this is bbc news. the headlines. the uk's terrorism threat level has been raised to "severe". the home secretary says it is a precautionary measure — following recent attacks in europe. this is a precautionary measure following the terrible instances that we've have seen in france last week and the events that we saw in austria last night. austria's chancellor describes last night's shootings in vienna as an islamist terror attack that was born out of hatred for democracy. the campaigning is over — americans head to the polls to choose their next president, with nearly 100 million early votes already cast. he will take office injanuary next year. as parliament prepares to debate a second lockdown for england, the country's senior scientific advisors stress to mps the covid rate must be kept low

in order to protect the nhs. if you don't, then that is going to erode the nhs's capacity to do not just the covid care but actually the non—care as well. criticism of the government's decision not to allow grassroots sports to continue during lockdown in england. and tributes to the comedian john sessions — best known for his work on spitting image — who's died at the age of 67. good afternoon. the terrorism threat level in the uk has risen to its second highest level following the attack in vienna that left at least three people dead. the official terror

threat level has been upgraded from "substa ntial" to "severe" — meaning that an attack on uk soil is now deemed highly likely. it was changed by the joint terrorism analysis centre and mi5 — after recent attacks in both france and austria. the home secretary priti patel said the change was not based on any specific threat. this afternoon, jtac has change the threat level changed the threat level across the united kingdom from terrorism from substantial to severe. the british public should be alert but not alarmed. this is a precautionary measure following the terrible instances that we've seen in france last week and the events that we saw in austria last night. the first and most important duty of the government is obviously to protect the british public and we are doing that and will continue to do that through the measures and the tools that we have put in place in terms of dealing with terrorism and terrorist activity. at this particular stage though, if the public have any concerns, i would ask them to report anything

of concern that they may have to the police. but as i've said, this is a precautionary measure in light of recent events that we have seen. and what can you tell us about the work that is going on to counter the threat level which is now as you say elevated to severe ? well, first of all, jtac is an independent body and they have made the judgement in light of recent events as we've seen in france and also in austria that this alert should go up. in terms of countering activity, of course, we work with our outstanding intelligence police forces across the country and our intelligence agencies to put the protective and preventative measures in place and that will continue. and of course now the public will see more visible policing across the country, and that is right in light of the threat going up. but as i've said, the public should not be alarmed. this is a precautionary measure. priti patel talking to bbc political

correspondentjonathan priti patel talking to bbc political correspondent jonathan blake would be earlier. this is partly been informed by events in austria and the last 2a hours where m people have now been arrested following a suspected islamist attack in vienna last night. two men and two women were shot dead, and more than 20 were injured. the austrian chancellor sebastian kurz said the victims were "murdered in cold blood" — and called it "an attack born of hate". the attack happened in the city centre at around eight o'clock local time near vienna's main synagogue, as people gathered in bars a nd restau ra nts hours before the start of new coronavirus restrictions. a gunman was shot dead by police. he was convicted last year of trying tojoin the islamic state group in syria. this report by our security correspondent frank gardner — some viewers may find some of the images distressing. vienna under attack. armed police reacted swiftly to reports of gunmen rampaging through the centre of the city, shooting at people indiscriminately as they sat in cafes and bars.

this mobile phone footage shows the moment one of the gunmen opened fire. gunfire. police later shot dead one of the attackers and arrested another. the shooting took place close to the central synagogue. the rabbi saw what happened. translation: i saw the heavily armed attacker with a rifle take aim and shoot at people outside bars and pubs last night. it was a warm evening and the night before the lockdown, so a lot of people wanted to go out. police have identified the dead gunman as a 20—year—old resident of balkan origin. his home has been searched and material linked to isis recovered. today austria's chancellor made this announcement. translation: it has been confirmed that yesterday's attack was clearly an islamist terrorist attack. it was an attack of hatred — hatred of our basic values, hatred of our way of life,

hatred of our democracy where all people are equal in rights and dignity. austria's investigation is focusing on who else could have been behind this, the country's worst terrorist attack in 35 years. for residents of this normally tranquil city, it's been a brutal shock. translation: they need to be punished very harshly. that's not funny, it's unacceptable. translation: it's terrible what happened, but i guess it was foreseeable after everything that's happened in other countries in recent years. all this just days after france suffered its own terrorist attacks — at a church in nice, and before that when this teacher, samuel paty, was beheaded by a jihadist after showing his class cartoons of the prophet muhammad in a lesson about free speech. those cartoons, and the french

government's subsequent crackdown on islamist extremists, triggered mass demonstrations in some muslim majority countries. french goods are being boycotted in several places. today austria is in mourning, notjust for those killed in last night's attack but also for the end of a long period of relative calm. and yet, incredibly, as mayhem reigned last night, the vienna philharmonic were locked in by the police and they played on. classical music plays. a symbol, perhaps, of europe's determination to stand up to terrorism. frank gardner, bbc news. the austrian interior minister karl nehammer has held a news conference saying there is now a need to re—evaluate his country's deradicalisation system. translation: all try to do the very best but the fact

is that the terrorist was able to deceive the deradicalisation programme, the people who took part in it, and was able to be released early from prison, and there was no warning previously about his radicalisation. that means from the point of view of the interior ministry, we need to evaluate the system. well, last night, maximilian fischl was in a nearby restaurant with friends when the attack started. he told us his experience. i can tell you this was one of the scariest moments in my life, i couldn't believe what happened. we decided with some friends to meet up for a pizza and have a nice evening before the second lockdown takes place in austria, but we couldn't have a nice night, as you can imagine.

