hello, you're watching afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. today at 2: the polls open in america's mid—term election — seen by many as a crucial test of donald trump's presidency. under threat — home care services for thousands of elderly people face disruption following questions over the future of allied healthcare. a pro—brexit campaign group, and an insurance company ownedby businessman arron banks have been fined £135,000 by the uk data watchdog. urgent talks to try and safeguard more than 800 jobs — as michelin announces plans to shut its tyre factory over the next couple of years. hello everyone, this is afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. 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. stephern sackur is in washington for us now. hello and a very warm welcome to this bbc news election special from washington, dc. after weeks of bitter campaigning, the polling stations are now open in the united states, at least on the east coast. for these key midterm elections. the outcome will determine president trump's ability to govern over the

next two years. he is not on the ballot of course, but majorities in both the house of representatives and the us senate hang in the balance. losing even one of them could have a huge impact on the camp agenda. from immigration to health care, trade and everything in between. we begin our coverage with this report from our north america correspondence. i'm not on the ballot, but in a certain way, i'm on the ballot, so please go out and vote. he's not on the ballot, but these midterm elections are all about 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 openly encouraging millions of illegal aliens to violate our laws and break

into our country. another man who's not on the ballot, this former president. he is focusing on donald trump's attitude to the facts. america is at a crossroads right how. 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 are going to be. americans will be voting for members of both chambers of congress. that is the house of representativess and the senate all 435 seats in the house are up for election, 218 are needed for a majority. republicans are going into the election holding 235 of those seats. in the senate, republicans hold 51 of the 100 seats, 35 are being contested. this is our leadership... one of the senate

races that is 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 full. he has raised record funding and is engaging young supporters in this music venue. are you ready to win? i am ready to win this with you! thank you, let's go out there and do this! despite losing a battle with donald trump for the presidential nomination, ted cruz is in lockstep with the president now. i've been proud to work hand—in—hand with the president administration, repealing job killing regulations and cutting taxes, the economy in texas is booming. is the -- if the polls are to be believed, 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 onto the senate would mean the president could get approval for the judges and the cabinet members he wants. all told, there is a lot to play for. the early indications are that voter enthusiasm is high in these midterm elections. that bring you some live pictures from new york, where the polls, as you can see, are open. as isaid, polls, as you can see, are open. as i said, there's been a lot of early voting in this election, significantly higher than in the midterm elections for mac years ago. the predictions are that perhaps 50% of eligible voters will get around to voting in these midterm elections, which would be much higher than the same number four yea rs higher than the same number four years ago. let'sjoin my higher than the same number four years ago. let's join my colleague who is stationed at a polling booth in alexandria, virginia. we have

been watching people come and go, is it your impression that turnout is looking high? yes, it looks pretty high, because there are lines outside the door, even though it is raining. also, the chief officer here has given us some figures, he said during the mid—times in 2014, 300 people had voted by 9am. now, by a tame today, 500 people had voted. _by a tame today, 500 people had voted. —— by 8am today. so, there is an increase in the station, and there is signed as a voter enthusiasm elsewhere in this country. pollsters are suggesting that the high turnout might favour the democratic party and its candidates across the nation, is that something that makes sense, given the electoral map? yes, it is, because they will need first of all all the energy they can get

from those who have powered the resistance, women voters. but also, groups like african—americans, hispanics, use, all of them vote for the democrats abroad is beginning and those are the constituencies that are not always so reliable in terms of high voter turnout. so a high turnout would suggest that more of those people have voted. having said that, if the weather does dampen voting, then that would work against democrats. polls close on the east coast in less than 12 hours, actually about nine hours' time, give us a sense of where we should be looking to get an early indication as to the outcome of these midterms. if you look at the 30 house seats that could go either way, the ones that could determine the outcome of whether the democrats ta ke the outcome of whether the democrats take back the house, at seven o'clock, there are about five of them on the east coast, so you'd be looking at georgia, florida and here

in virginia. by 7:30pm, you would wa nt to in virginia. by 7:30pm, you would want to look in ohio as well as north carolina and west virginia. by 8pm, 21 of the crucial 30 seats are closed, so between eight and 9pm eastern time, you will start to see where this is going. thank you very much. we will hear more from you through the cause of the day. now, i haven't joined through the cause of the day. now, i haven'tjoined in through the cause of the day. now, i haven't joined in the through the cause of the day. now, i haven'tjoined in the studio by a senior republican strategist, former press secretary to the bigger of the house of representatives. barack 0bama yesterday said that he felt this was one of the most important american elections in his lifetime. you are on the other side of the political fence, but do you share that feeling? i do, because of the unique nature of the track administration and the unique nature of where we are on capitol hill with the us house and senate. alexandria, virginia is actually where i live, i

voted early, side and have to stand in the rain. but it is a democratic area and indeed, the voting there is way over what we have seen before. with the national democrats will be doing —— what they will be doing is reporting to the west that you better get out and vote, it is going great, we have a lot of democratic enthusiasm in the east and see if they can keep that momentum rolling across the country. do you think it was wiser for across the country. do you think it was wiserfor president across the country. do you think it was wiser for president trump to personalise this in the way he did? he has been crisscrossing the country and he has said, in essence, this will be a burden on me. it is a high—risk strategy. this will be a burden on me. it is a high-risk strategy. he has been in places where the campaign... the compression has not been in doubt. for the most part, these are safe seat, even in these unsafe times for republicans. a lot of the purple

seeds, neither read nor blue, they didn't want the president therefore exactly the reason that you are suggesting, that they didn't want to have to explain to local press or supporters or potential supporters whether or not they agreed with trump on the border issues and all the other stuff. he chose quite clearly, over the last few days, to focus on immigration. he delivered a pretty dark, threatening message. the same time, the economy is booming and a lot of republicans wondered why he was going so big on immigration. did you question strategy? did i question it two yea rs strategy? did i question it two years ago when he came down the escalator and he said the exactly the same things, yes. this is retreating to his safe place. he is co mforta ble retreating to his safe place. he is comfortable talking about immigration, he is comfortable driving a wedge between americans, native—born americans and immigrant americans. but he is doing it in a

way that is so dark, airing an advertisement which the main tv networks in this country have refused to broadcast because they say it is racist. that is a problem. yesterday, he denied knowing anything about it and then began to talk about it at the next rally. he talked about what a great advert it was. climbing inside his head is a dangerous pace to be. as the polls suggest, if the republican party loses control of the house of representativess, it is a big blow for his presidency, but it is also potentially leading the party to question him in a way they haven't driven the last two years. it is dangerous to look ahead. let me give you two quick examples. 0ne, richard nixon back in the 70s won 49 states in his pre—election campaign. 49 out of the 50 states. two years later,

he was gone. and in the midterm election, republicans lost 5659 seats. the other side of the coin is that ronald reagan, in his first mid—term, where we are now with trump, republicans lost 56 seats with a very popular president. two yea rs with a very popular president. two years later, ronald reagan won 49 seats. so, looking ahead, based upon what happens today, is not profitable. wise to air a somewhat of caution, because we know from recent experience we cannot believe the opinion polls in us politics. let's look at the background here. in the lead up to this year's midterms, donald trump has turbo—charged his effort to get the republicans over the winning line, but what can we learn from the states that he has visited? did they reveal a ny states that he has visited? did they reveal any bomber abilities in the republican‘s hold on the congress? we have been looking at this in our

virtual senate. donald trump isn't on the ballot, but his presidency looms large over this year ‘s elections. voters will choose 35 senators and all 435 members of the house of representatives. there are also thousands of other officials on the ballot, too. currently, the republicans control both chambers of congress, but can they hold onto them? this is the current make—up of them? 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 are confident they can. remember, us voters have a track record of checking their president's power. in the senate, it is the upper house of congress, as you can see, it is tight. remember, not all of these seats are up for election, it is these 35. 24 democrats and the two independent, they are defending their seats. nine republicans are in their seats. nine republicans are in the same position. to win the senate, democrats would need to win every ra ce senate, democrats would need to win every race that they are defending. these ten states will be the hardest

with democrats to retain. two years ago, they voted for donald trump in the presidential election. winning them will only give the democrats 49 seats. they would still need to take at least two others, currently held by the republicans. it's a sign of how much momentum the democrats have this year, the traditionally public in states like tennessee and texas are in play, but the odds are against them. —— traditionally republican. if the democrats take the house, the senate or both, that will have serious implications for the next two years of his presidency. firstly, they would lose the ability to create new laws by themselves, they would need bipartisan support to vote through their main legislation, like further tax cuts. that could mean 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. currently, the republicans decide who does the to and what issues to britain. 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. evenif senate voting against the president. even if the democrats take both chambers of congress, this is highly unlikely to happen. i wrote -- 0ur live coverage starts at 11 tonight here on the bbc news channel, and then from midnight, katty kay and christian fraser will bring you all the results throughout the night. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: polls have opened in the us mid term elections, as americans decide whether president trump's republican party should keep control of congress. vital homecare 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 — allied healthcare. the brexit campaign group founded by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. ben foa kes saves the day for england — he's 87 not out as england recovered on the first day of the first test against sri lanka, to finish 321 for 8 at stumps. liverpool will finish top of their group if they beat red star belgrade in serbia tonight in the champions league, while tottenham need a result at wembley against psv eindhoven to avoid another group stage exit. and wayne rooney will not captain england, wear the number 10 shirt or start the match, when he makes his final international appearance against the usa later this month. i'll be back with more on those stories just after half past. a pro—brexit campaign group,

and an insurance company owned by businessman arron banks, have been fined £135,000 by the uk data watchdog. he faces criminal enquiry for his grip. 2016 and in the eu referendum campaign, data is a key weapon for both sides. 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 the motor insurance business owned by the leave campaigner, arron banks. it was also used for the referendum campaign. this morning,

data from both activities had been mixed and that broke the law, it was said. it does indicate a failure to keep separate the data of insurance clients and messaging to potential supporters and voters and leave eu data. arron banks, the insurance company and the group, now face £135 fine. he treated in response... mr banks is also under separate investigation by the national crime agency over the source of the funds he gave to the company. the electoral commission explained to mps why there were called in. we expect that the details work until from us by mr banks and others involved in those companies. as a

consequence of all 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 a claim that the lib dems sold the data of its party members to the britain stronger in europe group. the party denied that personal information had been sold. vital homecare 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 nine thousand people in 84 local authorities. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt explained how concerning this warning is. it's one of the biggest in england providing support for people in their own homes and those are people who are vulnerable and they need help with what they are doing, day in, 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 healthcare began to restructure its debts. so it's been keeping a particular eye on what's been happening there. what happened with this warning is it has said that it is not convinced, or it hasn't seen the evidence it needs of that money is in place after the 30th of november. that doesn't mean that the company has failed, that is not what they are saying. they are worried about what happens later on. by issuing this warning notice, they are telling local authorities they have concerns and that they should put in place plans in case there are problems later on. because, in the end, they need to ensure the continuity of care for people who are extremely vulnerable. allied healthcare says it is surprised andy disappointed by this notification and it regard it as premature and unwarranted. it says, continuity of quality care is its number one priority. the eu's chief negotiator

says a deal on the irish border to break the brexit deadlock is not close enough to call a special eu summit in november. michel barnier was speaking as theresa may briefed the cabinet on the latest negotiations. she told the cabinet she was confident of reaching a withdrawal agreement with the eu and wanted to do so as soon as possible, but that it must "not be done at any cost". well let's get the latest now from our chief political correspondent vicki young. that is the concern, there are people so desperate for a deal, they will do it at any cost. they are where we were, it has to be said, about the irish backstop. that is still the issue that is blocking us signing off the withdrawal deal, which theresa may says is 95% done. the cabinet today have been trying to work out and discuss a mechanism by which the uk can be confident

that it won't be stuck in any kind of customs arrangement forever and ever, having to take eu rules, but have no say over them. it goes back to the broader issue of the uk having control over the process. it does seem as if the eu is willing to counter the ibis you —— idea of a eu wide arrangement. this is if there is no future relationship in place solving the issue of preventing a ha rd solving the issue of preventing a hard border in ireland. so if it is not ready, what do they do? either a uk wide customs arrangement with the eu, but how can the uk be sure they can get out of it? i spoke to a cabinet minister before the meeting, saying, doesn't have to be a mechanism by which the uk can unilaterally say, they can get out of this? they said, no, not necessarily, but they had be confident with it. it being legally watertight is important, which is why the attorney general who is the

