this is bbc news, i'm david eades. the headlines: extreme right—wing terrorist ideology was behind the firebombing of a migrant processing centre on the southeast of england last sunday, say uk police. the us midterm elections are just days away. incumbentjoe biden, his ally barack obama and donald trump all take their campaigning to pennsylvania. thousands gather in seoul to remember the halloween crush victims. many are demanding the president resign. hello and welcome to bbc world news.

we start in the uk, where police say the firebombing of an immigration processing centre in kent was motivated by extreme right—wing ideology and met the threshold for a terror incident. 66—year—old andrew leak carried out the attack at the site in dover last sunday. two members of staff were left with minor injuries. jon donnison reports. an act of terror — this is the moment andrew leak threw one of up to three makeshift firebombs in a drive—by attack on a migrant processing centre in dover last sunday. today, police said leak was motivated by terrorist ideology. in a statement, tim jacques, the senior national coordinator for counterterrorism policing, said...

the suspect, andrew leak, is thought to have taken his own life shortly after the attack which police say was likely motivated by extreme right beliefs. it led to around 700 migrants being transferred from the dover processing centre to this one at manston, which was already overcrowded. the home secretary flew into manston on thursday but suella braverman is facing a possible legal challenge over detention conditions there. the day after last weekend's firebomb attack in dover she told mps that britain was facing an invasion of illegal migrants. we have to be really, really careful about the words that we use and the rhetoric when we talk about anything to do with migration. it's really dangerous and i think that type of language is an absolute trigger for the acts we have seen down in dover. the government says the real problem is the number of migrants continuing to cross the channel, and that fixing an asylum system

she describes as broken is a first—order priority. the crime and policing analyst danny shaw said it was puzzling that the attack wasn't declared a terrorist incident sooner. well, i think what's significant about this statement today is the length of time it has taken for counterterrorism policing to declare this as a terrorist incident. that declaration was made almost a week after the attack took place. usually, with previous attacks, we've found it has been declared a terrorism incident within 2a hours or so. it's certainly a bit puzzling why it wasn't declared earlier. there was no mention of counterterrorism involvement at all in the investigation on sunday, or indeed on monday, when the home secretary suella braverman made a statement to mps in the house of commons.

she said at the time, kent police are not currently treating this as a terrorist incident. a day later, we were told the counterterrorism police were involved and it was, it seemed, driven by hate. that was what was announced on the tuesday, counterterrorism policing was taking the lead on that day, but it's taken a long time for it to be declared a terrorism incident, which is slightly puzzling and i think has raised a few questions as to whether there was some other explanation for the delay. the us midterm election, which decide which party controls congress, are three days away. ahead of the vote, the biggest names in us politics — three presidents, the incumbent joe biden and barack obama and donald trump — are campaigning in the battleground state of pennsylvania

in a closely contested race. in the crowd at the biden—obama rally in philadelphia. no doubt, we can see it's take a crowd, what is the sense of optimism are otherwise there? this crowd, what is the sense of optimism are otherwise there?— are otherwise there? this is a race the were are otherwise there? this is a race they were heping. _ are otherwise there? this is a race they were hoping, democrats - are otherwise there? this is a race they were hoping, democrats in i are otherwise there? this is a race i they were hoping, democrats in this case, they will win easily when it all started. butjohn fett and, running for the senate, has faced health issues and his rival has consolidated the republican base so now the race every poll that has been published. you mentioned that biden and obama were behind me in the next few hours, and then across the next few hours, and then across

the states, donald trump is coming to the aid of dr oz. so the giants of american politics are here in pennsylvania tonight, because it is probably the state that will decide who will control the all—important who will control the all—importa nt senate who will control the all—important senate of the united states congress. senate of the united states congres— senate of the united states concress. ., ., senate of the united states concress. ,,,_ ., ., ., congress. probably fair to say that the outcome _ congress. probably fair to say that the outcome of _ congress. probably fair to say that the outcome of pennsylvania - congress. probably fair to say thati the outcome of pennsylvania itself will determine the future of donald trump in terms of another tilt at the white house?— trump in terms of another tilt at the white house? absolutely. who controls congress _ the white house? absolutely. who controls congress will _ the white house? absolutely. who controls congress will play - the white house? absolutely. who controls congress will play a - the white house? absolutely. who controls congress will play a big i controls congress will play a big role in the national politics in the next two years and that will have a direct impact on the 2024 elections. we know there are reports that donald trump may announce a second run for the presidency in the coming weeks after the election, so it is very much all tied together in what happens here will make an important impact on the outcome of the overall