it was crazy what happened. we were in the city centre of vienna and we just heard shots everywhere, and the police, the helicopters were flying around us, and we got really afraid so we decided to hide ourselves in the restaurant to be safe there. my condolences to the family of people who died, it's really unbelievable, and we also have to thank the police and everybody who tried their best to support, and the people outside who risked their lives to save our lives, and we have to stay strong together. maximilian fischl. joining me now is security and counter—terrorism expert, will geddes. thank you for being with us. two things to talk but, let's talk about vienna first because there seems to have been quite a lot of surprise in

austria at this attack. should people have been surprised? well to a degree and to a degree no. the one thing that we know certainly with terrorist groups and particularly jihadists and islamist extremists is they are always trying to catch the authorities unaware and the threat that they present is notjust to specific countries, it is pretty much to the western world and one of the things that they would certainly wish to achieve within their agenda is to create an uncertainty which is a fundamental of terrorism amongst any country in europe. what was very striking with it the words that sebastian kurtz said this afternoon being about a comfort between austrians and migrants, this is a fight between the many people between the many in the few, a fight between the many in the few, a fight between civilisation and barbarism. that kind of language, is that helpful in this context? i can

understand the kind of desire as president macron in france to defend values and stand for sunday but doesn't help in terms of the potential for a reaction? well, the key thing really is that any particular state leader of any country that is affected by terrorism, we are seeing an increasing threat from the far right and an increasing issue also in terms of the repercussions into the innocent muslim communities where they are unfortunately all tired with the same brush and then fundamentally they had to be very responsible with what they are going to say facet if there were are not chosen very carefully, this is not going to assist in any shape or form for some it would be purely counterproductive. what would happen if he would drive those that are susceptible to recruitment by groups like islamic state and give them the rhetoric to foundation that grooming, that recruitment. as we know with islamic state even though

they may not have been particularly active in the last few months, they have been certainly very active on the communication channels whether that be in secret messenger or whether it be through their conventional sort of media outlets. the government in vienna has acknowledged that this suspect the man who was shot dead as they would have put it pulled the wool of the authority's eyes. he took part in the deradicalisation programme and clear from his the deradicalisation programme and clearfrom his actions the deradicalisation programme and clear from his actions and thinking on this and not really change. that issue has come up in the uk as well and certain people have been through the prison system have supposedly been deradicalise. have we do it ourselves do you think about our capacity to change a point of view thatis capacity to change a point of view that is often the result of sustained propaganda activity over a number of years? well i don't think it isa number of years? well i don't think it is a question of being deluded. it isa it is a question of being deluded. it is a question of resource and more often than not and we have experienced that here in the united kingdom that many of the perpetrators of these attacks are not necessarily on the priority

level. we have in excess of 5000 persons of interest of which the security services and anti—terrorism branches are trying to monitor. quite often those that perpetrate these attacks are down that with a priority targets and there is only so priority targets and there is only so many that they can actually maintain any kind of monitoring or control over to a certain degree in terms of surveillance whether that be electronic or physical. when it comes to deradicalisation programmes and we look at this particular individual in vienna, yes you are absolutely right certainly it is that he try to get to syria in order tojoin islamic that he try to get to syria in order to join islamic state. that he try to get to syria in order tojoin islamic state. 0bviously failing to do so being apprehended by the authorities. he would have been put through a programme to try and assist in the deradicalisation but deradicalisation can only go so far. and is the community that that individual is then vulnerable or susceptible to when they reenter it when their release from deradicalisation and it is the ongoing monitoring of it is hard for any security service let alone here

in the united kingdom but in europe to manage. do you think the raising of the terror threat level in the uk was pretty much inevitable after the attacks first in france and then last night in vienna? yeah, absolutely. i think the, knowing that we have seen here is in the advance period to france going into lockdown, there was obviously an attack. likewise in austria and overhearing the united kingdom we are about to go into lockdown too. if we look at the commonalities of how terrorism is usually perpetrated, they are looking for mass casualties or fatalities, they are looking to do it in a public space and certainly in most cases, and this lockdown period that we had been on and off with for the last 5-6 been on and off with for the last 5—6 months has meant that it has been incredible difficult for islamic state or any other terrorist group to achieve that publicity value. we have a few days preceding lockdown which puts us in a very vulnerable corridor that these individuals who have to keep their name in the public eye to show to

their followers that they are still a force to be reckoned with that place is a set vulnerability. but also the authorities will still be dismantling and analysing the terrorism picture in the wake of the attack in austria yesterday and to determine whether that has any connectivity because if there is believed to be other printers connected to it if there is any kind of similar activity between there and here in the uk. thank you very much. the government's chief medical and scientific advisers have been explaining their ominous briefing on saturday which preceded the prime minister's announcement of a new england lockdown. appearing before a commons committee, sir patrick valance was told by an mp that his predictions had frightened a lot of people. sir patrick said he felt he'd put that in context and regretted it, if that hadn't come across. but he said it was important "things are shared and open".

