welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: with the us midterm elections just days away, president biden and former presidents obama and trump have all hit the campaign trail in the push for victory in a critical contest. it's a choice — a choice between two vastly different visions of america.— visions of america. this tuesday. _ visions of america. this tuesday, you _ visions of america. this tuesday, you must - visions of america. this i tuesday, you must vote republican in a giant red way. iran admits supplying "a limited number" of drones to russia. ukraine says tehran has yet to come clean on the full extent of its involvement in the conflict.

hello and welcome to bbc news. the crucial us midterm elections, which will decide who controls congress, are just a couple of days away and president biden and former president obama have taken to the stage together at a campaign rally in pennsylvania. they're trying to get every last vote out for their candidate john fetterman, who's up against republican mehmet oz, who's been endorsed by donald trump. president biden said this is a defining moment for us democracy. this isn't a referendum this year, it's a choice — a choice between two vastly different visions of america. vastly different. maybe it's in our blood, butjohn and i believe that all — it's all about fighting for working and middle—class people. the way i've said from the beginning of my — my objective when i ran for president was to build an economy from the bottom up and the bottom up and the middle out.

it's a fundamental shift compared with the oz and the mega maga republican trickle—down economics. booing. oh, really? as i mentioned, former president donald trump has also been rallying republican voters. mr trump is in latrobe, pennsylvania, telling republican voters to support senatorial candidate mehmet oz. pennsylvania could be critical in deciding who controls congress this election. lauren wright is a lecturer in politics and public affairs at princeton university and has been telling me what it will mean for president biden if the republicans are successful. the question really, especially in the house of representatives for democrats is how badly are you going to lose? will it be losing more than 60 seats, like it was in 2010 for president obama? more than 50 seats in 1994 for bill clinton? how big will that gap be? and so, it might not be as bad

as those as far as the number of seats but if the republicans win both chambers, if they have the house and the senate, or even if they pick up a few of these very unlikely races, like the governor of new york, if that goes republican, that would be a huge deal. and so, one of the issues here is there's a number of different ways republicans can claim success and that democrats, to go back to your point, can say, "well, look, this is typically what happens and so, "we really did not do that badly". both parties will spin this. let's look at some other stories in brief. the co—founder of twitter, jack dorsey, has apologised for growing the company too quickly a day after the new boss elon musk sacked half the workforce. in a tweet, mr dorsey said he felt responsible for the predicament facing twitter staff. pakistan's government has immediately reversed a ban on the broadcast of speeches by the opposition leader imran khan. the media regulator had announced the measure earlier on saturday, saying he'd made comments that threatened national security. mr khan was shot in the leg at a protest march earlier this week.

china has admitted that it needs to improve its covid vaccination rate for people aged over 80. analysts say a lower take—up among elderly people could be one reason why beijing is reluctant to end its zero covid policy. iran has admitted to supplying "a limited number" of drones to russia, but has continued to challenge claims that these have been used in the war in ukraine. iranian state media reports that although tehran did supply moscow with the weapons a few months before the conflict, there's no evidence that had been used. the us has said that remains of iranian shahed—136 or �*kamikaze' drones have been found on the ground in ukraine, along with evidence that iranian military personnel have been assisting russia in their use. ukraine's president zelensky has said iran needs to come clean about the extent of its involvement in the conflict. sarah kreps is director of the tech policy institute at cornell university and a senior fellow at the brookings institution. she joins us now from new york.

thank you for making the time. why is russia dealing with iran when it comes to drones. do they not have any of their own? what is interesting from the perspective of the russia— iran relationship here is that russia is responsible for 20% of global arms exports. so they are a major arms exporter, second after the united states. and aerospace is one of their big exports but somehow, i do not seem to be manufacturing, at least competent or capacious at least competent or ca pacious drawings, at least competent or capacious drawings, and so if they are looking to emulate what they see as the success of the ukrainian use of drones they will have to go elsewhere and china has made it very clear they are not going to be exporting drones to russia and really that only leaves iran. tell us more about these drones, they are called kamikaze drones, how do they work and how much damage can they cause?— they cause? these drones are different from _

