you're watching bbc newsroom live, it's11am and these are the main stories this morning: americans prepare to deliver their verdict on president trump as voting in the mid term elections gets underway. i'm not on the ballot, but in a certain way i am on the ballot, so please go out and vote. how we conduct ourselves on the ballot. how we treat other people is on the ballot. five men are arrested after a video emerged showing a model of grenfell tower burning on a bonfire. the information commissioner's office is to fine the motor insurance business owned by arron banks and the campaign breaches of the data law theresa may's cabinet meets shortly to discuss her latest attempts to resolve the irish border issue and finalise a brexit deal. the number of patients waiting for nhs tests and scans is increasing — a bbc investigation finds one in 11 radiographer posts is vacant.

uncovering stories from the trenches of the western front, we'll be live in france as we look ahead to the armistice day centenary. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. i'm joanna gosling. americans deliver their verdict today on president trump's first two years in office, in what are known as the midterm elections. final campaign rallies were held last night with the president visiting indiana and missouri in a final attempt to appeal to voters. the election will decide which party will control the two houses of congress, as our washington correspondent gary o'donoghue reports. i'm not on the ballot, but in a certain way i'm on the ballot so, please, go out and vote. go out and vote.

cheering. he's not on the ballot, but these mid—term elections are allabout him. seven states, 11 rallies and that's just in the last week. his message, democrats are a socialist mob, the media are the enemy of the people and, above all else, migrants are to be feared. another man who is not on the ballot is this former president — but he's still the closest thing the democrats have to star quality. and he's focussing on donald trump's attitude to the facts. because america is at a crossroads right now. there is a contest of ideas going on right now. americans will be voting for members of both chambers of congress — that's the house of representatives and the senate. both are currently controlled by republicans. all 435 seats in the house are up for election. 218 are needed for a majority, with republicans going

into the election holding 235. in the senate, republicans hold 51 of the 100 seats. 35 are being contested. if the polls are to be believed, then the republicans are likely to lose the house but keep the senate. that would make it hard for president trump to get legislation through — and democrats would control key powerful committees that could investigate the administration. holding on to the senate would mean that the president would get approvalfor thejudges and the cabinet members he wants. all told, there is a lot to play for. gary o'donoghue, bbc news, washington. some polling stations are open. this one is in new york, at the brooklyn museum. the polling stations are just opening and turnout should be interesting, there are lots of

predictions of a high turnout. traditionally turnout is much lower than for presidential elections. early has indicated that turnout is likely to be highly. call that will favour is unclear, because each side could be galvanising lots of potentially unexpected twists and turns ahead after what happened in 2016 when president trump won the election in stunning fashion. he didn't take the popular vote, and these elections are very much being seen as these elections are very much being seen as a these elections are very much being seen as a referendum on president trump. is it likely to be that he can, the republicans, can hold onto the senate. that's the prediction. the prediction also is that they are likely to lose seats in the house of representatives. everything to play for and we will keep you updated throughout the day. cbs news correspondent nikole killion has been in washington — she says early indictors would seem to suggest a high level of turnout. certainly it's going to be a

consequential election as every election is. we certainly have seen an increasing voter turnout, early voting, has been a growing trend the usa. the reports say that at least 30 million people have already cast their ballot. if that's an indication we expect a large turnout and president trump just got back to the white house. he's been campaigning at three rallies yesterday. back to back. he's been making calls, treating, doing interviews and today he does plan to make more phone calls and monitor the race in real—time across the country. he's invited friends and family to the white house to watch returns coming in. he seems pretty bullish about the republican chances in the house and sell it. but

privately some white house aides concede that they may not necessarily retain control of the house, they feel their chances are pretty good in the senate. 0n the flip side the democrats are bullish and optimistic about their chances. former president 0bama has been leading that charge. he was just in northern virginia yesterday, campaigning fortim northern virginia yesterday, campaigning for tim kane. northern virginia yesterday, campaigning fortim kane. so northern virginia yesterday, campaigning for tim kane. so you know, he has been trying to contrast the democrat party with the republicans in terms of policy—making issues like health ca re policy—making issues like health care at the forefront of the voters minds. 0bviously, care at the forefront of the voters minds. obviously, the republicans and president have been dealing with issues like immigration. we will have to see which one winds out. and we've a us election special starting here on bbc news at midnight tonight — with katty kay and christian fraser bringing you all the results throughout the night. five men remain in custody,

having been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence, after a video was posted online showing a cardboard model of grenfell tower being burned as part of a bonfire party. the metropolitan police said the men handed themselves in at a south london police station last night. in the footage, people can be heard laughing and joking as the model is set alight. the men have been arrested under section 4a of the public order act, which covers intentional ‘harassment, alarm or distress' caused by ‘threatening, abusive or insulting' words or signs. well, the victoria derbyshire programme spoke to rukayet mamadu, one of the grenfell tower survivors and asked her how she felt when she saw the video. i feel very ifeel very bad. i feel very bad. particularly when there are people going through the enquiry now. going through what they went through during the fire and some people are making like a joke.

there are children in the background. i mean... you could hear them laughing in the background. you could hear children's races in the background. it's not acceptable. they are bringing up children in that type of environment. regardless of the feelings of the people around them. what did you think when you hear somebody on the bid you say, stay put, we are coming to get you? it's chilling. it's cold—blooded. it's chilling. it's cold—blooded. it's very bad. for a human being to rehearse, and record it, no. it's the heart of intolerance, the climax of intolerance in our system and society. we appreciate everything the system is doing for us,

regardless of what they have done, we still know that people love us, and they helped us. they are still hoping. but this should be brought to justice. maybe they aren't educated to know that what they are doing is going to transfer to their children. the children don'tjust watch, they listen, they absorb. and they act when they grow older. there has been a lot of public support, a lot of horror after people viewed this video. how do you take that? we are very, very grateful for the support of the world is giving us. i mean, without them, what can we do? that was one of the survivors of the g re nfell that was one of the survivors of the grenfell fire. the information commissioner's office is to fine

the motor insurance business owned by arron banks and the campaign group, leave.eu, a total of £135,000 over breaches of the data law. it says emails which promoted services provided by eldon insurance were sent to leave.eu subscribers without their consent. mr banks is the subject of a police investigation into claims he was not the "true source" of funds loaned to the leave.eu campaign ahead of the referendum. he has insisted the money came from his british businesses. let's bring in rory to explain what is happening. so finds for the firm and leave. eu. is happening. so finds for the firm and leave.eu. yes, we have a report into the issue of use and misuse of data in political campaigning in the referendum campaign and since. she's looked at cambridge analytical, and

that scandal, she's looked at how all the different political parties have used or misused state. today she has zoned in on the use of data by leave. eu campaign, she has zoned in on the use of data by leave.eu campaign, founded by arron banks. and she's been appearing in front of mps on a select committee, this is what she said. it does indicate a failure to keep separate the data of insurance clients, of marketing, and messaging to potential supporters and voters. these are but we have issued notices of intent, and electronic marketing regulations. but we are also working on the data protection side to look deeply into the policies, or disregard for the separation of the

data. that is going to be looked at through an audit which we have also announced in our investigation. explain what it is that they have done here. arron banks's company had a call centre in bristol, and it has been alleged that the call centre was used both for the motor insurance activities, and for campaigning for political campaigning. he has denied it, but he has denied it before. it has been found that did happen and we found that personal data was accessed by staff working for leave.eu. that is the friends, if you sign for an insurance policy, they get your data, you don't expect to get bombarded with political messages. that is what she believes has happened. she went to say that the audit of that whole organisation is

continuing, and under new data protection laws there could be biggerfinds in the offing. protection laws there could be bigger finds in the offing. explain how the finds work. it's 125,000 bigger finds in the offing. explain how the finds work. it's125,000 in total, today? is that right? yes, that's right. it has two b said leave. eu has already that's right. it has two b said leave.eu has already hit back, not so leave.eu has already hit back, not so much on the finds, but on what else is in her report. she goes on to say that she's looking at what the remaining campaign has been doing, and highlighted the fact that the liberal democrats sold personal data of its party members to britain's stronger in europe. a remain campaign, for £100,000. she hasn't aged any decision about wrongdoing there, but she continues her investigations and leave.eu pointing that out. you mentioned cambridge analytical, they've also

been discussed, what's the latest on that? cambridge analytical has gone bust, it's an administration, but she has said that she is pursuing a criminal prosecution for failing to deal with an enforcement notice. she asked them to hand over data that professor david carroll realised was held on him. she says she is pursuing a criminal prosecution there. she is admitting that it's a bit difficult because the company is in administration. thank you. a 16—year—old boy has died after a stabbing in south london last night. this latest fatality comes after four people died in knife attacks in the capital in five days. nobody has been arrested in connection with last night's incident. the cabinet is meeting this morning to discuss the prime minister's latest attempt at finalising a brexit deal. the main sticking point is still the so—called back stop the arrangements to avoid checks on goods at the irish border if there's no trade deal.

