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 fading. security forces in belarus clash with demonstrators in the twelfth sunday of protests since the discredited election of president lukashenko.

donald trump and joe biden are appealing to voters in crucial battleground states, as the us presidential campaign enters its closing stage. but there's also a real fear of violence in washington from supporters of whoever loses. president trump has promised to deliver the "greatest american comeback in history" after the coronavirus pandemic. joe biden urged african american voters to end a presidency he said, that had "fanned the flames of hate". our north america editorjon sopel is in the capital. the nation's capital is preparing itself for tuesday. maybe they should be bracing themselves because wherever i look, 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. 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 paul mitchell who's vice president of political data inc, a bipartisan voter data firm based in california

thank you so much for coming on the programme. thanks for having me. let's get into the nuts and bolts of this. most of the time people are not too interested in the intricacies of voting accounting systems, but not this time. the world is watching. give us an idea about the fact that different states will have different ways and roots of counting their votes, and what difference that will make. sure, so where i live in california the biggest days, we have 22 million voters and over 11 million ballots a body been cast, and on tuesday night the minute the polls closed, those counties can report the results from those early voters that have been swinging predominantly democratic based on who has turned in their ballot, so we will see this big democratic wave right after eight o'clock. in other states and most importantly key states of pennsylvania, wisconsin, and michigan, there are state laws

prohibiting them from counting those early boats until after the polls close, they can't even verify signatures or open those ballots until after the polls closed, so the first ballots they will count are will be those pole voters who will be those pole voters who will be those pole voters who will be predominantly republican, and they may not get to open those other ballots until very late into the night oi’ until very late into the night or the next day, so you are right, the mechanics of literally how they count their ballots made really shape the perceptions about the selection. absolutely fascinating. for some people may see that as confusion and others may interpret that as suspicion, and that is part of the danger. what we have seen isa the danger. what we have seen is a lot of disinformation, conspiracy theories, on the right and the left, and all the stars and is — all this does is corrode the confidence americans have in the election

system, and having an election where we might see results weigh dramatically from favouring republicans to democrats based on how they could really add to that suspicion and fear about the security of our system. let's have a look at the early votes, the male in ballots and things like that. what kind of data have you collected on that so far? we are able to see that a lot of these early votes were heavily democratic. in the us, these ballots get return to cou nty these ballots get return to county registrars and the counties will tell the campaigns which voters cast ballots so that the campaign doesn't need to continue to bother and harass and text and mail those voters, and as a result we know exactly who has returned ballots and we can analyse it and it has skewed very democratic in the early votes, and we're starting to see as we get closer to election day that more the in—person voting is skewing more republican, but at the same timea more republican, but at the same time a lot of younger voters and people of colour are voting later. that was really

clear, for such a complicated and some would say dry topic, you explained it beautifully, so you explained it beautifully, so thank you so much for coming of the programme, we really appreciate it. 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 2nd. the cabinet minister, michael gove, said ministers will be "guided by the facts". he said the government wanted to get the coronavirus reproduction number, below the critical level of i. 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 of december will be a review date, not an end date. 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. one 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. a buckingham palace source has told the news that prince william contracted covid—i9

earlier this year but his condition was not revealed at the time. it is believed that the time. it is believed that the prince pars second in line to the throne was infected around april at the same time as his father prince charles and the prime minister. given the national mood, it may have been that there was no desire for further alarm been that there was no desire forfurther alarm due to been that there was no desire for further alarm due to the lack of announcement. 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 i% were positive, and swabbing continued on sunday. testing is voluntary but anyone who refuses must quarantine for 10 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.

our international correspondent orla guerin reports from the scene. they have been praying here for miracle rescues. overnight, 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 taner 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? orla guerin, bbc news, izmir. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: 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. 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, our main headline: donald trump and joe biden are making a dash around battleground states — in the last days of campaigning before tuesday's presidential election. our correspondent gary o'donoghue was at donald trump's rally in michigan. michigan is donald trump ‘s first stop of the day on this well when two of five battleground he states over the next few hours. these are the key states he must win if he wa nts to key states he must win if he wants to retain his place in the white house. this message today has been one of economic nationalism. that message that took him to the white house in the first place in 2016. warning people here in michigan that they will lose their jobs, lose their industries ifjoe biden is elected. he even claimed there were no auto clu bs claimed there were no auto clubs here in michigan, really,

the home of the us car industry. no plants four years ago. that is not true. donald trump has also been talking about his opponent, joe biden, criticising him for his suppose that gaps and lapses of memory. they have been playing video of that and donald trump has been complaining about the weather in michigan as well. it is cold and he was suffering from that during his speech. he even chose to make a joke about refugees from syria saying they would not want to come to michigan, they would rather go back to syria because it is too cold. this is the beginning of a multistate push for the last couple of days for donald trump. a dozen or 13 states in these last few days as he battles to overcome his lagging in the opinion polls. to overcome his lagging in the opinion polls. belarus's security forces have been using flash grenades and firing warning shots to disperse some of the latest mass demonstrations in minsk. they've also tried to prevent protesters gathering at a site

on the outskirts of the capital linked to stalinist repression. many thousands continue to demonstrate against the country's long—term leader, alexander lu kashenko. mark lobel reports. for a 12 week, many thousands making their voices heard in minsk, calling for an end to president lukashenko's rule as he threatens to leave protesters without hands, sharpening rhetoric angered by a nationwide strike at. he promised, he ordered his army and security forces to be more brutal and since the election day, more than 16,000 people have been arrested. if they stop, authorities will react more harshly. they would detain more harshly. they would detain more people because now the protesters are successfully scaling skirmishes. riot police failed to prevent protesters

from reaching the outside of minsk where a wooden memorial stands remembering victims executed a century ago by the soviet secret police. protesters defiant. continuing to call the shots. the regime is making more and more mistakes. the belarus winter is very hard, it is very difficult to sustain the number of protesters but i think the form of protest will change. people will resist economically and we can expect some sabotage or people will not pay taxes. over 200 people were reportedly detained this sunday. 84 days after the disputed election result of —— that president lukashenko claims result of —— that president lu kashenko claims is result of —— that president lukashenko claims is valid. the oppositions will seemingly undiminished some say getting

stronger. the who director—general said he had been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for covid—19, and added that he was feeling well and did not have any symptoms. he tweeted that in line with protocol he would self quarantine over the coming days. at least ten people are reported to have died as the strongest typhoon so far this year pounded the philippines. it made landfall before dawn on sunday, ripping off groups, toppling powerlines and causing flooding in the ha rd est and causing flooding in the hardest hit areas where hundreds of thousands have fled their homes. 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 mcdonell 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'd 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. other 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. 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—14 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. sixty—nine people are known to have died, and more than 200 are being treated in hospital. hopes of finding more survivors in the rubble are diminishing. police officers were attacked as they tried to break up an illegal

rave near bristol.