president trump has reportedly described the us government's top coronavirus adviser as "a disaster". dr fauci had previously said he wasn't surprised mr trump caught 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 to a tsunami, where authorities no longer control what is happening. at the public inquiry into

the manchester arena bombing in 2017, a father who was waiting to collect his children on the night said he'd noticed a young man in the process of lying down, with a backpack, on the floor next to him. neil hatfield told the inquiry that his immediate thought was that the man was a suicide bomber. and he said he thought the police had been alerted. our north of england correspondent judith moritz reports. bent under the weight of his rucksack, salman abedi arrived at manchester arena intent on murder. he didn't want to be seen and headed to an area not covered by cctv. but he was spotted. neil hatfield was at the arena to collect his four daughters from the ariana grande concert. i do solemnly, sincerely... today, mr hatfield told the public inquiry that he saw a man with a heavy rucksack lying down on the floor. i thought "suicide bomber", straightaway, without... very little doubt in my

mind. honestly, my heart was racing. he was dressed all in black. he looked like a terrorist. he looked like... how to explain it? like a bond villain, do you know what i mean? hejust had... ijust had this really bad feeling about him and the bag, it was the bag, it was massive and it was solid. i thought it was a bomb, straightaway. i don't know why, ijust knew it in my mind. it was so... itjust looked like a bomb. these officers were given commendation awards after the attack. although jessica bullough was newly—qualified, she was the most senior officer at the arena. today, she admitted that she'd taken an unacceptable two—hour break, missing the moment abedi entered the foyer. last week, the inquiry heard evidence from a merchandise officer who said she'd seen abedi before the bomb went off and that she'd pointed him out

to pc bullough. but today, the pc said she's confident that conversation didn't happen. when the bomb exploded, the british transport police officers were all at victoria station next door. when they heard the blast, they ran towards it. pc bullough was the first to reach the foyer. the training that i've had wasn't sufficient enough to deal with what i was witnessing. um... voice breaking: sorry. i know you're upset and let me reassure you, i've got one more question after this and then i'll sit down. effectively, did you feel left in the lurch? yes. doing your best but hopelessly ill—trained and prepared for it? yes, correct. 22 adults and children were killed. this week, the public inquiry will continue to hear from people who say they saw the bomber responsible for their murders before he carried out his suicide attack. judith moritz, bbc news, manchester.

now on bbc news, the travel show. this week on the travel show. rajan‘s looking for a knees—up in rome. wow. face—to—face with the neanderthals in gibraltar. and i'm braving the elements in japan. this is great! lively theme music. welcome to the land of the trees. this is wa kayama, in centraljapan, a short train ride south of osaka. and this is where many of japan's urban

population have been coming to escape the congested cities during the pandemic. and i've come to try a style of rafting that you can only do right here. before that, we are off to europe and italy's eternal city. rajan: rome. a city that plays to its own tune. trumpets play. with iconic ancient history punctuating the landscape of this modern metropolis. italy itself, though, is a relatively young country. for its nation builders, there was only one city that could be the capital, and this year is a special anniversary. because over the next year, rome is supposed to be celebrating its 150th anniversary as the capital city of italy. but looking around me now, i get the feeling there is not going to be quite the fanfare

they were hoping for. since its initial big outbreak here, italy has suppressed the spread of the coronavirus better than many other countries. but cases are on the rise and international tourism is still way down. tour guide desiree has said she has seen demand from international travellers drop by as much as 90%. now we are in front of the coliseum. this is the colosseum and it is still incredible. so who are the tourists you have been showing around 7 where are they from? only italian tourists. so, there's good and bad? good and bad? good and bad. what i see here looks like ancient rome, ancient

history. yeah. do you want to take a look? shall we have a look? yeah. fantastic. the forum was once a place where romans gathered togetherfor big processions, speeches and markets. rain pattering. to understand how rome was, you have to come here in this place. with this weather, too. laughter. but what is the connection between this, thousands of years ago, and you and your friends today? what is the connection? i feel the connection today as well. i'm roman. when i am here and when i walk around the ruins i can feel the people that were here. and 150 years ago, it was that historical connection that made rome an obvious choice to be capital. back then, the country that we now know as italy was a separated collection of states with rome

at the heart of the pope—governed papal state. but italy was in the process of becoming unified and all roads in this effort led to rome. why was it so important, do you think, that rome had to be the capital of this newly—formed italy? for italy to become a unified country, it was decided that rome had to be taken from the pope by force, starting right here at the city walls next to the porta pia monument which now holds a museum for the military unit called the bersaglieri