theresa may has said she's confident a solution can be found, but this morning the eu's chief negotiator michel barrnier has said there has not been enough progress yet to call a special brexit summit this month. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth is at downing street. what is the anticipation about this cabinet meeting? what will be said? well, they've been in there for some time now. they went in at about 9:30am. we are just starting to see the cabinet ministers come out after discussions. we were told this wasn't going to be a decisive meeting and they weren't going to come out brandishing major developments. instead this was theresa may updating her ministers about the brexit negotiations. as we know, the sticking point remains the issue of the irish border. particularly, what insurance policy the eu and uk can agree if there is

no trade deal in place to stop any checks at the irish border. we are hearing that they are edging towards an agreement on macs, so the eu has made some concessions around a uk wide customs arrangements, but the real problem is how the uk would put an end to any such arrangement. there are people in the cabinet, and brexit supporters who are concerned and raise their concerns that the uk could end up tied up to an arrangement without being able to walk away unilaterally. when they met last week there were some pretty firm word is said by ministers who said they wouldn't budge on that position. as they start to come out now we'll ask them, but whether they'll say anything is another matter. i imagine discussions

centred on the same sticking point. for some time there's been a lot of speculation around what's going on behind—the—scenes in terms of support, or not for theresa may. what's the latest on that? there has been less public facing conversation but we know that the eu and uk are talking to each other about what solution there can be to that backstop problem. the cabinet and theresa may's party, they have all said publicly, time and time again, they are supportive of the prime minister in negotiations, but it is the policy that some people have concerns with. so after the cabinet met last week we got the impression that they were robust discussions about the backstop, with ministers saying they wouldn't accept it. they also made the point that they are with theresa may and this isn't the time to undermine the prime minister with talks at such a crucial stage. we've said it before but this really isa we've said it before but this really is a crucial stage now. they really

is a crucial stage now. they really isa is a crucial stage now. they really is a very short period for which there can be enough progress to get a deal in place and get a meeting of eu leaders in the diary and allow enough time for a deal to go through the house of commons. i think the pressure on the prime minister is as great as ever. we can also speak to our brussels reporter, adam fleming who has of course been tracking the talks. well, everyone here is watching what alex was saying there and waiting to see if there is any news that comes out of the cabinet meeting. that's one of our opportunity to get a clue about what's happening in the secretive phase of brexit talks alluded to on this side of the equation. this morning michel barnier, the chief negotiator, did an interview on belgian tv and a good reminder of what people are looking for here, he says he's looking for here, he says he's looking for here, he says he's looking for decisive progress in brexit treaty that settles the terms

of the divorce, and specifically on the irish issue, the northern irish backstop, how do you prevent the reintroduction of a hard border in the future if an economic partnership doesn't solve that problem? when that decisive progress actually is achieved in the talks, michel barnier will go and see donald tusk, the president of the european council who host sanchez the eu summit and he will press the button to activate the brexit summit and seals the deal. there was talk about whether that could be the weekend of the 17th and 18th of november. that staying away now, but not totally dead yet. i've seen five other potential dates in november pencilled in for that extra brexit summit. a reminderof pencilled in for that extra brexit summit. a reminder of why we want that extra summit, the uk thinks that extra summit, the uk thinks that the deal has to be done in november to give enough time for the ratification process at westminster that alex was talking about. leaving

that alex was talking about. leaving that until the 13th or 14th of december would be leaving it a bit too late for the brits. here's everything else nailed down? there was discussion around a fewer outstanding issues, the notable one, although it doesn't seem as if it so significant when you think about the keyissues significant when you think about the key issues at stake, but issues like the naming of geographicalfood, that was being held on to as a bargaining tool. i'm glad you mentioned that, the issue of geographical indications which is the eu protection system for regional products like parma ham and gorgonzola, polish vodka, the eu wants all of those 3000 plus regional products to be written into british law, after brexit. britain will have its own system for protecting those products. that's been left until the last minute and as the other outstanding issue next to the northern irish backstop. it

gets less attention because it is seen as a gets less attention because it is seen as a real bargaining chip that both sides will be able to come to some kind of deal over. the uk thinks it has leveraged there. that's one of my favourite outstanding topics left alongside the irish backstop. the things that got sorted in the last few weeks are things like how the treaty would apply to british military bases inside breast, which look more like big towns than british military bases, and how the withdrawal agreement will apply in gibraltar, which will involve a separate deal with the spanish government. signs thatis with the spanish government. signs that is going quite well, and this thing known as governance, how do you solve disputes. how does the european court of justice you solve disputes. how does the european court ofjustice get involved? how does that actually work and reach decisions? the discussions today, the speculation, sorry, is this exit mechanism that

could be handled by the mechanism that would solve disputes arising from the brexit treaty overall. as i said about a million times, we need the detail, we need to see the text of the withdrawal agreement on the table for us to die just rather than hear rumours circulating about what's being agreed. thank you. a bbc investigation has found that one in eleven radiographer posts in the nhs is vacant, and could be a key cause of delays in patients receiving tests and scans to diagnose conditions such as cancer. more than a million people across the uk are waiting for an nhs test or scan. 0ur health correspondent, nick triggle, reports. there are more than 1 million patients waiting for an nhs test or scan across the uk. these are meant to be done in a matter of weeks to diagnose conditions such as cancer, heart disease and multiple sclerosis. growing numbers of patients are facing delays, sometimes up to several months. in

england the number waiting more than the target time of six weeks has risen by 9000 in a year to nearly 29,000. the performance in scotland and northern ireland is even worse with only way you'll seen an improvement. figures obtained by the bbc and the freedom of information act suggest a shortage of radiographers who carry out scans and ultrasounds is a key cause. in total 124 nhs trusts and boards across the uk responded to the request for information, four in five of those asked showed they were more than 14,000 posts funded. 0ne in11 of more than 14,000 posts funded. 0ne in 11 of them were unfilled at the start of this financial year. all of radiographers join the profession and go to work everyday to give the best possible service. when there are vacancies, and extra pressure on the system, it's felt by everyone. 0ur pressure on the system, it's felt by everyone. our members pressure on the system, it's felt by everyone. oui’ members are pressure on the system, it's felt by everyone. our members are working harder to try and fill those gaps.

there is only so you can get a limited number of people to do. the department of health said steps are being taken to recruit more staff and invest in new technology and equipment. staff and invest in new technology and equipment. a man has died after being attacked by a shark at a popular tourist spot in australia. local police say the 33—year—old man was pulled from the water with leg and arm injuries but later died in hospital. it happened in the whitsunday islands near the great barrier reef which was also the scene of two non—fatal shark attacks in september. daryl mcphee is associate professor of environmental science and shark expert at bond university in queensland. is this an unusual number of shark attacks? it's not unusual on a global scale, you often get a series of shark bites in a single location or region. it's happened in cape

town. there is no real history of shark bites or a spate of shark bites in the whitsunday islands, that's why this concern. what do you think is going on? there are a lot of sharks in the area. i guess it's one of those locations where, over a long period of time, people put food waste into the water and sharks being sharks they've probably ta ken the water and sharks being sharks they've probably taken up residence there. a lot of the natural food in that particular location as well, they are particularly fond of eating marine turtles and marine turtles are abundant in that area. so what is this likely to do for people actually wanting to be in that area, presumably it's safe to be in the water there right now? i don't think you should be in the water at this particular location at this time. it is certainly going to be devastating for the tourism

industry in the region, they are just recovering from a severe cyclone a couple of years ago as well. it's a bit of a double whammy. we should allude to the fact that somebody lost their lives and we need to pay respect and condolences to the friends and family of the victim. what is the solution here? in the short—term people shouldn't be in that water, but they will be a desire to try and make it safe again, how does that get done? there is no easy solution. there is no win—win solution, the government could have scientifically proven independent shark deterrents, they are charter boat in the area. a lot of passengers snorkel in the area and it would be wise for charter boats to have those on board for passengers who wish to go snorkelling in the beautiful coral reef.

and once a shark has killed somebody, this has maybe come from the movies, but does it has to be found and killed ? the movies, but does it has to be found and killed? is it more dangerous once it's killed someone? not really, no. it will be the same. that's just from the movies. not really, no. it will be the same. that'sjust from the movies. yes, definitely just from the that'sjust from the movies. yes, definitelyjust from the movies. there is no such thing as a shark that malevolently hence people. thank you. thank you. now some other stories making headlines today. a couple from texas have been killed when a helicopter carrying them from their own wedding crashed. the accident happened late on saturday night after the ceremony of will byler and bailee ackerman byler who were both students at sam houston state university. the two were married forjust over an hour before their helicopter crashed on the bylerfamily‘s ranch in southern texas. researchers say women

who are naturally ‘morning people‘ are less likely to develop breast cancer. the team at the university of bristol say the reasons why are still unknown, but add that the findings are important as they may affect every woman‘s risk of developing the disease. unnecessary tonsil removals are costing the nhs almost £40 millions pounds a year, according to experts. researchers at the university of birmingham, found seven in every eight children given tonsillectomies were unlikely to benefit from the operation. nhs england has already said it plans to cut back on the surgery, along with other "ineffective" treatments, where the harms outweigh any gains. now it‘s time for a look at the weather. thank you. we‘ve got quite a bit of cloud at the moment across the uk. some brightness in eastern parts of england and eastern scotland. 0ur weather watcher in the scottish borders took this earlier on. that

rate will intensify across south wales, through the south—west of england and the south—west of scotla nd england and the south—west of scotland later on. some breaks in the cloud and some sunshine in the east. quite a breezy day, quite mild and warm, 17 or 18 degrees across the south—east. so tonight you notice the dark blues into kent, heavy bursts moving eastwards. another mild night with temperatures no lower than ten or 12 degrees. the sort of temperatures you expect during the day. wednesday sees quite a bit of rain but it gets drier and brights towards eastern parts of the uk. further west quite cloudy with some showery rain. goodbye. hello, this is bbc newsroom live with joanna gosling. the headlines... americans start to deliver their verdict on president trump as the first polls open in the midterm elections. five men are arrested after a video emerged showing a model of grenfell tower burning on a bonfire. the brexit campaign group founded

by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. theresa may‘s cabinet is meeting to discuss latest attempts to resolve the irish border issue and finalise a brexit deal. let‘s get the sport now. good morning. it‘s only his first test match, but ben foakes — alongside sam curran — has saved england‘s innings in gaulle — after the opening test match against sri lanka started badly for the tourists. they lost burns and moeen early — and were ten for two, captain joe root followed for 35. jennings went for 46, and ben stokes forjust seven — that was five wickets down before lunch. sam curran went two shy of his half century — but put together a steady partnership with ben foakes — he‘s 87 not out, england currently 311—8.

