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. one small step for man — one giant phone call for mankind — why there may soon be mobiles on the moon.

hello and welcome to the programme. donald trump has taken a swipe at the country's top infectious disease expert, doctor anthony fauci, allegedly calling him a "disaster" on a campaign 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. florida is a battleground state that could help decide who wins the us presidential election. the state 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 it 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. i know a lot of republicans who are voting for 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. 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, 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. we can go to seoul now and speak to dr moon chung—in, special advisor to the south korean president, moon jae—in. thank you very much for coming on the programme. thank you. let's talk about the issues we heard in the report, the relationship between china and the us, donald trump and his approach to china. what impact do you think that has had not only on china, but other countries in the region? south korea will be in a very difficult position because we

cannot make a choice between beijing and washington. the us is our number one ally, while china is very important strategic operating partner therefore we want beijing and washington to go together and resolve the differences in our more harmonious way. we are not ina more harmonious way. we are not in a position to make a choice between the two. in that case, in that case, ifjoe biden won the election, would that put you in an easier position? joe biden will be tough on china, like trump, but he will be much more, pushing much more civilised to china and i think he will be in full consultation, with his allies therefore we believe we can come up with a much better consultation channel with joe biden. you are supporting a joe biden. you are supporting a joe biden victory? not necessarily.

asa biden victory? not necessarily. as a special adviser to the president of my country, i cannot take any position but it would be ok for both of them, if trump gets elected we know he will be making progress in the north korean issue while orchestrating an alliance but on the other hand, joe biden will give more attention to an alliance file having a tough position on the north korean nuclear issue. it's also 0k. as long as they are in consultation with soul. let's move on to north korea, donald trump, of course, in that huge wave of publicity, tried and failed to get a deal, lots of observers felt that was very damaging to south korea, south korea being relegated as a junior partner in the negotiations. how do you feel the longer term impact of those negotiations will be found? -- seoul. not necessarily. 0ur

government favoured trump in the top down approach in north korea and also, as you know, it was my president who played some kind of facilitating role between president trump and kim jong 0nnen so as long as the us and north korea get into the full discussion towards denuclearisation of the korean peninsula we will welcome that. that hasn't happened and it does not look like it will happen. there was an annoying set back in for a break 2019, no progress but we are hoping president trump if he gets elected, can't pursue the top—down approach and come up with a major compromise with north korea. for us, we want denuclearisation and peace on the korean peninsula. let's move to a slightly wider issue, the impact of coronavirus, how do you think that has shaped relations between the us and

the region? we hope that the us will take a much more cooperative approach with friends and allies in the region, there has been an america first approach and now it is struggling with its own coronavirus problem but my president has been proposing that we need some kind of regional cooperation for public health in the pandemic. we hope the us would come up with a more proactive attitude towards the creation of a collective approach in dealing with the pandemic. thank you so much for your time pandemic. thank you so much for yourtime and giving pandemic. thank you so much for your time and giving us your expertise. 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.

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. but as this case shows, no country has weaponised its cyber capabilities as maliciously and irresponsibly as russia, wantonly causing unprecedented collateral damage to pursue small, tactical advantages

and fits of spite. 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, the latest headlines 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 wrestles to get on top of a looming health crisis. that's life, that's how it is. there are some people who don't ta ke there are some people who don't take enough precautions. 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.

afamily a family has the desire to protect those around you. with this pandemic, to me, it has brought the whole world together as a family. it really has. spotted in a now deserted brussels, one moment that suggests by pulling together, getting through this second act may feel easier. mark lobel, bbc news. ireland is to impose its highest level of coronavirus restrictions in what the country's leader described as ‘probably europe's strictest regime'. prime minister micheal martin said the measures would remain in place for six weeks and include closing all non—essential shops, restricting restaurants and pubs to takeaway only, and forbidding people from travelling more than five kilometres from their homes. in the uk the government of wales has announced

a two—week lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus. announcing the measure, the welsh first minister, mark drakeford, said that apart from essential workers everybody in wales would be required to stay at home from friday evening. britain's first mainly black, asian and ethnically diverse orchestra, chineke, 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.

let's look at some of the day's other news. the european union says it's willing to "intensify" talks on a post—brexit trade deal with the uk this week. negotiator michel barnier suggested discussions would be based on specific legal texts, which britain has previously accused the eu of refusing to consider. the authorities in the united states have issued a tsunami warning for parts of alaska after a powerful earthquake struck. the us geological survey said the quake, south of the sparsely—populated aleutian islands, was of 7.5 magnitude. it was followed by a series of aftershocks. thousands of indigenous people have marched through the colombian capital, bogota, to protest against an increase in violence against them. demonstrators accuse the government of ignoring a rise in murders of indigenous leaders by drug trafficking groups. they also want to be consulted on development projects in their territories.

new research suggests that bottle—fed babies may be swallowing tiny plastic particles along with their milk. researchers at trinity college in dublin, say standard feeding bottles contain a plastic called polypropylene which, when heated to the high temperatures required for sterilisation, can shed millions of microplastics and trillions of even smaller nanoplastics. drones are being deployed in australia to drop gum tree seedsin 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. the goal is to repopulate native species, to restore degraded landscapes, to ensure sustainable agriculture and to build a more resilient australia to deal with climate change and fire—related disasters, with the aim of building a future

in which people are in harmony with nature. mobile phones have become a vital tool in the lives of billions of people around the world. however, getting a signal may occasionally be a problem — but now nasa has ambitious plans to change that — somewhere you might not expect. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. it was one of humanity's greatest achievements — apollo 11 — the mission that sent neil armstrong and buzz aldrin to the moon. butjust imagine if that historic moment had gone something like this. it's one small step for man... phone rings. ..giant leap for mankind. phone rings. a fairly fanciful notion for 1969 but perhaps not here in the 21st century. the finnish telecommunications company nokia has been asked by

nasa to set up a mobile phone network on the moon. in a statement, the compa ny‘s chief technology officer said... it's all part of the artemis programme, america's attempt to return to our nearest celestial neighbour. music: theme to 2001: a space odyssey. nokia says the system, initially only operating using 4g technology, should be set up by the end of 2022. then, if all goes to plan, astronauts will arrive two years later, eventually setting up a permanent base. the moon has been a constant presence and a constant mystery but, barring roaming charges, it may soon be just a phone call away. phone rings.

tim allman, bbc news. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ lvaughanjones. 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 and 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. overall, staying on the mild side. that is it from 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". now on bbc news, monday in parliament.