who broke through the city walls first. so this is the document that marks the creation of the bersaglieri. hard to believe i'm actually touching the document. and allowed to touch a document that was so essential to italian history. bersaglieri means ‘sharpshooters' in english, and they were famed for their mobility. this is fascinating. that's porta pia, where we are right now, and just along the city wall there is the actual invasion opening where they actually went through. this is proper history. history of this country. today, many hold them with deep affection here, and not just for their military accomplishments. at national events, the bersaglieri have long been known for a unique style of parade, displaying their historic speed

and agility. and i have been granted a private performance by the distinctive marching band. and here they come. trumpets play. wow. trumpets play. bravissimo! that's fantastic! tell me, how easy is it to run and play? it must be really difficult? what is it like when you are out

there in the streets under normal conditions and people are watching you? how does it feel? so can i have the honour then of giving that command before you start your march? si, prego. thank you. posto fa nfa re bersaglieri, attenti! di corso, march! trumpets play. this year there was due to be a large street parade for the 150th anniversary with the bersaglieri taking a starring role. the event became

significantly low—key thanks to coronavirus, but fingers crossed, look out in 2021 for heartier celebrations. trumpets play. rajan reporting from rome. now, over to america where we are meeting the woman in alabama putting the sparkle into mardi gras. the culture of mardi gras is so much fun. we have a good time. i mean, it's fun, fun, fun. mardi gras here was the first. it's done before ash wednesday. everything ceases at 12 o'clock, tuesday midnight. and then they go into lent. in mobile, we're more family—orientated. people here come home for mardi gras, rather than come home for christmas, just to party and have a good time and reunite a lot.

i grew up in mobile so i've grown up with mardi gras in my blood and i am a mardi gras designer for royalty. emcee: ladies and gentlemen, royalty, definitely in the house tonight. the queen and king are selected as the royal ambassador for the city. now, there are a lot of different organisations, but there are two that rules the city, and that is mamga — the mobile area mardi gras association, is predominately african—american association and the mobile carnival association is caucasian, mostly of european descent but overall we blend and we enjoy each other and just have a good time. i would not want there to be one big mardi gras association. i think the cultural differences and the beauty of the difference in the cultures make it so nice.

i started sewing when i was 12. my mother was a seamstress, she loved sewing and i would watch her. she would make all of my clothes, all kinds of pretty dresses. when i was 12 i said, "i need some new clothes." and she said, "you have to make them." i started to make trains for the ladies of the court. my niece was in the court and i made hertrain. and from there i started making other people trains. a train is around 18 feet long and about nine feet wide so they are very large and they weigh up to 75 pounds depending on the amount ofjewels on the train. and we will get a chance to see this tonight. mamca, which is the african—american version of it all, they had their first coronation back in 1940.

the queen and king's coronation is where the queen is crowned. the king is already king, but he has now selected his queen, but she is not queen until she is crowned so the coronation is the crowning of the king's new queen. ladies and gentlemen. her gracious majesty queen rosemary elaine dunning. we look at them as role models and you have to kind of have a leader mentality and strength to make the right decisions in life. and what we are doing, when we showcase in the trains in their coronation, we are showing how that person grew in their life to be a role

model. still to come on the travel show: christa is back in gibraltar to find out why the rock was home to the biggest concentration of some of our distant ancestors anywhere in the world. wow. and i am injapan to try out a distinctive style of rafting that dates back over 600 years. i am totally soaked from my waist down. so don't go away. now over to gibraltar where christa has been to find out what its hidden secrets have been revealing about some of our closest human relatives. 0n the southern tip of the iberian peninsula lies gibraltar, a small british 0verseas territory tucked between europe and africa. thousands of years ago,

this was home to the highest concentration of neanderthals anywhere in the world. clive finlayson has been excavating these caves for many yea rs now, slowly uncovering its secrets. a friend of mine calls them neanderthal city. they really are unique in the world and the two main ones are, on the left you have gorham's cave — next to those steps, and on the right vanguard cave. also evidence suggests they lived here till about 24,000-33,000 years ago, making it one of the last known places they occupied before extinction. this wasn't open water when the neanderthals lived here. in fact, the beach and the water was miles that way. this was an open plain, like a mediterranean serengeti where you had wild creatures roaming, ready for the hunt. taking a boat trip here is the easiest way