huddersfield town finally got their first premier league win of the season. they beat fulham 1—0 with what was recorded as an own goal. that was their first league goal at home since april and it took them off the bottom of the table. liverpool manager jurgen klopp said it was common sense to "cool the situation down", after they decided to leave xerdan shaquiri out of their champions league squad tonight. they play red star belgrade in serbia. shaqiri is an ethnic albanian from kosovo and after he scored for switzerland at this summer‘s world cup, his goal celebration — symbolising the albanian flag — earned him a fine from fifa. politics has always influence on life, on the planet i live at least. and that‘s how it is. but we are not here for that, we are here for playing football

and that‘s why we try to make sure that we can be focused on football. i realise tonight already it could‘ve been a story and we didn‘t want to have a story besides football story. that‘s why we decided what we decided. fran kirby and keira walsh are out of the england women‘s squad for this week‘s friendlies against austria and sweden. kirby scored in the recent games against brazil and australia, and she‘s been nominated for the ballon d‘or award. both she and walsh picked up knocks in their league games at the weekend. karen carney and mel lawley come in as replacements. geraint thomas has been speaking about the frustration of team politics during races. he became the first welshman to win the tour de france this summer — beating his team—mate chris froome, who had started as team sky‘s principle rider. with thomas in front though, team orders were still to support froome — thomas says it‘s taken time and experience to accept that‘s how it works. basically they wouldn‘t wait for

anyone other than chris. if i had punctured, i would‘ve had to do the rest of the 30 yards on my own and would have lost quite a bit of time. that was stage through divot three. it was just one of those things and i just have to it was just one of those things and ijust have to bid to the back of my mind and get on with it and crack on and not let it affect me, but it might have done if it had been four or five years might have done if it had been four orfive years ago. england‘s george burgess could miss the third rugby league test against new zealand this weekend, after he was cited for eye poking, during their win on sunday. he‘ll appear at a disciplinary hearing this evening — he does appear to have his fingers in the eye of the new zealand captain. it‘s an offence that normally carries a suspension of three to five matches. and history has been made in australia, with a british—trained horse winning the melbourne cup for the first time. this is known as the race that stops a nation —

and it was actually a british 1—2—3, kerrin mcevoy riding cross counter to victory ahead of marmelo and a prince of arran. winning trainer charlie appleby said it was "everybody‘s dream". that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour. thank you, see later. let‘s return to our top story this morning — and polls have opened on the us east coast for the midterm elections. for the past few weeks president trump has been crisscrossing the country in an attempt to boost his party‘s candidates. but what can we learn from the states he chose to campaign in? do they reveal any vulnerabilities in the republicans hold on congress? ros atkins has been looking at this in our virtual senate. donald trump isn‘t on the ballot, but his presidency looms large over this year‘s mid—term elections. voters will be choosing 35 senators, and all 435 members of the house of representatives. there are also thousands of other officials on the ballot, too. now, currently the republicans control both chambers of congress, but can they hold onto them?

well, this is the current make—up of the house of representatives. the democrats need to take these 25 seats to seize the majority, and they‘re confident they can. remember, us voters have a track record of checking their president‘s power. what about the senate? well, it‘s the upper house of congress. and, as you can see, it‘s tight. but, remember, not all of these seats are up for election. it‘s just these 35 — 24 democrats, and the two independents that vote with them are defending their seats, nine republicans are in the same position. so, to win the senate, democrats would need to win every race that they‘re defending. these ten states will be the hardest for the democrats to retain. two years ago, they voted for donald trump in the presidential election. winning them, though, would only give the democrats 49 seats. they would still need to take at least two others currently held by the republicans. and just four are serious targets. now, it‘s a sign of how much momentum the democrats have this year that traditionally republican states like tennessee

and texas are in play, but the odds are against them. make no mistake, though, if the democrats take the house, the senate, or both, that will have serious implications for the next two years of donald trump‘s presidency. for a start, the republicans would lose the ability to create new laws by themselves. they would need bipartisan support to vote through some of their main legislative goals, like repealing 0bamacare and further tax cuts. that could mean we‘re looking at deadlock in congress. then there are the various investigations into russia‘s meddling in the 2016 elections. the house and senate committees with the power to investigate president trump are controlled by the majority party, so currently the republicans decide who to speak to and what issues to pursue. if the democrats win in either chamber, in theory, they could expand the investigations even wider. finally, what about impeachment? well, what about it, you might say? this is a political issue and it relies on a majority of the house

and two thirds of the senate voting against the president. even if the democrats take both chambers of congress, this is highly unlikely to happen. joining us now is gina yannitell reinhardt — she is a senior lecturer at the university of essex. thank you forjoining us. we heard there the potential predictions, the received wisdom is if things go as they are anticipated to based on history and how things stand at the moment, the republicans would keep the senate and the democrats would ta ke the senate and the democrats would take the house of representatives. how much do you think that can be banked, how unpredictable or predictable as this?” banked, how unpredictable or predictable as this? i think we are at about 85% chances that this is going to happen. that means there is still a decent chance it won‘t

happen, the republicans could keep the majority in both houses. but the chances of the democrats taking a majority in the senate are very slim, and the chances of them gaining in the house are very high. will this be a moment of truth with the us that gives a donald trump a stronger mandate or spikes his guns? this is not really going to give him a stronger mandate, i don‘t think. but yes, it will be a moment of truth, people are putting a lot of effort into these campaigns, into getting people to vote, into hopefully getting a better turnout than the use collections usually have. people are really holding a lot of hope on what the outcome is, regardless of what they want. lot of hope on what the outcome is, regardless of what they wantm lot of hope on what the outcome is, regardless of what they want. if the republicans hold on to congress, will anything change? it's likely a congress that is still

republican—controlled will embolden the president even more. his claims will get more and more vast and his actions will become more and more surprisingly. to the establishment. and what would you anticipate, is it possible to predict the sort of things that might happen along those lines? i have not been the best predictor of what he was going to do. i don‘t think many of us are. i believe he will continue to procedures and thai immigration policy very, very strongly, he will try to do everything he can to build at least some semblance of a wall. i think he‘s going to continue to withdraw from trade agreements or make trade as difficult as possible and to raise tariffs if you can. and the next step for him will be to really attack the affordable care act and health care. the flip side is that the democrats do take the

house of representatives, what would happen if that were to be the case? here we‘ve actually got a couple of different possibilities. if the democrats take the house and get a simple one or two vote majority, there will be very little that happens, that would be a very difficult house to govern. there would be absolutely no room for any democrat to vote against the party on the basis of their constituency or their personal values. the republicans would be constantly trying to make democrats to fact. that would mean that there would be very little legislation actually decided. if the democrats do get a very slim majority, we‘re looking at a real halt to legislation coming through congress. what we could see though is the democrats getting a larger majority, and if that were to happen they could actually take some action to repeal or reverse some of

the executive orders, to make law that disallows some of the orders that disallows some of the orders that president trump has been talking about or signing, and we could see because they house of representatives actually is the body of the government that ratifies treaty agreements and engages in treaties, then we could see that some were trade agreements are engaged in that we‘ve been pulling out of so far. thank you very much. and we‘ve a us election special starting here on bbc news at midnight tonight — with katty kay and christian fraser bringing you all the results throughout the night. security forces in cameroon are searching for 79 children who were abducted from a boarding school in the north west of the country. it‘s thought the institution‘s principal was also taken, along with two other members of staff. separatist rebels are being blamed for the attack — though they have denied responsibility. caroline rigby reports... abandoned, the scattered belongings of missing students, left behind after gunmen broke

into their dormitory. in all, 79 were abducted from bamenda‘s presbyterian secondary school, along with the principle and two other staff members. one student who witnessed the attack described hiding under a bed in order to escape a similar fate to his classmates. one of my friends, they beat him up mercilessly. they took him outside. all i could think about is, "just stay quiet." they threatened to shoot some people, so everybody... 0ne boy escaped. all the big boys were rounded up, and the small ones, they left them behind. the armed raid happened in bamenda, the capital of the english—speaking north—west region of cameroon. the regional governor blamed the attack on separatist rebels. this isn‘t the first time students have been abducted in the area, but it‘s the worst incident so far in an insurgency that has become increasingly violent. they are going to face a strong, powerful reaction by the powers that be.

not only in bamenda, but elsewhere in the north region. parents of the missing children are anxiously waiting for any news. a major search involving the army is now under way to find their children. caroline rigby, bbc news. in a moment we‘ll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news... polls have opened in the us mid term elections, as americans decide whether president trump‘s republican party should keep control of congress. five men are arrested after a video emerged showing a model of grenfell tower burning on a bonfire. the brexit campaign group founded by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. i‘m ben thompson with the business news.

