this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lewis vaughan jones. donald trump and joe biden embark on a final dash around crucial swing states, appealing to voters ahead of tuesday's election. the british government warns the new lockdown in england might last longer than a month if infection rates continue to rise. rescue work continues in the turkish city of izmir, but hopes of finding more survivors of the earthquake are diminishing. and why children in china's mongolian region are being kept out of schools by their parents. we have a special report on the protests over the reduction in the use of the mongolian language.

hello, welcome to the program. donald trump and joe biden have been appealing to voters in crucial battleground states, as the us presidential campaign enters its closing stage. president trump has promised to deliver the "greatest american comeback in history" after the coronavirus pandemic, and said a vote for his rival was a vote for "lockdowns, lay—offs and misery". joe biden has been in pennsylvania, where he urged african american voters to end a presidency that had "fanned the flames of hate". our north america editor jon sopel is in washington. the nation's capital is preparing itself for tuesday. maybe they should be bracing themselves because wherever i looked, shops and businesses are all boarded up. the fear of violence is serious whoever loses the selection. meanwhile,

on the road, the candidates are out seeking to get every last vote. the ponderous marathon that is a us election campaign is now a sprint. hello, michigan! hello, iowa! hello, pennsylvania! hello, garrard county! multiple stops, a whirl of swing states and the person running fastest is donald trump, with polls suggesting he's lagging behind. not that you'd know it from his confident, bullish demeanour. he's so angry. you know why he's angry? because he's losing, that's why he's angry. no, he's very agitated. i don't think he knows he's losing, i don't think he knows anything, actually. joe biden has also upped his pace and is now being helped in these closing stages by the former president, barack obama. tweeting at the tv doesn't fix things. making stuff up doesn't make people's lives better, you've got to have a plan, you've got to do the work. even offstage, redefining political long shot. 0h! no drama obama.

still able to command attention. that's what i do! and america's third president and founding father of this nation would surely look down with delight at the millions who've already voted, suggesting that turnout is going to be way up in 2020. wherever you go, there are long lines of people, but there's also a mood of deep apprehension. you can tell the tension. i mean, i think the world can even feel the tension in the us. it's like a pressure cooker, everybody‘s feeling. to me, it's kind of like going for, uh... the lesser of two evils. i think it's very important that people, you know, come out and vote but especially for this year. it'sjust almost like crisis is going on. this is the great celebration of any democracy — the moment when we, the people, decide whether our rulers get another term in office or get turfed out. it is empowering. but there is a fear stalking america, a deep unease about what might come next in this bitterly contested

presidential election. and how is the nation's capital preparing for this celebration of democracy? well, everywhere you go, you see teams of workmen boarding up shops and offices. something similar happens in the deep south during hurricane season, with acts of god. but on tuesday, america seems to be bracing itself for a very different type of storm and one that's entirely man—made. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. and in that election, it looks like turnout is going to be way higher than four years ago. just a word about the polls. we have had the final polls in the key swing states. they showjoe biden ahead in all of the key places but not by such a margin that he can take anything for granted. and donald trump is not so far behind that he would think all is lost. tuesday is going to be a nailbiter. we can now speak to the us political commentator

and journalist max kutner, he joins us from new york. thank you for coming on the program because are you louis. i don't want to dwell on this but i do want to tackle it head—on really. this idea of shops being boarded up, property is being boarded up ahead ofan property is being boarded up ahead of an election. can you pa rt ahead of an election. can you part that in some context, how unusual is that? this is our usual generally for an election year. it is not unusual for this 2020 election year when there is such a divide in the country and also such a spirit of demonstration and protest. we have been seen this for months in the us with regards to racism, police violence and so it makes a lot of sense to me that in 2020, we are going to be seeing this. also interestingly, it relates to the pandemic in that at least in new york, police have said in particularfor all of in new york, police have said in particular for all of the restau ra nts a nd in particular for all of the restaurants and shops they have put things outdoors because of the pandemic, lock those things

up, the pandemic, lock those things up, secure the pandemic, lock those things up, secure those things down. things like planters, garbage cans. so this locking down also relates back to the pandemic. that is interesting. let's turn to the election itself and the issue of early voting, mail in ballots, mail in person. how do you assess it right now, what will the impact be? so, the messaging from the republican so far has been vote on election day and even today, the head of the republican party was sweating out, we are expecting a huge turnout on election day. this is very different from what we are hearing from the democrats who have said, make a plan for voting, vote in person, vote early, vote by mail. so come up with a plan. joe biden was sweating out today is the last day to return ballots, or at least make sure they are in by today. democrats are saying vote early, republicans are saying vote day of and this