person who will be crucial to all this. they want him to use his legal brain to come up with something which can reassure them that they won't be stuck forever in this situation. that is what they are stuck on. once they come up with something, they can go back to the eu. it is clearly on the agenda, theresa may discussed it with the irish prime ministers yesterday. he said there can't be a time—limit on this, because it wouldn't be a guarantee. but they need to find something that can leave both sides assured that there will be no hard border. just talk us through the timing here, because michel barnier says they won't call a summit in november, so november is ruled out, but others say they could still aim to do something by december. when does time ran out? i don't think november is ruled out in the sense that what michel barnier is saying that, we are not there yet, there has not been enough progress. but, there could be progress in the next few days, which would allow the summit take place. the date now being talked about is an outward the

end of the month. i don't think this ha rd end of the month. i don't think this hard date is in terms of the parliamentary timetable, because they did get that through, even if you had a deal before christmas, you could still have a vote injanuary. this is actually now more about no—deal brexit preparations. i don't think the government wants to spend billions of pounds were in preparations for a no—deal brexit, which they would have to do if there is no sign of a deal at the end of november. that is more pointed at this point, that they would feel they would have to change the gear of those preparations so dramatically and it would cost so much money. you could still end up with a deal at the end of it. i think we are in that situation where if 95% of the agreement is done, it doesn't mean things can move quite quickly, f, and it is a massive if, they can come up with this solution to the northern ireland issue. 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. police have now begun searching an address in the area. the prime minister has condemned the video as utterly unacceptable. the chairman of the public inquiry into the fire, sir martin moore—bick, called the video "offensive" as he opened today's hearings. time for a look at the weather now. here's matt. good afternoon. that severed quite polite. it has been quite warm? good afternoon. that severed quite polite. it has been quite warm7m has, yesterday afternoon in hampshire, we saw 18 celsius. just put that into perspective, that should be around 10 degrees in hampshire at around this time of year, so hampshire at around this time of year, so a hampshire at around this time of year, so a lot higher than normal. and it is notjust us. know, part of europe as well as mac it has been crazy in europe, here are some pictures from last friday. edible

and answers now in the alps, we saw about 50 centimetres of snow in the end of the week. this is in the alps, the swiss alps. the swiss alps in france? that the ones! is that france?! we have some early-season skiers very excited to see this, but things are changing dramatically this week, if we take you to switzerland, the swiss place in switzerland... there is france... it is usually around 7 degrees this time of year, this afternoon, we have seen temperatures skyrocket and so have seen temperatures skyrocket and so far this afternoon, they have reached 23 celsius. 23?! a good 26 degrees above where they should be at this time of year. that is on the back of what has been an incredible year so far. germany and france have expense one is year so far. germany and france have expense one is ever year so far. germany and france have expense one is ever period. —— their warmest ever period. now we have...

what is going on? it is due to the warm seas across the mediterranean and the colder air is setting some big cloud and weather systems which have been quite potent. they warmth is being driven by southerly winds, from the mediterranean. we can see the ones going as far north as scandinavia, and that is because an area of low pressure is at the west of the uk, spinning around and bringing in the one. we have got weather fronts sliding their way into western areas at present, telling things much betterfor the rest of today. it has been doing in the east, went not as strong, but they are picking up and bringing some of the cloud full stop temperatures could be up to 18 celsius for the rest of the afternoon. if you're heading home from work later, let's take a look across western areas, because there will be some downpours here. " well and somerset, some showers and perhaps some thunder. would the isle

of man and there will be more showers. northern ireland, raining for most, but the rain will come and go through the rest of the day. some downpours, but some drier moments as well. it is set to turn more wet in the south—west of scotland. and it's nice, anywhere could see some outbreaks of rain. the wettest in south—west wales and england. but isn't part of scotland, and eastern england, you might stay dry. try northern ireland, but a little bit cooler here tonight with more wind. also, some dense fog for tomorrow morning. eastern part of northern ireland will get more wet during the day and elsewhere, outbreaks of rain in the morning. it will brighten up to eastern areas in the afternoon, but south—west england, isle of man and west of scotland and crossed easter northern ireland, this will be the main focus of some of the wettest conditions. temperatures a little bit. into thursday, showers for a little bit. into thursday, showers fora time, little bit. into thursday, showers for a time, then things will turn more dry to begin with. some sunshine on thursday, but as winds

start to meet across this area from south—west england, wales and northern ireland, this will be the focus for showers. but, some or sunshine either side of it, temperatures around 11 or 12 celsius, perhaps up to 14 or 15 in the south—east. a quick look at what happens by the end of the week, a slightly fresher night will take us into friday morning and this will move into friday morning and this will m ove o nto into friday morning and this will move onto the scene for friday. more deep low pressure, so even if there is sunshine on friday morning, we will see things turn more wet across the west and more wind as well. we could see severe gales with 60 mph gusts as we head into the weekend. that is related weather. this is bbc news — our latest headlines: the polls open in america's mid term elections — seen by many as a crucial test of donald trump's presidency under threat — home care services for thousands of elderly people face disruption following questions over the future of care home company allied healthca re. a pro—brexit campaign group, and an insurance company owned by businessman arron banks,

have been fined £135,000 by the uk data watchdog — over breaches of data laws. urgent talks to try and safeguard more than 800 jobs — as michelin announces plans to shut its tyre factory over the next couple of years. sport now on afternoon live, with katherine downes. i suppose we have to talk cricket? we do, and actually it is not as bad as first feared this morning, that all—too—familiar feeling of waking up all—too—familiar feeling of waking up and knowing england are in test match action somewhere else around the world, checking the score, and that sinking feeling of a batting colla pse that sinking feeling of a batting collapse at the top order. but the day has been saved by a guy called ben foa kes, but the day has been saved by a guy called ben foakes, making his debut, and he said he was inspired by video sent to the team by alastair cook,

the captain who retired in december, and ben foakes says he took it to heart, and he saved the day in their first test. it was going pretty badly to begin with. captain joe root out for 35. and when ben stokes went forjust seven, england had lost five wickets before lunch. but foakes and sam curran steadied things — foakes batting out the day to finish on 87 not out. england were 321—8 at stumps. it isn't all bad. i found out yesterday, ifound out yesterday, during training, you know, rooty and to be yesterday, and i was quite shocked to be playing, so it was a lovely surprise i was glad to be playing. 0n debut, you arejust a bit surprise i was glad to be playing. 0n debut, you are just a bit nervous in your own head. i was thinking,

just grind in, then when i got off the market obviously settled me down a bit. he also said, simon, you know, the cricket season being over, he wasn't even thinking about cricket when he got his collar. i think we need a copy of that inspirational video here! —— when he got his call—up. next, under football. —— here! —— when he got his call—up. next, underfootball. —— on to football. this time yesterday we were talking about the return of wayne rooney to the england squad causing a stir — we have an update on that. yes, it was said it would be an opportunity for wayne rooney to bid farewell, for the fa, and forfans to say thank you to wayne rooney for being the top goal—scorer, for everything he has done for his country, but critics are saying, you can't just give away country, but critics are saying, you can'tjust give away caps late gifts, what peter shilton, what he had said, making a mockery of

playing for your country. but there has been an update this afternoon. wayne rooney will not captain england against usa, neither will he wear the number 10 shirt or start the match. he will win his 120th cap from the bench, coming on as a substitute in the second half of the game. whether that puts to bed this controversy, it remains to be seen. elsewhere... liverpool are favourites to win their champions league group, going into tonight's game away to red star belgrade. they easily beat them at anfield two weeks ago, with mo salah scoring twice in a 4—0 victory, but manager jurgen klopp is expecting a hostile atmosphere in serbia tonight. he's watched videos of the fans in the stadium but he says liverpool's experience will serve them well. the atmosphere that we know, you know, we are from liverpool, so we know, we are from liverpool, so we know how big the atmosphere influence can be, and the only way i know to cool down the atmosphere is by playing really good football. that is what we have to do, to try, to be ready for a fight, be ready

for a big game, to be ready for a fight, be ready fora big game, and we to be ready for a fight, be ready for a big game, and we will be ready. that's the only thing i can make sure of, and that the boys have to do the job on the pitch, of course. tottenham's situtation is a complete contrast — they're third in their group after losing to inter milan and barcelona and only managing a draw against tonight's opponents, psv eindhoven. if they lose at wembley, and inter beat barcelona, spurs will be out at the group stage for the second time in three years. there's commentary on both games on radio 5 live tonight — liverpool against red star belgrade kicks off at five to six — and then at 8 o'clock it's tottenham versus psv eindhoven. steven fletcher has been recalled to the scotland squad theirfinal two nations league group games against albania and israel. quite difficult to say, quite a complicated sentence! alex mcleish is without several key players,

including strikers steven naismith, for the matches later this month. west brom's matt phillips who scored the winner in scotland's march friendly victory in hungary has also been brought into the squad. that's all the sport for now. thank you very much. kat downes there. now, 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. we can speak now to dr cliona kirwan, a consultant breast surgeon at the manchester university foundation trust. just how significant is this news?” think it's very exciting news, for two reasons. one is to have a better understanding of risk factors for breast cancer, and other reason is whether this is a possible risk factor we can alter. what we don't know from this research is if you alter your sleep patterns, does that reduce your chance of getting breast cancer? if you are naturally a night

owl, will you get a lower chance of breast cancer if you try to become more like a lark? that is the information we don't know. but even if you can't alter your risk, even just knowing you are at an increased risk of breast cancer because you are an owl might mean we can alter how often we do screening, so it is very useful information. the issue of the body clock does seem to becoming more and more important for lots of medical issues, notjust breast cancer? absolutely, and what is exciting about this research, they have approached it in a different way to a lot of the research out there. a lot of the research out there. a lot of the research has watched what people actually do, and found out whether they are good sleepers, or poor sleepers, and whether they wake up a lot during the night, but this one is much more about genetics, it's the type of sleep patterns you are inherently going to have because of the genes you are born with. some

people are born larks and some people are born larks and some people are born owls and lots of people are born owls and lots of people are born somewhere in the middle, and this research is looking at the genes you inherit that alter... that make you sleep in a certain way. the risk of a report like this, it can be miss read, and what we are not saying here, if you are doing makeshifts, don't try to get off them because it will reduce the risk of cancer, because that is not what this research is saying? no, there is some research that suggests that, but equally there are some that suggests the opposite, so we don't know whether changing your behaviour affects your risk of cancer. so, yeah, we're not trying to say "get off makeshifts," but we are saying we need to do more research because it could be that ma keshifts research because it could be that makeshifts are bad for you —— we are not seeing get off night shifts. makeshifts are bad for you —— we are not seeing get off night shiftsm is genetic, whether you are a morning person or a late person?m

is probably both. certainly there are genes that make you more of a lark and they are recognised and there are those that make you more ofan there are those that make you more of an owl, there are those that make you prone to insomnia and have disrupted sleep patterns, but there are also the nurture influence as well, how you were brought up maybe, orjust environment. bottles of us who believe we are a night owls and we hate early mornings —— but those of us. can we change that in our make up? i don't think you can change how you feel, so i think if you are naturally a night owl i think you will begrudge getting up at six o'clock in the morning, but you still might be able to do it. 0ne you still might be able to do it. one in nine women gets breast cancer. all women look at this sort of research, and they will be concerned, because there will be aspects of their life where they will say, "hang on, i don't want to risk or add to the risk factors here," and that is what we really need to nail down with this

