this is bbc news: i'm lewis vaughan jones with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president trump attacks his own top coronavirus adviser — describing the highly respected expert anthony fauci as a "disaster". could china's covid success drive it further apart from the united states — we have a special report. belgium's health minister warns the country could soon be overwhelmed by new coronavirus infections — as cases there soar. the story of the conjoined twins from pakistan — separated by surgeons in london — and their return home.

hello and welcome to the programme. donald trump has taken a swipe at the us top infectious disease expert, doctor anthony fauci, allegedly calling him a "disaster" on a capaign staff call and suggesting people are tired of listening to him. it comes a day after the highly respected dr fauci told the media he wasn't surprised trump caught covid—19. here's the president being asked about the matter shortly after touching down in arizona on monday. you know, ithink, really, doctor fauci is a very nice man but we let him do what he wants to do, he gets a lot of television, he loves being on television, we let him do it. sometimes he says things that are a little bit off and they get built up, unfortunately, but he's a nice guy, i like him. he's called a lot of bad calls, he said don't wear a mask, and he said, don't ban china. they were bad calls. he admits that. and i don't hold that against him. if i did, i wouldn't have him.

i think he's a nice guy. inaudible. huh? i don't want to. i don't want to hurt him. he's been there for about 350 years. i don't want to hurt him. it's a battleground state that could help decide who wins the us presidential election. the state of florida has 29 votes in the electoral college that decides who occupies the white house — only california and texas have more. monday has seen early voting getting underway. arkansas, idaho, north dakota, colorado also started early voting on the same day. us voters can also send their ballot by mail. but it's florida that's the focus. here's what some voters in miami told my colleague katty kay. i was here at seven o'clock in the morning. actually around 6.30, seven o'clock. brought my friends here to vote. ijust dropped off my box because i didn't want to put it in the mail. so i had my ballot already checked out and i dropped off in the mail. and you knew you wanted to vote early?

oh yeah, yeah, this is going to be crazy. i can tell, look at the people here. it was bigger when i first got here. it's a very important election and we have to get the vote in and i think the more we show, as a people, that we want to exercise our right to vote, the better we are. joe biden this year. at the same time the rallies scare me. and it seems like a lot of folks are overlooking the disgusting things that we see coming out of the president's mouth. and they are voting because they care more about abortion or gun rights than they do about a president being presidential. i'm very happy. i don't care rain, i don't care. i came at six o'clock in the morning. six o'clock in the morning? rain, i don't care, it's good. i vote for trump. viva trump. florida, ifeel like it always comes back to florida. when this polling station opened this morning it was pouring with rain and a howling wind. and people were still

queuing up to vote. because they know how tight this state can be. whether we spoke to republicans or democrats who had just cast their ballot this morning, they've all said the same thing, florida is on a knife edge. and anyone who lives in the state who is old enough remembers this. in 2000, it was just 537 votes in the whole state of florida that separated al gore and george bush. 0ne became president, the other didn't. and you can find more news and analysis about the us election on our website bbc.com/us2020. there's all the latest breaking news and blogs from our team including katty kay. china's latest financial figures show that its economy grew by 4.9% in the past three months, another sign of how effectively it has brought the coronavirus under control.

meanwhile, the us is struggling in comparison, with the widening gap in performance only likely to fuel hostility between washington and beijing. this week across bbc news we are exploring whether president trump's "america first" strategy has changed the world, and what the result of the election will mean for america's friends and foes. 0ur china correspondent, john sudworth, looks at how the us election is being viewed in china. china has conquered covid its way. normality restored, with barely a murmur of public debate and, of course, not a single vote for or against the leaders who have delivered it. state propaganda drives the message home. with americans voting amid protests and a still uncontrolled pandemic, democracy is presented not as an alternative but a disaster. the virus has widened the growing gulf

between the us and china. and christian is one of the casualties. he had his us visa temporarily revoked by a us administration that now sees chinese students as potential spies. "i worry it might happen again," he says, telling me he is now thinking of studying in the uk instead. who do you want to win the election, trump or biden? of course biden. and you might think this man would agree. despite the initial warmth... my feeling towards you is an incredibly warm one... ..within months of this meeting, relations were in the deep freeze, but it is notjust donald trump who has come to view china's system as a threat. it is this system that now lies at the heart of one of the defining ideological rivalries of our time. china will know that