could cause what some analysts are calling a red mirage stop that it are calling a red mirage stop thatitis are calling a red mirage stop that it is the republicans turning up on election day, this could make it seem like trump has won and then in the days and weeks that followed, when all of the votes are counted, it appears to change toa counted, it appears to change to ajoe counted, it appears to change to a joe biden victory, that could cause a lot of nastiness. we know from president trump throughout his whole career, if you look at his lawsuits, demure investigation, he sense to declare victory prematurely or even when there has been no victory. so i think on election night, we can expect a victory speech from president trump evenif speech from president trump even if not all of the votes are in. and sure enough, we do know from supreme court decisions that two important swing states of pennsylvania and north carolina, they have days after the election to still count ballots coming in by mail. this will be days after the election that we know after the election that we know a winner. if that does happen,

it is of course hypothetical as you did say. but if that does happen and an early victory speech declare, how destabilising you think that could be? it puts the republicans and president trump ina republicans and president trump in a position to be able to control the narrative and to be able to say in the days weeks that follow if that victory changes, that it was a hoax, it was a fraud and it was the phony selection of all time. that the democrats are trying to steal itjust like they tried to do in 2016 with the russian investigation and with impeachment. this is going to put president trump on the offensive and again, this is something have seen him do throughout his career both in politics and business. and this tactic should come as no surprise because he has already been setting this up for weeks and months and maybe we shouldn't be able to trust the results on election night. only a couple of days to go. max, thank you very much is always we re thank you very much is always were coming on. here in the uk, england is due

to head into another lockdown on thursday, with questions being asked about how long it could last. at the moment the scheduled end date is december the second. the cabinet minister, michael gove, said ministers will be guided by the facts. he said the government wanted to get the coronavirus reproduction rate, below the critical level of one. the main opposition labour party, said the government should have listened to its plan for a two—week lockdown last month. this report from our political correspondent, jonathan blake, contains flash photography. a round of golf while it's still allowed. here in hertfordshire, only the minimum restrictions are currently in place but, like the rest of england, people are now preparing for a new national lockdown. i think it's frustrating here because the cases aren't that bad and we have all been, you know, following the rules that we were given. while people may not agree with it, we've got to stick with it. so it's a bit frustrating, yes,

but rules are rules. the lockdown is due to last until the second of december but a senior government minister said that was a hope, not a guarantee and left open the option of restrictions staying in place for longer. if we ensure that all the steps that we're taking now are taken appropriately, we'll have an opportunity in advance of december 2nd, to review the progress that we're making and in advance of december second, we can then communicate to those areas where some restrictions may be required, what they will be and also other areas where we've managed to beat back the virus, we can explain where liberties can be restored. labour say they'll support the plan but their leader is adamant it should have happened sooner. if what they announced yesterday had been announced when i said it should have been, two or three weeks ago, we could have had the lockdown and schools shut because of the natural break of half term. you know, people will be waking up this morning and thinking, how on earth did it get to this? the government has to keep its side of the bargain here because if they don't use this time to fix test,

trace and isolate, then i think the second december will be a review date, not an end day. with labour's support, the national lockdown is likely to pass a vote in parliament later this week, but some conservatives are dead against it. the senior tory backbencher sir graham brady has told the bbc this repetitive cycle of lockdowns is immensely damaging to people's livelihoods and causing a huge toll. he and others are unlikely to be able to stop the government's plans but they are speaking out in the strongest terms. there is concern, too, about where the lockdown leads. 0ne scientist advising the government said a return to regional restrictions is unrealistic. what mustn't happen is whenever that date comes, second december or a little bit later, that suddenly the world goes back to normal. it's not going to go back to normal immediately. i think it will be at least what is currently tier 3 or tier 3+ across the country.

i don't think it makes sense to go back into regional variation in the restrictions that are in place immediately after this set of more draconian measures are lifted. in scotland, a new five tier system of regional restrictions comes into force tomorrow. and slightly looser restrictions are in place across northern ireland. police said up to 700 people attended this illegal rave near bristol last night, openly breaking the rules already in place. but this week will bring new limitations for everyone in england, as the government's last resort becomes a reality. jonathan blake, bbc news. nearly half of slovakia's 5.5 million residents took coronavirus tests on saturday in the country's largest peace—time military operation. the defence minister says 1% were positive and swabbing continued on sunday. testing is voluntary but anyone who refuses must quarantine for ten days.