lloyds has confirmed it‘s to cut more than 6,240 jobs as part of a digital overhaul. the high—street lender said that as part of the shake up, it will also create 8,240 new roles, resulting in a net creation of 2,000 jobs. it also says the cuts will come in back—office roles and not in bank branches. a new energy price cap will come into force on the 1st of january next year. the regulator says it will save 11 million customers an average of £76 a year on their gas and electricity bills. from today, women in the uk will qualify for their state pensions at the same age as men — that‘s 65. women who are 65 on 6 november will therefore be the first to wait for their retirement income, for as long as men. sales at primark fell in the year to september — blamed on bad weather. the budget fashion retailer, which is owned by associated british foods, reported a 2.1% decline in like—for—like sales.

primark has — until now — been reporting stronger sales year on year — as it cashed in on demand for so—called fast fashion. good morning. staying with shopping — because europe‘s busiest shopping street — that‘s oxford street here in london — will be lit up for christmas tonight with the annual festive light switch—on. and they‘ll be hoping the lights will help boost sales for all retailers — amid a wider downturn for high street retailers. well, the new west end company represents 600 firms around 0xford, regent and bond streets and says the area it will have contributed £11 billion to the uk economy by 2019. let‘s talk to jace tyrrell, chief exectuive of the new west end company. good morning. let‘s talk about that wider challenge for the high street, we‘ll get onto the christmas lights

and a second. you‘ve got a good overview of what‘s happening, how is it out there right now for retailers ? it out there right now for retailers? really challenging, this isa retailers? really challenging, this is a sector in complete transformation, at the sharp end here in the west end, customers are changing the way they shop and technology is rapidly enhancing. there is a lot of lot of uncertainty for businesses at the moment in the uk. it is a challenging period and it‘s affected our numbers for this christmas. you switch on the lights tonight, the big run—up to christmas, the most important time for retailers to make back some of the difficulties they‘ve faced during the year. what do those retailers need to do to get people through the doors and spend? this is the critical trading period. some retailers, almost 40% of their turnover will take place in the next eight weeks. for a £2.5 billion to details, it‘s really important to get this right. all retailers are doing this experiential piece. a lot of activity in the stores, ice

skating rinks to skateboarding, to lot of activity to entice shoppers are in. some of it promotional lead but a lot of it about entertainment, excitement and creating more of a theme park here in the west end and of course the christmas lights are a really important part of that. it's there to say you‘re not a typical high street. we know there are well—documented woes for many high street up and down the country. what might they take away from an oxford street experience, what can they replicate in towns and cities across the uk? it is much larger but the principles are much the same, you have to get basic customer service, integrating the online and store together, and creating reasons for shoppers to come out and spend their time and also the money most importantly. that fusion of entertainment, whatever level that is, whether high street are big city centre, and matching that with products and services is the key ingredient to be successful this christmas. good luck with the big

switch on. thank you. and other business stories in the news today. reports say new look is to close 85 stores, 25 more than previously announced in its deal with landlords. it‘s part of a radical turnaround plan amid an ongoing fall in sales. and that could already be paying off, today it posted improved profit of more than £22 million for the first half of the year compared to a loss of more than ten million in the same period last year. shares in morrisons dipped today after britain‘s fourth largest supermarket group reported sales growth slowed from the quarter before. morrisons is under pressure from the rise of discounters aldi and lidl — but has signed up to provide groceries via amazon and 0cado. and retail figures out today from the latest barclaycard consumer spending data confirm the gloomy retail outlook. department store spending slumped almost 6% while clothing spending fell 2.4%. despite that stronger than predicted

outlook, these are the figures investors have been looking at. the owner of bye, it shares are up 2.4% despite that slowdown in sales from pride. it‘s been the darling of the high street for so long and investors seem to be giving it another chance. they will be keeping another chance. they will be keeping a very close eye on what happens in the united states with this midterm elections. expect to see a big movement on the currency markets because it will tell us a lot about trade with the world‘s largest economy, and what happens there will affect us here. you‘re up—to—date. the first world war ended after four years of fighting on the 11th of november 1918.

all this week, in the run up to the centenary of armistice day, we‘ll travel along the western front, uncovering the personal stories behind the great war. this morning, our correspondent, robert hall is near the french city of arras — at the thiepval memorial. we are right in the heart of the somme battlefield. 0ne we are right in the heart of the somme battlefield. one of the most moving and beautiful spots in this pa rt moving and beautiful spots in this part of france. the thiepval memorial built on this hilltop to commemorate those horrendous losses during the battle of the somme. there are 72,000, just over that, names carved into the memorial, names carved into the memorial, names of british soldiers and south african soldiers who died on the farmland around where i‘m standing here. but i‘ve come to show you one name. it‘s right down at the base of the memorial, it was one of the last to be added. its dhoni here on this panel. it is corporal george smith

from the durham light infantry. corporal smith takes us on a journey back to county durham and the story ofafamily back to county durham and the story of a family and the village with particular reasons to remember this centenary. two families, eight sons lost. they were just from what they called the slums down in bridgegate, down in barnard castle. their mother, she always said, "never have boys, because all "they are is cannon fodder." and she was known for saying that. but they‘d done the country proud.

six smith brothers answered the call for volunteers. the first two were killed within weeks of arriving in france, three more as the war moved towards its close. with help from the local community, their desperate mother wrote to queen mary. she agreed to ask for 19—year—old wilf smith to be sent home. when i found out that he had brothers, i said, "what happened to them?" "they died and that was it." if it hadn‘t happened, if they hadn‘t brought him home, then none of us, the family now, would be here to tell the tale, and nobody would ever have known about it. 30 miles east of barnard castle, anotherfamily is being remembered. george and amy bradford watched four sons leave to join the services. this new memorial in witton park marks the three who didn‘t return.

they were very brave men and there was many of them. i personally couldn‘t have done anything what they had done. the first one to die was james. james died on the operating table. roland was the cleverest in the family and he was really respected by his man. —— men. george was in the royal navy. he went on a suicide mission and he was just cut down in a hail of bullets. roland and george bradford both won the victoria cross. their family‘s story has been told here for 100 years and this community has pledged to continue the tradition. we don‘t want to glorify war. war should never be glorified. but always to remember, lest we forget. after the armistice, barnard castle held a parade to honour its war dead. margaret smith and her surviving son

were asked to lay the first wreath. it was a very brave thing. she did it for her kids, she did it for everybody. sorry. i have a boy and a girl and they both know about it. i‘d like them to go on and tell their family and just keep it alive. they fought for their country, didn‘t they? before we go on to talk about what we‘re telling you tomorrow, i want to play you a piece of sound, remarkable, recorded in the seconds before the armistice on the 11th of the 11th. it‘s been created from a sound wave which was put together by engineers and soldiers at the time who recorded the sounds of guns to try and measure how far away the enemy guns work and the imperial war museum has got sound engineers to

use that we‘ve to create the sound, we don‘t have a recording of the real thing but this is what it would have sounded like an armistice day. gunfire and explosions fade out birdsong particularly poignant because in that landscape behind me over the brow of the hell is a cousin of my grandfather was killed, he was serving in the northumberland fusiliers attacking the german lines here at thiepval. we‘ve been...

let‘s move on to tomorrow. tomorrow we talk about the forgotten army, the men from south asia who volunteered to fight for the empire. of course so many never went home. that was incredibly moving, thank you very much. now it‘s time for a look at the weather. we‘ve got quite a bit of cloud at the moment across the uk. there is some sunshine breaking through, particularly across the east of scotland through eastern areas of england. this is a recent photo from east sussex. some different blue sky there. we‘ve got some rain affecting many northern and western parts. you can see from the pressure charts, a big area of low pressure, quite a messy picture. it‘s bringing in this

mild south—westerly wind right across the uk. at the moment temperatures are above the average for the time of year. it will continue to rain, longer spells through wales and the south—west of england during this afternoon. it will gradually turn quite heavy lead to run through the west and side wales. looters. go blues endeavour difficult of heavy rain. some showers around the north—west of wales, northern ireland and into the west of scotland. continuing to see some showers. quite a windy day, those winds stronger to make these western areas, gusts of up to 40 miles an hour, sunnier spells towards the east and quite mild for many of us this afternoon. temperatures 13 or 14 celsius in northern areas and up to 18 degrees in the south—east. through tonight there‘s a brain and heavier in south wales and said the western parts of england, that is something to keep an eye on. as we go through into

wednesday we‘ve got these weather fronts mainly in the west but they gradually move the await further eastwards. 0n gradually move the await further eastwards. on wednesday morning and other mild one, rain spread eastward. it will break up across central and eastern areas into the afternoon, there will be some showers here but the wettest areas will be towards western parts and those temperatures on wednesday are around about 13 or 14 celsius. into thursday, low pressure is still out there towards the west and it‘s looking very messy. still a number of these weather fronts passing across the uk. further spells of rain expected across south—west england, wales for a time, into northern england and scotland before that clears away, the best of the weather will be in central and eastern areas on thursday. eventually northern part of scotland and northern ireland on thursday. those damages staying up at about 11 to 14 degrees. keeping the milder conditions throughout most of the

week. goodbye. you‘re watching bbc newsroom live, these are today‘s main stories: polls open in the us mid term elections as americans start to deliver their verdict on president trump‘s first two years in office. five men are arrested after a video emerged showing a model of grenfell tower burning on a bonfire. the brexit campaign group founded by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. good morning.