race. which seems to be going towards the republicans and the democrats hope they will hold on to the senate. ., ., , ., the senate. one of the features of man of the senate. one of the features of many of these _ the senate. one of the features of many of these races _ the senate. one of the features of many of these races is, _ the senate. one of the features of many of these races is, in - the senate. one of the features of. many of these races is, in midterms, people vote for their party, so that's very little room for manoeuvre for stealing votes from the other side?— manoeuvre for stealing votes from the other side? which is why they're ve much the other side? which is why they're very much focused _ the other side? which is why they're very much focused in _ the other side? which is why they're very much focused in these - the other side? which is why they're very much focused in these last - very much focused in these last hours on consolidating their base, making sure everyone gets out and votes. there are efforts in every corner of this state, oprah came out supporting john fetterman, even though she was the one that put dr oz on the mat when she briefly invited him onto her shows. the entire effort right now is to make sure that every single vote gets out there. in these remaining hours, it is less about convincing but making

sure everyone gets out and votes. it will be a very noisy rally badger as well. thank you very much, the latest from pennsylvania. you're watching bbc news. rail passengers have faced severe disruption today, despite strike action being called off. tens of thousands of rail workers had been due to walk out in the long—running dispute over pay and working conditions. strikes planned for monday and wednesday have also been cancelled as negotiations are stepped up. here's our business correspondent, marc ashdown. no strike, no picket line, but no trains either. today's walk—out was called off with such little notice that rail operators say it was too late to run trains they'd already cancelled. it's left passengers feeling frustrated and confused. we were hoping the strike wasn't going to affect the trains when we heard it was called off, and now we are hoping for the best. we wanted to go to barnsley but nowt doing, no trains at all.

fans attending the wales rugby union match against new zealand faced travel disruption. i expect it will be a slowjourney home. i don't think it will be pretty. we knew the trains stopped at five o'clock so we made the decision to drive in and book a hotel. a reduced strike timetable means just 20% or so of services are running across england, scotland and wales. those which did started much later this morning and will finish by the early evening. thousands of members of the rmt union at 14 rail companies and network rail have been involved in this long—running dispute about pay, jobs, and terms and conditions. the rmt says its previous strikes have helped the rail companies to "see sense" and it says it is now looking forward to intensive negotiations where it says it is finally expecting to be made a pay offer to put to its membership. but make no mistake, this is a big shift for the union. it's the first time it's called off a shift to negotiate in six months of industrial action.

there is a whole range of issues. it's cost them a lot of money in striking until now, and they will never get it back, even with a big pay rise. christmas is coming, energy costs, family pressures, all those things will come into play. maybe there is also a bit of a desire to find a way out of this and an off ramp. network rail has made a pay offer of 8% over two years. it welcomed new talks, as did the rail operators, saying progress is being made. the new rail minister huw merriman said he wants to work positively and constructively with all the unions and he is ruling nothing out in the search for a solution. the mood music might be changing but for passengers the cancellation of further strikes on monday and wednesday is too late to avoid further disruption. let's get more on the firebombing atan immigration processing centre that police say meets the threshold for a terror incident. earlier, i spoke to nick aldworth,

former uk coordinator for counter terrorism, about the issues surrounding the attack. i think the actions have been right so far within counterterrorism policing. i think of sensibly, this looked like a relatively simple offence of hate crime to start with, albeit one that has manifested itself in the most awful of ways. within days, counterterrorism policing were looking further. it does take time to analyse digital data and a lot of people have very complex data lives these days. what has clearly happened in the last few daysis has clearly happened in the last few days is that counterterrorism policing have found something within that data collection that is indicated that this is much more ideological are driven than it is hate. ideological are driven than it is hate, ., ideological are driven than it is hate. ., ., _ ., , hate. so, do you mean by that they have moved — hate. so, do you mean by that they have moved from _ hate. so, do you mean by that they have moved from thinking - hate. so, do you mean by that they have moved from thinking this - hate. so, do you mean by that they have moved from thinking this is i hate. so, do you mean by that theyj have moved from thinking this is an incident involving a 66—year—old man who clearly has some issues about