rescue teams are continuing to search for around a hundred people missing since friday's earthquake which struckjust off turkey's aegean coast causing widespread damage in the city of izmir. at least 69 people were killed and thousands have been made homeless. in izmir survivors have been pulled out of the rubble of collapsed buildings — including a 70—year—old. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin reports from the scene. they have been praying here for miracle rescues. 0vernight, they got one — a 70—year—old man called ahmet citim who had been buried for 33 hours, carried out alive. he was reclaimed from this — the wreckage of an eight—storey apartment block, now all but erased from the landscape. a local official told us residents were worried

and asked for an inspection over a year ago. it concluded the building wouldn't survive an earthquake. well, the search is continuing here, hour after hour. the rubble is several storeys high, and standing here, seeing all of this crushed concrete, it's hard to imagine that anyone else could be brought out alive. but the teams are still searching by hand, with heavy equipment, and with dogs. and nearby, relatives are keeping an anguished vigil. many haven't left the site since the moment of the earthquake at 2:51pm on friday afternoon. erdil is one of them — waiting for news of his beloved sister. she worked in a dental office on the ground floor of the building. my sister's university friend and other friend, every time call me, every time calling me, writing, on instagram, on the phone, every time, writing, calling me, every

people call me. we arejust waiting. i have a hope, i need to pray. every people need to pray because we have a chance. nearby we met raheema. she hasn't lost any loved ones but isn't sure she can bear to stay in the neighbourhood. "now, opposite me, there will be a building that isn't there," she said, and people who aren't there. tonight, rescue teams are still grappling with the rubble and turkey is suffering a collective after—shock. across this ea rthquake—prone country many now asking, could we be next? 0rla guerin, bbc news, izmir. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: as the race for the white house

nears its end, our world affairs editor, john simpson, assesses which candidate would be betterfor the uk. the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated. a 27—year—old man has been arrested, and an extremist jewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted on an historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear — the monarchy would survive. of the american hostages, there was no sign. they are being held somewhere inside the compound, and student leaders have threatened that, should the americans attempt to rescue, they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyager! is now the most distant man—made object anywhere in the universe — and it just seems to keep on going.

tonight, we prove once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but the enduring power of our ideals. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: donald trump and joe biden are making a dash around battleground states — in the last days of campaigning before tuesday's presidential election. the british government warns the new lockdown in england might last longer than a month if infection rates continue to rise. with just days to go before the close of polls in the us elections how important is the outcome for people in the uk? well, a recent poll found that 61% of people here backed joe biden the democratic

candidate and only 13% backed donald trump. 0ur foreign affairs editorjohn simpson has been looking at which candidate would be betterfor britain. mr mcmillan praises the partnership between his country and the united states. it has been a partnership or decade but never a partnership of equals and britain has faded in importance as the years have passed. this school to in central london represents the way many british people think about the relationship with america. best mates, essentially. churchill and roosevelt sitting side—by—side planning the second world war. but the americans do not necessarily see it that way at all. and now we are onlookers atan all. and now we are onlookers at an election that will affect us at an election that will affect us immensely. trump favours exit and will offer us a trade deal on america's terms. joe biden dislikes exit and has

said that boris johnson biden dislikes exit and has said that borisjohnson is a donald trump clone. kim dara, as britain's ambassador to washington, criticised tromp and had to resign. if it is donald trump second term i think we can get a quick free trade deal, he would prioritise that. and if joe biden wins? post brexit britain, no longer there will be a spokesman for influence for us views on what the eu does and that used to be an important part of the relationship. in the biden camp, there is still much hostility towards boris johnson personally. his past attacks on biden‘s friend and close ally president 0bama have not forgotten. biden himself is not at all anti— british that he is strongly against a no deal brexit. i reported on barack

0bama's victoria is the first black president in 2008. now, after the killing of george floyd and black lives matter, race is an issue again. biden‘s this decision was his choice for vice president, kamala harris, of african and asian descent. she would be hugely influential if biden wins, especially to people here who have been moved by these campaigns. she would be the second most powerful person on the planet and it is just, second most powerful person on the planet and it isjust, i can't even say how overwhelming this will be. it matters enormously because it would change the landscape. the last four years under donald trump have done tremendous damage to some key british interest such as nato and joe biden will take america back into the paris accords on climate change, another key british interest.

still, donald trump has set a new standard for america abroad. biden would have to match tromp's tough approach. biden has already made noises about protecting american industry from chinese dumping, and so on. so do not expect biden to be softer than donald trump. it is, quite simply, the most important election the world has seen in decades and for britain it will affect the lives of everyone of us. in recent years, the chinese government has faced damning criticism over its handling of ethnic minorities like the uighurs and tibetans. now the communist party has decided to reduce mongolian language teaching, prompting rare protests in china's northern border region. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonnell travelled to the inner mongolian grasslands for this special report. singing.