they cause? these drones are different from what _ they cause? these drones are different from what we - they cause? these drones are different from what we saw i i different from what we saw i think with the us using reapers and predators for 20 years where those with these medium altitude, long endurance drones. by contrast, these are loitering munitions so they are called kamikaze gratteri because they don't come back. they go into the airspace and essentially detonate into a target —— kamikaze drones. president zelensky has warned iran against dealing with russia in the war in ukraine. is iran going to listen to what he has to say? does iran care? it's not entirely clear how much leverage zelensky has in this. i think the ukrainians have tried to put the hurt to russia to the extent that they can and i think the us is doing what it can try support the ukrainians and, you know, certainly, i think he has to try to deter additional iranian influence but it's not entirely clear to me how best he can do

that, other than kind of punishment he has tried to inflict on russia until now. air defences have been surprisingly efficient when it comes to keeping attacks at bay. how often are these iranian agree to able to get through? —— renia drones. br; through? -- renia drones. by some through? —— renia drones. e5 some accounts about 15% so depending how we look at it it's 85% success rate but again it's 85% success rate but again it means five out of 30 are getting through. so those five can do some damage and i think that can be both infrastructure damage but it can also be psychological damage, when these drones coming to the airspace of kyiv and are flying over civilian populations. there are a lot of videos online about just there are a lot of videos online aboutjust how intimidating and daunting and demoralising those are. on the other hand, that can have the effect of kind of mobilising the ukrainian people when they kinda realise that 85% success rate may seem a win for the ukrainians so i think that the

kiva ukrainians will be to try to beef up their air defences and it looks like that's what they are trying to do, turning to the united states for more robust air defences and doing things like ukrainian police shooting them down with ak—47s. thank you professor, we will leave it there. thank you very much. you are watching bbc news. british police say the firebombing of an immigration processing centre on the south coast of england 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. he is believed to have later taken his own life. 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 co—ordinator 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. and yesterday, a home office minister said detainees had a cheek to complain about conditions at manston. 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. and especially people in power should know the weight that their words hold. comments like that, i think, just show the complete disregard for basic human dignity. but the government says the real problem is the number of migrants continuing to cross the channel, and that fixing an asylum system which it describes jon donnison, bbc news. candlelight vigils have been held in south korea to remember the victims of last week's deadly crush that killed 156 people. the disaster in the capital seoul during halloween celebrations has caused growing public anger. 0ur correspondent nick marsh reports from seoul.

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 saturday, 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 came across the crush by chance. you can see him caught amongst

the vast tide of people, 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 i 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. all chant. 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. now, 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'll be back next saturday. nick marsh, bbc news, seoul. this is bbc news. the headlines: with the us midterm elections just days away, president biden and former presidents obama and trump have all hit the campaign trail, in the push for victory in a critical contest. iran admits supplying

"a limited number" of drones to russia. ukraine says tehran has yet to come clean on the full extent of its involvement in the conflict. let's come to europe. 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. both ms le pen and mr bardella have been talking to their supporters. translation: i know that there is still a lot of work to do, - i am aware of that. and please know, i am not leaving the party's presidency to go on holiday. i remain more than ever mobilised. there will be no rest for me and each of us until we have put the country back on track for the future, for the movement. as for france, it goes without saying that i will be wherever the country

and the national cause need me. translation: france is the sum of people who have loved her- and those who love her now, and no—one else will defend her in our place. always believe in yourself, always believe in france. if we believe in france, we will be capable of building 100 power stations and 1000 cathedrals, capable of building innovations that will change the world, capable of bringing messages of peace and freedom to the planet that will reverberate through all the hearts in the world. our paris correspondent, hugh schofield, explains where this leaves marine le pen in the running of the party. it isa it is a significant moment, he's extreme youth, if nothing else, suggests he has a long career ahead of him. but he is a marine loyalist, and kind of handpicked by her, there was a

vote. but is deftly her chosen successor. and as you say, it is not disappearing. what's very new in the last six months is that the national rally has this block of 89 seats in parliament, which has never had before, and it's proving to be a very effective opposition force in parliament. it's playing a very strong hand their lead by marine le pen, keeping the other opposition, the far left opposition, very much on the back foot, sometimes by voting with them, for example. so tactically is proving very, very efficient. and marine le pen is the leader of this was in parliament. so the wave that power only focusing the parties shifting on what's happening in the national assembly, that is where marine le pen is, that is where marine le pen is, that is where she will continue to make headlines in the run—up, presumably, to another presidential bid in four years from now. certainly, there is no suggestion at the moment thatjordan bardella will be the next presidential candidate for the far right. tens of thousands of people

