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. and for the first time ever, a british trained horse wins australia's most famous race.

and coming up on bbc news, an impressive debut for ben foakes. he saves england's innings in galle after a terrible start to the first test against sri lanka. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the polls have opened in the united states for the 2018 mid term elections, which many believe will be a verdict on president trump's first two years in office. millions of americans are voting today — with every seat in the house of representatives up for grabs, and a third of those in the senate. the democrats have high hopes of breaking the republicans‘ grip on congress, and making life harder forfor mr trump. 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. as we speak, democrats are encouraging millions of illegal aliens to violate our laws and break into our country. another man who's not on the ballot is this former president, but he's still the closest thing the democrats have to star quality. and he's focusing 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. one of those senate races that attracting most attention is in texas. democrats haven't won a state—wide office here for a quarter of a century, but the party believes this man is the future. he has raised record funding and was engaging young supporters in this music venue. we will win this election, tuesday night. senator ted cruz! despite losing a bruising

battle with donald trump for the presidential nomination, ted cruz is in lockstep with him now. i've been proud to work with the president and the administration, repealing job—killing regulations and cutting taxes, and the economy in texas is booming. if the polls are to be believed, then 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. barbara plett usher is at a polling station in alexandria in the state of virginia. barbara, donald trump's been

campaigning really hard in the run—up to these elections, how important do you think they are for him? as we have said, he is not on the ballot but they are very important for him because the results will affect our lives next two years go. if the democrats regain control of the house of representatives, it brea ks the house of representatives, it breaks up the republican monopoly in washington, meaning they can disrupt his legislative agenda, claims a pina power to large investigations against him. he has warned democratic victories would be disastrous for him. if the republicans regain control of both houses he would see it as a vote of confidence and governing in the next two years confidence and governing in the next two yea rs in confidence and governing in the next two years in an unchecked way. americans more broadly looking at what these elections mean for the state of american politics. to some degree they will say whether the trump phenomenon is a blip, and admiration, or is it signals a realignment of american politics

that the democrats will find more difficult to penetrate, which has implications for 2020, the next presidential election. barbara plett in virginia. vital home care services for thousands of elderly people across england could be disrupted after the regulator issued a warning about the future viability of one of the country's biggest providers. the care quality commission say allied healthcare can only confirm it has funding in place until the end of this month. the company runs services for more than 9,000 people in 84 local authorities. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt is here. this is a major home care provider? it is, one of the biggest in england is providing support for people in their own homes, people who are vulnerable and need help with what they are doing, day in and day out. this is the first time the cqc has issued this sort of warning to a large corporate body. part of its

role is to monitor the financial health of big providers. back in april, allied health care began to restructure its debts, it has kept a particular eye on what is happening there. what has happened with this warning is it says it has not seen the evidence it needs that money is in place after november 30. but does not mean the company has failed, thatis not mean the company has failed, that is not what they are saying. they are worried about what happens later. by issuing this warning notice they are telling local authorities that they have concerns and should put plans in place in case there are problems later. in the end, they need to ensure the continuity of care for extremely vulnerable people. allied healthcare says it is surprised and deeply disappointed by this notification and regards it as

premature and unwarranted and it says continuity of quality care is its number one priority. thank you very much, alison holt. a pro—brexit campaign group and an insurance company owned by the controversial businessman arron banks are to be fined £135,000 by the uk data watchdog. the information commissioner's office said both organisations had committed "serious breaches" of the law after they used the personal data of each other‘s customers without their consent. it comes as mr banks faces a criminal inquiry over the source of funds for his leave.eu group during the referendum two years ago. rory cellanjones reports. 2016 — and in the eu referendum campaign, data is a key weapon for both sides. but britain's data regulator has been looking at whether the information gathered on millions of voters was misused. this is the bristol call centre of a motor insurance business owned by the leave campaigner arron banks. it was also used for the referendum campaign. this morning, the information commissioner told mps data from both activities had been mixed — and that broke the law. we have found that it does indicate

a failure to keep separate the data of insurance clients of eldon and marketing and messaging to potential supporters and voters, and leave.eu data. arron banks‘ eldon insurance and the leave.eu campaign now face fines of £135,000, in what are described as serious breaches of the law. he tweeted in response... mr banks is also under separate investigation by the national crime agency over the source of the funds he gave to leave.eu. the electoral commission explained to mps why the nca was called in. we suspect that the true details of those financial transactions were concealed from us by mr banks and others involved in those companies, and that as a consequence of this we suspect that a number of criminal offences may have been committed.