welcome to bbc newsroom live. i‘m joanna gosling. the polls havejust opened in some us states for the midterm elections in which americans will deliver their verdict on president trump‘s first two years in office. final campaign rallies were held last night with the president visiting indiana and missouri in a final attempt to appeal to voters. the election will decide which party will control the two houses of congress — stephen sackur is in washington this is new york city where voters are turning out in force. we‘ve seen queues at polling stations which just turn out will be high. normally turn is around 40%. we will have to see what it turns out to be. we have all the latest analysis from washington will stop a very warm

welcome to this special us mid—term election coverage on bbc news. i‘m in washington, dc and the polls are openin in washington, dc and the polls are open ina in washington, dc and the polls are open in a vote which will determine donald trump‘s ability to get things donein donald trump‘s ability to get things done in the remaining two years of his presidency. the president himself isn‘t calling it a referendum on his two years in office, but pretty much everyone else‘s. the republican party, if it loses control of just one else‘s. the republican party, if it loses control ofjust one of the houses of congress will have a huge impact on the trump agenda from immigration to trade, and it could expose the president to a new level of congressional scrutiny. 0ur north america correspond and has this report. i‘m not on the ballot, but in a certain way i‘m on the ballot so, please, go out and vote. go out and vote. cheering. he‘s not on the ballot, but these mid—term elections are allabout him. seven states, 11 rallies and that‘s just in the last week. his message, democrats

are a socialist mob, the media are the enemy of the people and, above all else, migrants are to be feared. as we speak democrats are encouraging millions of illegal aliens to violate laws and break into our country. aliens to violate laws and break into our country. another man who is not on the ballot is this former president — but he‘s still the closest thing the democrats have to star quality. and he‘s focussing on donald trump‘s attitude to the facts. because america is at a crossroads right now. there is a contest of ideas going on right now. about who we are, and what kind of country we want to be. americans will be voting for members of both chambers of congress — that‘s the house of representatives and the senate. both are currently controlled by republicans. all 435 seats in the house are up for election. 218 are needed for a majority, with republicans going

into the election holding 235. in the senate, republicans hold 51 of the 100 seats. 35 are being contested. this is our leadership, and i could not be more proud. democrats haven't won a state—wide office in texas for a quarter of a century. the party believes this man is the future. he has raised record funding and has engaged young supporters. has raised record funding and has engaged young supporterslj has raised record funding and has engaged young supporters. i am going to win this with you. let‘s get out there and do this. despite losing a bruising battle with donald trump the presidential nomination of ted cruz has him in lockstep with the president now. i've been proud to

work with the president, repealing job killing regulations and cutting taxes, and the economy in texas is booming. if the polls are to be believed, then the republicans are likely to lose the house but keep the senate. that would make it hard for president trump to get legislation through — and democrats would control key powerful committees that could investigate the administration. holding on to the senate would mean that the president would get approvalfor thejudges and the cabinet members he wants. all told, there is a lot to play for. gary 0‘donoghue, bbc news, washington. this is indeed a big day in american democracy. voting has already begun in east coast states including virginia. i‘m joined in east coast states including virginia. i‘mjoined from in east coast states including virginia. i‘m joined from a polling station in alexandria virginia right now. barbara, the first question, how is it looking? are people showing up to vote? they certainly

are. there are lines down the street which surprised me. we asked the chief officer, did you see this last time in 2014? and he said nothing like this. they were people waiting to vote. that‘s what we had been led to vote. that‘s what we had been led to expect by the run—up to this, which was a lot of early voting being done, more than 30 million people casting a vote ahead of time, a record. a lot of enthusiasm in terms of voter turnout. it‘s a very busy. voters seem energised, it‘s been a polarising campaign, i don‘t know if you‘ve had a chance to speak to people yet, but do you have a sense that they are driven by their views on donald trump? i haven‘t spoken to many people yet, but broadly speaking we can say that especially the democrats are driven by their views on donald trump. if

you look at the types of people who have been campaigning, women are at the forefront, and that‘s a reaction against mr trump‘s rhetoric, and you have black voters who have been energised, you have quite a diverse group of people as candidates. people like of different sexual orientations and ethnicities, these people are motivated by the kind of government and style of mr trump‘s politics. voters are coming out, partly for that, especially the democrats. the republicans though, with that swing that mr trump has encouraged in recent weeks he has made himself an issue. he warns that if democrats get control of the house they will be after his policies. he will not be able to govern and it will be a disaster. that‘s a motivating factor but the midterms are about how people live,

it‘s about the economy, health care, and the democrats have zeroed in on this issue and made health care they focus rather than donald trump. we‘ve learned to be very cautious about opinion polls, but going into the votes today where does it seem momentum lies? what are the implications of that for the races in the house of representatives where every seat is up for grabs and the senate with 35 of the 100 seats are in contention? actually, the most interesting thing about the polls is that in the 30 seats that are up for grabs, toss up seats, they call them in the house of representatives, they are still too close to call. the democrats need to take 23 seats in my house to ta ke need to take 23 seats in my house to take control of it. and they have 15 or16 take control of it. and they have 15 or 16 they are pretty guaranteed to win. it doesn‘t seem like they would need many more than that. there are 30 toss—up areas, and actually it‘s

too close to calling many of it looks like they should be set for an easy win, looks like they should be set for an easy win, but it could go the other way tonight. it depends, really, who turns out. we could get a wave of young people, or a wave of black or hispanic voters who would vote democrat. they could very well be a blue wave. if we get a lot of energised republicans who come out, and they managed to squeak their candidate by, it could go the other way. that‘s what‘s interesting. despite this general feeling of democratic resistance we don‘t know whether that will pay off at the ballot box. and it could be very tight, as you have indicated, it‘s all based on these toss—up states, as they are called, and the districts within those state. when do you sense we will have a clear view as to what has happened to control of the us congress? will it take a long time?

will it be a long night? it could be. the first results are expected around 7pm local time. and with the first stations on the east coast, and then around 8pm quite a lot more results. between eight and nine we will start to get a sense of the direction this is going, certainly by ten or 11. but given that we don‘t know at this point which way it‘s going, it could take a while to find out who has won the house. and the senate, as we talked about, looks unlikely for a democrat win. we don‘t want to say anything for sure but these numbers are stacked against them there. thank you. we will hear plenty from you through the course of the day. that was stephen reporting. a 16 year old boy has died after a stabbing in south london last night.

this latest fatality means five people have died in knife attacks in the capital in a week. nobody has been arrested in connection with last night‘s incident. a couple from texas have been killed when a helicopter carrying them away from their own wedding crashed. the accident happened late on saturday night after the ceremony of will byler and bailee ackerman byler who were both students at sam houston state university. the two were married forjust over an hour before their helicopter crashed on the bylerfamily‘s ranch in southern texas. (pres) researchers say women who are naturally ‘morning people‘ are less likely to develop breast cancer... the team at the university of bristol say the reasons why are still unknown, but add that the findings are important as they may affect every woman‘s risk of developing the disease. unnecessary tonsil removals are costing the nhs almost £40 million pounds a year, according to experts. researchers at the university of birmingham, found seven in every eight children given tonsillectomies were unlikely to benefit from the operation. nhs england has already said it plans to cut back on the surgery.

five men are being questioned by police having been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence, after a video was posted online showing a cardboard model of grenfell tower being burned as part of a bonfire party. the men handed themselves in at a south london police station last night. in the footage, people can be heard laughing and joking as the model is set alight. the men have been arrested under section 4a of the public order act, which covers intentional ‘harassment, alarm or distress‘ caused by ‘threatening, abusive or insulting‘ words or signs. victoria derbyshire spoke to rukayet mamadu, one of the grenfell tower survivors, and asked her how she felt when she saw the video. ifeel very bad. particularly when there are people going through the enquiry now. going through what they went through during the fire and some people are making like a joke. there are children in the background. imean...

you could hear them laughing in the background. you could hear children‘s races in the background. it‘s not acceptable. they are bringing up children in that type of environment. regardless of the feelings of the people around them. what did you think when you hear somebody on the bid you say, stay put, we are coming to get you? it‘s chilling. it‘s cold—blooded. it‘s very bad. for a human being to rehearse, and record it, no. we go live now to virginia where attendance is looking brisk already. the polls only opened a little while

ago and there are queues down the street here in arlington. 0ur reporter has been watching people as they head out. people have already cast early votes and turnout is being looked at closely, normally turnitis being looked at closely, normally turn it is around 40%. it looks like it could be higher this time. we‘ve got full coverage coming up. now we say goodbye to our view was on bbc two. we‘ll be speaking to an election analyst just after half past — and we‘ve a us election special starting here on bbc news at midnight tonight — with katty kay and christian fraser bringing you all the results throughout the night. polls have opened in the us mid term elections, as americans decide whether president trump‘s republican party should keep control of congress. five men are arrested

after a video emerged showing a model of grenfell tower burning on a bonfire. the brexit campaign group founded by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. now carson has a sports update. it‘s only his first test match, but ben foakes — alongside sam curran — has saved england‘s innings in gaulle — after the opening test match against sri lanka started badly for the tourists. they lost burns and moeen ali — and were ten for two, captain joe root followed for 35. 87 not out, england currently 311—8. liverpool manager