research, we are not quite there yet? yes, we certainly know that healthy lifestyles, in terms of obesity, that is a major benefit. if you have a healthy weight, you have a much lower chance of getting breast cancer. we also know that reducing your alcohol intake reduces your chance of breast cancer, and increasing exercises reduces breast cancer, so these are modifiable risk factors, but there are others like being taller is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, but there is nothing you can do about that, and what we don't know about this research, if you are the gene carrier that is a lark, can you do anything about it, or if you are the night i will gene carrier can you do anything about that to reduce your chance of breast cancer? dr cliona kirwan, good to speak to you. thank you very much forjoining us. you're watching afternoon live. 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. coming north to amiens you come across this, probably one of the most beautiful spots in france. they highlight the key to this, the focus for all the pilgrims, is above me here, the huge memorial, there to mark the missing, over 2000 names of british and commonwealth soldiers inscribed on its panels, but i have come here to look at one name, and it is down here on a panel right at the base of the memorial, corporal george smith of the durham light infantry, and his story takes us back to the uk, to county durham, and to the tale of a family and the community to 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, down in 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 their 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?" he wouldn't talk much. he said, "they died," and that was it. if it hadn't have happened, if they hadn't have brought him home, that 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? you are in and wanted to play in an extraordinary piece of sound, created by measurements taken by observers and soldiers in the moments leading up to armistice —— we will return to that in a moment but i want to play you. the imperial war museum have sound engineers to look at that grass and use today's technology to recreate what those in the trenches would have heard at the moment of armistice. here it is. gunfire and explosions fade out birdsong

extraordinary experience, listening to that, because a cousin of my grandfather's was killed down there on the first day of the somme, and it brings it home, what it must have been like. tomorrow we hear the story of the forgotten army, the men from south asia who came to fight for the commonwealth. that was robert hall. maryam moshiri is here — in a moment she will be telling us what's hot and what's not in the business news. first, a look at the headlines on afternoon live: polls have opened in the us mid—term elections, as americans decide whether president trump's republican party should keep control of congress. vital homecare 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, allied healthcare. the brexit campaign group founded by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. hello, everyone. here's your business headlines on afternoon live: from today, women in the uk will begin to qualify for their state pensions at the same age as men — currently 65. but critics say that women are still a long way from pension equality, as the amount they typically receive is lower. 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. 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. some bad news for worker at two schaeffler factories? yes, absolutely. about 500 uk jobs are at risk after an automobile and industrialfirm announced plans to close plants amid "uncertainty surrounding brexit". run in plymouth and one in llanelli. —— there is one in plymouth and one in llanelli. the plymouth operation 51 years produces precision bearings for cars, aircraft, the nuclear industry, missiles and satellites. the plants have a huge amount of history behind them. they are not necessarily saying this was a brexit related decision but that was a factor, and keep in mind this company, 15% of the goods allied —— schaeffler producers are sold in the

uk. if you think about car manufacturing, they hugely rely on frictionless trade. that is the ease of getting stuff in and out of the uk, and the worry for them, if there we re uk, and the worry for them, if there were to be an ordeal brexit, would they lose this frictionless trade? last month of course there was the boss of ford europe stephen armstrong saying an ordeal brexit would be a disaster. and we have also at the toyota europe chief saying without a deal brexit would affect the compa ny‘s saying without a deal brexit would affect the company's decisions. car companies, according to research earlier in the year by pa reporting, brexit with no deal would add 10% of the cost of producing a car in the uk. keeping in mind, the profit margins for mass—produced cars are around 3%, it makes little economic sense to produce cars in the uk if there isn't that deal that will make there isn't that deal that will make the difference in terms of trade. as far as the markets are concerned, the mid—term elections, our main

story, having an impact? they will do, of course. the reason, it is the world's biggest economy. we'll be mean more tax cuts from republicans? 0r gridlock in the us government? all of these factors affect the capital markets and how investors think about the future. let's talk to our new york business correspondent samira hussain at the new york stock exchange. what i investors saying around you, their worries and hopes? the markets have just started trading about 20 minutes ago, and i think the theme of the day will really be a lot of caution. you will not see a lot of big moves because there is a lot of wonder about what will happen. maryam, you really highlighted it, though, in terms of what investors are thinking. depending on how these elections go, we could be up for another two years of gridlock in congress, that is if the house goes

democrat and the senate remains republican, it means there will not bea republican, it means there will not be a lot coming out of washington. what does that mean for markets? they can't really expect any infrastructure spending, which would bea infrastructure spending, which would be a boost, or any sort of movement like that, any more tax cuts for example. what the markets can expect, however, is that there is still going to be rate rise is happening, and that is something markets are still really paying attention to, despite the fact the mid—term elections are here. attention to, despite the fact the mid-term elections are here. samira, heavily, or the markets, learned anything from what happened in 2016, because they got it wrong, didn't they? yes, investors got it wrong, pollsters got it wrong, many people got it wrong. if you remember, as soon as markets opened, even before, there was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of volatility. people were trying to find their feet, and there we re trying to find their feet, and there were big drops on the market as soon as they started trading here in new york, but of course they recovered really quickly and since then it has

really quickly and since then it has really been a record high after record high, so i think the lesson people here have learned anticipate volatility and really to anticipate absolutely anything, because really anything can happen. anything can happen indeed. the crazy world of us politics. samira, thank you very much. 0k. what about you, politics. samira, thank you very much. 0k. whatabout you, simon? i'm fine! laughter that is going to be a meme, one day, i'm sure! let's look at the markets... yes, isaid i'm sure! let's look at the markets... yes, i said the us markets... yes, i said the us markets open high, but not much change from their opening and that is an indication of their direction today, ie there is no direction. the ftse100 down very slightly and the pound is lower than the dollar. holding our breath. 0k, maryam. you have an hour. good luck! you are watching afternoon live. now, from today these electric scooters will be seen

around the olympic park. they're not legal on roads, but they can be hired and used on a route within the grounds. it's part of a three month trial which aims to test the technology. here's tom edwards. these are electric scooters, and from today they're available to hire on the olympic park. 50 of them will initially be available to hire via smartphone. momentum begets momentum, and today we've started the first step in a journey to change regulations. i think if we can demonstrate that we can improve mobility in a green, efficient manner, then i think that regulations will change. but certainly, the trial is a first step towards making that case to government. you'll be able to use them on one route in the park, and if you veer off it, the scooters lose power. it's all part of a pilot that the operators hope will demonstrate the advantages the service could bring. at the moment, it's not legal to use these electric scooters on the roads, although you can use them on private

land like here at the olympic park. using them here on the olympic park could be the start of them really taking off, and who knows, they could be legal on streets right across london — if the legislation changes. electric—hire scooters have boomed in the us and in europe, although there have been safety concerns and they have been used in protests against the tech industry. olympic park bosses, though, want the area to help develop new technology. we've got a couple of autonomous pod trials coming up next year. we're beginning to think about whether we could test drone technology here. we see, this, in fact the uk government sees this as one of the key test beds in this country. it's one of the two test beds in the country for connected autonomous vehicles. so, yeah, we see this as part of that. the government says they are looking at the legislation and electric scooters have a role to play in getting around. this trial will initially be for three months, and how it goes will probably frame policy on their future use. tom edwards, bbc london news.

that will be a welcome addition to the roads, if your driver! anyway, we will follow that later on. russian authorities have criticised a group of girls for "not behaving appropriately" after they caused valuable artworks to be damaged in a selfie accident at an international arts centre in yekaterinburg. footage has been released showing a wall displaying paintings by salvador dali and francisco goya being knocked over as the group of girls tried to take a selfie on the 27th of october. the museum said the frame and glass on the work by goya were broken while the picture by dali was "destroyed". look... now, there are plenty of donkeys lining the fields of connemara in ireland. but this one has now reached global fame after unveiling

a very special talent. have a listen... donkey neighs high note 15—year—old stephen mcgrath adopted harriet as a stray when she was aged just two. her impressive operatic voice has been compared to parts of the opera madame butterfly and has now been viewed over 700,000 times online. that's written by someone who has never heard madame butterfly in their life! let's see if we can play that one more time, because i know what you like on afternoon live and here we go — this is that donkey, and here she is... donkey neighs high note

i wasn't sure about the noise at the beginning either, but it is definitely there. i don't know how you follow that. but i don't have to! time for a look at the weather matt taylor. hello, plenty of cloud across the uk today but it is another unseasonably mild day, notjust here but right across central europe. you can see the warmer colours spreading northwards on southerly winds, which because of this driving area, this world go to the north—west, big area of low pressure which continues to dominate the weather too much of this week. on the outer fringes at the moment, seeing outbreaks of rain develop more widely in the west. after fine develop more widely in the west. afterfine morning develop more widely in the west. after fine morning across develop more widely in the west. afterfine morning across northern ireland, wet this afternoon and this evening, strengthening winds around the irish coast with further splashes, and further is perhaps the odd shower but a little sunshine. temperatures not only into the mid

teens but like yesterday one or two could get close to 17, 18, even 19 degrees. for the rush—hour let's focus on the west because it is where we are more likely to see wet weather. south—west england through wales, one or two heavy and perhaps thundery downpours, some gaps in between. anglesey sprout seeing more persistent rain, as good isle of man. there will still be a few heavy showers in northern ireland, especially in the west and a few in western scotland as well. tonight, the rebel clear away from northern ireland, but it becomes a bit more widespread across central southern scotland, wales and a good part of central and western england. some great position and at times. the breeze also enough to keep temperatures up in double figures but cooler in northern ireland and here we could see is dense fog form for the morning rush hour which will ta ke for the morning rush hour which will take a while to shift, brightening in western areas later. rain possible anywhere tomorrow morning, the main exception being north—eastern scotland. brightening up north—eastern scotland. brightening up in the east through the day but in the west that could be more

persistent rain, east of northern ireland, towards wales in central, southern england. temperatures again well into the teams for the most part. into thursday, showers spreading to begin with, things turning drier and clearer, little colour for a turning drier and clearer, little colourfor a time on turning drier and clearer, little colour for a time on thursday morning but for thursday it looks like with wings almost converging on this zone in south—west england, wales, south—western scotland, this could be the area where we see some showers if not more persistent rain. either side, something a little drier and brighter, some sunshine for some, and temperatures in the south and east still in the mid teens. a quick look at the end of the week. by friday, this deepening low— pressure the week. by friday, this deepening low—pressure swings in and after a fine start, turns to severe gales and heavy rain in the west later. hello, you're watching afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. today at 3: the polls open in america's mid term election — seen by many as a crucial test of donald trump's presidency. under threat — homecare services for thousands of elderly

people face disruption following questions over the future of allied healthcare. brexit campaign group leave.eu, and an insurance company owned by businessman arron banks, are to be fined £135,000 by the uk data watchdog. theresa may tells her cabinet that she's confident of reaching a withdrawal agreement with the eu — but it won't be done "at any cost". hello everyone, this is afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. 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 — this is the scene in new york where voting has been ongoing

for several hours now. the democrats have high hopes of breaking the republicans' grip on congress, and making life harder forfor mr trump. stephern sackur is in washington for us now. hello and a very warm welcome to this bbc news election special from washington, dc. after weeks of bitter campaigning, the polling stations are now open in the united states, at least on the east coast. for these key midterm elections. the outcome will determine president trump's ability to govern over the next two years. he is not on the ballot of course, but majorities in both the house of representatives and the us senate hang in the balance. the majorities hang in the balance,

and losing even one of them will have a huge impact on the tab agenda. from immigration to health care, to trade and everything in between. we begin our coverage with this report from our north america correspondent. i'm not on the ballot, but in a certain way, i'm on the ballot, so please go out and vote. he's not on the ballot, but these midterm elections are all about 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 openly encouraging millions of illegal aliens to violate our laws and break into our country. another man who's not on the ballot, this former president. he is the closest thing the

democrats have two star quality. he is focusing on donald trump's attitude to the facts. 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 are going to be. americans will be voting for members of both chambers of congress. that is the house of representativess and the senate. all 435 seats in the house are up for election, 218 are needed for a majority. republicans are going into the election holding 235 of those seats. in the senate, republicans hold 51 of the 100 seats, 35 are being contested. this is our leadership... one of the senate races that is 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 full. he has raised record funding and is engaging young supporters in this music venue.