china's mongolians have been protesting, keeping their children out of the speciality schools serving this ethnic minority. but the government has reduced the use of their native language for teaching in favour of mandarin. as with other ethnic groups, beijing is accused of watering down culture as a form of assimilation. officials say this has all been exaggerated. so we travelled to the province of inner mongolia to gauge the situation. ethnic mongolians now make up less than 20% of the population — only half speak their own language. people here traditionally were nomadic herdsmen. but following modernisation and various government programmes, that's all gone. this is a proud culture, and it's bound up in language. however, some here now think that language is being taken away from them.

but up the road, the authorities are waiting for us. it's an ever more familiar pattern forforeign reporters in china — we are now tailed everywhere we go by men in plain clothes. we passed schools with propaganda banners out front, telling students to use only mandarin language. we'd like to speak to the neighbours around the school about this. but now that were being followed, we can't do that because, of course, we go and start knocking on the doors? well, see, the people in this white car here who have been following us? well, they'll go and start asking questions, and we just be getting them into trouble. phone rings. i speak to a government official, requesting an interview.

but when i start asking about the protests... 0h. dial tone. 0h. funny how the line cut out there, isn't it? all the while, our friends are watching and listening. 0ther reporters trying to cover the story have been ordered out of the province. just as we're about to leave, we're told a school tour has now been organised for us. unlike many schools in the province, here they say the vast majority of students and teachers are ethnic mongolians, including the principal. cameras filmed our visit apparently for local television. the principal says cultural education, like writing in mongolian, is important. but in china, mandarin proficiency is the key to prosperity. she thinks some parents have been confused by the changes. translation: they thought all classes would change and use mandarin.

but it's not that. it's only three. and yet not everyone is convinced by this reassurance. their goal is very clear — to completely remove the mongolian language from the education system, period. mongolians consider this as a cultural genocide. parents and teachers have been urged to get children back into class, with financial inducements and threats of punishment. these students are caught up in a fight for the future of their mother tongue. but it's also about control, and the question of what it means to be a citizen in this country if you're not han chinese. stephen mcdonell, inner mongolia. that is it from me for the moment. we will be back with the headlines in a few minutes. you can find us online.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones. hello. there is some drier, colder weather to come in the week ahead. but before then, still some rain in the forecast courtesy of this frontal system continuing on itsjourney south and eastwards through the early hours of monday morning. ahead of this, still some very mild air — so temperatures not much lower than 15—16 celsius across south east england, and the cloud and rain will clear from here through the morning. behind that, we will all see some spells of sunshine, but also plenty of showers — these most frequent across southern scotland into northern ireland, northern england, north wales, and may well merge to give a longer spell of rain. nowhere is immune from a heavy, blustery shower. the winds are quite strong across the southern half of the uk, still exceeding 50 mph across southern and western coasts, a little bit lighter than they have been further north. but it will be a cooler—feeling day, 9—11; celsius after that mild start across the east anglia and south east

england, the temperatures falling away through the day. we keep outbreaks of rain going as we go through the night, tending to become more showery the further north you are full some persistent rain moving into parts of southern england. elsewhere, some clear skies, leading to a colder night than recently — 4—7 celsius the overnight low. so through tuesday and into wednesday, it is still a messy picture with the rain to clear way from south east england, still some showers around. but what is noticeable is that colder air starting to spread across the uk and, by the time we get to wednesday morning, it's the return of overnight frost. let's take a closer look at tuesday. still that rain to clear away from east anglia and southeast england, could be heavy for a time. elsewhere, it's a day of sunshine and showers, and those showers most frequent the further north and west you are — some could well escape with a mainly dry day. wind is still quite brisk at first, particularly for western coasts, but they will be tending to ease as the day wears on. so where you've got the sunshine on and out of the wind, even though temperatures won't get much higher than 9—11 celsius, should feel pleasant enough in the sunshine.

now as you go through tuesday night and into wednesday, this is where we start to see this area of high pressure building and from the southwest. notice how the isobars become more spaced apart. the winds will fall lighter, most will have clear skies, and we will wake up on wednesday morning for some sunshine but also a frost, and potentially some mist and fog, as well, that will become more prevalent as we go through thursday and friday. so generally for the week ahead, once we've got tuesday out of the way, wednesday through friday for most are looking dry with some sunshine. but it will be feeling much colder, both by day and by night. goodbye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: donald trump and joe biden are making a dash around battleground states in the last days of campaigning before tuesday's presidential election. joe biden, the democratic candidate, has a solid national lead in the polls, but this advantage is narrower in key states which could decide the result. the british government has warned the new lockdown in england might last longer than a month if infection rates continue to rise. strict measures come into force on thursday, when pubs, restaurants, gyms, non—essential shops, and places of worship will close, but schools, colleges and universities can stay open. rescue work is continuing in collapsed buildings in the western turkish city of izmir following an earthquake on friday. 69 people are known to have died, and more than 200 are being treated in hospital. hopes of finding more suvivors in the rubble are diminishing.