jurgen klopp said it was common sense to "cool the situation down", after they decided to leave xerdan shaquiri out of their champions league squad tonight. they play red star belgrade in serbia. shaqiri is an ethnic albanian from kosovo and after he scored for switzerland at this summer‘s world cup, his goal celebration — symbolising the albanian flag — earned him a fine from fifa. politics has always influence on life, on the planet i live at least. and that‘s how it is. but we are not here for that, we are here for playing football and that‘s why we try to make sure that we can be focused on football. i realise tonight already it could‘ve been a story and we didn‘t want to have a story besides football story. that‘s why we decided what we decided. there is commentary on radio five live tonight with kick—off at five

to six. and then at 8pm tottenham hotspur versus psv. fran kirby and keira walsh are out of the england women‘s squad for this week‘s friendlies against austria and sweden. kirby scored in the recent games against brazil and australia, and she‘s been nominated for the ballon d‘or award. both she and walsh picked up knocks in their league games at the weekend. karen carney and mel lawley come in as replacements. and history has been made in australia, with a british—trained horse winning the melbourne cup for the first time. this is known as the race that stops a nation — and it was actually a british 1—2—3, kerrin mcevoy riding cross counter to victory ahead of marmelo and a prince of arran. winning trainer charlie appleby said it was "everybody‘s dream". that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour. the cabinet is meeting to discuss the prime minister‘s

latest attempt at finalising a brexit deal. the main sticking point is still the so—called back stop — the arrangements to avoid checks on goods at the irish border if there is no trade deal. theresa may has said she‘s confident a solution can be found — but this morning the eu‘s chief negotiator michel barrnier has said there has not been enough progress yet to call a special brexit summit this month. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth is at downing street. could you gauge anything from people as they left? you might be surprised to hear that they were tight—lipped making their way out of the meeting. we had the brexit secretary say thumbs up when i asked how things we re thumbs up when i asked how things were going as the chief whip was askedif were going as the chief whip was asked if the cabinet was united, and he said, as always. that was about it. we didn‘t expect it to be a decisive cabinet meeting, this was never going to be about a brig brexit moment when they came out and said they‘d got something signed

off. this was theresa may updating her ministers on the progress of negotiations which have intensified between the uk and eu. the sticking point remains that insurance policy for the island of ireland, the backstop for the island of ireland, the ba cksto p to for the island of ireland, the backstop to ensure that there are no checks at the border if no trade deal is put in place. the problem that some of the cabinet ministers and brexit sporting mps have raised is that they are concerned that a backstop arrangement could drag on and keep the uk closely tied to the eu for too long without being able to put a stop to it. this morning my colleague caught up with the trade secretary, e am to be grabham liam fox and asked how important it is that there is a deadline to this backstop? it is a democratic issue. the british public gave us instruction to leave the european union and that means the british government has to deliver that. we can't have us as beholden to anyone else in the delivery of what is and

honouring of that referendum result. nothing must get in the way in terms of honouring the vote that people decided? there are a number of reckless and you could deploy to make sure that happened, be that an end date, ora mechanism make sure that happened, be that an end date, or a mechanism for the uk to trigger our education from the process, but something needs to be done to give us that freedom. the prime minister has consistently said that she won‘t sign up from anything that leaves the uk tied indefinitely to the eu. the problem is trying to work out how that can happen in practice to the satisfaction of the eu and the uk. talks have really intensified and there are ongoing discussions at the very highest level between officials in brussels and westminster, trying to hammer out this problem. we say its time and time again, but time is short now. we are approaching the point at which they have to have

made sufficient progress to get a date in the diary for a meeting of leaders. if any brexit deal is going to have enough time to get to the british parliament, as ever, there is real pressure on the prime minister. the information commissioner‘s office is to fine the motor insurance business owned by arron banks and the campaign group, leave—dot—eu, a total of 135 thousand pounds for breaches of the data law. it says emails which promoted services provided by eldon insurance were sent to leave.eu subscribers without their consent. mr banks is the subject of a police investigation into claims he was not the "true source" of funds loaned to the leave.eu campaign ahead of the referendum. he has insisted the money came from his british businesses. i spoke to rory earlier for the latest on what is happening. this is a report from the regulator,

elizabeth denham, she has looked at use and misuse of data in political campaigning in the referendum campaigning in the referendum campaign and since. she‘s looked at cambridge analytical, and that scandal, she looked at all the different political parties and how they use and misuse data. today she is in on the use of data by the leave. eu campaign founded is in on the use of data by the leave.eu campaign founded by arron banks, and his motor insurance business. she has appeared in front of mps on a select committee. this is what she said. we found that it does indicate a failure to keep separate the data of insurers clients of eldon, and marketing and messaging to potential supporters and rotors. the leave.eu data. we actually have issued notices of intense, and under the electronic marketing regulation, but

also our work on the data protection site, to look into the policies or disregard for the separation of the data. that is going to be looked at through an audit, which we have also announced in our investigation. just explain what it is that they have done here? arron banks's company, eldon insurance, had a call centre in bristol, and it has been alleged that the call centre was used both for the motor insurance activities, and for campaigning for political campaigning. he has denied it. he denied it in front of the committee before, but elizabeth denham found that had happened and we have evidence to show that personal data was accessed by staff working for leave.eu. was accessed by staff working for leave. eu. that is was accessed by staff working for leave.eu. that is the offence, mixing data. you sign up for an insurance policy, they get your data. you don‘t expect to get

bombarded with political messages, thatis bombarded with political messages, that is what she is saying she believes happened. she went on to say that the audit of that whole organisation is continuing, and under new data protection laws they could be biggerfines in the offing. explain how the finds were? 135,000 in total, is that right? yes, to fines of £60,000, and another for £15,000 for a separate beach. —— separate breach. leave.eu has hit back, she says she is looking at what the remaining campaign has done. she highlighted the fact that the liberal democrats all the personal data of its party members to britain stronger in europe, a remaining campaign, for £100,000. she‘s not reached any decision about wrongdoing there, but she continues

her investigations. leave.eu are pointing that out. you mentioned cambridge analytical, they are also discussed in this report, what‘s the latest on that? the problem there is they are in administration. but she has said she is pursuing a criminal prosecution for failing to deal with an enforcement notice. she asked them to hand over data about professor david carroll had asked for, what data they held on him, the company hadn‘t been willing to hand it over and she says she is pursuing a criminal prosecution there. she is admitting that it‘s all a bit difficult, seeing as the company is in administration. thank you. a bbc investigation has found that one in eleven radiographer posts in the nhs is vacant, and could be a key cause of delays in patients receiving tests and scans to diagnose conditions such as cancer. more than a million people across the uk are waiting for an nhs test or scan.

0ur health correspondent, nick triggle, reports. there are more than 1 million patients waiting for an nhs test or scan across the uk. they are meant to be done in a matter of weeks to diagnose things such as cancer, heart disease or multiple sclerosis. growing numbers of patients faced delays of sometimes several months. in england the number waiting more than six weeks has risen by 9000 in a year to more than 29,000. scotland and northern ireland are even worse, only whales sees an improvement. figures show that there is a shortage of radiographers pro ka ryotes shortage of radiographers prokaryotes gans as a key cause. —— radiographers who carry out stands asa radiographers who carry out stands as a key cause. for info i love those asked showed that there were more than 14,000 posts funded, one

in11 of more than 14,000 posts funded, one in 11 of them were and at the start of this financial year. all radiographersjoin the of this financial year. all radiographers join the profession and go to work every day to give the best possible service. when there are vacancies and extra pressure is felt by everyone in the service. our members are working hard to try and fill those gaps. there is only so much you can get an unlimited number of people to do. the department of health said staff were being taken to recruit more staff and invest in technology and equipment. i bring you some breaking news that nick has just sent through to us, it on home ca re just sent through to us, it on home care services for the elderly. there isa care services for the elderly. there is a warning from regulators that vital home—care services could be disrupted in parts of england, warnings come from the care quality commission, which has issued a

warning notification regarding the future of allied health care. the sea future of allied health care. the sea qc says it is concerned about the viability of services from the end of this month. allied health ca re end of this month. allied health care announced they were struggling with debts earlier this year. the ca re with debts earlier this year. the care quality commission says the company can only confirm it‘s got funding in place until the 30th of november. the regulator says it has a legal duty to warn councils that business failure is likely and services could stop as a result. it's services could stop as a result. it‘s the first time a notice has been issued like this to a provider. in terms of the number of people affected, it covers 84 local authorities, covering 9300 people who could be affected. that‘s an unusual warning from the care quality commission about potential disruption to care services for the elderly in many parts of england. now it‘s time for a look at the weather. we can cross the newsroom now. hello. a very good morning to you.