immigrants and has a certain ideology of his own, perhaps, to being linked to another organisation? i being linked to another organisation?— being linked to another oruanisation? ~ f , organisation? i think they've been uuite clear organisation? i think they've been quite clear there _ organisation? i think they've been quite clear there is _ organisation? i think they've been quite clear there is no _ organisation? i think they've been quite clear there is no one - organisation? i think they've been quite clear there is no one else i quite clear there is no one else involved and therefore i think the linkage is more about it in materials the individual has accessed rather than another organisation has inspired or directed him specifically to undertake this attack, but these are quite nuanced differences. the reality is, this is a man who is clearly a self radicalised his hatred for others into an ideological belief that they should be harmed and then attempted to do exactly that. be harmed and then attempted to do exactl that. f be harmed and then attempted to do exactly that-— exactly that. they've used this hrase exactly that. they've used this phrase about _ exactly that. they've used this phrase about passing - exactly that. they've used this phrase about passing the - exactly that. they've used this - phrase about passing the threshold for an incident involving terrorism, just explain that a bit to me, could you? we've mishmash that the picture there and there is an incentive device, claims were created, but is

also threshold as to what passes from an act of some violence to an act of terrorism? because there may be those that feel, from what they saw and from who it came from, perhaps that would be overstating the impact of this particular incident? ., the impact of this particular incident?— the impact of this particular incident? ., ., , ., incident? you are right, there is a difference and _ incident? you are right, there is a difference and that _ incident? you are right, there is a difference and that threshold - incident? you are right, there is a difference and that threshold is i difference and that threshold is based around intent. fundamentally, the difference between violence and the difference between violence and the most violent offences that can be committed in this country, and terrorism, is the intent of creating fare among the population or influencing the government. and what we're are certainly seeing that globally is that most terrorism at the moment is delivered for political means, so i'm going to presume, and i don't know, that within this individual�*s digital footprints, something has been discovered to suggest this was more than just an discovered to suggest this was more thanjust an expression discovered to suggest this was more than just an expression of hatred, this was an attempt to perhaps

create civil disturbance, unrest, influence political outcome or chase scared the general population in that area. . . , scared the general population in that area. ., ., , ., that area. that was the former uk coordinator _ that area. that was the former uk coordinator for _ that area. that was the former uk coordinator for counterterrorism, | coordinator for counterterrorism, and of course, there are large numbers of migrants who come again to particular the south coast and at least three local authorities are taking legal action to stop the home office playing local migrants in hotels. the bbc has been told that a four—star hotel near stansted airport, in essex, where more than 40 people seeking asylum have been placed, will be fully booked until march. kate bradbrook reports. i have been speaking to people here today mainly from north africa who say they have been placed in this tudor manor while seeking asylum. we believe there are 40 people living here. some have been here for several weeks. the ones i spoke to said they do not have proper shoes or access to medical treatment. will you go to hospital or stay in hotel?

not sleep because it is cold and an old lady's bed. it's the only bed, and it's cold, this is is the problem. do people have shoes? i have seen people walking in sandals, do some people not have shoes? no, not have shoes but maybe next week have shoes and a jacket. i phoned the hotel earlier and they told me they are fully booked until march next year. i also asked for an official comment but nobody has come back to me. earlier this week, more than 40 people seeking asylum were taken from the migrant processing centre in manston in kent and put up by the home office in a hotel in norwich. elsewhere, great yarmouth, ipswich and north northamptonshire councils are stopping legal battles to stop any more migrants being put in hotels without any consultation.

in a statement the home office says, "hotels are a short term solution to "a global migration crisis. "we are working hard to find appropriate accommodation as soon "as possible." they urged local authorities to do what they can to house people. france's far—right national rally party has chosen a 27—year—old member of the european parliament as its new president. jordan bardella takes overfrom marine le pen, marking the first time in its 50—year—history that that party or its predecessor the national front has not been led by a member of the le pen family. our paris correspondent hugh schofield explains where this leaves marine le pen in the running of the party. it's a significant moment, and jordan bardella is a rising star, no question about it. his extreme youth, if nothing else, suggests he has a long career ahead of him.