the information commissioner is also examining how the remain campaign handled personal data, including the claim that liberal democrats sold the data of its party members to the britain stronger in europe group. the party denied that personal information had been sold. rory cellanjones, bbc news. the cabinet has been discussing theresa may's latest attempt to finalise a brexit deal. there had been reports of progress in talks between london and brussels, but the eu's chief negotiator says not enough has been made to call a special summit which would seal the deal. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth is in downing street. what's the latest? the cabinet met this morning, as you say, and as you might expect they did not give an awful lot away when the ministers came out one by one.

there was a nod and a thumbs up from brexit secretary dominic raab, when chief whip julian smith brexit secretary dominic raab, when chief whipjulian smith was asked if the cabinet was united he said, as always. but in terms of real content of what was discussed, the sticking point is the irish border question and how to come up with an arrangement so there is no trade deal in place that will not be checks at that border. the real problem is getting the eu and uk to agree on the detail of that, particularly how long it might last and how the uk might get itself out of it. we are told that was discussed at the cabinet meeting today and that theresa may told her ministers she was confident a deal could be reached with the eu but not at any cost. she has been insistent that the uk will respect the result of the referendum, and that means that in terms of uk sovereignty there is an awful lot on the prime minister to make sure the talks do not result in no deal, which both

sides in the discussions say they wa nt to sides in the discussions say they want to avoid. thank you very much, alex forsyth, in downing street. five men have been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence after a video was posted showing a cardboard model of grenfell tower, being burned on a bonfire. they handed themselves in to a police station in south london last night. the prime minister has condemned the video as "utterly unacceptable". almost 850 jobs are to go in dundee, where the michelin tyre factory is be closed down the year after next. -- is —— is to be closed down. the french firm said the site is "unsuitable" given current market conditions. union leaders have described it as a "hammer blow" for dundee and a betrayal of the workforce. james shaw reports. they've been making tyres here for almost 50 years. the michelin plant is dundee‘s largest industrial employer, workers read about the closure in their local paper. we were never told this was going to happen. in the courier last night

was the first i'd ever heard of it. it's a disgrace. yes, the way it came out. it shouldn't have come out like that. did you expect something might happen then? we had an idea that something was going to happen. but not as bad as this. managers here say the factory has fallen victim to economic realities beyond their control. there's been a major structural change to the uk car tyre market, which has been driven by asian imports, and a growing demand for bigger tyres. —— to the european car tyre market. those two things have suppressed the demand for 16 inch tyres, which is unfortunately what we make here in dundee. workers here have been sent home for the day, having had it confirmed by their managers that this place will close in 2020. they are back at work on thursday, but with the knowledge that as things stand, this factory has no long—term future. the company has promised to help its workers retrain for future careers, but the unite union says it will try to find ways to save as manyjobs as possible. obviously, the first thing we need

to do is remain positive, and focus on saving the plant. i met the minister this morning, and what he is saying is very positive, he wants to work with the unions and the company to find a solution to this issue. until this announcement dundee‘s future was looking positive, a new design museum and waterfront developments offered a vision to replace years of industrial decline. now, the old spectre of redundancies and shutdowns looks set to blight the city's future as well as its past. james shaw, bbc news, dundee. the time is 1:15pm. our top story this lunchtime. 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. we've travelled north on ourjourney