another incredibly mild day for november. some sunshine in eastern areas at the moment. in the west lots more in the way of cloud. if you look at the radar picture you can see heavy rain working into devon and cornwall. northern ireland sees some sunshine but that is set to change. bursts of rain spread across this afternoon. try later on with the few showers across scotland. many parts of the central and eastern uk stayed dry. their wind picks up later today and overnight, especially across scotland, england and wales. northern ireland is, winds later later on, and the frog falls. quite a murky morning commute. a little cooler as well. the fog takes a while to shift. just about anywhere could see some showers. in the west

we focus the more persistent rain, the isle of man and parts of wales, towards the south—west. a bit of sunshine either side, and temperatures still on the mild side. conditions throughout most of the week. goodbye. hello, this is bbc newsroom live with joanna gosling. the headlines... polls open in the us mid term elections as americans start to deliver their verdict on president trump‘s first

two years in office. five men are arrested after a video emerged showing a model of grenfell tower burning on a bonfire. the brexit campaign group founded by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. theresa may‘s cabinet is meeting to discuss latest attempts to resolve the irish border issue and finalise a brexit deal. more now on the mid—term elections. one of the states with a tight senate race is indiana — which is the biggest steel making state in america. kim gittleson went there to find out what role it‘s playing in the race. how you doing, sir? i didn‘t mean to disturb you. for the past few weeks, derek has been going door to door to convince his fellow steel workers to vote for labour friendly candidates. he‘s talked about health care and outsourcing, but one subject has been

complicated — tarrifs. it‘s helping some in the steel industry but it‘s hurting the farmers. so you help us, but you hurt them. at the end of the day, it‘s not about substance. he‘s not the only one struggling to figure out where trade fits in this particular election battle. phil ramsay has been a farmer his entire life, but this year he‘s only sold half his soy harvest after demand dried up due to a trade war between the us and china. although indiana is heavily reliant on agriculture and manufacturing, tariffs have yet to really be felt here economically, which is why voters have chosen to focus on other issues. i don't think tariffs are going to have much to do with voters' decisions one way or another. maybe 1% will even think about tariffs. they're going to be thinking more about immigration, they're going to be thinking more about those hot button social issues.

with the booming economy brunting the pain from tarrifs, here in indiana this midterm election fight has become more of a referendum on president trump‘s personality as opposed to his policies. kim gittelson, bbc news, indianapolis. the republicans and the democrats have very different approaches to the divisive issue of healthcare — as demonstrated by president trump‘s dislike of his predecessor‘s 0bama care policy. james cook has been to sedona in arizona to find what voters there think. the desert state of arizona hasn‘t sent a democrat to the us senate for 30 years. do you now know a lot more about health care policy than you did to begin with? yeah, and it‘s all been pretty much self—taught. jeffjeans renounced the republican party when he got throat cancer. i was a extremely right—wing conservative republica n/libertarian. what changed was 0bama care, which extended health care

to 20 million more americans. jeff says he woul‘ve died without it because no insurance company was prepared to pay for his treatment. well, if somebody‘s poor and they‘re diagnosed with cancer without health insurance, they‘ll die. i mean, the people that were swindled byjunk health insurance plans, you don‘t hear them talking about their experience because they‘re dead. it's notjust the economy. think about it. look at foreign policy. in sun city, republicans are campaigning on other issues. the speakers here did not mention their botched attempt to repeal 0bama care. even the president‘s son was ignoring the question. sir, what‘s your message on health care for people here? this woman is not a fan of 0bama care. she says it was expensive, she couldn‘t see the doctor she wanted and she wasn‘t covered when she moved state. how much has it cost you overall

being hit by that car? i'm probably into $300,000 right now. how much? 300,000. $300,000? yeah, and all i did was go to walmart to pick up a prescription. and so what‘s your view about 0bama care? i hope they repeal all of it, it's horrible. they're calling this a potential swing state for the presidential elecion. this expert says the law has led to much higher health insurance premiums. but it has risen in popularity despite republican attempts to undermine it. there's been a lot of cuts to 0bama care. it's like dying by a thousand cuts. is that what's happening? it's interesting because it hasn't died yet. whether or not you like the affordable care act or you like to president 0bama, we have thousands, millions of people in the us that need comprehensive health insurance and i think that's what's most important for them. and

millions more have it as a result of that. across the spectacular state and across the country voters are now making their minds up. nationally the campaign may have been dominated by the economy and immigration about front millions of americans the most pressing, most personal issue is health care. and how they feel about it may yet reshape the political landscape. james cook, bbc news, arizona. and we‘ve a us election special starting here on bbc news at midnight tonight — with katty kay and christian fraser bringing you all the results throughout the night. well, more now on the news that five men are being questioned by police over a video showing a model of grenfell tower burning on a bonfire. the chairman of the public inquiry into the fire — sir martin moore—bick — gave his reaction as he opened today‘s hearing. the enquiry is aware of the offensive video that was posted

online yesterday. it must be shocking and distressing to all those involved. whatever way their involvement in whatever form their involvement, whether as bereaved, survivors are members of the wider community. i‘m very pleased to hear the authorities are taking the matter very seriously and an investigation is under way. that the chairman of the enquiry into the g re nfell chairman of the enquiry into the grenfell fire. a warning that home care services for the elderly could be disrupted in many parts of england because the company providing these particular services, allied health care, is facing financial difficulties. it said it is struggling with debts and the care quality commission is saying potentially its money may run out by the end of the month. the company has only been able to confirm its got funding in place until the end of the month and if it

ru ns until the end of the month and if it runs out of funding that will have an impact on the care that it‘s providing. it provides services for 84 local authorities which cover 9300 people, potentially a big impact. joining me now is our health correspondent nick triggle. it's it‘s the first time the care quality commission has issued a warning to a whole company like this. allied health care are one of the biggest providers of home care services. that is things like washing or dressing or getting up in the morning and thousands of older people across england rely on the services provided by this company. what they‘ve said today is they‘re worried about the prospects of the company. the only have confidence that the finances are in place until the end of this month, and the warning notice issued means business

failure is likely and there will be some disruption to services. they‘ve written to 84 local authorities in england, that‘s over half the total number of councils, to let them know about their concerns about this company. the company have responded and see they believe it is premature and see they believe it is premature and unwarranted. they‘re trying to get finances in place to secure their future. what can get finances in place to secure theirfuture. what can happen get finances in place to secure their future. what can happen at? presumably there are contracts in place so it‘s not like councils can think they willjust place so it‘s not like councils can think they will just find somebody else to do it on the off chance, which would then undermine further a nyway which would then undermine further anyway the company. what is likely to happen? councils will be asked to ensure they have a safety net in place that if the services do stop there will be something to help the people who rely on the services. at the moment the ctc is quite clear that the services are going to be there and to the end of the month but there are concerns after that and councils need to start planning. what‘s the bigger picture on the

sorts of services? has been discussion for some time around problems with funding for them and some companies not being viable because of the level of funding. yes, there has. just last month the ca re yes, there has. just last month the care quality commission was warning that a number of home care firms we re that a number of home care firms were handing contracts back to councils because they could no longer afford to run the services on the fees that councils were offering. we had the umbrella organisation for home care agencies, the uk home care association, seeing councils were trying to get care on the cheap. we‘ve had warnings for some time and this is more evidence that there are serious problems in this sector. thank you very much, nick. an inquest has been opened and adjourned into the deaths of five people who died as a result of a helicopter crash at leicester city football club. the club‘s owner and four others were killed in the crash near the king power stadium ten days ago our news correspondent, maurice flynn is at

leicester coroner‘s court. what have you heard so far today? proceedings here are lasted just a few minutes but in that time coroner catherine mason heard from detective chief superintendent from leicestershi re chief superintendent from leicestershire police. she asked him to confirm the names and ages of those on board who died ten days ago when the helicopter came down outside the king pera stadium. he confirmed them to be vichai srivaddhanaprabha, who was 60, two members of his staff, a 32—year—old and it would have been 33 today. another 33—year—old, the pilot who was 53. his long—term partner isabella who was 46 and a pilot in her own right. the detective also confirmed that cctv footage and mobile phone footage confirmed all five of those had been seen preparing to go on to the helicopter before it took off and that same footage showed it taking off and

spinning out of control before it came down. the focus of the inquest will be looking at what caused the helicopter to spin out of control. the air accident investigation branch are currently examining the wreckage and the flight recorder information. the wreckage was removed from leicester so that could be done. the investigators will report directly into the inquest. depending on the timing that will have a bearing on when this inquest can resume. as yet no date has been set. thank you. security forces in cameroon are searching for 79 children who were abducted from a boarding school in the north west of the country. it‘s thought the institution‘s principal was also taken, along with two other members of staff. separatist rebels are being blamed for the attack — though they have denied responsibility. caroline rigby reports. abandoned, the scattered belongings of missing students, left behind after gunmen broke into their dormitory. in all, 79 were abducted from bamenda‘s presbyterian secondary school, along with the principle and two

other staff members. one student who witnessed the attack described hiding under a bed in order to escape a similar fate to his classmates. one of my friends, they beat him up mercilessly. they took him outside. all i could think about is, "just stay quiet." they threatened to shoot some people, so everybody... 0ne boy escaped. all the big boys were rounded up, and the small ones, they left them behind. the armed raid happened in bamenda, the capital of the english—speaking north—west region of cameroon. the regional governor blamed the attack on separatist rebels. this isn‘t the first time students have been abducted in the area, but it‘s the worst incident so far in an insurgency that has become increasingly violent. they are going to face a strong, powerful reaction by the powers that be. not only in bamenda, but elsewhere in the north region. parents of the missing children

are anxiously waiting for any news. a major search involving the army is now under way to find their children. caroline rigby, bbc news. over the past five years more than 500 people in england have been hospitalised after being attacked by acid — with the number rising every year. leading the way when it comes to treating the victims is a hospital in essex, which is home to the largest burns unit in europe. the victoria derbyshire programme has been granted exclusive access to the unit. there are some images in claire jones‘s report that you may find distressing. i had work that day. i kind of sat down at the bus stop and i was on the phone to my friend when i noticed a guy with a black tracksuit and he kind of had, like, a black scarf around him, covering his mouth, and he was likelyjogging, shaking a bottle. adele bellis was severely burnt after her ex—boyfriend arranged for sulphuric acid to be thrown on her in 2014. he chucked the acid, got my right hand, my right arm