are you ready to win? i am ready to win this with you! thank you, let's go out there and do this! despite losing a battle with donald trump for the presidential nomination, ted cruz is in lockstep with the president now. i've been proud to work hand—in—hand with the president administration, repealing job killing regulations and cutting taxes, the economy in texas is booming. if the polls are to be believed, 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 onto the senate would mean the president could get approval for the judges and the cabinet members he wants. all told, there is a lot to play for. in the closing hours and days of the

campaign, donald trump ramped up his rhetoric, particularly, with his dark warnings about the threat of aggression. in an interview with the us tv network, the us president was askedif us tv network, the us president was asked if he would change anything about his approach to leadership over the last two years. there would be certain things, i am not sharing all of them, but i would say tone, i would like to have a much softer tone. i feel to would like to have a much softer tone. ifeel to a certain would like to have a much softer tone. i feel to a certain extent i have no choice, but maybe i do and maybe i could have been softerfrom that standpoint, but i wanted to get things done. the president saying maybe he should have been a little bit softer. let us now see what is happening out in the country in terms of the polls and vote is

getting out there to vote. let's join our correspondence from a polling station in alexandria, virginia. you have had a few hours to look at the turnout now, how does it look from your point of view? either plenty of people going and voting? it looks pretty strong, we have seen pictures of lines around the country, but in this polling station in virginia, we have seen lines down the block, people waiting to get in to vote. we have had numbers from the chief officer here, which suggests that the numbers have more than doubled since the mid—times in 2014, possibly almost tripled. 300 people had voted by 9am in 2014, 826 today so far. that shows a great voter enthusiasm. i have talked to a number of voters, a few of them have said they were motivated by the opposition to mr trump, they didn't like his divisiveness and his policies on immigration. a 70 woman said this is the first time she has voted in the

mid—times and that was why. but every said that to me. there are conservatives here who have other reviews. so we have to be careful about what we think this massive voter turnout means in terms of the results. indeed, we have to be cautious. there are early indications that voter turnout is up in large areas of the nation. there is also talk about particular sectors of the population, the importance of the women's vote this time and whether young people will come out and vote. what are your impressions on that score from what you have seen? a lot of the women who i have spoken to said they were the ones who spoke most strongly about mrtrump. we the ones who spoke most strongly about mr trump. we know that women have power the democratic resistance since president trump was elected. there are a lot of women candidates asa there are a lot of women candidates as a result and that college—educated women voters in the suburbs, which previously voted republican, and they may fit the seats to be democrats. women are very important, but also other

constituencies that liberal democrats, such as african americans, hispanics as well as young people, it is important for them to come out. those are the numbers that are less reliable in the mid—times because the reliable voters have been traditionally white, older people and they tend to vote republican. barbara in virginia, thank you very much indeed. she will keep us updated on the nature of the turnout through the nature of the turnout through the course of the day. in the last hour some of the biggest names in british entertainment handed 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. we can now go live to outside downing street to speak to british comedy legend sir lenny henry, who has headed up the delegation of bame film—makers petitioning the government. wait to talk to. i have talked to

you about this over the years. are you about this over the years. are you saying there has been no progress on this at all? there has been progress, but it has mainly been progress, but it has mainly been on screen. it is fantastic to watch the way the fabric of our on—screen content has changed in terms of diversity. but behind the scenes, the figures are still very parlous. 0.3% scenes, the figures are still very pa rlous. 0.3% disability scenes, the figures are still very parlous. 0.3% disability people working in the industry. 13.6% women directors in the film industry and bame employment in the tv and film industry — 3%. it is not good enough and it must change. we have delivered this letter to ten downing st, which talks about tax breaks for diversity in the film and tv industry. we have had a useful conversation with some of the special advisers there and we hope to have a meeting with the treasury to have a meeting with the treasury

to argue about how we might define what diversity and inclusion might look like and how it can affect some of these changes for the good. you use the word useful, what does that actually mean? it means we are not politicians and we don't like policy, but the people that do these things can actually make something work, as they did with the british film institute. they designed a three tech policy that would allow the industry to grow and include programmes and films with british content. programmes and films with british co nte nt. we programmes and films with british content. we think they should add diversity and representation into that. these things have already worked in illinois, in california and in jersey. worked in illinois, in california and injersey. they have also introduced something in france whereby if you have a female centric content, people behind—the—scenes like directors, head of production and cinematographers, you can have up and cinematographers, you can have up to 15% of a tax break for that. i could work well for diversity, too, and help to grow the industry. how

would it work in practice? someone is making a programme, you will basically have to give people and give the tax office names and their ethnic background? how does it work? i would imagine it would be self declaring for both the production company and for the people involved. the simple thing is, if you are making a film or tv programme, you would be encouraged to have a diverse hr policy rather than a non—diverse policy, and you would get a tax break for doing so. non—diverse policy, and you would get a tax breakfor doing so. any film or tv company that champions diversity will get a tax break. 2% of uk television made at the moment is made by directors of a bame background. that is a staggering figure. yes, in terms of it not being good? in terms of being... i was going to use another word i cannot use in daytime television. but not good, no. i bet it rhymes with bright! it's not a good figure.

396 with bright! it's not a good figure. 3% bame working in the industry, it is terrible. particularly where 40%, newly 50% are bame people in this metropolis. we need to change the figures, because if the gatekeepers and the people making decisions about what we watch is more diverse, then what we will see on screen will be more diverse. some are you have quite a list of co—signatories. how angry are people getting about this now? anger is an energy, but sometimes we can divert it into doing something good. slow is the ticket, slow and steady if the ticket. it's not about being angry and kicking boys down. if we are slow and we keep applying pressure, coming here today has been very useful, we are hoping to get a meeting with the treasury... and if we canjust meeting with the treasury... and if we can just be part of the conversation, then hopefully we can

change the conversation. that is all we are asking for. change is good and it can be facilitated by conversation and intent. you need to put a time on this, don't you? 0therwise put a time on this, don't you? otherwise the talking could go on forever. it appears it already has been for a while. i started talking about this in 2016, i made a speech at bafta. last year, i made a speech at bafta. last year, i made a speech ata at bafta. last year, i made a speech at a film festival in cannes, france. tax breakfor at a film festival in cannes, france. tax break for it film and tv in the uk was met with approval and applause. that was last year and now we are here at downing street presenting a petition. the next thing will be a meeting with the treasury and after that, perhaps some action. action is what we're talking about here, not words. would you put a time limit on it? would you put a time limit on it? would you say i see a change by this year, that the realistic, we are talking yea rs, that the realistic, we are talking years, i'd be? how would you work? is there a quota that you want in

place? is there indefinite number of people behind the camera who needs to be from the background? we're talking disabled people as well, there is still a long way to go. those things will be crunched by the people that make the decisions. where we are asking for is for the table that makes the decisions to be diverse. if we could change the demographic of the gatekeepers, this could change in 18 months. but that has got to be triggered by a group of people sitting at a table and say, let's have this conversation. then we might see something. say, let's have this conversation. then we might see somethingm say, let's have this conversation. then we might see something. is it fairto then we might see something. is it fair to say that after this meeting today, you are more optimistic or are you remaining realistic? i'm remaining realistic, but we were all greeted with lots of smiling people who want something to happen. 0ne greeted with lots of smiling people who want something to happen. one of the people there is working on race disparity audit and has a specific interest in this stuff, notjust on

tv and film, but across all industries in the uk. we are talking about boys and we are talking about industries and everything. —— boards. so there is interest with in the ten downing st and within the bbc, everyone wants change and what iam saying, bbc, everyone wants change and what i am saying, is ok, you want change, let's do something about it. the treasury is one thing, but where does the buck stop? there are people watching you now and they are the ones who need to get this message in the industry? you, you guys, get this message. more diversity behind the camera and on screen, because you know what? the more diverse you are behind the screen, the more accurate and truthful the betrayals will be on screen. so if you have production, executives, designers, editors, you will have all those people saying, we don't like that. all the invested people will make your programme better. you get less

stick from the papers and broadsheets, you will have more truth and truth is power. let's have more truthful representations of minorities on television, because thatis minorities on television, because that is also what this is about. thank you for talking to us, it's been a treasure. thank you. we are getting some lines from and we he is in bratislava and he has been talking about the progress on brexit—lite gutsy at ‘s. he says once again... —— negotiations. the northern ireland issue is lacking and if we get a deal and northern ireland issue is lacking and if we geta dealand i northern ireland issue is lacking and if we get a deal and i see decisive progress, i will recommend a summit. at the moment, there is no sign ofa a summit. at the moment, there is no sign of a summit being called in november, originally called for the 17th of november, it is still on the cards though. he says, if we get a deal on a backstop, i will recommend a summit. he says we are not at 100% ofa a summit. he says we are not at 100% of a brexit accord. he also says

that there is still the lacking on a deal on ireland. essentially, no real change and it comes just hours after theresa may briefed her cabinet on progress. she says the 95% of the way towards a deal, but it cannot come at any cost. so the two sides of the argument there and the essential issue of the irish border is still very much the sticking point. we will bring you more on that as we get it. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: polls have opened in the us mid term elections, as americans decide whether president trump's republican party should keep control of congress. vital homecare 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 — allied healthcare. the brexit campaign group founded by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. and in sport, ben stokes says the

day for england. he is 87 not out as they were recovered on the first day of the first test against reminder to finish 320148. and wayne rooney will not captain england, wear the number 10 shirt or start the match, when he makes his final international appearance against the usa later this month. liverpool will finish top of their group if they beat red star belgrade in serbia tonight in the champions league, while tottenham need a result at wembley against psv eindhoven to avoid another group stage exit. i'll be back with more on those stories 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 health editor hugh pym is here. a lot of people will be worried about this. that's right, a lot of concern and some of the charities have come in and said how fragile the sector is and if they get into financial trouble, it raises? about what happens to be careful stock so the cqc, which does covers england, is saying to milk more than 80 authorities to make contingency plans, because the commission are not convinced that allied healthcare has the financing in place to run beyond the end of november. that is 9000 people in england, that is home ca re 9000 people in england, that is home care visits, for example, a visit to wash or address or prepare a meal of an elderly resident living at home. it does cover the uk, this company, so there are about 13,000

individuals around the uk. the company says they are adamant there would be any disruption and that they do have lines of credit in place. so there is a difference in opinion. we know that social care budgets are already stretched beyond belief. what can local authorities dude have this? they have to look around for alternative providers and that isn't straightforward. the home ca re that isn't straightforward. the home care sector is already troubled because of the fee levels and lack of finances, sadly for social care in england. all local authorities have to prepare to take on freelance agency staff to do the work. the background to allied healthcare is that back in april, it was announced that back in april, it was announced that they had financial challenges and they needed to reach an agreement with creditors. they did reach the voluntary arrangement and they are saying that they have banking lines which go beyond the end of november and their run to be any disruption. the cqc feels there isa any disruption. the cqc feels there is a risk and they have a duty to

flag is up to local authorities if there is any sort of risk. it doesn't mean to say it will definitely happen, but local authorities are being told it could happen, that the services could end a bru ptly happen, that the services could end abruptly and they will have to do something about it. when? where is the cut—off date? when we know if there is trouble or not? it could be on the 30th of november, because thatis on the 30th of november, because that is when the cqc save the financial stability of allied healthcare comes back into question, because they're not convinced that the finances are in place beyond that. i imagine there could be a lot as difference of opinion and certainly, the company will be expected to come up with a definitive proof they have got the finances if it's beyond november. they will need to prove this and give some reassurance to local authorities and the event individuals who depend on the car. 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. 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. police have now begun searching an address in the area. the prime minister has condemned the video as "utterly unacceptable". the chairman of the public inquiry into the fire, sir martin moore—bick, called the video "offensive" as he opened today's hearings. two bodies have been found in the wreckage of two buildings that collapsed in the french city of marseille on monday. emergency services are continuing to search for others feared to have been buried in the rubble, with at least five people still unaccounted for. firefighters tore down a third building which was at risk of collapse. authorities say are they looking into the cause, with local residents blaming the dilapidated state of the buildings. almost 850 jobs are to go in dundee, where the mitchelin tyre factory is be closed down the year after next.