along the western front to hear the story of a family with particular reasons for remembering the centenary reasons for remembering the ce nte nary of reasons for remembering the centenary of the armistice. coming up on bbc news — history is made in australia. cross counter, ridden by kerrin mcevoy, leads home a british—trained1—2—3 at the melbourne cup. this sunday, 10,000 members of the public will form a procession past the cenotaph in central london, to pay tribute to those that served during the first world war. 100 years on from the end of the first world war people around the country are also being asked to ring bells to replicate the national outpouring of relief that took place at the end of the conflict. all this week, in the run up to armistice day, we'll be travelling along the western front, uncovering the personal stories behind the great war. robert hall is at the

thiepval war memorial in northern france — robert. you come across the somme battlefield to this, one of the most moving spots in this part of france. the focus for all the pilgrims is above me here, the huge thiepval memorial. that is there to mark the missing. 0ver memorial. that is there to mark the missing. over 72,000 names memorial. that is there to mark the missing. 0ver72,000 names of british and commonwealth soldiers are inscribed on it. i've come here to look at one name. it's down here ona to look at one name. it's down here on a panel at the base of the memorial. it is corporal george smith of the durham light infantry. his story takes us back to the uk, to county durham and the tale of a family and community who have particular reason to mark this armistice centenary. music plays: "abide with me". 0ne county durham

family, five sons lost. they were just from what they called the slums, down in bridgegate near barnard castle. their mother, she always said, "never have boys, because all they are is cannon fodder." and that was her, she was known for saying that. but, like she said, they've 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. ifound out that he had brothers. i said, "what happened to them?" he wouldn't talk much. "they died," and that was it. if it hadn't have happened, if they hadn't have brought him home, then none of us here, the family now, would be here to tell the tale, and nobody would ever have known about it. 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. oh, it was a very brave thing. she did it for her kids, she did it for everybody‘s. .. sorry. i have a boy and a girl, and they both know about it. i would like them to go on and tell their family, and just keep it alive. they fought for their country, didn't they? this extraordinary piece of sound

was created, using microphones and watching for the flash of guns. the imperial war museum got sound engineers to look at the graft and used today's technology to recreate what those in the trenches would have heard at the moment of armistice. explosions. gunfire and explosions continue. birdsong.

a cousin of my grandfather's was killed down there and be somme. tomorrow we head further north and the story of the forgotten army, the men from south asia who came to fight for the commonwealth. now, work is under way in cornwall to drill britain's deepest hole — with a depth of 400 double—decker buses. it's part of a project to create the uk's first deep geothermal power plant — that could generate electricity for thousands of homes. 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 — 11,500 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 rigs, etc, the money from those will go to the local cornish economy. if he's right, this landscape, rich in centuries of mining history, could be ground—breaking once again. jon kay, bbc news, cornwall. it may seem pretty early to have done your christmas shopping, but figures out today show more than one in five of us have already bought most of the presents that we'll be giving. according to the centre for retail research, we britons get our christmas shopping done well ahead of our european neighbours. here's our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith. thank you very much. another £5 in the christmas kitty for debbie, making the christmas dinner a little easier to afford. i use the payment card here, and ijust dropped £5 off. then when it's christmas, i've paid for my turkey.

and she's not alone. with around £22 billion spent on groceries last christmas, there are plenty of families planning ahead for a big feast this year. we have customers who come in injanuary and start, just a few quid here and there. come the end of the first week in december when we have our cut—off point, there will be hundreds. why are they wanting to start so early? they might be working off a pension, they could have a young family. start early and so you don't get left with that big bill right before christmas. spreading the cost can be crucial when there is so much pressure to spend big at christmas. we definitely encourage saving quite strongly, but we do find at the moment people's finances are so stretched that quite often they are going to need some credit as well. in that case, it's really good to come somewhere like us where it's safe credit. it's not going to be high cost. it's not just about the food. one third of us will have our christmas spending done by the end of this month. we start buying christmas presents in the january sale!