and the right part of my face. adele was rushed to hospital in suffolk, where she received emergency treatment. in the afternoon, she was transferred to the specialist burns unit in essex. they took all the dead skin off me and then the donor skin on. and then i had skin grafts done, which was taken on my side and used —— on my thigh, on the side of my head, my hand, my arm, my chest. her scars needed round—the—clock care. i had a mask which i had to wear 12 hours a day, which was the big, plastic one. and then i would have pressure garments which i‘d wear at night whilst i was asleep, which kind of went over my head, as well as have a suit which would be up to here, to here. in the past five years, more than 500 patients were admitted to hospitals across england from assault by corrosive substances. that has ramped up massively from 2015. we're seeing in the order of around

about 30 to 50 patients per year. so the same number you'd see in maybe five years, you're now seeing in six months. four years on, adele is back to broomfield hospitalfor the next stage of reconstructive surgery. the surgery will firstly relieve pressure on her scarring and allow more movement, and then she‘ll have laser treatment to help the appearance. the procedures are expected to take an hour to complete. so how did it go? yeah, went really well. i think she will get better movement in her neck. it was tight before and turning to one side was difficult, but i think she will be ok. the surgery was a success. adele has had so many procedures she‘s lost count. every time i come to hospital, it‘s a thing, because ijust know that it‘s a step closer to help me, help my scars and another operation is going to benefit me.

i can‘t actually imagine myself without scars. my new scars represent the new me — the new, strong me. the headlines on bbc news... polls have opened in the us mid term elections, as americans decide whether president trump‘s republican party should keep control of congress. five men are arrested after a video emerged showing a model of grenfell tower burning on a bonfire. the brexit campaign group founded by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. the first world war ended after four years of fighting on the 11th of november 1918. all this week, in the run up to the centenary of armistice day, we‘ll travel along the western front, uncovering the personal stories behind the great war. this morning, our correspondent, robert hall has been near the french city of arras —

at the thiepval memorial. we are right in the heart of the somme battlefield. one of the most moving and beautiful spots in this part of france. the thiepval memorial built on this hilltop to commemorate those horrendous losses during the battle of the somme. there are 72,000, just over that, names carved into the memorial, names of british soldiers and south african soldiers who died on the farmland around where i‘m standing here. but i‘ve come to show you one name. it‘s right down at the base of the memorial, it was one of the last to be added in fact. it‘s down here on this panel. it is corporal george smith from the durham light infantry. corporal smith takes us on a journey back to county durham and the story of a family and the village with particular reasons to remember this centenary. two families, eight sons lost.

they were just from what they called the slums down in bridgegate, down in barnard castle. their mother, she always said, "never have boys, because all "they are is cannon fodder." and she was known for saying that. but they‘d done the country proud. six smith brothers answered the call for volunteers. the first two were killed within weeks of arriving in france, three more as the war

moved towards its close. with help from the local community, their desperate mother wrote to queen mary. she agreed to ask for 19—year—old wilf smith to be sent home. when i found out that he had brothers, i said, "what happened to them?" "they died and that was it." if it hadn‘t happened, if they hadn‘t brought him home, then none of us, the family now, would be here to tell the tale, and nobody would ever have known about it. 30 miles east of barnard castle, anotherfamily is being remembered. george and amy bradford watched four sons leave to join the services. this new memorial in witton park marks the three who didn‘t return. they were very brave men and there was many of them. i personally couldn‘t have done

anything what they had done. the first one to die was james. james died on the operating table. roland was the cleverest in the family and he was really respected by his men. george was in the royal navy. he went on a suicide mission and he was just cut down in a hail of bullets. roland and george bradford both won the victoria cross. their family‘s story has been told here for 100 years and this community has pledged to continue the tradition. we don‘t want to glorify war. war should never be glorified. but always to remember, lest we forget. after the armistice, barnard castle held a parade to honour its war dead. margaret smith and her surviving son were asked to lay the first wreath. it was a very brave thing. she did it for her kids, she did it for everybody.

sorry. i have a boy and a girl and they both know about it. i‘d like them to go on and tell their family and just keep it alive. they fought for their country, didn‘t they? before we go on to talk about what we‘re telling you tomorrow, i want to play you a piece of sound, remarkable, recorded in the seconds, minutes before the armistice on the 11th of the 11th. it‘s been created from a sound wave which was put together by engineers and soldiers at the time who recorded the sounds of guns to try and measure how far away the enemy guns were, and the imperial war museum has got sound engineers to use that wave to create the sound. we don‘t have a recording of the real thing but this is what it would have sounded like an armistice day. gunfire and explosions fade out

birdsong particularly poignant because in that landscape behind me over the brow of the hill a cousin of my grandfather who was killed, he was serving in the northumberland fusiliers, attacking the german lines here at thiepval. he fell, we believe, kicking a football to encourage his comrades, his friends to carry on with the attack. let‘s move on to tomorrow. tomorrow we talk about the forgotten army, the men from south asia who volunteered to fight for the empire. of course so many never went home.

when you visit cornwall — or watch bbc one drama poldark — the region‘s rich history of mining is ever present. historically, the county produced huge amounts of tin, copper and even arsenic. but from today cornwall‘s geology is due to be used for something rather different. a multi—million pound project hopes to produce renewable electricity using the hot rocks deep underground. jon kay has been to take a look. on an industrial estate just outside redruth, they are making history. this giant rig is going deeper into the uk‘s earth than ever before. they are drilling three miles down. to give you a sense of what that means, the shard building in london is about 300 metres high. so imagine 15 shards, all on top of one another, and then go underground to that depth.

that is how deep these drills are going to go — 4,500 metres. and here is why. this promotional video shows there will be two giant holes. the first one will take cold water about halfway. the water will then trickle deeper, and be heated to nearly 200 degrees celsius by the rocks below. then it will be pumped back up to the top through a second well. the steam it produces at the earth‘s surface will be used to create electricity for up to 3,000 cornish homes. it‘s a fantastic day for me, but it‘s also a it‘s a huge relief, as well. ryan law is the geologist and businessman who has devoted ten years to making this a reality, and he is convinced this is just the start. you only have to look at what‘s been happening in germany, what‘s been happening in the paris basin, for example. once one project kicks off and is successful, many other projects follow.

but it took £10 million of eu money to get this project under way, and after brexit, they will need private investors to fund any future expansion. in places like iceland, geothermal is already part of the renewable energy mix. the geology here means it is easier to reach the hot rocks below, and a quarter of the country‘s electricity is produced this way, without the chemicals or the pressure involved in fracking. no—one is expecting cornish granite to produce anything like those quantities, but the local council is putting in £2 million as an investment for the future. if this proves itself, then we would hope that other wells will be drilled in due course, and that more of the jobs, more of the drilling facilities, etc, the money from those will go to the local cornish economy. if he is right, this landscape, rich in centuries of mining history, could be ground—breaking once again. jon kay, bbc news, cornwall.

in a moment it‘s time for the one o‘clock news with ben brown but first it‘s time for a look at the weather with matt. hello. plenty of cloud across the uk today but it‘s another unseasonably mild day, right across much of central and eastern europe, you can see the warmer colours. we‘ve got the striving area out towards the north—west, a big area of low pressure dominating air whether through much of the week. we‘re on the outer fringes at the moment seeing outbreaks of redevelopment are widely. a fine morning across northern ireland this morning but strengthening winds around irish sea coasts with further splashes of reno. a little bit of sunshine at times, temperatures not only into the teams, could even get close to

19 degrees. let‘s focus on the west because this is where we are more likely to see the wet weather, mostly it will be dry in the east. heavy and thundery downpours, maybe seeing more persistent rain as could the isle of man. the worst of the arena coming away from northern ireland but still some heavy showers in the west. a fuchsia red in western scotland too. into tonight the rain will clearfrom northern ireland, but it becomes more widespread across central and southern scotland, wales and a good pa rt southern scotland, wales and a good part of central and western england. some of that really persistent at times. a killer night in northern ireland, here we could see some dense fog form for the morning rush hour, bringing up across western areas, outbreaks of rain possible anywhere, the main exception being north—east scotland. while eastern areas brighten up during the day in the west we could have more persistent rain. temperatures again

well into the genes for the most part. wednesday into thursday showers spread across everywhere, things turn drier and clearer, cooler for a things turn drier and clearer, coolerfor a time things turn drier and clearer, cooler for a time to start thursday but it looks like with winds almost converging on this zone from south—west england and wales through tonight west scotland, south—west scotland, that‘s the area where we see more persistent rain. either side is something drier and brighter, sunshine for some and temperatures in the mid teens in the south and east. for the end of the week, by friday this area of low pressure swings in, and it turns to severe gales and heavy rain in the west later. the polls open in america‘s crucial midterm elections. they‘re being seen as a referendum on donald trump‘s presidency — democrats hope to seize control of the house of representatives. this is the scene live at one polling station in virginia. turnout across america

is expected to be high. we‘ll have the latest from our correspondents in the united states. also this lunchtime... vital home care services for thousands of elderly people in england could be disrupted — after a warning about the future of one of the country‘s biggest providers. another blow for the controversial businessman arron banks, with fines for his brexit campaign group and his insurance company over data protection breaches. hundreds ofjobs to go in dundee with the closure of the michelin tyre factory. unions say it‘s a betrayal of the workforce.