ifjoe biden wins, he may be more effective than his predecessor at building coalitions with like—minded allies against it. the communist party's initial cover—up of the virus, its incarceration of minorities, and its tightening grip on hong kong means — trump or biden — the us—china rift is likely to widen. and over trade, too. the beijing car show — more proof of the success of china's draconian lockdowns and mass virus testing, it is also a demonstration of the country's rising economic power. this chinese car costs £65,000. some analysts believe trump is actually giving china an advantage. trump or biden? well, if you ask me for china's own interest,

i will prefer to have trump there rather than biden. seems to me that trump will undermine the us much more than cause trouble to china. in the chaos of the us covid election, china sees the possibility of an unlikely winner — xijinping, and signs of a long anticipated us decline. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. wang huiyao is president of the centre for china and globalisation and an advisor to the chinese government, and is in beijing. thank you very much for coming on the programme. thank you. do you think of donald trump over the last four years has been good for china or bad for china? initially, president trump has actually brought some hopes because he is a businessman, more pragmatic,

more business oriented and he's really said many times, president xi is his friend but u nfortu nately we ca n president xi is his friend but unfortunately we can see this has actually tensed quite a bit because he launched a trade war, he also has many hawkish advisers, launched many active proposals and sanctions on china so actually it has turned down this atmosphere quite a lot and it is in the us we used to know, it's more unilaterally america first, more multilateral views under threat and in between chinese relations had been badly damaged. given that, with a selection, do you think it's better now for donald trump to stay in power orjoe biden, from a china

perspective?” think both have their pros and cons, of course, for president trump, he certainly will continue his success in phase one, i believe, he will carry out phase two and phase three and hopefully will be more business oriented again. i think he will probably be more relaxed compared with his first term and more pursuing american interests and particularly business interests over that one, i think china us trade negotiations will continue and some progress can be made but on the other hand, because, since he's surrounded by our lot of hawkish advisers, people with a military background, west point alumni, things like that, it's difficult to see how this second term can be more focused rather than trade... and what about joe focused rather than trade... and what aboutjoe biden, what do you think the implications

ofa win do you think the implications of a win for him might have on china? he is more from an established, from an establishment, more and surrounded by people who worked in the government and have experience of think tanks, economics, civil servants, what he will do is he will reassert american leadership in the west and the world. sorry to jump in but do you think that is bad for china? is it a zero sum game, joe biden wins and does exactly as you say, is it bad news for china if those western democratic values are reinforced? not necessarily. he could, for example, you want to come back to climate change, which i think it us and china have to work together. secondly, he wants to come back to the who, to reform

that, that's another front on which china can talk to him, he wants to reform the wto, china ‘s largest trading nation and... there are multilateral france that china and the us can talk. 0k. then things will get better, probably. before i let you go i have to mention covid—i9. donald trump very strongly blaming china at every opportunity, it seems. what's your response, how do you think your response, how do you think your response, how do you think your response to covid—i9 and donald trump ‘s words about the role of china in it, impact on relations between the countries? i think it is quite a bit of misunderstanding. covid—i9 has hit us as never before, nobody knows what it was. it was very surprising and people were shocked. it took time to digest,

get consensus, expert confirmation but once china realised, we shut down the city of wuhan, and in hubei province and we shut down china for two or three months and we have knowledge which is being acted around the world, social distancing, quarantine, massive testing, tracing, ithink distancing, quarantine, massive testing, tracing, i think china has brought this under control. china, it was not really their fault, the nature of a virus can attack any country, it happened to act in china first. i think we should not really make china the scapegoat for other countries not effectively handling the case, i think that probably is to be thought about. we must leave it there, thank you for taking the time speaking to us. thank you. thank you. stay tuned to bbc news over the next few days for more from that series, we'll be live in kabul

to focus on america's military disengagement as well as reporting on the us role in africa. stay with us on bbc news — still to come... we'll find out what inspired this musical work — performed for the first time — by an orchestra of young black, asian and ethnically diverse musicians.