the two men also agreed that the localised, three—tier lockdown approach — only introduced on october the 14th was starting to drive down the r rate and slow the spread of infections. but professor chris whitty said some hospitals in the north of england had already reached a higher covid—i9 occupancy than during the previous peak. the starting point in terms of how full they are now is currently very variable, so there are some hospitals, particularly in the north of england, which have actually now reached levels of covid occupancy higher than they had in the first wave, and our worry is in those areas, it looks as if the increase in rates, the r is flattening, it is not below one, it is still going up. if they carried on going up

from this high base, they would get into serious trouble on inpatients very quickly. there are other bits of the country, in the south—west, where the rate of increase is faster than in the north now, and the bed capacity is lower. although they look further away at the moment, they could hit difficulties relatively quickly. the other thing, to make an obvious point, i hope to this committee, but i think it is worth for those watching. there are several barriers going through in terms of hitting capacity for the nhs. the first thing we will have to do is cancelling nonurgent elective care, then you go on to starting to impinge on urgent but non—emergency care, then you get into the acute care being constrained and finally all the intensive care capacity being used up. that happens in sequence, but we are already seeing parts of the country having to cancel

nonurgent emergency care. if this continues, people worry, rightly, about all non—covid care being affected, and the argument on this has gone slightly the wrong way around. they way you prevent the services being impinged on and potentially being slowed down or in some cases cancelled, is to keep the covid rates down. that is chris whitty they're talking toa that is chris whitty they're talking to a committee of mps this afternoon. within the last few minutes of the detail of the lockdown patricians have been published. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford is here. he has been skimming through facet the big question people are asking and came up in your questions answered, how difference will this be from what happened in march?- be from what happened in march?- be clear it is different to two things. it is different to march and that it things. it is different to march and thatitis things. it is different to march and that it is not quite as strict as march was but it's also different to some of the iterations that came

after march. it is attractively tight at the time of health coronavirus restrictions number four regulations 2020. the maximum fines are now going to be £6,400. they start at you hunter pounds doubling up start at you hunter pounds doubling up though if you start at you hunter pounds doubling ay start at you hunter pounds doubling up though if you pay early you do get to pay half. it goes for a minimum of100, up get to pay half. it goes for a minimum of 100, up to £6,400. the differences to march are you will be able to have funerals with up to 30 people, be able to have weddings with up to six people. you are asked to stay home with only a few limited exceptions. but you cannot only take exercise but you can also do this new category of open air recreation which means something like for example fishing in a public place on your own. and you can also meet with one person, you may remember back in march we could not meet anybody outside of her household. you can meet with one person outside your household. in fact if those two people many from separate houses

have children under school age, that is also 0k. a couple of mums in the park with push chairs, that is fine. it helps with lonely single mums. deathbed visits will be allowed. a very important thing that made in a sense the loss of somebody to coronavirus that much harder for a lot of families as they never got the chance to say goodbye. lot of families as they never got the chance to say goodbyelj lot of families as they never got the chance to say goodbye. i think the chance to say goodbye. i think the message is a very strict walked down this one but the government has thought about those things which are almost unbearable back in march like not being up to visit summary who was dying and not being up to hold a properfuneral, weddings was dying and not being up to hold a proper funeral, weddings being interminably postponed. and they have tried to fix some of that but some of the things that people have been lobbing for, can i still play tennis with my mate? and i play golf? know, those are not in there as exceptions. of course the big massive exception in their its schools and universities, they can carry on as normal and for example sports within the school environment

can all happen as normal. we are just looking at the fascinatingly titled, our member being told a story years ago about how a bill to cancel housing in scotland when he was mr scott on head and in ordinarily the long tighter and he wa nted ordinarily the long tighter and he wanted to... i'm sure there are snappier titles but it is important and the detail that the commons would have been given this week before mps vote on it. one interesting question about this is a chose you all the work that is going into it making it watertight in legal terms and most important clear for people to understand. there are things that will happen in the winter that don't happen in the spring. 0ne winter that don't happen in the spring. one is the weather is terrible so it is nice to be up to meet people outdoors but you cannot do very much with it. at the second question is what if granny's boiler breakdown in the middle november december? can she get somebody into repair at? and she get declaration

done. this is important to people who are working and to get service. the government is trying to get as many people in up women as possible. yes you can have workmen interhome. probably a great area as to whether it should be essential work. it is not specified. workmen going into your home is ok but there is issues about safety when you do that, eve ryo ne about safety when you do that, everyone needs to be incredibly smart about being in different places and socially distance but it is workmen, cleaners, baby—sitters, people coming to help with childcare in the home is generally 0k. people coming to help with childcare in the home is generally ok. but i think one of the things people are going to have to get use to compare to some of the lessening of the regulations is we are basically being asked to stay local again. quite soon after march it was you could go anywhere in england. no obviously not, you are being asked to state locally, exercise locally, shop locally and only really move away for reasons of work or some kind of crisis. but the bubble is still going on, you can still have

