welcome to newsday, on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore. the headlines: campaigning reaches fever pitch in the us mid—term elections. president trump ask for support, with just hours to go until voting begins. also hitting the campaign trail for the democrats, barack obama tells supporters america is at a defining moment in its history. i'm babita sharma, in london. also in the programme: the us vows to be "relentless" as sweeping sanctions take effect against iran. tehran says its facing an "economic war". and marking a hundred years since the south pacific island of samoa was devastated by a virulent strain of influenza. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. good morning.

it's 9:00 am in singapore, 1:00 am in london, and 8:00 pm eastern time in the us, where voters will be heading to the polls in just a few hours‘ time. by by this time tomorrow we will have the first indications of the results. campaigning ahead of what are known as the mid—term elections is drawing to a close. the outcome is being seen as a verdict on president trump's first two years in office. the bbc‘s north america editorjon sopel reports; his name is not on the ballot anywhere across the united states, but the forthcoming elections are all about donald trump. he's put himself at the absolute centre of this campaign, hurtling around the country energetically. and so it's impossible to avoid the conclusion that the results of tomorrow's midterm elections will be a referendum on his presidency. today he was in ohio. everything we have created and achieved is at stake on election day, it is.

if the radical democrats take power, they will take a wrecking ball to our economy and to our future. the issue that's grabbed more attention than any other is this, the caravan of immigrants making their way up from central america and heading towards the us border. the president has deployed thousands of troops and fearsome rhetoric. "america is about to be invaded," he says. fear mongering, say his opponents. getting fewer headlines is health care, but arguably of far greater concern to many more americans. the administration stands accused of watering down people's ability to get insurance cover if they have pre—existing conditions. the democrats in this climate are struggling to find their voice and so they are relying on someone who seems to have lost his. if you vote, you might save a life. that's pretty rare, the way it happens. barack obama was today campaigning today in virginia

and has been the one democrat still able to draw a crowd and enthuse supporters. healthcare for millions is on the ballot. a fair shake for working families is on the ballot. and most importantly, the character of our nation is on the ballot. the numbers turning up at rallies, the numbers turning out to vote early, are extraordinary. these are midterm elections like no other. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. for more on this, i am joined now by the bbc‘s danjohnson in washington. barack obama and donald trump exhausting just watching them go from one rally to another. i think donald trump is making his way to missouri for the final one for the

day? yes, indeed. one last chance to get his voters to turn out to the polling stations tomorrow, if they have not already voted. early votes, postal votes is a record already. 35 million americans have a ready—made vets —— of their choice. this has generated more interest and excitement than any mid—term election that anyone can remember here. what are the key points they have been focusing on? donald trump's message has been the same at all the rallies, he has talked about how strongly the economy is performing, record numbers ofjob, record low unemployment, tax cuts for the middle—class are promised, and talking about immigration and the threat it pauses on law and

order and fairness. he promises that morejobs, lower crime order and fairness. he promises that more jobs, lower crime and says that the democrats will deliver exactly the democrats will deliver exactly the opposite. that is why he sent troops to the mexican border and reinforcing the day the sanctions on iran. the democrats make this a discussion about the direction america takes. barack 0bama's message is that this is about the character of the country and what sort of nation and politics people want. he is appealing to those who have experienced two years of the trump presidency and not like what they see. he's tried to get those people out to vote, against the republican party, people who may have stayed at home and not voted for hillary clinton two years ago. the emphasis is on really tried to get the natural core supporters of both parties to get out and vote.

exciting times. we will be talking about it non—stop from now on. and we'll have full converage of the midterm elections from our bbc news teams on the ground. tune in from 23 gmt for a special programme with all the latest news, results and reaction from washington and around the united states. let's take a look at some of the day's other news: after abandoning its nuclear deal with iran earlier this year, the trump administration has introduced what it describes as the toughest sanctions ever placed against iran. president hassan rouhani says iran is in a state of economic war with america. the us secretary of state mike pompeo says the new sanctions will be biting. the iranian regime has a choice, it can either do a 180 degrees turn from its outlaw course of action

and act like a normal country or it can see its economy crumble. we hope a new agreement with iran is possible but, until iran makes changes in the 12 ways that i listed in may, we will be relentless in exerting pressure on the regime. tens of thousands of supporters of the former sir lankan president, mahinda rajapaksa have held a rally in the capital, colombo, to back his controversial nomination as prime minister. the speaker of parliament has refused to accept rajapaksa for the topjob, until he shows he can command a majority in parliament. a 33—year—old tourist has died after being mauled by a shark in australia's whitsunday islands. paramedics travelled by helicopter to cid harbour, off the queensland coast, where the man had been swimming, on monday. he later died in hospital. it's the third serious shark attack in the same area in the past two months. in myanmar, aung san suu kyi's party,