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. russian authorities have criticised a group of girls for "not behaving appropriately" after they caused valuable artworks to be damaged in a selfie accident at an international arts centre in yekaterinburg. footage has been released showing a wall displaying paintings by salvador dali and francisco goya being knocked over as the group of girls tried to take a selfie on the 27th of october. the museum said the frame and glass on the work by goya were broken while the picture by dali was "destroyed". don't forget — you can let us know what you think tweet us using the hashtag afternoonlive.

now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. after the murky start, eastern areas are brightening up to this afternoon. another mild day, but in the west, lots of showers and persistent rain in northern ireland this afternoon. it will ease across western areas later, but the odd shower further east, temperatures into the mid or high teens. tonight, the breeze will pick up, but the rain will clear in northern ireland. lots of mr fogg developing here, but rain will spread a cost most other parts of the uk. temperatures from any staying in double figures. another mild start tomorrow morning, a little bit cooler in northern ireland. the fault will take awhile to go. mainly showery for if you areas, but while eastern areas time brighter, we should focus on more

persistent rain in western scotland, is to northern ireland, down towards wales and the south—west. temperature is still in the mid teens. a better day for some of you on thursday, with some more sunshine. by friday, it is severe gales and heavy rain for the weekend. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. the polls open in america's mid term election — seen by many as a crucial test of donald trump's presidency. under threat: homecare services for thousands of elderly people face disruption following questions over the future of allied healthcare. brexit campaign group leave.eu, and an insurance company owned by businessman arron banks, are to be fined £135,000 by the uk data watchdog theresa may tells her cabinet that she's confident of reaching a withdrawal agreement with the eu — but it won't be done "at any cost" sport now on afternoon live.

ican did i can did you want to play for england, in the cricket team, you have got to have a name that rhymes at the moment. now we have folks, the hero for england. ben stokes. ben foakes saved the day for england's cricketers in sri lanka — scoring a half century on his test debut as england finished on 321 for 8. the visitors lost their first two wickets for just ten, and then captainjoe root went for 35, keaton jennings for 46, and ben stokes forjust seven — to put them five wickets down before lunch. but sam curran, who went two shy of his half century — put together a steady partnership with test debutant ben foakes, who finished not out for 87. i found out yesterday, during training, you know, rooty came to me yesterday,

and i was quite shocked to be playing, so it was a lovely surprise i was glad to be playing. 0n debut, you arejust a bit nervous in your own head. i was thinking, just grind in, then when i got off the mark obviously that settled me down a bit. wighton i was going to continue with the theme of rhyming names but we need to talk about wayne rooney. that doesn't rhyme, so that won't do. we were talking about him yesterday and the fact that he will be coming back to play for england. he will win his 120th cap from the bench, coming on as a substitute in the second half of the game. some people think he should not be given a testimonial at an england

friendly, it cheapens international football. we have had a bit of a clarification from the fa today who said wayne rooney will not captain england against the usa, he won't wear the number ten shirt and he won't start the match. even win his 120th cap from the bench coming on asa 120th cap from the bench coming on as a substitute in the second half of the game. he will be given his chance to savour well to fans at wembley but it won't be the wayne rooney show. at least that is the message. liverpool are favourites to win their champions league group, going into tonight's game away to red star belgrade. this they easily beat them at anfield two weeks ago, with mo salah scoring twice in a 4—nil victory, but manager jurgen klopp is expecting a hostile atmosphere in serbia tonight. he's watched videos of the fans in the stadium but he says liverpool's experience will serve them well. tottenham's situtation is a complete contrast — they're third in their group after losing to inter milan and barcelona and only managing a draw against tonight's opponents, psv eindhoven.

if they lose at wembley, and inter beat barcelona, spurs will be out at the group stage for the second time in three years. when you compete at that level, if you're not good enough, if you're not clinical in front of the goal, if we concede again against inter milan in the last minute, i think you don't deserve to go. it's not embarrassing, it's disappointing, but not embarrassing. there's commentary on both games on radio 5 live tonight — liverpool against red star belgrade kicks off at 5:55pm — and then at 8 o'clock it's tottenham versus psv eindhoven. tonight you can listen to the matches alongside the final score graphics and vidiprinter, just click on 5 live final score on iplayer, the bbc sport app or via your red button from 5:30pm. england flanker tom curry will miss the rest of the autumn internationals against new zealand, japan and australia. he limped off during their win over south africa last weekend and has a "severe ankle injury".

some better news for head coach eddiejones is that manu tuilagi and courtney lawes are both expected to be available for saturday's test against the all blacks. olympic champion adam peaty could risk missing next year's swimming world championships if he opts to take part in a new competition. peaty says the controversial new international swimming league is "exactly what the sport needs". but the sport's governing body, fina, say all new events must seek approvalfrom them six months before they go ahead and it's warned any swimmer opting to race in the competition next month risks a ban from next summer's world championships. it will be interesting to see which way he goes, if he's going to defend those world title. i hope he goes forward. thanks. the eu's chief negotiator says the eu will not conclude

an exit agreement with britain or allow a transition period after brexit without a deal on the irish border. his latest comments come after theresa may briefed the cabinet on the latest negotiations. she told the cabinet she was confident of reaching a withdrawal agreement with the eu and wanted to do so as soon as possible, but that it must "not be done at any cost". well, let's get the latest now from our political correspondent, jessica parker. where are we? as you say there has been another crunch cabinet meeting today as theresa may updated her cabinet on the state of the brexit negotiations, telling them the withdrawal agreement is 95% done but there is still this remaining issue of the irish backstop. as theresa may saying she won't do a deal at any may saying she won't do a deal at a ny cost. may saying she won't do a deal at any cost. what is emerging over the backstop issue is the idea of some kind of mechanism, just to explain the background, in the event that the background, in the event that the uk and the eu don't reach a suitable trade deal by the end of the transition period, it is agreed that there needs to be a backstop to

prevent that there needs to be a backstop to p reve nt a ny that there needs to be a backstop to prevent any hard order on the island of ireland. 0ne prevent any hard order on the island of ireland. one of the suggestions is that the uk could have rarely remain aligned to some eu customs rules. lots of people, particularly brexiteer is, what an escape clause from that, worrying this could become a permanent arrangement. this is where the review mechanism idea has emerged from. i am joined by conservative mps and remain supporter dominic grieve who also wa nts to supporter dominic grieve who also wants to see a so—called people's vote. the idea of a mechanism that has emerged, what is your reading of that? there is no harm in having bad spot the review mechanism, as i understand it, is one where we sit down with the eu to review whether it is possible... —— in having a review mechanism. without invoking the backstop and securing trade deal we want with the eu. it means that the eu continues to have a veto over whether the backstop can be got rid

of. that is quite different from a unilateral break laws where we might be able to say, we wish to give notice that our arrangements in respect of the backstop come to an end. —— to break clause. the entire issue of brexit, we are leaving the eu but in fact we are going to place ourselves in a relationship with the eu where we lose all influence over decision—making at our —— but are likely to be subservience to the eu in critical areas about the nature of our future trading relationship with them, or for that matter the relationship that northern ireland has with them. because for a very good reasons we are not going to carve northern ireland out of the union of the united kingdom for economic purposes, but we should have been alive to all this two years ago. some of us highlighted this issue when we were doing the referendum. it really reinforces for me why we should have a people's

vote. what is going to end up being offered to the british public, and the government will seek to carry through parliament, is something markedly different from what was being discussed in 2016. aside from the people's vote, the mechanism versus what some would like to see, the uk able to unilaterally exit the backstop arrangements, theresa may does have to find some kind of humber eyes. the cabinet talks today we re humber eyes. the cabinet talks today were described as constructive. do you think the mechanism idea could be the way through on this issue? —— some kind of compromise.” be the way through on this issue? —— some kind of compromise. i wait to see what the cabinet and prime minister come up with. but i come back to this point that exiting the backstop unilaterally does not appear to me to be viable because our european union partners, and the irish government will argue, but if we do that in a way that reaches the terms of a completely separate treaty, the good friday agreement,

we will be in breach of our international obligations. that is the problem. we have a degree of injury cannot —— interconnectivity here which we cannot ignore. thank you. the former attorney general berra. theresa may saying 95% of the withdrawal agreement is done. that sounds quite positive but we have to bring out the old saying we have heard before, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.” heard before, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. i still don't tire of hearing that. polling stations across the united states have opened as americans vote in the midterm elections. republicans and democrats are battling for control of the two houses of congress while governor posts and seats in state legislatures are also up for grabs. the mid—term elections come halfway through mr trump's four years in office and follow a divisive campaign. during the presidential election two years ago all eyes were on the swing states to see which way the results would go. one of those states is pennsylvania, and it's considered to be a key battle ground once again this time around. sarah bellingham is a journalist and pulitzer fellow. she co—producer of the ‘people 4

trump' documentary which charted the grassroots pro—trump movement in pennsylvania. she‘s outside a polling station in pennsylvania‘s first district and we can speak to her now... person to say is that turnout has been huge. who does that benefit? —— the first thing to say. it has been enormous. everyone who i have spoken to today has said this has been the highest mid—term turnout they have ever seen. at least in the two areas i have been to to be benefiting the republicans so far. the turnout has been middle—aged and up for the most part. most seem to be leaning republican. most seem to be supporting trump. i was following one woman in particular who printed out her own material that was specifically in support of trump and

putting republican in order to back him. this is very heavily along party lines and it does seem to be leaning republican so far. any are seeing this as a judgment on his presidency up until now, what are you hearing? are people who voted for trump before much more happy that they did so and coming out to back him again? for the most part, yes, where i am i would say that accurate. weight what about the democrats? what are they hoping to achieve the day? what are the issues they feel he is weak on? the democrats have been pushing for health care, in particular. i think that they have realised that there isa that they have realised that there is a lot of anger on the left against trump and so they have been really pushing on the issues that they know the left is upset about, that they know also the right is upset about. health care has been an

issue for everyone across the board. i spent some time following some campaigners as they were knocking on doors over the last couple of months. one of the questions they ask at the door is what issue are you most concerned about? today, left and right, it was health care. we are seeing a lot more diversity, for women running for office. i think democrats are hoping to get back into the house. everyone is seeing this as a judgment of the president but does that mean this is a mid—term election for him to lose, or does he perhaps think you can strengthen his position? -- think you can strengthen. the people i have spoken to who strongly support john seem to see this two ways. 0n one hand, of course they would like to win the house, but to win the senate and see republicans in the seats to support trump‘s agenda. 0ne person i spoke to had a interesting perspective, which was if trump...

if the republicans do not win across the board, moving forward over the next two years, if trump‘s agenda does not go according to plan, things don‘t go well, that could benefit him in 2020 because he will lay the blame on the democrats. how much of this is down to the success of the american economy? how much of this is people feeling good about where they are? i think that plays a huge part in it. however, leading up to the midterms we have seen trump and a lot of the republicans really laying into the idea that —— the idea of the immigrants caravan. there has been a lot of fear and discussion over our borders. andover essentially what it means to be american, what it means to let people in. what is interesting, from over here, the tremendous energy

there seems to be in this particular mid—term. there seems to be in this particular mid-term. there is an absolutely enormous amount of energy. i am speaking to you from my car. that‘s because it is pouring rain outside. iam because it is pouring rain outside. i am drenched to the bone. but that has not stopped the voter turnout. i saw people who were handing out literature in front of the polling station actually run out with some of the posters they were holding covering elderly people who were coming in as the overly people walked in without their umbrellas. to come and vote. get the heater on! thank you very much. thank you for having me. you are watching afternoon live. the business news is coming up. polls have opened in the us mid term elections, as americans decide whether president trump‘s republican party should keep control of congress. vital homecare 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 — allied healthcare. the brexit campaign group founded by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. from today women in the uk will begin to qualify for their state pensions at the same age as men — currently 65. but critics say that women are still a long way from pension equality, as the amount they typically receive is lower. new look may close about 100 uk stores in a radical revamp intended to cut costs and improve profitability. executive chairman alistair mcgeorge said retailers continued to face "significant headwinds and uncertainties, including brexit". 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. some figures on retail spending last month? these are figures from barclaycard. they show consumer spending grew 4.4% annual growth last month — as pubs and restaurants saw a big rise in credit and debit card transactions. spending on entertainment offset lack of spending in shops — release of a star is born and venom, glasto ticket sales, all had an impact on spending. you look like you don‘t know what i‘m talking about!