these public households where people can for example bubble their grandmother in or bubble their... evenif grandmother in or bubble their... even if you're a long distance away. you mentioned the word essential which is important, this became a real bone of contention in wales a couple of weeks ago when they first introduced their circuit breaker as it were in their two week lockdown there and there was debate about our sanitary products essential and therefore should supermarkets sell them as sort? it seems to be a discretionary thing. will that be the case in england with supermarkets or are they still under pressure to close off big sections? again it is not super clear but essentially i think it will be done by premises. if you are a shop that sells food, then you can be open. if you are a shop that doesn't sell something anything essential... that gels sells high after —— fashion. but the grey area is normally i sell high—fashion but i will start selling croissant as well, but

people will find quite quickly that they can. they expect to be challenge the consequence of all this detail, we will see how parliament votes. for now daniel sa nford, parliament votes. for now daniel sanford, thank you. regular coronavirus tests are to be offered to everyone living and working in liverpool from the end of the week. it's the government's first mass—testing trial involving a whole city. liverpool has one of the highest rates of coronavirus deaths in england. our health correspondent katharine da costa reports. it's estimated two thirds of us get the virus without showing any symptoms. liverpool's had some of the highest infection rates. it's hoped by testing the whole city, authorities will be able to monitor the spread of the virus and quickly drive infections down. we know that asymptomatic transmission is a key issue for us, so the more we can help people to understand their personal status, the more we can encourage people to act appropriately and accordingly. from friday, existing swabs and new rapid swab tests — which can provide results within 15 minutes — will be offered to people with or without symptoms every week

or so at 30 testing sites around the city. they'll be outside some hospitals, they'll be outside the universities, outside our schools, going to have mobile units going to care homes as well and to other places where we see there is a spike or an increase in covid—19 activity. around one in 1000 people will get a false positive, meaning someone's told they've got the virus when they haven't, but scientists say rapid tests could be a game changer. you know, people get pretty irritated when they get told that they passed somebody in the shops and they now have to quarantine for ten or 14 days, and with these tests it should be possible, as we get the system in place, to be able to test those people every two days and they can go about their business, provided they remain negative. 2000 military personnel will be deployed from thursday to help plan the logistics and deliver some of the tests. if this is a success, and i obviously really hope it

will be and people in liverpool will get behind it, then we'll be looking to roll this out in other towns and cities and make millions more of these rapid tests available before christmas. the latest weekly figures from national stats agencies shows deaths in the uk are more than 10% higher than expected in the week to the 23rd of october. there were more than 12,000 deaths and almost all the excess, seen here in red, was linked to covid—19. back in liverpool, the pilot will be closely monitored to see how many people come forward for testing and how many fully isolate when they are asked to. katharine da costa, bbc news. some details have emerged of the restrictions that will continue in wales after the country's so called firebreak lockdown ends. people will only be able to meet others from their extended household — formed of two households joining together — in their homes and gardens. the first minister mark drakeford told the senedd that house parties,

larger events and gatherings indoors will still illegal, and that will be explicit in the new rules. pu bs, cafes a nd restau ra nts will reopen in wales when the lockdown ends on the 9th of november. the comedian and actor john sessions has died, aged 67. he was best known for his work on spitting image and whose line is it anyway? he was also a character actor, appearing in films like kenneth branagh‘s henry v and tv series including itv‘s victoria. the editor of private eye, ian hislop, paid tribute. he was an old friend but he was also an absolutely brilliant actor, comedian, improviser. it is difficult to do any summary but he was a fantastic stage actor. his one—man show in the west end about napoleon or when he started in my

night with rage, that extraordinary comedy drama, john could do everything. film acting, improvisation, voices. i met him in the early days on spitting image but he was an amazing actor and an amazingly versatile. i think he would have been really flattered, he was a very modest man. he would be very flattered if the attention he has been getting i was delighted to see him described as a start date because he probably thought he wasn't. but he was and he was quite the funniest man in real life. —— but he was. let's speak now tojohn lloyd, comedy producer and writer, and creator of not the nine 0'clock news and q1. he is present or not of radio four met museums of curiosity. john boyd think you for being with us. it is being asked to offer instant tributes to somebody who was not only a colleague but a friend for a

long period of time. you chose to work with him at spitting image, what was the attraction ofjohn's sessions and what are the memories for you and your friendship?” sessions and what are the memories for you and your friendship? i came across him when he was doing his one—man show in edinburgh and i was compete we blown away by and i asked him if he would do voices for spitting image expected the answer no and he said yes, i couldn't believe my luck because he was so good at voices. he could do absolutely anybody. as evidence for example absolutely anybody. as evidence for exa m ple two absolutely anybody. as evidence for example two movies he was in, many many movies, an unbelievable list on imdb. but he was an made in degen m where he played harold wilson and he was in time to make the iron lady norm every he played edward heath... that kind of variety and the funniest man, i know a lot of comedians, i work with them. i want of them in private life are quite serious people and so wasjohn but