the national league for democracy, has suffered a setback in the latest set of by—elections. it lost a number of ethnic minority constituencies that it had previously held. analysts say ms suu kyi has alienated minority voters by failing to end regional conflicts. the european union's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has said negotiations with london to leave the eu are not driven by a sense of revenge. speaking in brussels, he said a no—deal or hard brexit would spell trouble for expatriates in both regions. british prime minister theresa may said she's confident of reaching an agreement on the irish border — one of the main obstacles to any deal. players from leicester city football club, have attended the third day of the funeral of the chairman, killed in a helicopter crash last month. the team, including manager claude puel and strikerjamie vardy, arrived at a temple in bangkok

to pay their respects. russia's highly—secretive military intelligence agency, the gru, has celebrated its 100th anniversary. it does so against a background of scandals, including accusations of meddling in the us presidential election, and of involvement in a deadly nerve agent attack in britain. but on home soil, russia's military spies have been praised by vladimir putin for their dedication and unique abilities. the bbc‘s steve rosenberg reports. dimitri tells me that, if what the west is saying about the gru is true, it means the russian agents are doing a good job. it means they are scared of us. not everyone here is so upbeat. with the gru also implicated

in election meddling in the west, and in a failed coup in montenegro, some russians believe the spy agency is playing a dangerous game. translation: this situation is not normal. if every country did the kind of things the gru is accused of, this could end very badly for the whole world. as for the show, well, it ends bizarrely, and rather violently. when russia has a problem, it throws everything at it, all its power. then again, if there is one thing russia despises, it is weakness. it plays tough, and it plays to win, and controversy about its intelligence agencies isn't going to change that. residents in india's capital have been experiencing

a blanket of thick, grey smog with pollution levels at 20 times the world health organisation's recommended limit. the air quality is expected to worsen this week, with firecrackers used during diwali, the festival of light. devina gupta has more from delhi. i'm in one of the world's worst polluted cities and the air that i'm breathing is filled with sulphur, nitrogen and a particulate matter called pm2.5. the level of that pm2.5 today is at "severe". it's almost 50 times the prescribed safe limit by the world health organization. some of the side—effects of this air is that i get tingling in my throat, it's causing burning, my eyes start watering after some time. the main reason for this pollution is because farmers clear their crop area by burning the residue and, because the wind is less,

this air get locked in and creates a smog or a smokey haze around the city. the other big reason is the vehicle pollution and the festive season, diwali, which isjust around the corner, where many burn fireworks adding to the worsening air quality. demand for pollution masks like this one are shooting up. customers are buying these masks at about $50, to filter the toxic air that they inhale, but experts say they are not 100% effective. the indian government has also ordered all the construction activity around the city to be stopped but doctors are claiming that this air is like inhaling 15 cigarettes every day. india's court has also put a cap the fireworks that are burnt around this season of diwali, to reduce the toxicity in the air but environmentalists say these measures are to little, as almost 90 million people are at a grave health risk in this city

at this time of the year. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: remembering war — how attitudes have changed in the century since the battle in the trenches. also on the programme: they're back! after years apart, the spice girls are re—forming for a new uk tour. 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 extremist jewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted on a historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear

— the monarchy would survive. of the american hostages, there was no sign. they are being held somewhere inside the compound and student leaders have threated 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore. and i'm babita sharma, in london. our top stories: campaigning reaches fever pitch

in the us midterm elections — with just hours to go until the polls open. the us hits iran with far reaching economic sanctions, but tehran says it'll carry on selling oil. let's take a look at some of the front pages of newspapers from around the world. the japan times captures a golden moment for one of the super—stars of male figure skating. olympic champion yuzuru hanyu clenched first place at the isu grand prix in helsinki. he celebrated by posing for a selfie. the front page of singapore's straits times is feeling festive, as the city—state braces for deepavali. preparations for the hindu festival of lights are already in full swing. as you can see the bazaar in little india is buzzing with excitement. and the new york times delves into the mind of a genius, as they look at the legacy of leonardo da vinci. they've been exploring a new multimedia display, which brings his insights to life.