to view the caves but occasionally you can apply for special access to go into them as it is a unesco world heritage site and also an active dig area. wow. it was here that the first fully adult neanderthal skull was discovered back in 1848 and then later on, the bones of seven other individuals. big, aren't they? incredible. it is amazing to think that these people were standing exactly where we are now and they would look out at this fantastic view and instead of the sea that would have had the plains out there, herds of animals roaming right across and they would plan exactly where they wanted to go and do the hunt from here but of course they could also come back, retreat here, into the safety of the cave afterwards. come and have a look. what you have here a re different events. for example, a limpet shell there.

we'd have to excavate here but there may be a place where they were living and eating and then moving along. each of these layers is an event. there are hundreds of stories still waiting to be told just in this one cave. most of the discoveries from the caves can be seen at the gibraltar national museum. while neanderthals are a different human species, researchers have identified a combined total of 20% neanderthal dna on modern humans today. a result of interbreeding thousands of years ago. clive himself has 2.5% neanderthal dna. is this an artist interpretation? no, this is a forensic reconstruction and it's using as much detailed information on neanderthal metrics and so on that we have at our disposal today. this is as close as you're going to get to seeing a neanderthal or what he or she would look like. there a twinkle in the eye. i think that is what makes her human.

the female is called nana and it was her skull that was first discovered in 1848. the little one, called flint, was found some years later. extracted dna from both has meant that we know what their hair and eye colour would have been. come into one of our laboratories. what is it you are doing here? i am painting with silk. did you start with this and end up with this? i spent five months... five months! that is incredible, it's so detailed. do you mind if i touch it? you can press. it is like skin. exactly like skin. this model is based on a male skull found in a cave in france but they now have the skills to forensically reconstruct him here in the museum. so what is the benefit for us to be able to see the flesh

of it, rather than just the skull? i think it helps to understand and for us to empathise with these people. you put flesh, you give them names and suddenly you're looking at people and that is what makes the difference. part of the hard science that we have done over the years has missed the fact that we have not seen them as people. it will be awhile before this one is finished but ijust could not leave without knowing one thing... what is the hairstyle going to be? i think rockstar style. flowing locks, it was all the rage! to finish up this week, i am in thejapanese prefecture of wakayama — they call it the land of the trees. domestic tourism has risen here recently, with the government subsidising japanese getaways, making escapes to remote wildernesses like wa kayama

popular. for centuries, the wood here was so sought after that it was used in buildings all around the country but transporting it was no easy task. they came up with a novel solution and today travellers can experience the old journey downstream. it really does look quite strange by today's standards. i do not know what i was expecting but it really is just a bunch of logs strung together. it must float 0k, it has been around long enough.

so what is it like to drive and steer such a long raft like this? in the past, once the trees had been felled and strung together, the rafters would ride them down the river to their destination. today, with travellers on board, the rafts are safer — there are lifejackets, handrails and a bench, plus additional measures now for coronavirus, like masks and reduced capacities. but it is still very open to the elements. we are approaching the first rapid and it is meant to be the steepest and the most exciting.

hang on. this is great! i am totally soaked from my waist down. this is the slower part of the ride, so to speak, but it is just fascinating to think this is what they would have been doing 600 years ago to transport all the logs down to the city to make the temples and the shrines. and these skills certainly come in handy

these days when the temptation for getting away from big city life and all the new restrictions is greater than ever. not that it is all tranquil relaxation. we are approaching a rapid now and we stand up so we do not get too wet. here we go! so that was our last rapid. so interesting to watch

these four guys navigate this seven ton log raft down the river. just like they would have 600 years ago. it is amazing. that is all we have time for this week. coming up next week: we will be looking back at some of our most memorable trips to africa, like when lucy met the former poachers now responsible for protecting some of rwanda's majestic primates. it's very rare that i'm lost for words but these beautiful creatures have just completely taken my breath away. and don't forget to follow us in all the usual places on twitter and facebook and instagram. in the meantime, from me, carmen roberts, and the rest of the team here in wakayama, it is 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 of the cloud, that is with 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 part 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 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 system are still coming in from the south. thursday, we have a bit of a break in the weather, and 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 bit. 0verall, staying on the mild side. that is it for me. goodbye.

welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: president trump agrees to another tv election debate with rival, joe biden, but with microphones muted. 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.