he was unbelievably funny. i once shared a fight with them to la, we went there for one night to do some spitting image recordings for nbc. long—haul flight, i left for 11 hours the way there and 11 hours all the way back and it cured me forever of my fear of flying. he was incredibly warm. just this whirlwind of stuff would pour out of his mouth, comedy, impressions, erudition, information, fantasy. just completely swamping. fantastic quy- just completely swamping. fantastic guy. i was thinking wake one series where he did all those celebrity impersonations and get at the same time, it is true people who do comedy, he was a proper actor that had all the skills of timing and the rest of it that he could turn to dramatic roles just as much as he could in roles designed to make you laugh out loud. one of his proudest moments was appearing without pacino in the merchant of venice where he

was here where pink —— era worshiping him. and to work with him was one of the great moments of his life as you say the variety of self, panel games, or whose line is it anyway? 0r panel games, or whose line is it anyway? or the original whose line is it anyway? 0n the radio with stephen fry, there was nothing he could not do. and it was always just this wonderful mixer of high and low culture so he would be doing a show and napoleon which he would ever —— rehearse himself and suddenly keith richards would appear, at a pin sharp oppression. that piece of something which i had not realised until it started to read more about the obituary sent tributes is the strain of surrealism that runs through his work. -- a pin sharp impression. i think of... through his work. -- a pin sharp impression. ithink of... back in the 80s, doing these completely bizarre sounding sketches based on an old daily express column that ran for yea rs

an old daily express column that ran for years and years and years but which are actually vivid and funny and they are all down to really voice skills only. 0h, and they are all down to really voice skills only. oh, i think we may have lost john voice skills only. oh, i think we may have lostjohn lloyd. 0h voice skills only. oh, i think we may have lostjohn lloyd. oh what a shame facet maybe that was the surrealist moment of this interview as well. john void there onjohn mcafee who has died today at the age of 67 and we will be talking to someone who worked withjohn on the series stella's straight. now here the weather. hello there. the heavy rain's moving away from eastern areas now. we still had a rash of showers to contend with through the rest of the day brought in on this northwesterly wind. it's here in the north and west where they'll be heaviest with some thunder and some hail, some wintriness over the hills, but they will push their way eastwards as well and temperatures are considerably lower than those of yesterday and they'll be considerably lower again tonight. the breeze keeps the showers coming into the northwest, so not as much frost here, but for england and wales, notably our first widespread

frost come tomorrow morning. could also be a few pockets of fog around and they will take their time to clear at this time of year, so yes, be aware that those could be a hazard through the rush—hour. we do have more cloud and still showery rain to come into the north and west of scotland, but for most, it's a much drier day. fewer showers around, more dry weather, lighter winds as well, so once that fog clears it will feel pleasant enough for the early part of november. and we keep that settled weather with frost and fog for the rest of the week. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the uk's terrorism threat level has been raised to "severe". the home secretary says she is responding to recent attacks in europe. this is a precautionary measure following the terrible incidences that we've seen in france last week and the events that we saw in austria last night. austria's chancellor describes last

night's shootings in vienna as an islamist terror attack that was born out of hatred for democracy. the campaigning is over. americans head to the polls to choose their next president, with nearly 100 million early votes already cast. as parliament prepares to debate a second lockdown for england, the country's senior scientific advisors stress to mps the covid rate must be kept low in order to protect the nhs. if you don't, then that is going to erode the nhs's capacity to do not just covid care, but actually the non—covid care as well. criticism of the government's decision not to allow grassroots sports to continue during lockdown in england. and tributes to the comedianjohn sessions, best known for his work on spitting image, who's died at the age of 67.

sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, john watson. the super league season will be shortened following ongoing diusruption brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. clubs will no longer be expected to fuilfil all of their regular season fixtures. instead, an expanded play off series means the campaign will be played to a conclusion. our sports reporter adam wild joins me. what can you tell us? with all this disruption, the organisers forced into a rethink? straight to the playoffs after this weekend. i don't think anyone will be too surprised by that, given what happened with other lockdowns. positive test, i think it's really forced the authorities to cancel for tigers yesterday. rovers bottom of the table yesterday, so it will be affecting that playoff, but that is where we go to after this weekend. two final games of the regular

seasons. followed by wigan against huddersfield, that'll decide who wins the league. following that, the playoffs will begin early. the requirement for clubs to play at least if team games have been abandoned. at the top six teams, the seven place teams which will either be southward huddersfield. —— salford or huddersfield. talk to will sit out the first round, that's on friday and saturday. the winners will play the first and second side the following week at home been used to see who goes through to that ground final in hull on the 27th. clearly, this is not the end of the season the authorities wanted, but given what happened and given the potential for more postponements, given what happened and given the potentialfor more postponements, i think they were really forced into this. it will be played to a