the exhibition explores the science behind his art. this week marks 100 years since the south pacific island of samoa was devastated by a virulent strain of influenza. it was introduced to the small island country by sick passengers travelling on a ship from new zealand. the disease killed more than 8,500 islanders — almost 20% of the population. i spoke to mike field in auckland, the author of new zealand's tragic blunders in samoa, and i asked him how deep seated the problems remain in terms of relations between samoa and new zealand. the new zealand prime minister, helen clark, in 2002 formally apologise to samoa for the events we are talking about, the introduction of the influenza virus into samoa.

but the numbers you quote are on the low side. there is a good deal of scholarship that says at least 30% of samoa's 36,000 people died inside one month. and you can't forget that both tonga and fiji also receive the virus from the same ship, which sailed from auckland. it was an immense blunder. in the case of samoa, it really did define much of what we see in the modern state now. although new zealand's has somewhat truly refused to acknowledge what happened until quite recently, the fa ct happened until quite recently, the fact is that what happened following the influenza epidemic, and independence movement in a western samoa, as it was then. and bloodshed

in the capital. and a quite profound change to the culture of samoa. because among the 10,000 people who died in1918, because among the 10,000 people who died in 1918, the vast majority of them were men who held the social structure of this ancient polynesian culture in their unspoken, in a secret language, as it was. and, curiously, all that was left of much of that knowledge had been compiled bya of that knowledge had been compiled by a german anthropologist called cramer during the german rule. and so cramer during the german rule. and so the whole thing, this terrible event which should not have happened is... clearly there are so many elements to this story that have caused huge repercussions for the families and the people of samoa, and as you say, the surrounding areas, what do you think is the biggest lesson we can learn from this today? well, in fact, the samoan prime minister last week made

the point that samoa has two continue to be aware of its vulnerabilities as a small and remote pacific island. he drew the parallel to a case two years ago, when somebody arrived suspected of ebola. i mean, he clearly did not have ebola, but samoa has learned to be careful public health. the other great lesson is that we are all on a small island nation on away and we are vulnerable to tremendous health difficulties, and samoa's is facing is now with diabetes and things, but the lesson is we have to be immensely careful in the pacific, because these are small and vulnerable countries. that was mike field speaking to babita sharma earlier. hundreds of people in pakistan have

been arrested after the overturning ofa been arrested after the overturning of a death sentence against a christian woman accused of blasphemy. a legal challenge has been far, that is according to a government komru miah said hardliners, which was nothing but a piece of paper that can be thrown in the dustbin. secunder kermani has more from islamabad. there has been a lot of discussion over the weekend over the agreement between the authorities and the protesters. some have criticised the governorfor protesters. some have criticised the governor for what they say is appeasing extremists like, for example, having had not leave until an acquittal has been heard. that legal challenge will be heard at the supreme court, the same court that has already recorded a release. many expect the verdict to be upheld. another part of the agreement stated that those arrested during the protests would be released. many have been surprised that over the past day or so hundreds of people

have been detained in relation to the violent scenes with or in cities across pakistan. 0ne the violent scenes with or in cities across pakistan. one reason for that could be that some of the clerics who had been leading these protests have publicly disassociate —— disassociated themselves from acts of vandalism. it is conceivable that the government could say to them we are still sticking to the terms of the agreement. now, as for asia bibi's future, i spoke to her husband last night. it was certainly very worried about the prospect of not being able to leave pakistan. he was hopeful that she would be released soon. but he was adamant that he, she, and the rest of their family needed to be given asylum. it seems that there has been some contact with a number of western countries about that. but no final offer has been made... secunder kermani there. now to a spectacular sight in london. you're looking at thousands of flames, individual torches in the moat of the tower of london. they're part of a new art installation to commemorate

the centenary of the end of the first world war. it'll run every night leading up to and including armistice day on sunday. our special correspondent allan little reports on how the uk's understanding of the war — and its consequences — have changed in the past 100 years. no war in history had demanded so much, mobilised so many, or killed in such numbers. and, when it was over, the men who fought it began asking questions that have never gone away. what was it for, and was it worth it? we remember them now with public reverence, but the way that we think about the war they fought has changed dramatically in the 100 years since it ended. this is dryburgh abbey in the scottish borders, where britain's military commander, earl douglas haig, is buried. when he died, ten years after the war ended, he was a venerated public figure, the architect of victory

and national salvation. his funeral procession in both london and edinburgh drew more than a million people onto the streets. haig's reputation has risen and fallen over the century, as each new generation reinterprets the first world war in the light of its own values. by the 1960s, haig wasn't a national hero any more. he was a public villain, the ‘butcher of the somme', who had sent hundreds of thousands of young men to their deaths needlessly. in this version the war was, above all, futile. in 1917, the war poets wilfred 0wen and siegfried sassoon met here at craiglockhart war hospital in edinburgh. but it wasn't until the 1960s, the age of emerging youth culture, vietnam and anti—war sentiment, that their depiction of the horror and pity of the war gained widespread popular attraction. timed well, both in terms

