed the decision and said he has immense pride in those who voted to remain with france. translation: the only loser is the temptation for disdain, indecision, violence and fear. the only winner is the peace process which has been driving new caledonia for 30 years. the spirit of dialogue that nothing will undermine any more. not all is lost for the yes voters, however. the deal states that in the event of a no vote, two further referendums can still be held before 2022. as we reported earlier, us secretary of state mike pompeo says he'll meet his north korean counterpart kim yong chol this week. this comes as the us and south korea will begin small—scale military

drills today, after they were delayed by talks with north korea. as many as 500 american and south korean marines will take part in the training. sung—yoon lee is a scholar of korean and east asian studies at tufts university in boston. i asked him how significant the resumption of military drills is. i don't think they are very significant. even for north korea, one would be hard—pressed to argue this is a major provocation. both the us and south korea have already cancelled large—scale combined military exercises, one that was scheduled for december as well. so i think south korea is trying to paint itself to the us, principally, as not an excessively appeasement—prone party. the us has right now some misgivings about south korea's intention to resume the very generous kind of schemes, the unilateral aid that we have seen in the past when south korea was pouring into north korea's state coffers almost ever year for many years

in the past. let's talk about the state of affairs, if we can, at the moment. they are complicated, but we heard from mike pompeo earlier saying he was optimistic about negotiation of the talk resuming again. in your assessment, we're are we now after those historic moment with donald trump and kimjong—un in singapore injune, what the state of the affair is now? we are where we were in late 2000 when the father of kim jong—un, upon inheriting power in 1994 and refusing to meet with a single world leader for the next six years, all of a sudden in 2000 changed his tune, went to china, men with the chinese president inmate and then injune received the south korean president injuly he saw president putin and then in september the chinese president once again. he sent a special envoy to bill clinton and visits china again.

we saw this dramatic mood change in the past, this kind of post provocation piece boy. north korea has ensnared the trump administration into perhaps a never—ending, definitely drawnout negotiation process as opposed to a genuine new killer ice age and or denuclearisation resolution. so i think north korea has been successful in buying time and money with which to do what it the widget to further in hand its legality. and the issue of sanctions, of course, north korea said that they are still quite angered by them. you see any movement in terms of the us changing it position on that? it is a sublime mystery to me that north korea insists that sanctions have no impact on them are vociferously calls to their suspension and termination. many people around the world have the misconception that us

sanctions against north korea have always been top. that is simply not true. even today, sanction enforcement, like domestic law enforcement which takes time and effort, is really a shell of what it was last year. there are statutory conditions. us laws for the gradual suspension and ultimate termination of sanctions, complete dismantlement of all existing weapons of mass destruction programme and so forth. we are nowhere near that. in many ways, the human race lives for speed. fast cars, fast planes, and now fast drones. the world drone racing championships have been taking place in southern china and saw a new world record. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. the claims to one of fastest growing

sports in the world. —— drones racing claims to be. this is a pastime where age, or lack thereof, is no obstacle to success. it seems anyone who is anyone in this game is young. take the women's final, where the when it isn't technically a woman yet. this skill is 11 years old but left more senior competitors in her wake. old but left more senior competitors in herwake. —— old but left more senior competitors in her wake. —— this girl. specially constructed track saw 62 pilots try to set a new world record. switzerland doing the trick. with an average speed of more than 114 kilometres per hour. the first race i got kilometres per hour. the first race igota kilometres per hour. the first race i got a super good start and went all the way down and got first place. the second one i got a good start as well but went a little too high, soi start as well but went a little too high, so i need to down and in that time swift overtook me but i got the

better average time so that is how i won. the overall winner is another youngster, 15—year—old rudi browning from australia, his country also taking the team prize. speed and used seem to be a winning combination. —— used. —— youth. the moat around the tower of london has been illuminated with 10,000 torches commemorating the final days of the first world war a century ago. it took around 45 minutes to light the flames in a ceremony that'll be repeated every night until remembrance sunday on 11th november. our religion editor martin bashir has been reflecting on one element of the kit issued to serving soldiers. as young british men prepared for conflict a century ago, they received the blessing of a chaplain and were armed with a helmet, a rifle and a bible. so, this is my grandfather's bible from the first world war. so, he was carrying this with him throughout the war.