conclusion. many thanks for that, adam. the wales manager ryan giggs will not be involved in his side's three upcoming matches after he was arrested on suspicion of assault. a statement from the welsh fa says coach robert page, with ryan's support, will take charge for the next three matches against the usa, republic of ireland and finland. giggs denies all the allegations. wales were due to announce their squad for those matches today, but will now wait until thursday. scotland manager steve clarke has recalled celtic striker lee griffiths to his side for their euro 2020 play—off final with serbia later this month. griffiths hasn't appeared for his country since 2018, but clarke believes he can make a big difference. i think when you look at him over the years he has always been a goal—scorer. he is dangerous in the 18 yard box. i think the goal he scored against aberdeen a few weeks ago shows you what he's all about. sometimes you need a goal and with him in the squad he can give us that option.

the more options i've got the better and he is one of those options. the champions league continues tonight with liverpool up against italian side atalanta. ahead of the game, liverpool manager jurgen klopp is under no illusions about the challenge his side will face in italy. for sure so far, the biggest challenge in the champions league because atalanta with all they have done in the last two or three years, they are very settled team and difficult to play against. very special in their approach. slightly similar to leeds organisation wise. it will be a tough one. follow that on the bbc sport website and there's commentary of manchester city against 0lympiakos from the five live team.

eight o'clock for that one. we'll have more for you in sportsday at half past six. for now, that is all for me. john watson, have a lovely evening. earl spencer has made further allegations of the bbc news underhand tact to secure the famous panorama back in 1995, about her failing millage to prince charles. —— failing marriage. the bbc says it's already apologised following previous allegations and will investigate substantive new information if there is any. he is currently ill with complications with coronavirus. the police watchdog says an investigation into for office ogres

the watchdog says there is an indication the officers may have committed misconduct in public office. stephen lawrence was murdered in southeast london that year. murdered in southeast london that yea r. two murdered in southeast london that year. two men are currently in prison for his murder. another child has been rescued from rubble in the turkish city of izmir after friday's earthquake. there were shouts ofjoy as the 3—year—old girl was pulled from a collapsed building. she'd been shielded from serious injury after being trapped behind a washing machine. her mother is believed to be still trapped beneath the rubble. 100 people are now known to have died following friday's quake, the vast majority in the city of izmir. wonderful to see her aisles open. —— eyes open. maybe almost the trace of a smile. what an incredible

experience. it's election day in the united states and polls have started to open for the presidential election. donald trump and his democratic challengerjoe biden spent the final hours of the campaign in the swing states that could decide the result. president trump returned to the white house in the early hours of of this morning. national polls suggest a firm lead for mr biden, but the race is tighter in the key battlegrounds. more than 100 million people have already taken voted. ben wright reports. across the united states, in person and by mail, americans have voted in vast numbers already. nearly 100 million people have cast their ballots early and more will have their say at polling stations today. for both candidates, monday saw a final sprint for votes around key swing states and both made campaign stops in pennsylvania. lagging in the polls, donald trump has been rallying his supporters at a punishing pace. the president surprised the world by winning four years ago and believes he can do so again.

so get your friends, get your family, get your neighbours, get your co—workers, grab your boss by the tie and say, come on, boss. we've got to get out and vote, get out and vote. and you're going to have a day tomorrow, the likes of which i think people haven't seen in a long time. his democratic rivaljoe biden has also been campaigning intensely in pennsylvania, arguing america must come together and get a grip on the pandemic. the first step to beating the virus is defeating donald trump. car horns blaring. it always matters who sits in the white house, but the choice facing americans today is stark. this feels like the most pivotal presidential election in decades and the huge early voting turnout reflects that. it is also a big test for america's democracy and whether it can peacefully steer this nation through a deeply polarised moment. # i'm off the deep end.

# watch as i dive in. # i'll never...#. tonight, lady gaga joined joe biden at a drive—in campaign event in pittsburgh. after decades in public life, mr biden could be on the cusp of the presidency. donald trump is in the fight of his life, still thrilling his crowds, still predicting possible bedlam after the election. this evening he stopped in wisconsin before wrapping up his travels in michigan. a campaign going to the wire. ben wright, bbc news, washington. so, how will the outcome of the election affect america's relationship with the uk, especially during brexit? 0ur reality check correspondent chris morris has been finding out. politics matters and it's worth asking what the election could mean for this country. as it moves into a post—brexit world. 0fficials for this country. as it moves into a post—brexit world. officials in some european governments suspect boris

johnson is waiting to see the political outcome in the us before deciding a trade deal with the eu this year or settle for no deal. downing street has denied this with the prime minister saying specifically the two things are entirely separate. but there's not much out that while mr trump is enthusiastic about no deal and a more radical uk split with the rest of europe, mr biden is not. he thinks brexit was a mistake and his position will be much closer to the eu and more specifically, the irish view of what brexit means. mr biden is aligned with the powerful irish lobby in congress which would take a very dim view of any attempt to roll back the terms of the north and ireland protocol and the brexit withdrawal agreement, and that matters for the uk's separate trade negotiations with washington. last year, the us accounted for 20% of uk exports and 13% of uk imports. but congressional democrats have said there would be little hope of an early free—trade deal with the uk if the brexit agreement on ireland isn't respected.