you look like you don‘t know what i'm talking about! i do! the entertainment industry helped offset spending issues in the retail sector. the retail sector is struggling, the high street is struggling. standing in department stores dropped by im .9% in the same period. and we have heard of house of fraser‘s issues, debenhams. let‘s talk to esme harwood, director at barclaycard took me through what the report showed? we saw over the summer that warm weather and feel—good events like the royal wedding and world cup drove an increase in spending. in 0ctober drove an increase in spending. in october we have seen a return to more modest level of growth. 4.4%. there‘s a real distinction between the retail sector which continues to struggle and what happening the experience economy more broadly, which continues to do well. people

are spending more on going out, eating out, going to the cinema, theatre? exactly. if we look at entertainment spends, we can see that has increased by 10.8%. what‘s doing really well is pub spending and restaurant spending. ticket sales are up 22%. that is driven by things like glastonbury tickets going on sale and those big box office blockbusters. does glastonbury tickets normally sell out within minutes. the high street is not doing well at the moment, there are issues there. is that reflected in your report? absolutely. key categories like clothing spending have actually contracted by 2.4%. spending in department stores has contracted by 5.9%. it is a story of two halves with the retail sector continuing to face tough times but the experience economy doing well. coming up to

christmas, what are you expecting? in terms of consumer confidence, we are seeing only one in three people saying they are confident of the uk economy. sentiment like that can impact spending. we are finding that consumers are saying that they are looking to tighten their belts a little bit this christmas. perhaps after spending more than they expected over the summer. how that plays out as we move into black friday and cyber monday, we will have to see. 90 very much. thank you. that is all coming up soon, black friday and cyber monday. let‘s look at the market. market is treading water awaiting those results. ok. yes, everything is ok. see you in an hour. now, work is underway in cornwall to drill

britain‘s deepest hole — with a depth of four hundred 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 — 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 underway, 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. a slight change of gear now.

there are plenty of donkeys lining t of connemara in ireland. but this one has now reached global fame after unveiling a very special talent. have a listen... she sings. 15—year—old stephen mcgrath adopted harriet as a stray when she was aged just two. her impressive operatic voice has been compared to parts of the opera madame butterfly and has now been viewed over 700,000 times online. an internet sensation. she is going global. this is why, let‘s remind you. this is her again. she sings.

i get she hasjust i get she has just eaten something dodgy. —— i think. time for a look at the weather. hello. plenty of cloud across the uk today but another unseasonably mild day across much of central eastern europe as well as the uk. southerly winds because of this driving area, this swirl of wind was the north—west. low—pressure continuing to dominate through much of this week. on the outer fringes of the moment, it seems rain develop widely in the west. west this afternoon and into the evening. strengthening winds across irish sea coasts with further splashes of rain. further east, the odd shower but sunshine at

times lifting temperatures into the mid teens. 0ne times lifting temperatures into the mid teens. one or two could get close to 17, 18, even 19 degrees. in the west, this is where we will see the west, this is where we will see the wet weather. a few showers further east but mostly dry. south—west england through wales, thundery downpours. more persistent rain. the worst of the rain clearing from northern ireland but still you have a showers, especially in the west. and a few showers in western scotland. tonight the rain will clear from northern ireland scotland. tonight the rain will clearfrom northern ireland but rain becomes more widespread across central and southern scotland, wales and a good part of central and west of england. some rain persisted at times. the breeze keeping temperatures in double figures but a cooler night in northern ireland. some dense fog forming for the morning rush—hour. writing across western areas later. 0utbreaks morning rush—hour. writing across western areas later. outbreaks of rain possible anywhere tomorrow morning, main exception north—east scotland. eastern areas brighten up

through the day but in the west a focus on more persistent rain. temperatures again well into the teens. thursday, showers spread. things turned drier and clearer, cooler for a things turned drier and clearer, coolerfor a time to things turned drier and clearer, cooler for a time to start thursday morning. thursday looks like winds converging on this sort of zone from south—west england, wales, north—west england, western scotland. we could see some showers, persistent rain here. funding drier and brighter i decided that, sunshine for some and temperatures in the south and east in the mid—teens. for the end of the week, by friday, deepening low—pressure consent. a fine start turns to severe gales and heavy rain in the west. see you later. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live. i‘m simon mccoy. today at 4:00pm. the polls open in america‘s mid—term election — seen by many as a crucial test

of president trump‘s first two years in office. brexit campaign group leave.eu, and an insurance company owned by businessman arron banks, are to be fined £135,000 by the uk data watchdog. theresa may tells her cabinet that she‘s confident of reaching a withdrawal agreement with the eu — but it won‘t be done "at any cost". hello, everyone. this is afternoon live. i‘m simon mccoy. 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. this is the view right now of a polling station in new york — where people have been turning out for a few hours now. polls opened at 6am. well let‘s get the latest from washington, tojoin my colleague, stephern sackur. a warm welcome to this special us mid—term election coverage on bbc news. i‘m in washington, dc. the outcome of the vote is widely being seen as a referendum on president trump‘s two years in office and will determine if he can get things done in the remaining two years of this presidency. if the republican party loses control of even one of the two houses of congress it will have a huge impact on his agenda, from

immigration to trade. it could expose the president to a new level of congressional scrutiny. early indications from polling stations suggest americans are turning out in higher numbers than in previous mid—term elections. gary 0‘donoghue 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. 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. are you ready to win? all: yeah! i'm going to win this review, let‘s go and do this. senator ted cruz! despite losing a bruising battle with donald trump for the presidential nomination, ted cruz is in lockstep with the president 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. as gary says, a lot to play for. the sta kes a re as gary says, a lot to play for. the stakes are very high today in us politics. voting is under way across the nation. the bbc correspondent is ata the nation. the bbc correspondent is at a polling station in alexandria, virginia. turnout has been very high so far at this falling station, more than double that in the previous mid—term election, nearly triple —— this polling station. a number of voters i spoke to said they were voting against trump, one woman said it was the first time she was voting ina mid—term it was the first time she was voting in a mid—term election. not everyone has those views and it‘s good to remember that the most reliable voters in mid—term elections are the

more mature voters who support republicans. however other voters such as youths and republican americans and hispanics may be voting for the democrats. we don‘t know which side this voter surge is going to benefit because president trump has been in the campaign in unprecedented fashion, whipping up enthusiasm from his base. president trump has had some frenetic campaigning over the last few days. he‘s crisscrossed the nation. he‘s been accused of using hostile language directed, amongst others, towards immigrants and the press. he was asked a few moments ago in an interview on the evening of the polls opening whether he had any regrets over his first two years in

office. he said he could have softened his tone. there would be certain things, i‘m not sure want to review all of them. i would say tone. i would like a softer tone. i feel to a certain extent i have no choice, but maybe i do and i could have been softer from that standpoint, but i want to get things done. there you go, the president talking about his tone. let‘s turn to how the campaign has been fought on the doorstep, with thousands of volu nteers on the doorstep, with thousands of volunteers giving up their spare time to canvas the candidates across the nation. two people who know about campaigning, rita bosworth and elizabeth shleger. would you say from your experience of campaigns that this one has felt different? that‘s an interesting question because neither liz nor i were involved in politics before the 2016 election, so we are fairly new to

the process. what we can say is that the process. what we can say is that the majority of volunteers with whom we are working our new to politics and campaigning. 0range we are working our new to politics and campaigning. orange is the new black here is that volunteering is the new voting. you are both democrats and you‘ve been trying to get out the democrat vote. would you say that many democrats are energised pacific quay by the trump factor and determination, as many would put it, to resist him? —— energised specifically. absolutely, although we say that we are not the resistance, donald trump is resisting the will of the people because the democrats are the majority of the us electorate. the reason he is in power now is not because most people agree with him, it's because of gerrymandering and voter suppression and other nefarious tactics. you got a problem, though. 0n the doorstep surely people are saying to you they are better off than they were two yea rs are better off than they were two years ago, their kids havejobs,

thank goodness, the economy is steaming ahead. pocketbook issues tends to dominate us elections and on that, donald trump has a great message. what is true is that more people didn‘t vote in 2016 than the number of people who voted for either presidential candidate. the problem is not that donald trump got so many votes, the problem is that so many votes, the problem is that so many votes, the problem is that so many people didn‘t vote. we must activate the people who didn‘t vote. when we go to doorsteps, volunteers are meeting a lot of energised people who may be didn‘t do enough last time and now they are committed to getting out the vote.” last time and now they are committed to getting out the vote. i have to say that i was just campbell to getting out the vote. i have to say that i wasjust campbell —— canvassing in pennsylvania and i had so many conversations with voters who have been lifetime republicans who have been lifetime republicans who are now voting straight blue, over and over who are now voting straight blue, overand overagain, who are now voting straight blue, over and over again, something who are now voting straight blue, overand overagain, something i've never heard before as a volunteer. your activist organisation refers to the sisterhood and there has been a lot of talk in this election cycle

about the power and influence of the woman‘s vote this time around compared with other elections. are you seeing that on the doorstep? to go further into it, i‘ve seen polls suggesting that amongst non—college educated white women, there is still a majority for donald trump, so you aren‘t winning all of the women‘s votes by any means. sister district isn‘t dedicated to women voters. we are called that because we literally organise volunteers on the ground in deep blue districts and we matched them or listed them with state legislative candidates in other parts of the country that need an infusion of volunteer energy to win. the system in the first pairing volu nteers the system in the first pairing volunteers with candidates —— the sistering. we support many female candidates but we support candidates and volunteers of all genders. candidates but we support candidates and volunteers of all gendersm candidates but we support candidates and volunteers of all genders. is it possible in this cycle to generalise

about how the women‘s vote may break? women are at a concrete voting block as that. i think many women are extremely organised and motivated and energised. look at the women's march back in 2017, the biggest mobilisation of people in the united states in history. sol think, we get this question a lot, is the resistance real, is the blue wave real, and i think the answer is a resounding yes. what do you think about the next moment in us politics? we shouldn‘t speculate too much but the polls suggest the democratic party has a good chance of taking control of the house and then new guys, activists in the party and the movement are going to face the question, do you want confrontation with the trump white house or do you want to reach out and cooperate with him?” house or do you want to reach out

and cooperate with him? i think for us, the next step is to continue doing what we‘ve been doing, focusing on state elections. the reason there is such bipartisanship now is because there is unilateral control of government. when both parties share power, there‘s a movement to the middle. what we‘re doing now is trying to win states because states control the redistricting, which will allow us to win back congress. we hope we will win it back today but we need to do it every two years. that will bring people to the centre because people will have to come from eyes. we shall see. events are going to u nfold we shall see. events are going to unfold over the next few hours —— people will have to compromise. you‘re watching special coverage of the us mid—term elections and a quick reminder that as the results come ina quick reminder that as the results come in a few hours‘ time you can get the latest news, detail and analysis on bbc news and on the bbc

news website. you are watching afternoon live. 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 over what it 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 all 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 a claim that the liberal democrats sold the data of its party members to the britain‘s stronger in europe group. the party denied that personal information had been sold. the eu‘s chief negotiator says the eu won‘t sign off a deal or a transition period after brexit unless the irish border problem is solved. his latest comments come after theresa may told the cabinet she was confident of reaching a withdrawal agreement with the eu and wanted to do so as soon as possible, but that it must "not be done at any cost". meanwhile the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, has been taking questions from leaders of the opposition parties. he reaffirmed his position on the irish backstop post—brexit, after being challenged by sinn fein.