steve vinall‘s grandfather, george, was on the western front when his battalion came underfire. hours later, he wrote a letter describing how shrapnel had hit his bible. where the bullet landed, he then opened it. and he said that the eighth verse of isaiah a9, where the bullet stopped, "contains these words, which caught my eye — directly i saw it. "i will preserve thee". he goes on to say, "may this be true of future days, until i see you all again is my heartfelt prayer." the words of scripture comforted soldiers during battle and, on occasions, at the end. soldiers, when they are very badly wounded, have a tendency to produce the new testament from their breast pocket and to read it as they die. now, this is a phenomenon that was recorded when soldiers

who were killed on the first ofjuly 1916, the first day of the battle of the somme, were recovered and buried. many of them were actually found dead, though with the bible, with the new testament in their hand. for george vinall, who survived the war, his faith increased and led him to work as a missionary. do you think we've been a bit remiss in the way that we haven't acknowledged the bible and its use by soldiers in the first world war? their faith, the belief that they were doing the right thing, that in those sort of circumstances, it's often out of your control, and therefore it's in the hands of god. and that, i think, we do miss. it is, after all, a verse of scripture that best describes the sacrifice of so many. "greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." martin bashir, bbc news. you have been watching newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. and i'm karishma vaswami in singapore. stay with us. coming up: more on china's first international import expo, which opens on monday in shanghai, following president xi jinping's vow to open up the economy. and before we go, thousands of runners took

to the streets of new york for the city's annual marathon, the largest race in the world. ethiopia's lelisa desisa claimed the men's title, crossing the line in two hours and five minutes. in the women's race, mary keitany from kenya was leader of the pack, finishing in two hours and 22 minutes. hello. nature's very own light spectacular, the aurora borealis or northern lights, in full display across the northern isles. also some parts of eastern scotland and eastern england under clear skies but further west a different story as this area of low pressure in the bay of biscay as a frontal system extending across western fringes of the uk, bringing outbreaks of rain. this will ease from northern ireland through the morning and things get dry across wales and south—west england and outbreaks of rain continue to push their way north and east across scotland as it pulls away. behind it, the cloud thins and breaks. bright and sunny spells and a scattering of showers but very mild for the early part of november.

temperatures between ten and 15 celsius reaching 16 or 17 in east anglia and south—east england. after the windy conditions of the weekend, a gentler south, south—easterly breeze through monday afternoon. we will keep that breeze as we go on through the evening. for many it will be dry with clear spells. a bit of patchy rain continuing across parts of northern ireland and western scotland, possibly the far south—west of england. but if you have plans for firework or bonfire displays on monday evening, for most it will be dry, mild and there will be a gentle locally moderate breeze. as you go from monday into tuesday there is another frontal system in the atlantic working its way towards the uk. it has limited eastward progress so on tuesday the heaviest and most persistent of the rain will be across the western side of scotland, northern ireland, and eventually reaching wales and south—west england. further east it remains dry, breezy and bright sunny spells. look where that wind is coming from, all the way from the south. so we will keep that mild air

and temperatures again reaching 14, i7 celsius. some persistent rain further west on tuesday. as we go from tuesday into wednesday that front begins to work its way eastwards across the uk so overnight we will see outbreaks of rain and a squeeze on the isobars. strong wind at midweek and slowly through wednesday the outbreak of rain will start to ease the way towards the east become lighter and patchy so something dry here through the day and central areas as well. further west we will see the heaviest and most persistent of the rain. an unsettled feel as we go through the week. on wednesday afternoon temperatures reach 12, 14 celsius, not as high as what we see on monday and tuesday but still quite mild for the time of year. and that is the theme for the week ahead. it will be mild and also windy and there will be some rain at times. that is all from me. bye— bye. i'm babita sharma with bbc news. our top story: with just a day to go until crucial mid—term elections

in the us, democrats and republicans have been rallying their core voters. president obama and president trump have been urging supporters to vote on tuesday. the republicans curently control both the senate and the house of representatives but if they lose ground, it could hamper their power in congress. the us secretary of state mike pompeo is to meet his north korean counterpart later this week in an effort to get nuclear talks back on track. and this video is trending on bbc.com: the moat encircling the tower of london has been lit by 10,000 flaming torches to mark the centenary of the end of the first world war. they'll be lit every night until armistice day on the 11th november. you are up—to—date. stay with us. and the top story in the uk: a leading donorfor the brexit campaign, businessman arron banks, who's facing an investigation by the national crime agency,