donald trump has been pushing to get that deal done but whether it's a republican or a democrat in the white house, any president is going to drive a hard bargain. and that's one of the reasons why personal relationships matter. donald trump has repeatedly boosted boris johnson and called him "britain trump". joe biden seems to agree with the comparison that in a less flattering way. after the prime minister won at last year's general election, mr biden called him a "physical and emotional clone" of the president. and plenty of influential democrats still feel the same. ben rhodes, who was barack 0bama's deputy national security adviser when mr biden was vice president recently wrote on twitter... so, if mr biden wins, some bridge building might be needed. but next year the uk will play a big global role chairing both the g7 group of industrialised nations and the big un climate summit cop26.

a starring role between restrained cooperation of western allies in joint leadership on climate change could mean past disagreements are quickly forgotten. donald trump's views on climate change on the other hand might be far more difficult for the uk to manage. so, you can find pluses and minuses whoever wins but under president trump, thejohnson government has been america's best friend in europe. if it's to be a biden presidency though, the uk will be heading into a new relationship with europe with a very different in administration taking office in washington as well. you can join us tonight from 11.30pm for our us election special results programme on bbc one and the bbc news channel, or tune into bbc radio 4from 10pm. and you can follow all the expert analysis online as the results come

in at bbc.co.uk/news and on the bbc news app. if you don't, why not? the country's navy have saved all of the whales except one, thought to be the largest... marine biologist to save the whales which mother with a about five metres long were exhausted. by the long ordeal. great effort thereby all the enthusiasts. that's a sort of thing you can see on the bbc app. it's worth downloading if you can. the headlines on bbc news... the uk terror threat level has risen to the second highest level of "severe" amid mounting concerns at events in europe,

but there is no specific intelligence of an imminent incident. austria's chancellor describes last night's shootings in vienna as an islamist terror attack that was born out of hatred for democracy. as parliament prepares to debate a second lockdown for england, the country's senior scientific advisors stress to mps the covid rate must be kept low in order to protect the nhs. it's now 12 minutes to six. before hejoined viewers on bbc it's now 12 minutes to six. before he joined viewers on bbc one for the six got news, we will have the weather in about ten minutes but before that, we are going to hear again your questions being answered by two guests.

and here to answer them is emeritus professor at the university of hong kong, sian griffiths — she also lead the hong kong government's enquiry into sars — and dr chris smith, virologist from the naked scientists podcast. thank you very much both of you for being with us. as we plunge into a second england lockdown, we have a host of questions that are predominantly about england. what are the latest rules going to be to support the vulnerable in the forthcoming november 5th lockdown? we are waiting for more guidance for the exceptionally vulnerable, but people who are responsible last time are being told to be careful to stay home, wash their hands but also to go out and exercise and involved in social interaction... last time

there is damage from social isolation. there was anxiety that actually you can carry on as you are now but take care. chris, i want to join two questions together. lynn asked why our schools not including this time. when asked why are schools not closing and jazz asks, if adults can work from home, why can't children? first of all, why keep this place is open and why can placees open and why can they be open safely? you can regardless like a seesaw. we want to keep the sea salt balance, that's when the spread of the virus is under control. if we waited down at one end, we increase the risk by keeping schools open. we need to counterbalance it and hopefully, that is what the lockdown is going to achieve, it is going to enable us to provide important educational services by reducing the risk of transmission in other sectors. overall, it adds up to a balance.

this question from emily, she says my white lives in plymouth, she says my partner lives in plymouth, i live in staffordshire. the guide means support bubbles should be local where possible but the appears to be no restrictions on distance. i presume this means we can drive to each other‘s houses and stay over? yes, you can because you are a bubble and it says, where possible, if you are separated for reasons of work, you can still drive to see each other. chris, what happens, this is from julie, what happens to people who were previously shielding? although there is no formal notice to people to shield again, chris whitty at the announcement at the weekend, at the press briefing, pointed out that people who were shielding last time remain vulnerable and they may want to take extra precautions. the government will be writing to people with some extra guidance. the shielding will not be the same as it was last time.

they acknowledge some things went well last time but some things went less well, including reading people feeling isolated. we expect now that the environment, because of various measures to make workplaces, to make public areas more covid—19 secure, the environment is safe at this time than previously and therefore some of the measures taken last time will not be necessary this time. but we should wait for the government to make those formal notices later this week with the extra precautions some will take. they are saying, extra precautions. that means be on your guard if you know people who've got this, don't go and hang with them. that picks up a question about whether you need to isolate. the answer is at the moment, we don't think so? no, there is no guidance formally at the moment that people should be isolate themselves. — — re— isolate —— re—isolate themselves. the phrase used was should take extra precautions.