he's a marine loyalist and he was hand picked by her. there was a vote but he's certainly her chosen successor. and she's not disappearing. what's new in the last six months is that the national rally, has this block of 89 seats in parliament, which it's never had before, and it's proving to be a very potent opposition force in parliament. it's playing a very strong hand, led by marine le pen, keeping the other opposition, the far—left opposition, on the back foot by voting with them sometimes, for example, so practically proving very efficient. and marine le pen is the leader of this force in parliament, so the way that power in the party is shifting and the focus of the party is shifting and what's happening in parliament, the national assembly, and that's were marine le pen is and where she will make headlines, in the run—up, presumably,

to another presidential bid four years from now. certainly, there's no suggestion at the moment thatjordan bardella will be the next presidential candidate for the far right. candlelight vigils have taken place in south korea to remember the victims of last week's deadly crush that killed 156 people. the disaster in the capital, seoul, a week ago during halloween celebrations, has caused growing public anger. our correspondent nick marsh has the story. this city is still in shock. after one of the most terrible weeks in recent memory, adults came together to mourn the young. but the air is also thick with blame. "our children have been sacrificed," this woman says. "i need to mourn. "the korean government has not done a good job. "we want them to truly say sorry and we want "the president to resign." last weekend, 156, mostly young people, went out, and didn't come back.

it was supposed to be a fun halloween night out, the first without covid restrictions, but the authorities had made no plans for crowd control. this lone officer stumbled across the crush by chance. you can see him caught amongst the vast tide of bodies, desperately trying to divert them to safety. when i spoke to him a few days later, he was consumed by guilt. translation: i wasn't able to do my duty as a korean police officer. - if somehow there is a way to meet the bereaved families i would like to express our apologies to them. please pray for them. emotions are running high in south korea. yesterday, a victim's mother tore down the floral wreath that had been laid by the president.

today's gatherings may have been called vigils but really they were protests. over this past week, the grief and shock has turned to anger and a demand for answers as to what could possibly have happened to allow such a tragedy on saturday night. the people who are gathered here are mainly supporters of the main political opposition but throughout south korea, there is the perception that a young generation has been let down by the authorities yet again. the last time south korea saw a loss of life this atrocious was in 2014 when more than 300 mainly schoolchildren died in a ferry disaster. that eventually brought down the then president after a series of weekly protests. the people here say they will be back next saturday.

twitter�*s new owner elon musk has defended his decision to sack about half the firm's workforce without warning. mr musk said the social media platform was losing large sums of money every day. he's insisted twitter�*s commitment to content moderation remains unchanged, despite the loss of key staff and anxiety among advertisers. in an interview, elon musk revealed that twitter was losing around $4 million a day, meaning costs had to be cut. he promised twitter wouldn't degenerate into what he called a free—for—all hellscape when content moderation is loosened. but advertisers including general motors have withdrawn their business, which is likely to lead to a drop in revenues. and now twitter faces lawsuits from the hundreds of employees over the way they were fired. twitter co—founderjack dorsey has tweeted after the sackings. he said...

pope francis has held an open—air mass for around 30,000 flag—waving worshippers in mainly muslim bahrain. a 100 strong choir greeted the 85—year—old pontiff as he was driven in an open popemobile through the crowds. many of them were foreign migrant workers, drawn from around two million catholics living in the gulf region. antarctica is a very distant part of the world to most people, but it's about to get a whole lot closer for ten teenagers from across the uk. all from underpriviliged backgrounds, they've been nominated by members of their community to be part of the first carbon neutral expedition of its kind aboard a specially chartered ship. john maguire reports.