this is bbc news — our top story: president trump attacks his own top coronavirus adviser — describing the highly respected expert anthony fauci as a "disaster". belgium's health minister fears the country could soon be overwhelmed by new coronavirus infections. new measures are now in place as it's feared soaring case numbers are close to a quote "tsunami" where authorities "no longer control what is happening". meanwhile, infection

numbers are climbing across europe, prompting lots of new restrictions. mark lobel reports. last orders have been called in belgium's bars, now closed for four weeks, with alcohol sales elsewhere banned after 8pm each night. asked how he feels now, this pub owner says not so good. restaurants are shut, too. real catastrophe, because there is not a proven reason, medical reason, that it was in restaurants. belgians must work from home if possible, leaving offices empty. having been one of the worst hit countries during europe's first wave of coronavirus earlier this year, this second scare, with cases up 80% over a week, and hospitalisations up, it means that belgium's residents are now only allowed to see

one other person from outside their household. and a curfew is in place until 5am, as the government vessels to get on top of a looming health crisis. listen, that's life, that's how it is. we have no choice but to follow the rules. in italy, there are also new rules for restaurants, alongside new restrictions that allow mayors to close public areas, and changes to secondary school hours. and in france, nine major cities have been placed under curfew. meanwhile, in the czech republic, where facemasks will be mandatory outdoors from wednesday, and which has the highest infection rate on the continent, the government is considering a full national lockdown. to lift spirits, to tackle the virus, the world health organization's new message is that we are all one globalfamily. we are family! with

this pandemic, to me, it has brought the whole world together as a family. it really has. spotted in and out deserted brussels, one moment that suggests by pulling together, getting through this second act, may feel easier. mark lobel, bbc news. president trump says he is ready to remove sudan from a us list of state sponsors of terrorism, after the new government agreed to pay millions of dollars in compensation to american victims of attacks. the payment relates to al qaeda's bombing of american embassies in kenya and tanzania in 1998. al qaeda leader 0sama bin laden had been welcomed by the then sudanese president 0mar al bashir. six russian military intelligence officers have been charged in the united states with carrying out cyber attacks on ukraine's power grid, the 2017 french elections and the 2018 winter olympic games. the usjustice department says

they also attacked computers of businesses worldwide, causing nearly1 billion dollars in losses to three us companies alone. safa and marwa were born as conjoined twins. it's a very rare condition. they were flown to london from their home in pakistan last year. after more than 50 hours of surgery and months of hospital care at great 0rmond street hospital — they were finally ready to go home. our medical editor fegus walsh spoke to the family before they left. twin sisters with a special bond. toy music plays. it is nowjust over a year—and—a—half since safa and marwa were separated. back to safa. that's it. that's good. to marwa. they're still having physical therapy, which they clearly enjoy. but they've been through a lot to get here, and neither has emerged unscathed.

the girls were born joined at the head — an extremely rare condition. they'd never seen each other‘s faces. the bbc followed their incredible journey as, over four months, they underwent more than 50 hours of surgery. safa and marwa's skull was one long tube, their brains were misshapen and interconnected. separating them involved a huge team at great 0rmond street hospital with every stage, every stitch planned in minute detail. all of it was paid for by a private donor. once the twins were finally separated, surgeons created a rounded skull for each of them, using pieces of shared bone. thank you. for their mother zainab, the surgeons are heroes. this, the moment she was told they'd both survived.

the road to recovery has been long, and progress slow. nonetheless, zainab was delighted to be taking them home at last. translation: thanks to allah they have got very good progress, especially marwa. mama! she only needs little bit support for her to take the mobility further, and we will take good care of safa, and hopefully she will start walking as well. in theatre, the surgeons had to make a near impossible choice. there is something oozing deep down there that i can't see at the moment. only one twin could receive some key blood vessels that nourished both their brains. they were given to marwa, the weaker twin, but as a result, safa had a stroke. safa now has permanent damage to her brain, and may never walk. i feel marwa has done really well and carries on making great progress.

when i look at the whole family, yes, it was probably the right thing to do for the whole family, but for safa, as an individual, i'm not so sure. it's a decision that i made as a surgeon, it's a decision that we made as a team, and it's, it's a decision we have to live with. and does it still trouble you? yes, very much so. i think it always will. both girls have learning difficulties, but the family say they have no regrets, and whatever the future holds, marwa and safa will face it together — as sisters and twins, but also separate individuals. fergus walsh, bbc news. britain's first mainly black, asian and ethnically diverse orchestra chinerkay has performed the world premiere of a work inspired