i think that is people being sensible and being on their guard, but reassure people that many parts in the country, the risk remains low and there has been enormous efforts made by schools, workplaces, shops and other public spaces to make themselves covid secure. the risk is not what it was for people going out back at the beginning of the year, which is why the guidance has not been formally to reintroduce the shielding that was taking place in the way it did previously. at least for now. maria asks, why can you meet people from ten plus different families potentially because you work with them, but not at home? what is the difference? hopefully, environments at work are covid secure. precautions will be taken to minimise the risk of transmission. it is much more difficult in your own home, when you have people in, the ventilation will probably be worse and in the winter we have to come inside. people will be touching and close than social distance required, services may get contaminated,

and it isjust a high—risk environment in your own home. we have seen from the epidemiology, we have seen that within household transmission, it is one of the immediate modes of transmission. for the current time, we are being asked not to have people outside our households into our houses or guidance. —— or gardens. deborah wants to ask, i assume this is in her interest, can she still fly from northern ireland into england and back again when england is locked down? at the moment, some of the other countries, i was listening to nicola sturgeon's press briefing this lunchtime and she was urging people in scotland, for example, please don't travel to other parts of the united kingdom and vice versa. i don't think at the moment you are being banned from doing that, i think you are being advised not to. the whole point of these regulations is to try and minimise the transmission of the virus by minimising the contact between people. if you need to make essential

journeys for work, the study, to do important essential family business, then you need to make those journeys, but where possible, we are all being urged not to travel, to work from home if we can and minimise contact with other people to the greatest extent possible because that robs the virus of the routes of transmission it would be exploiting the contacts with other people. we have two questions to end with. 0ne about exercise. rick asks, will we be able to drive a short distance to take our outdoor exercise? yes, you can. there is no constraint on the distance you can drive. and especially if you are going to be taking exercise, but you should try to stay as close to home as possible, so if you have good exercise facilities nearby, try and use them but otherwise yes, you can drive to take exercise. last question from our viewers. lou is a personal trainer

who works with clients in her garden and their guidance, will be still be allowed provided social distancing? outside is much safer than inside, so if you are doing your work outside a meeting one client at once, at the moment the rules suggest that one person eating one other person outside with physical distancing between them, that is perfectly acceptable and so that would extend to you being able to carry on with your important job as well. i think there is no problem with that whatsoever. thank you both very much. i am sorry it was so brief and snappy this afternoon. we have got quite a few other things we have got to get through, but we are grateful to both of you and look forward to speaking to you again. good afternoon. there are some spectacular autumn colours out and about at the moment, and we should get the weather to get out and about in the next couple of days as well because it has been very stormy. following on from the rain yesterday and overnight, there are still flood warnings enforced, but those should be coming down in the next day or two

because high pressure's being invited in from the atlantic for wednesday, thursday, friday and for some, even into saturday as well before it finally moves out of the way. so, perhaps three, even four days of dry, unsettled weather. however, for the rest of the day, there are still some lively showers. 0ur early morning rain's clearing out of the way, but these showers could produce some hail and thunder, some sleetiness on the hills in the north. it feels chilly, and it does feel chilly for all despite the wind being lighter or less ferocious than it was yesterday. the winds continue to ease, though, under that ridge of high pressure overnight, so much so that for england and wales, it will be our first widespread frost of the season. temperatures widely to zero or below in the countryside, even in some towns and cities. not quite as cold across scotland, particularly in the northwest, but you could see southern scotland, northern ireland, pretty chilly. there could also be a little bit of mist and fog first thing tomorrow morning to watch out for. once that clears away, there will be far fewer showers. the main chance of showers, really, across the northern isles,

the western aisles, the far northwest of highland scotland as well here, and again, still a bit wintry on the hills. temperatures are recovering a little bit tomorrow because you've got lighter winds and a bit more sunshine. as we go into thursday, well, another cold start. you can see that windier, cloudier weather in the north again with much of scotland escaping the frost, but another cold night further south, particularly in the countryside. but fog becomes our main issue, as i say, for thursday. could be quite dense and quite widespread, particularly for england and wales with a lighter wind regime here, and at this time of year, it can linger until late morning and in some places, linger all day. so, here, it'll be cold where the fog lingers, but for most of us outside the fog, 9—11 c. little bit warmer as you can see across scotland because you got that south—westerly effect across the eastern side there. as we progress towards the end of the week, the winds fall lighter further north as well, that fog is likely to become more of an issue for scotland and for northern ireland. hopefully, that dry weather hanging on to at least the first half of the weekend,

it's potentially all change. there's more on the website.

today at six: the dealy attacks in austria's capital — authorities say the gunman was an islamist terrorist. eyewitness footage shows people fleeing as the gunman opened fire in six different locations in central vienna — police say he was shot dead within nine minutes. but in that time, four people were killed and over 20 injured. the austrian chancellor has led the tributes. there's mounting concern across europe and, this evening, the uk terror threat level has been raised. also tonight: liverpool will be the first to get city—wide covid testing, with some results within an hour. the rest of us could get it by christmas. voting is under way across america — it could be the biggest turnout in a century. biden versus trump —

it's been one of the most bitter