are heading to the egyptian resort of sharm el—sheikh for the beginning of the latest un climate summit on sunday. cop27 is shaping up to be a prickly and confrontational affair, as countries struggle to fulfil the climate pledges made at last year's conference in glasgow. earlier, iasked frankjotzo, a professor of environmental and climate change economics at the australian national university, about what we can expect from the summit. the context is a very difficult one and a much more difficult one than a year ago in glasgow. this is meant to be the implementation cop, no big commitments are expected to happen, but make no mistake, climate change in most countries is actually somewhat on the back burner. the energy crisis plays in a very big way in terms of fiscal commitments as well which will make it more difficult to fulfil those financial commitments that rich countries have made to the developing world and that will play in a big way. i'm glad you brought up the financial commitments, it was 2009 when this promise of $100 billion a year to poorer countries from richer countries to help mitigate against the effects of climate

change, those promises haven't been met. and now we have this cost—of—living crisis. is there any way these commitments can now be met in real terms? so, what has been flowing as finance for clean energy, because this is becoming a lot easier around the world, as renewable energy, in particular, is becoming more affordable. the difficulty is to mobilise money for adaptation, so responding to climate change impacts. this is what the poorest countries, in particular, direly need. and with the physical crunch on and western governments, rich countries everywhere, really the main priority is to buffer energy price increases as well as food price increases, and these exact things are making life harder in the poorer parts of the world as well,

so this is really difficult. but, you know, there is certainly lies at the end of the tunnel of this and this relates to the energy policy aspects of the crisis as we see them unfolding. in terms of commitments, in terms of promises, what do you think we can expect from cop27? look, we aren't expecting too much in terms 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 between the rmt union and train operators 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, we heard it was called off, and now we're 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. i expect it will be a slowjourney home. 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% of services have run across england, scotland and wales. those which did, started much later this morning and finished earlier this evening. thousands of members of the rmt union at 1a 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 strike to negotiate in six months of industrial action.

there's a whole range of issues. it's cost them a lot of money in striking up to 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 just 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. marc ashdown, bbc news. the us singer and rapper aaron carter has died aged 34. a representative said he was found dead at his home in california, and the cause of death is yet to be determined. he was the brother of backstreet boys member, nick carter, and rose

to fame in the 1990s. our reporter tom brada joins me now. what more do we know? well, his death was first _ what more do we know? well, his death was first reported _ what more do we know? well, his death was first reported by - what more do we know? well, his death was first reported by the - death was first reported by the entertainment website tmz, we said that the former pop star was found dead in the bath at his home in lancaster, california, and that a 911 call had been made at around 11am in the morning, which the police then responded to. at the moment, there are very limited details surrounding the exact circumstances of what happened. mr carter's representatives have given an official statement, jack read to you now. this is what they said. and on that he does leave behind a son, a baby boy who was just born last year. that is very sad. how big a star was he?

well, he was a really big pop culture figure in the �*90s and the early to's first as a pop star, also as an actor, and eventually even as a rapper. and the early 2000s first as a pop star, also as an actor, and eventually even as a rapper. so, lots of people know him because he is the brother, in fact, of nick carter, one of the stars of the pub mega group the backstreet boys. and, in fact, he launched his career opening for them on a lot of the tours and during a lot of the concerts. the point is he was then able to pull away from that and want a very successful career of his own. he released four albums, many of them selling out millions and millions of times over. they should point out that the very first album that he released was put out when he was just nine years old. but was “ust nine years old. but not wasjust nine years old. but not “ust wasjust nine years old. but notjust a — wasjust nine years old. but notjust a m _ wasjust nine years old. but notjust a pop star, - wasjust nine years old. but notjust a pop star, was he? that's right. a touch on the point that he had a range of activities that he became known for. he was, in fact, activities that he became known for. he was, infact, a activities that he became known for. he was, in fact, a little bit of a star of the small screen as well. he was on the lizzie mcguire tv show, which was a massive hit amongst children in the 1990s and early