you don't?! have i really found someone who starts injanuary?! yeah. i try to pick up bits and pieces as i go along. my family are quite big, so we have a secret santa to try and limit the costs. between us we have about 100 people to buy presents for. 100 people?! yeah. everyone else‘s kids. for every person, there's like three kids! if there's an offer on now, i get it now, and then that's one thing that i've ticked off. i think a lot of people think like that, apart from my other half, who leaves it till the last minute! she laughs. getting a head start on christmas cuts out that last—minute stress, and keeps a lid on those big december bills. colletta smith, bbc news, in manchester. in the next hour, some of the biggest names in british entertainment will be handing a letter to downing street calling for tax relief to help boost diversity in tv and film production. stars including meera syal and dame emma thompson are backing the campaign for more women, ethnic minorities and disabled people to be employed

behind the camera. the campaign is led by sir lenny henry — he's been talking to our community affairs correspondent adina campbell. it's proper diversity, which is black, brown, asian people, you know, people with disabilities, more women. we're talking about having a proper level playing field around the table, making decisions and creating something extraordinary. you know, look at the joy when moonlight wins an oscar, look at the joy when idris comes back from america, garlanded with this success from the wire. he didn't want a hand—out, he just wanted a break. and what we are talking about is giving people who are standing there, going, "well, i'm really talented, but nobody is giving me a break." we're saying, "here's the break." how will these tax breaks work in real terms? what kind of criteria will need to be met? well, the bfi have, you know, a three tick criteria, so it is who makes the programme? what is the subject matter?

who gets to decide that? who's involved? who's in it? it will be that, but, you know, i'm a comedian, so don't go asking me. i'm there for exotica, and glamour. there will be a proper thing worked out. the details will be worked out. but the general thing we are saying, is tax breaks, like you do for everything else, do it for this, because it's needed. unfortunately, we're still seeing some programmes which are being represented and reflected in a way that isn't culturally appropriate, that is insulting to some groups. how do we get over that? what will this solve? there's always going to be a representation problem, because not everybody was at the table, saying, "we don't need that, we don't wear those clothes, we don't look like that, we don't drive that car. my mum isn't like that." all of this great creativity which we see in the music industry, which we see in the film industry, in the theatre industry, is being mandated by people who aren't like the people that are making the product. and when you look at the stats across all the main five broadcasters, they are really poor.

they need to revolutionise hr. human resources needs to have a broader remit on who they invite into interview for jobs, and why. they need to broaden their outlook on where they get people from, which colleges. are we going to be talking about this in the next five years? yes, we are. there will be somebody out there who will say, why should we change? it works perfectly well. the bodyguard still got made, well, you know, yeah, but it would be cool to have some more brothers and sisters in there. this might be a collaboration, it might nikki minaj featuring, we might have to get used to collaboration. collab is good. snoop dogg and 0lly murs! a british—trained horse has won australia's most iconic race — the melbourne cup — for the first time in history. cross counter — ridden by kerrin mcevoy and trained by charlie appleby led a british trained 1—2—3, as andy swiss reports.

ever wondered what it's like to make history? well, there's your answer. somewhere in the scrum, trainer charlie appleby, the man who hasjust ended one of british sport's longest waits. for more than 150 years, the melbourne cup had been an australian institution, the so—called race that stops the nation. but as the 2a horses set out on a two—mile charge, there was a reminder of the risks, as well as the rewards. at the back of the field, the irish horse, the cliffsofmoher, suffered an early injury, and was later put down. the closing stages produced a thrilling finish, as 80,000 fans cheered on the home hosts, it was britain's day. nearest the camera in the red hat and blue silks, cross counter with a quite stunning finish.

trained in newmarket, triumphant in melbourne. jockey kerrin mcevoy might be an aussie, but this was a victory made in suffolk, with a trainer who had already won this year's derby, now a double celebration. it's huge for everybody. you know, for me, of course, it's the biggest thing. along with the derby. this year has been one of those amazing years. i don't want it to end, really, but there we are. with british trained horses taking the top three places, this was the year that decades of frustration finally ended in glory. andy swiss, bbc news. time for a look at the weather — here's matt taylor.