of the cultural narrative, but also the military political scene within the world at that time. and all of those things have come colliding together, and given 0wen a renaissance and a rebirth, and that message of futility really strong in people's narrative at that time. the britain that emerged from the armistice would never be the same. the war had had a powerful democratising effect, for the men who fought it came home to demand a new place in society for the common citizen. we were promised lands for heroes to live in, and all that sort of thing, but when we came home we found nothing. there was no cheering, no singing. we were drained of all emotion, really. that's what it amounted to, you see. they started marching round the camp, singing out, "we want food, we want money!" the government was obviously very concerned about what would happen

when the guys came back, particularly because the labour party had grown, and then there'd been the russian revolution in 1917, so they were really scared there'd be some socialist uprising. and the term "citizenship" comes into use in the ‘20s and ‘30s, which it never had been before, because the british were subjects of the crown, they weren't citizens, which i think is something new after the war. they thought they had fought the war that would end all wars. they had not. but the britain we inherit today, its citizens' democracy, grew out of their extraordinary sacrifice. allan little, bbc news. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with some big news for girl power. # la, la, la....# the spice girls are back and are going on a uk tour. they shared the news on their official twitter page. but revealed that posh spice, victoria beckham, won't bejoining hello there.

the pressure patterns set up across the uk for the next few days will be crucial to how the weather is going to look and certainly feel. we've got a big area of high pressure over the continent, spinning clockwise, and a big area of low pressure over the atlantic, to the west of us, spinning anti—clockwise. and this is driving up southerly winds right across the country, and this mild air moving up from the mediterranean, through france, and across our shores. but as we go through the next few days, this area of low pressure across the west will slowly encroach into our shores, so although it's going to be mild, it will start to turn windier, and there will be outbreaks of rain pushing in from the west. now, early this morning, it's going to be a largely dry start. some mist and murk around from the bonfires and fireworks on the previous evening. but there will be some splashes of rain pushing into some western areas, but generally light at this stage. and a very mild start to the day, no lower than 8—11 degrees. so for tuesday morning, we start off on a largely dry note. for much of england, wales and scotland, there will be some spells of sunshine around, but quite a bit of cloud too. as we head into the afternoon, this more active weather front

will start to throw in some pretty heavy rain at times through parts of cornwall, devon, in towards western wales as well. could even be a rumble of thunder with this rain as it moves in. could also be pushing into north sea coastal areas, maybe the far west of north—west england, in towards northern ireland, certainly be wetter here, and then eventually western scotland. and it will be a blustery day for all, but certainly across western areas. temperature—wise, pretty good further east. where we have the dry and bright conditions, 17 or 18 degrees. but even further west, with the cloud, the rain and wind, 13 or 1a degrees. and then through tuesday night, that rain will continue to edge its way eastwards, perhaps not reaching the far east of scotland and england until we head into wednesday morning. we've got a secondary area of low pressure developing out of this as it moves across our shores, so wednesday is looking particularly unsettled — very windy, cloudy, some heavy rain pretty much anywhere through the morning. maybe a rumble of thunder or two, particularly in the showers, these blustery, heavy showers, which will arrive across southern areas into the afternoon. temperature—wise, not quite as high as monday and tuesday, looking at 12—14 celsius. and it will be a windy day, with gales in exposure,

certainly around coasts and over hills. and then as we end the week, well, we maintain a south or south—westerly wind, with low pressure still out towards the west. because high pressure could still be close by, it could remain dry. spells of rain, but again, with the winds coming in from the south, it should be pretty mild for the time of year. i'm babita sharma, with bbc news. our top story: with just hours to go until the polls open, campaigning reaches fever pitch in the us midterm elections. president trump and his predecessor, barak obama, have been touring the country to try to make sure their supporters go out and vote. iran says it's going to carry on selling oil, despite far—reaching economic sanctions imposed by the us. the new measures come after president trump withdrew from the iran nuclear deal.

and this video is trending on bbc.com the spice girls have announced they are reuniting for theirfirst tourfor a decade. but they'll be missing one member — posh spice. victoria beckham says she's too busy to take part. stay with bbc news. and the top story in the uk: the tyre maker, michelin, has said it's closing its factory in dundee over the next two years.