2000. he eventually evolved away from pop music and became away from pop music and became a rap artist. but, unfortunately, like lots of people who have the glare of the spotlight on them from the age, from when they are very young, from when they are children, he actually had some well—documented struggles throughout his life. back in 2013 he declared bankruptcy and was likely fairly well known for being in and out of rehab at various stages in his life. but for most of his fans, they will choose remember the 1990s heartthrob who, at the age of just 3a, has passed away really far too soon. aha, just 34, has passed away really far too soon.— far too soon. a really varied career there. _ far too soon. a really varied career there. what - far too soon. a really varied career there. what kind - far too soon. a really varied career there. what kind of l career there. what kind of tribute so is incoming and? we are seeing _ tribute so is incoming and? - are seeing some people who knew him during his height of his fame make some moving statements. hilary duff, i mentioned that he was in the lizzie mcguire show, she was the titular character. this is what you wrote on her instagram. —— she wrote.

and she is obviously referring to some of the challenges he faced in his life, which i mentioned earlier. clearly they had a bond which enjoyed. also, some of his contemporaries, a band new kids on the block —— new kids on the block, this is what they tweeted. 0k, ok, tom, thanks very much. that is for now. there is much more on the news website, bbc .com/ more on the news website, bbc .com / news. whimsical i would value to the us mid—term election coverage levels of tell you what you need to know in some of the big names in the running ahead of those votes on tuesday. there is also full page dedicated to cop27, which gets under way this weekend in sharm el—sheikh in egypt. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston. from all of us here on the team in london, thanks very much for your company. we will see you

next time. bye—bye. hello. a bit more sunshine around for many as we go through sunday, but it won't be completely dry day by any means. we'll see plenty of showers around and for one or two, a particularly wet morning. we've got low pressure that is creeping in ever closer off the atlantic and here it is on the shorts. around that, we are going to see strengthening winds pushing to the west. but before it properly arrives, the weather front that was with us yesterday today has developed a little bubble on it. and into the start of sunday, could produce some very heavy rain. very mild conditions towards the southeast corner. cooler elsewhere some clear skies and one or two showers. of the folks in the first part of the morning. channel islands through to set these england and parts of east anglia with the heavy rain, some of or seen a months worth of rain is the last five days. it could be some further flooding around. that rain eventually easing. away from that though, showers mainly in the west to begin with will develop a bit more widely and push

their way northwards and eastwards. there will be some spots of northeast england that stage right and brightening up to scotland into the afternoon with more in the way of drier weather. winds will be picking up throughout the day, particularly towards the southwest where you could see winds gusting in at a0 miles an hour through the afternoon and temperatures the degree or so up on saturday's values, ten to 15 degrees. now as you go through sunday evening and overnight, we will see the showers continue with an area of low pressure pushing its way towards the northwest of scotland, strongest winds across the west and perhaps some longer spells of rain to take us into monday morning. it shouldn't be too chilly a night though as we go through the night into monday morning, thanks to the strength of that breeze which is coming in from a mouth south—westerly direction but it will bring plenty of cloud around on monday. a scattering of showers again just to buy for anyone, but not a huge amount of sunshine between them and even though we haven't got the sunshine, temperatures continue to climb under the southwest winds around 13 to 16 degrees. later in the day though, the winds really will be starting to pick up. 110,50, 60 mile an hour gusts possible out towards the west. those winds strengthen even further as we go through monday night as this weather front pushes its way eastwards.

one low pushes out and another one approaches from the west as we go through the coming week. at this next one is going to be dragging our air all the way from the mid—atla ntic. so, the second of the week, will continue to see those temperatures climbed. so, after rather chilly weekend, there will be temperatures around normal for this week ahead, temperatures will climb but is high pressure builds into the south and east, there will be more in the way of dry weather. see you soon.

this is bbc news. the headlines: with a couple of days to go until the us midterm elections, president biden and barack obama have hit the campaign trail in philadelphia in a final effort to win votes in the critical contest, while donald trump has held his own republican rally in pennsylvania. iran has admitted supplying what it calls "a limited number" of drones to russia but iranian state media has said there's "no evidence" they've been used in ukraine. president zelensky has called on tehran to come clean about the extent of its involvement in the conflict. police say the firebombing of an immigration centre in south east england was the result of an act of terrorism. authorities believe andrew leak, who is thought to have killed himself after the attack last sunday, was motivated by an extreme

right—wing ideology.