a reminder — the backstop is a safety net to prevent a hard border in northern ireland — if appropriate customs arrangements cannot be agreed. we are open to considering a review clause but i‘ve set out clearly what the reviews clause could not contain. it could not contain an expiry date, it could not contain a unilateral ability from the uk with regards to a hard border between northern ireland and the rest of ireland. to come to an agreement, sometimes you need to be creative and you have to be open to creative solutions and language to get to an agreement and those people who negotiated the good friday agreement and those with the treaties understand that. you can still achieve your objectives in doing so. in a moment, we will speak to jessica parker at westminster. first to adam fleming in brussels. i don‘t think i‘m missing anything,

at the moment, nothing has changed? no, and we can see that from the performance of michel barnier at eight press conference with the slova k eight press conference with the slovak by minister in blatter slava —— in bratislava. it is what we have heard from michel barnier before, if there is no backstop, there is no withdrawal agreement and there is no transition agreement. the clock is ticking, how many times has he said that? he says, don‘t believe everything you read, we aren‘t yet there on the last part of the negotiations, especially about ireland. he said again that the eu is prepared to rewrite bits of its backstop is prepared to rewrite bits of its ba cksto p to is prepared to rewrite bits of its backstop to make it more palatable to the uk. that reveals that despite all the talk for a new exit mechanism and a new uk wide backstop to eliminate a northern ireland backstop, which the uk government fates, it doesn‘t seem that much

concrete has happened despite the talk. you speak to the mass of member states and they haven‘t seen any legal text which would show how the uk customs arrangements would work or calvi exit mechanism would work or calvi exit mechanism would work so there‘s a lot of work to be done. there is an element who would suggest that they would say that, wouldn‘t they because we are in a negotiation. yes, we are used to the tactics but they are wanting and it‘s as like the uk is prepared to offer some legal wording to go into the treaty. the eu is making the uk do the work on this. to be fair to the uk come on some of the temporary customs arrangements, the uk option for the backstop, they proposed legal text in june for that, paragraphs and some paragraphs with the legal wording that could going to the backstop. speaking to eu diplomats it isn‘t just to the backstop. speaking to eu diplomats it isn‘tjust tell the customs bit of the backstop woodwork. some states are worried that this is looking like bit of a trade deal, no quotas, no tariffs on

goods, and the eu has always said that with the trade talks you have to do the level playing field, managing the level of competition between the eu and the uk. another complicated in fact that makes this uk wide backstop harder to deliver thanit uk wide backstop harder to deliver than it sounds. do they actually call it a level playing field? yeah, it is one of the eu‘s freezes. some people think this is unable plot to hobble post rate said britain so it can‘t go out and compete —— one of the eu‘s freezes. they say that the level of access to the eu market is determined by the level playing for —— phrases. they don‘t want the uk slashing regulation on the environment and labour, meaning british products are cheap and then they can go into the eu single market and compete with more

expensive eu products. michel barnier‘s deputy always says you can have loads of access to the market but it has to be with our rules, or you can have your own rules and you get less access. that has been the trade—off from the beginning. get less access. that has been the trade-off from the beginning. thank you. let‘s go to westminster. jessica, adam is normally quite cheerful but is there any sense of optimism here because there doesn‘t seem to be over there. theresa may was seem to be over there. theresa may was trying to convey optimism when she addressed a cabinet this morning, saying that the withdrawal agreement was 95% done, that she was confident they could reach a deal but reiterating that a deal wouldn't be read at any cost. this idea of a mechanism around the northern ireland backstop, the idea that perhaps if there isn't trading arrangements in place by the end of the transition, the uk would temporarily remain tied to some eu

customs rules, hell with the uk exit from that? should it do so unilaterally? the eu say that's not possible, but brexiteers i think believe the uk should be able to do that, but if not, is there any mechanism so they can agree? not a lot of detail on how the mechanism would work. adam fleming isn't sounding positive. there's also the issue that whatever theresa may comes up issue that whatever theresa may comes up with, she has to get it through parliament and a lot of scepticism remains here on all sides of the house. they have that big clock in the cabinet room, going tick tock, and so is everybody else. the clock is certainly ticking and theresa may and her cabinet certainly know that. it has been this frustrating process where they first of all proposed the idea of a uk wide backstop and the eu say they wanted a northern ireland only backstop, theresa may saying it

isn't acceptable to cut up the uk and it isn't acceptable to the dup, who prop up the conservative government in westminster. the clock is ticking, not a lot of time left. what's hangover theresa may is yes, she has to get the deal through parliament before march next year, but she's also got to get the 0k from the european heads of state —— what's hanging over theresa may. it seems we are at the beginning of the conversation around the mechanism. a lot of pressure on the uk government to flesh out the idea and put it to the eu negotiators. thank you for joining us. adam, we‘ll get you smiling one—day! 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. police spent several hours today

searching an address in the area. the prime minister has condemned the video as "utterly unacceptable." the chairman of the public inquiry into the fire, sir martin moore—bick, called the video "offensive" as he opened today‘s hearings. i‘m joined now by the bbc‘s legal correspondent clive coleman. what‘s happening today? what's happening today? these five men, aged 19—55, handed themselves into a police station yesterday evening. they are being questioned by police. they‘ve been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence. we‘ll come to that and i‘ll explain what the nature of the offence is. a property in south london has been searched by police, they‘ve been seen at the property for two hours, and left with black bags with items in them. no one has been charged but they are being questioned and a search has been carried out. let's talk about what possible offences

have been committed, you spoke about public order? they work arrested under section 4a of the public order act. section four is about the use of insulting, threatening or abusive words or behaviour that are intended, and that is the keyword here, to cause harassment, alarm or distress. because it is a public order offence you can‘t commit it if you are within a dwelling and the person against whom the director is —— against whom the behaviour is directed is present, it is a public board at. if tried in a magistrates‘ court it can be punished by a six—month prison sentence. if it is deemed by prosecutors that it is racially aggravated it can be bumped up racially aggravated it can be bumped up to the crown court, where there isa up to the crown court, where there is a maximum sentence of two years. thank you forjoining us.

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. coming north from amiens you come here to one of the most beautiful spots in france. the highlight for the pilgrims who come here is the huge thiepval memorial which is there to mark the missing, over 72,000 british and commonwealth soldiers inscribed on the panels but i‘ve come here to look at one name, at the base of the memorial, corporal george smith of the durham light infantry. his story takes us to the uk, to county durham and the

tale of a family and a 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 in 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?" they 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? we‘ll be talking about tomorrow in a moment but firstly i want to play un extraordinary piece of sound, created for measurements taken by observers and soldiers in the moments leading up to the armistice, producing a visual graft, using microphones. the imperial war maisie had found engineers looking at the graft and used today‘s technologies to recreate what those in the trenches would have heard at the moment of armistice. gunfire and explosions. gunfire falls silent.

birdsong. extraordinary because a cousin of my grandfather was killed on the first day of the somme and that brings it home. tomorrow we hear about the forgotten army, the men of south ajer who came to fight. more from robert tomorrow. time for a look at the weather. has it been a long day? it‘s been a

bit of a roller—coaster weather—wise. —7 some mornings last week... get out of the way, because this is portsmouth, isn‘t it? week... get out of the way, because this is portsmouth, isn't it? can you see it now? hampshire, 18 celsius, way above where we should be this time of year. it should be around 10 degrees. that wants is being felt around the uk, but also across europe. in the alps of all places? would you believe that! last week, we saw scenes like this. we saw around 50 cents metres of snow fall. that has got the skiers quite excited about the potential for early season. i have to admit, following a school trip when i was 11 in gales and sleet in aviemore, it doesn‘t really appeal. 11 in gales and sleet in aviemore, it doesn't really appeal. but you we re it doesn't really appeal. but you were 11... it doesn't really appeal. but you were 11. .. they were about three times the size of me. this is

changing into the side of this week, because in switzerland, it is normally 7 degrees at this time of year, but this afternoon, it was 16 degrees warmer — 23 degrees. some of what‘s going on?! more of a summer day than a late autumn one. it‘s been a bit of a roller—coaster. what we saw last week was colder air and because the mediterranean is so one, we have seen up active weather systems and storms in italy. it also caused the snow in the alps, but now we have some wind which will warm things up. to that work for us as well? of course, it is all the same thing. so at the moment, we have got suddenly a throw from the mediterranean and africa, and that is because out to the west, this swirl is an area of low pressure. that will dominate through much of this week. but it will throw some

weather fronts garraway and at the moment, it is raining heavily for some of the west. eastern areas are drier and finishing the day with some clear skies here and there. into the evening rush hour, still at around 11—15 degrees. around the rush—hour, there will be some showers and the odd rumble of thunder with the downpours here. really wet and western parts of wales and the persistent rain is staying in the north and northern ireland and towards the likes of dumfries and the west of scotland, perhaps in glasgow as. following this morning‘s sunshine in northern ireland, things will turn more drive for a time. through the night, at pics of rain will spread through other parts of england, wales and through much of scotland. some counties in eastern england will stay dry, but a bit easier tonight.

temperatures at a level where that we should be by day. in northern ireland, some heavy fog in the morning, which will slow the morning journey. western areas should stay dry, but scotland, much of england and wales, the focus will be in the west, we could see many showers. western scotland, eastern northern ireland, down into wales and southern england, downpours in the afternoon. the breeze is stronger than today and the showers will come to the south—west. temperatures not where we should be at this time of the year, much higher. into the night, and into thursday morning, many will go into the day starting dry. maybe some mist and fog as wind will follow it for a time, but some sunshine in the north—west and the south—east. in between, this will be the wind meets and there could be some longer showers in wales, northern england and southern scotland. for most, on the mild

side, although a little bit colder in scotland. through thursday night into friday, and at the end of the week, we can see this low—pressure system which will gain some energy and give us a slightly different end to the week. after a fine start to friday, we will see the low—pressure push in and by the end of friday, heavy rain across many western areas and potential for severe gales, heavy rain across many western areas and potentialfor severe gales, too. this is bbc news, our latest headlines: the polls open in america‘s mid term election — seen by many as a crucial test of president trump‘s first two years in office. brexit campaign group leave.eu, and an insurance company owned by businessman arron banks, are to be fined £135,000 by the uk data watchdog. theresa may tells her cabinet that she‘s confident of reaching a withdrawal agreement with the eu — but it won‘t be done "at any cost". under threat — homecare services for thousands of elderly people face disruption following questions over the future of allied healthcare. sport now on afternoon live

with katherine downes. it‘s a big night in the champions league for liverpool and tottenham. not long until the games kick—off. liverpool are going forward but spurs area liverpool are going forward but spurs are a failing. liverpool are favourites to win their champions league group, going into tonight‘s game away to red star belgrade. they easily beat them at anfield two weeks ago, with mo salah scoring twice in a 4—nil victory, but manager jurgen klopp is expecting a hostile atmosphere in serbia tonight. he‘s watched videos of the fans in the stadium but he says the atmosphere that we know, you know, we are from liverpool, so we know how big the atmosphere influence can be, and the only way i know to cool down the atmosphere is by playing really good football. that is what we have to do, to try, to be ready for a fight, be ready for a big game, and we will be ready. that‘s the only thing i can make sure of, and that the boys have

to do the job on the pitch, of course. tottenham are under pressure and need a win against psv eindhoven. they‘re third in their group after losing to inter milan and barcelona and only managing a draw against the dutch side. if they lose at wembley, and inter beat barcelona, spurs will be out at the group stage for the second time in three years. there‘s commentary on both games on radio 5 live tonight — liverpool against red star belgrade kicks off at 5 to 6 — and then at 8 o‘clock it‘s tottenham versus psv eindhoven. tonight you can listen to the matches alongside the final score graphics and vidiprinter, just click on 5 live final score on iplayer, the bbc sport app or via your red button from 5.30. wayne rooney will not start when he makes his farewell england appearance against the united states later this month. the fa announced at the weekend that the game — to be played on november 15th — will be called the wayne rooney foundation international to honour rooney and his charity.

but he will win his 120th cap as a second half substitute, and won‘t captain the side or wear his old number 10 shirt. steven fletcher has been recalled to the scotland squad for theirfinal two nations league group games against albania and israel. alex mcleish is without several key players, including strikers steven naismith, for the matches later this month. west brom‘s matt phillips who scored the winner in scotland‘s march friendly victory in hungary has also been brought into the squad. ben foakes saved the day for england‘s cricketers in sri lanka — scoring a half century on his test debut as england finished on 321 for 8. the visitors lost their first two wickets forjust 10, and then captainjoe root went for 35, keaton jennings for 46, and ben stokes forjust 7 — to put them five wickets down before lunch. but sam curran, who went two shy of his half century — put together a steady partnership with test debutant ben foakes, who finished not out for 87.

dilruwan perera took 4 wickets for the home side. i found out yesterday, during training, you know, rooty came to me yesterday, and i was quite shocked to be playing, so it was a lovely surprise i was glad to be playing. 0n debut, you arejust a bit nervous in your own head. i was thinking, just grind in, then when i got off the mark obviously that settled me down a bit. england flanker tom curry will miss the rest of the autumn internationals against new zealand, japan and australia. he limped off during their win over south africa last weekend and has a "severe ankle injury". some better news for head coach eddiejones is that manu tuilagi and courtney lawes are both expected to be available for saturday‘s test against the all blacks. olympic champion adam peaty could risk missing next year‘s swimming world championships if he opts to take part

in a new competition. peaty says the controversial new international swimming league is "exactly what the sport needs". but the sport‘s governing body, fina, say all new events must seek approvalfrom them six months before they go ahead and it‘s warned any swimmer opting to race in the competition next month risks a ban from next summer‘s world championships. just a few weeks for him to make up his mind, which by billy goat, defend the world titles or try out the new competition. —— which way will he go? now on afternoon live, let‘s go nationwide and see what‘s happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. let‘s go to sabet choudhury in bristol, where surgeons at bristol royal infirmary are trialling the use of a new drug, which helps to preserve a patient‘s heart when it‘s stopped during surgery.