by a black demonstrator — who came to the aid of a white protester — during a black lives matter protest earlier this year. the image of patrick hutchinson's act of kindness went viral on social media. 0ur arts editor will gompertz went to the dress rehearsal. i will stare at this image numerous times, my eyelids will pull and plead to blink to quell this heat slowly rising... it takes you somewhere, it allows you time to breathe. it allows some truth to come out. like the same programmes every festive season... this is remnants, a new piece of music and poetry watched for the first time by patrick hutchinson, the man who inspired it for the action he took injune when he carried a counter protester to safety from a black lives matter demonstration in london. can you relate what happened here with what you have just heard in

there? yes, ican. with the combination of the spoken word, with the powerful music, 100%. 0n the day, if you were there, amongst the melee, it was hectic, there was a lot of confusion. there was a mixture of love and hate because there were people trying to protect him and there were also people who wanted harm to come to him. and that resonates really a lot with what happened inside there, i really felt it. the history of black composers in what we call classical music has really been forgotten but i think there is a real hunger in this industry to kind of right that wrong and to also welcome everybody into the world of classical music. i had this... the sort of hairs went up on the back of my neck because i knew this was a piece

to be reckoned with. it's got such dynamism and such angst and passion in it, that it just took flight. i knew we were in for something very magical and very special. i'll laugh at the joy of the hero's children... remnants is not so much a celebration of an act of kindness, more an invitation to ask the questions that arise from it, about representation, social anxiety and equality. it is very much of and about the world today. will gompertz, bbc news. drones are being deployed in australia to drop gum tree seeds in an attempt to regenerate bushland areas and boost the koala population which was almost wiped out by wildfires earlier this year. gum tree leaves are the animals' main source of food and restoring bushland is considered essential for their survival in the state of new south wales.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ lvaughanjones. this is bbc news. goodbye. very, very mild out there at the moment. and tuesday promises to be a very mild day too. we have southerly winds across the uk, and the air is coming all the way from spain and portugal, in fact. there's a bit of rain in the forecast too. quite a lot of it. you can see this big low pressure there sweeping in from the south, that is where the air is coming from, all the way from iberia. so, with the winds it will be a very mild morning, with a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain too, it'll have been a very wet night in northern ireland, and parts of scotland but these are the morning temperatures. 13 in plymouth, double figures also across some northern parts of the uk. the rain will be intermittent,

it will come and go across most parts of england or wales. but northern ireland in the afternoon could see persistent heavy showers and they'll probably clip parts of southwest scotland as well. but aberdeen will be a little bit brighter. but look at the temperatures. we are pushing 20 in the southeast. it's more likely to be 17 to 19 degrees there. now, on wednesday, another low pressure comes in. remnants of storm barbara which will have swept across parts of portugal, spain, the bay of biscay. we are not too sure how much wind this weather system will bring. the thinking is it will certainly bring a fair bit of rain and you see the dark blues there, but the wind could be for a time quite strong in the extreme southeast of the country. further west and north, a different weather pattern and more sunshine for the lake district, but not completely dry. there are some showers around across the northwest of the uk. it is still going to be mild and the weather systems are still coming in from the south. thursday, we have a bit of a break in the weather, and in between weather systems. you can see fewer isobars

on the weather map. the white pressure lines. that means that winds will be a lot lighter with some sunshine around and thursday is promising to be a pretty decent day across most of the uk. you can see the weather system out there in the north sea and one in the atlantic with a bit of wet weather to the south of us and we're in between so there will be more sunshine around. temperatures will be around 12 to 16 degrees. a little bit fresher. you can see the temperatures peaking on tuesday. from then onwards, it looks like it will cool off a tad. 0verall, staying on the mild side. that is it for me. goodbye.

this is bbc news.

the headlines — president trump has reportedly described the us government's top coronavirus adviser as "a disaster," saying that if he had taken anthony fauci's advice, the country would have had more than 500,000 deaths from covid—19. the president has repeatedly clashed with dr fauci, a highly respected infectious diseases expert. it's little more than two weeks now until the us presidential election, and early voting has begun in several states. florida, arkansas, idaho, north dakota and colorado have opened their polling stations, joining several other states who had already done so. election day is november the 3rd. belgium's health minister fears the country could soon be overwhelmed by new coronavirus infections. new measures are now in place as it's feared soaring case—numbers are close sunami, where authorities "no longer control what is happening". infection numbers are climbing across europe, prompting new restrictions.