they are travelling from the four corners of the uk to the end of the earth. antarctica. the ten underprivileged young people will spend the next two weeks here, exploring, experimenting, experiencing. ok, so you have the one for malachi? it is the brainchild of two adventurers, who believe people from a wider range of backgrounds deserve the chance to visit the world's wildest places. we want them to know that antarctica is not this place that is a myth, legend, only on tv. it's a real place and has a lot of consequences to us and we need to protect it and we think the best way to get these young people to start looking at nature and the outdoors as a viable career path and something worth looking after is by taking them out into the thick of it. the whole idea and motto is it is not about planting flags, it's about planting seeds and by picking the young people from some of these deprived areas, we have planted the seed that anyone from any area or any background can do this and we want them to plant

that the seed in their own community to show that everyone can do good. ten chosen from 700, most of whom were put forward by their local communities. owen was recommended by a police officer. i think there is a link- between inner city challenges in certain pockets of merseyside and his ability to sort _ of turn his back on that l and access the outdoors, and through the outdoors i and through his engagement with school and working alongside other partner agencies, _ i was happy to nominate for this opportunity. - why would someone pay for just a random lad from liverpool to go to antarctica? so it was quite a shock. the expedition aims to be carbon neutral, so the team has been planting trees. the teenagers had to take part in a pay it forward scheme, earning their place on the trip by volunteering in their local area. i did litter picking

to help our community, so there is not much rubbish going around to make the place prettier and better for everyone. i am really excited to go see what is happening on the adventure i'm going to have, being everything and also very interested in the science part of it, the experiments we will be doing. guys, in front of you, you see these suitcases, these are yours. - this has all of your specialist antarctica equipment in it... | they do not quite know what they will discover but one thing is for certain, it will be cold. so the wetwo foundation has made sure they are properly equipped. antarctica is normally the preserve of scientists, wealthy tourists and penguins. lots of penguins. but for the next few weeks, it will also be home to ten young people on, it is hoped, a life—changing adventure.

some breaking news coming into us from the hollywood reporter and entertainment website tmz, they are reporting that the rapper aaron carter, once of the backstreet boys, has died aged 34. it was his brother, in fact, has died aged 34. it was his brother, infact, i has died aged 34. it was his brother, in fact, i think, has died aged 34. it was his brother, in fact, ithink, was has died aged 34. it was his brother, in fact, i think, was in the group. he found fame in the late 90s as a pop singer, had four albums and the word is, at the age of 34, aaron carter has died. we'll follow up aaron carter has died. we'll follow up on that story as it comes into us. now on bbc news, the weather with stav. a pretty soggy today across the uk thanks to a slow—moving weather front bringing patchy rain and drizzle. that train will be confined to the southeastern corner of the country for the weekend. elsewhere, brighter with sunshine, scattered showers and windy for all areas. there is no pressure is bringing the

unsettled weather this weekend, it will become confined to be southeast with the shower is pushing on overnight and tomorrow. staying cloudy, damp, in southern and eastern areas, the rain peps up, perhaps rumbles of thunder. elsewhere, after hansie dry start, blustery showers will get going and they will be quite heavy as well. there will be clearer, drier weather behind that. not as cold as it has been of late, milder in the south and east. this is the pressure chart for sunday, pressure closer to our shores, it will be windy and the fronts enhancing the shower activity. the rain coming and going and it will be heavy at times, with rumbles of thunder. elsewhere, further north and west, brights, sunshine, blustery showers, some merging into longer spells of rain and a blustery day for all areas with the wind around in southern and western coasts, up to 50mph costs.

temperatures up to 14 in the south, 12 for the north, so fairly mild. sunday staying blustery, showers in western and northern areas, better chance of staying dry in the northeast. low pressure in the new week, again windy with outbreaks of rain, some of the heavy, certainly across southern and western areas, pushing north through the day, something drier and brighter across central and southern britain into the afternoon but a windy day to come, possibly windier on the southern and western coasts, up to 60mph in exposure. temperature—wise, the air source is coming from the southwest, so will be milder, up to 15 degrees as far as the central belt. tuesday, wednesday with outbreaks of rain that on wednesday, high—pressure building in unsettling that things. limited brightness but it will turn a very mild.

this is bbc news, the headlines: extreme right—wing terrorist ideology was behind the firebombing of a migrant processing centre in the south east of england last sunday, say uk police. the us midterm elections are just three days away — incumbentjoe biden, his ally barack obama,

and also donald trump all take their campaigning to pennsylvania.