this is a remarkable story. and rogerjohnson is in salford, where firefighters were attacked in manchester and merseyside — and a homeless man was also burned by a firework in liverpool as emergency services had hundreds of emergency calls across the region on bonfire night. depressing news, we will have more on that in a moment. so sabet, how does this work? as you say, it is remarkable. the basic non—science explanation of this, this is very simple, of how the operation works is that sometimes, a surgeon may need to stop the heart during an operation and a machine takes over to pump the blood around the body. the good thing about it is that it allows the medical team to work on the patient without the heart moving around. the bad news is that for every minute the heart isn‘t beating, it can get damaged, so they are now pumping it through a drug which sends patients

to sleep, and at this point, i will hand you to an expert to spin this. we have demonstrated and by adding these drugs directly into the heart, where it will be at a much higher concentration is very protective. so we demonstrate this even with a very low amount of these drugs. the study we are going to do now is doubling the amount of drugs. it is quite remarkable. so this protects the heart during the surgery? yes, the person who is being operated on there was leslie, and it is hoped that this method of surgery will mean he will recover much quicker, spend less time in intensive care and even have a longer life. it has taken ten years to perfect this technique. although it isa to perfect this technique. although it is a fairly cheap operation, it costs around £2, the surgeons are

confident it could be rolled out right across the world. this would be great news for everyone. plenty more on your regional show tonight. let‘s go to salford now, we do this every year, people on firework night, there were several incidents in your region last night, quite shocking. i'm not sure that the north—west is alone in having incidents around anti—social behaviour on firework night, but there were too many. hundreds of 999 calls to emergency services across the north—west last night. in liverpool, eight children‘s play area was set alight. —— a children‘s play area. fire crews were attacked in greater manchester and in merseyside and in the lead up to bonfire night, we had calls from the deputy chief fire 0fficer bonfire night, we had calls from the deputy chief fire officer of lancashire and the chief constable of greater manchester police, both calling for fireworks to be banned

and for the only way for fireworks to be seen to be artificial displays. so it is almost like they saw it coming. nonetheless, it is pretty depressing when it happens. and a homeless man had a firework put in his coat? this was in liverpool. a homeless man, a military veteran, sleeping rough and a group of young people came along and put a firework into his pocket. apparently said words to the effect of have a sparkling night, mate. we managed to speak to an eyewitness who told us what he saw. one of them just said to him, have a sparking good time and as he walked away, he realised that his coat pocket was smouldering and on fire. he grabbed hold of the area and he said he was ex—military and handled flash bangs. he grabbed a hold of this thing, but it burned through his coat and trousers and actually burned his leg. beggars belief, doesn‘t it? the

gentleman was ex—military and we hear a lot gentleman was ex—military and we heara lot in gentleman was ex—military and we hear a lot in the lead up to bonfire night about pets. this part of the world has a lot of former military vetera ns world has a lot of former military veterans who has seen service in recent yea rs. veterans who has seen service in recent years. many of whom, we have spoken to them on our programme, and they have a problem around the time of bonfire night. it seems that this one gentleman had had a problem with it bunch of responsible young people last night. i don‘t think the north—west is alone in having the issue, but as you said, it is quite depressing. of course, notjust your region affected by that. plenty more at 6:30pm tonight on bbc one. and thank you very much gentleman. if you would like to see more on any of those stories, you can access

them via the bbc iplayer. we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at 4:30pm on afternoon live. this afternoon some of the biggest names in british entertainment handed 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, people from ethnic minorities and people with disabilities to be employed behind the camera. well i spoke to the comedian and actor, sir lenny henryjust after he led that delegation to downing street. i asked what progress he‘d seen in his years of campaigning for greater black and ethnic minority representation in tv and film. there has been progress, but it has mainly been on screen and it is fantastic to watch the way the fabric of our on—screen content has changed in terms of diversity. but behind the scenes, the figures are still far less. 0.3% disability

people working in the industry, 13.6% women directors in the film industry and bame implement in the tv and film industry— 3%. it is not good enough and it needs to change. we have delivered this letter which talks about tax breaks for diversity in the film and tv industry. we have had a useful conversation with some of the special advisers there and we hope to have a meeting with the treasury to argue about how we might define what diversity and inclusion might look like and how it can affect some of these changes for the good. you use the word useful, what does that actually mean? it means we are not politicians, we don‘t like policy, but the people that do these things can actually make something work as they did with the british film institute. they designed a three tech policy that would allow the industry to grow and include programmes and films with british

content. programmes and films with british co nte nt. we programmes and films with british content. we think they should add diversity and representation into that and get a tax break for that. these things have already worked in illinois, california and newjersey and they have also introduced something in france whereby if you have a female centric content, people behind—the—scenes like directors, head of production and cinematographers, you get up to 15% ofa cinematographers, you get up to 15% of a tax break for that. that could work very well for diversity, too, and help to grow the industry. how will that work in practice? if someone is making a programme, basically, you will have to give people what if the tax office names and their ethnic background? how does it work? it would be self declaring for both the production company and the people involved. reasonable thing is that if you are making a film or tv programme, you would be encouraged to have a diverse hr policy, rather than a non—diverse hr policy and you would

get a tax break for doing that. any film or tv company that champions diversity will get a tax break. 2% of uk television made at the moment by directors of a bame background. that is staggering. yes, do you mean in terms of it not being good? in terms of being... i was going to use the word i cannot use on daytime tv, but not good, no. i bet it rhymes with bright! it‘s not a good figure. 3% bame in the industry, it is terrible. particularly in a metropolis where nearly 50% are bame people. we need to change those figures, because if the gatekeepers of the people who are making the decisions about the programmes we watch and the films we watch is more diverse, then what we will see on screen will be more diverse. you have quite a list of co—signatories, how angry are people getting about this now? anger is an

energy, but i also think sometimes we can diverted into doing something good. slow is the ticket, slow and steady if the ticket. there‘s no point being angry and kicking doors down if nothing happens. if we slow and apply pressure, coming here has been very useful, and we hope to get a meeting with the treasury and if we canjust a meeting with the treasury and if we can just be part of the conversation then hopefully we can change the conversation. that is all we are asking for. change is good and can be facilitated by conversation and intent. that was so lenny henry from downing street where theresa may was holding a cabinet meeting. she said she was still confident at reaching a brexit‘s deal. michel barnier tweeted a few moments ago. he said... so still work to be done. just to

bring you some news we are getting from our island correspondence. we are hearing john downing, a man who was once accused of the ira hyde park bombing has appeared in court in connection with the murders of two soldiers in northern ireland. he is in custody in dublin and he is detained under a european arrest warrant and county danny cole —— donegal. he is charged with the murder of two soldiers in enniskillen in 1972. they were from the ulster defence regiment and they died when a bomb expert in a car they would checking. downing‘s lawyers said he was anxious to get bail because of a medical condition,

but the bail hearing has taken place and extradition hearing will be held on the 23rd of november. maryam moshiri is here — in a moment she will be telling us what‘s hot and what‘s not in the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live: polls have opened in the us mid term elections, as americans decide whether president trump‘s republican party should keep control of congress. the brexit campaign group founded by businessman arron banks and an insurance company he owns face fines for data protection breaches. theresa may tells her cabinet that she‘s confident of reaching a withdrawal agreement with the eu — but it won‘t be done "at any cost". here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live: from today women in the uk will begin to qualify for their state pensions at the same age as men — currently 65. but critics say that women are still a long way from pension equality, as the amount they typically receive is lower. 0ver100 new look stores could close in as the retailer tries to revive its fortunes. executive chairman alistair mcgeorge

said retailers continued to face "significant headwinds and uncertainties, including brexit". new look already announced 60 shops would shut — that number has now risen, partly because landlords are exercising their right to take back outlets to re—let to other tenants. 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. so, everybody is awaiting the mid—term results from the usa? so, everybody is awaiting the mid-term results from the usa? yes, they are treading water, waiting to deceive the results. they are important because the us is the world‘s biggest economy, and who ta kes world‘s biggest economy, and who takes charge of congress will have a lot of power in terms of where the

economy is heading. for example, the republicans and their tax cuts, will continue or be deadlocked in government if the democrats when? that matter to investors in america and the rest of the world. also today, the pound, i told you earlier that it was down, well it has now recovered some of those losses of the back of renewed hopes there could be some sort of resolution to the brexit saga. we have also had some disappointing news from the likes of new look and primark. let‘s talk to the associate director at fidelity international. firstly, let‘s talk about the mid—term elections. why are they so important for investors? what are they looking for? they are very important. with the state of the market at the moment, they are treading water and people are cautious about what the investors will be voting... what the vote rs investors will be voting... what the voters will go to the polls saying today, sorry. they don't want to second—guess, going back to 2016, the markets got a very wrong indeed.

so there is a bit of relaxants to say what markets should be doing. there are bigger issues behind this, what will happen to the american market will depend on things like the trade was with china and we also have the interest rates changes potentially coming up. the central bank in america is meant to keep interest rates on hold this month, but that is possibly more likely to have an effect on the investors and also on the american comic. tommy through the pound, because it has had what can only be described as an extremely volatile day—to—day? sign a very volatile. at one point, we we re a very volatile. at one point, we were at a two week high, and that was on the back of hopes that we would have a positive brexit outcome. but then of course, the dup put the cat amongst the pigeons and it has gone pear shaped. what will happen with sterling is it will go up happen with sterling is it will go up and down depending on what announcements are made, what reports are leaked and general hesitation

and anticipation of whether we will get some kind of a brexit positive outcome or not. and new look, more disappointing news in the high street. we have already heard that 60 stores will go and now we are looking at potentially 100. it was 1000 jobs already, so potentially even more. they are talking about the robust read—out of the business. from the figures that came out today, the sales were down, which isn't good, no business wants that. but they weren't as bad as they were this time last year. the message from new look today is that nothing will change, times are tough on the high street and they have to do what they can to turn things around. thank you very much. before i go, let me show you what the markets are doing. the us markets, the dow is up nearly 05%. the owner of prior mark have

their share prices up. and the pound has recovered a little bit from earlier on. thank you very much. that‘s it from your afternoon live team for today, next the bbc news at five with ben brown. time for a look at the weather, here‘s matt taylor. after a murky start, eastern areas will brighten up through this afternoon. another mild day, but in the west, more showers and persistent rain in northern ireland throughout the afternoon. it will ease across western areas later, the odd shower further east, but temperatures into the mid and high teens. tonight, the window pick—up, but the rain will clear in northern ireland. lots of mist and fog here, but rain across most of the rest of the uk. eastern counties of england and the north—west of scotland —— the north—east of scotland will be dry with interpreters in double figures. dry start tomorrow morning and the fog will take awhile to shift. there could be outbreaks anywhere on wednesday morning, mainly showers and the odd rumble of

thunder. while eastern areas turned brighter, we can focus on persistent rain in western scotland, eastern northern ireland into wales and in the south—west. temperatures still in the mid—teens. a better day for some of you on thursday with some sunshine, it will be quite wet in the irish sea, but friday, severe gales and heavy rain. today at five: millions of americans are voting in the us mid term elections being seen by many as a verdict on donald trump‘s presidency so far. mr trump is hoping his republican party will keep control of congress. this is the scene live at one polling station right now — opinion polls show the democrats could take control in the house of representatives. we‘ll have the latest our correspondents in the united states the other main stories on bbc news at 5. new research shows a sharp rise in the number of vulnerable children needing protection over

the last ten years senior ministers are told theresa may is still confident of reaching a brexit deal but that it must "not be done at any cost" and how did they build the pyramids? researchers discover what they believe may be the remains