live from singapore, this is bbc news. with hours to go before polls open, donald trump and kamala harris made theirfinal open, donald trump and kamala harris made their final push open, donald trump and kamala harris made theirfinal push in the key swing states that will decide who will be the next president of the united states, i see the promise of america in every one who is here, in every one of you, in every one of us, we are the promise of america. we stand in the verge of the four— we stand in the verge of the four greatest years of american history. — four greatest years of american history, it's really something. with— history, it's really something. with your— history, it's really something. with your help, we will restore americ6's— with your help, we will restore america's promise and we will take _ america's promise and we will take back_ america's promise and we will take back the nation that we all love _ take back the nation that we all love so much. more _ all love so much. more heavy rain in spain causing floods in barcelona,

less than a week after 200 people were killed in floods around valencia. in indonesia, rescuers search for bodies under buildings destroyed by volcanic eruptions on the island of florence. and quincy on the island of florence. and quinchones, the legendary musician and producer of michaeljackson�*s thriller has died. michaeljackson�*s thriller has died. welcome to newsday, i'm steve lai. it i'm steve lai. is new in singapore and 11pm it is new in singapore and ”pm in washington, dc, as the nation prepares to vote in one of the most eagerly anticipated us presidential elections of modern times. it has been a frantic final day of campaigning in a race that is on a knife edge. all eyes will be on the seven key states that will decide the election, the

predictable so—called swing states whose allegiances often shift between democrats and republicans. the last hour, we heard from wisconsin, georgia, and we will hear from our correspondence in nevada, arizona, and michigan. we begin our coverage in pennsylvania with this report by sarah smith. both candidates have landed in pennsylvania to deliver their final messages, both fighting over every vote in the state that could and victory to either of them. if we win pennsylvania, not me, if we win pennsylvania, we win the whole ball of wax, it's over. donald trump wants people to consider one single question as they vote. are you better off now than you were four years ago? but as he traverses the country, his speeches are getting more erratic. here he is telling voters things will get nasty if he is re—elected to the white house. we stand on the verge

of the four greatest years in american history. you watch, it's going to be so good. it's going to be so much fun. it'll be nasty little bit at times and maybe at the beginning in particular but it's going to be something. he did not explain what he means by that. but for a man who prides himself on the size of his crowds, the empty seats at his closing rallies will be a worrying sign. right across america, from florida to texas and ohio, there have already been record numbers of people early voting where people can cast their ballots in advance. over 78 million have done so so far. that's about half the total number of people who voted in the whole of the 2020 election. kamala harris has stopped warning about the dangers of re—electing donald trump and in fact, she has stopped even mentioning his name at all. you know, this whole era of this other guy... she is deliberately giving a morejoyful message in the last hours of campaigning. we are going to keep doing this work with the optimism that it

requires to be strong. everyone here knows in the context of your family, in your life, when you believe something is possible, you put in the hard work and you know it's good work, hard work is good work, it'sjoyful work, and we get the job done. let's get this done. in washington, metalfences and other security measures are being put up before the result of the election is known. the police say there is no specific threat but they obviously feel the need to prepare for what could happen in this deeply divided country, where emotions around this election are running very high. sarah smith, bbc news, harrisburg, pennsylvania. there are therei just hours to go. an average of the polls suggest kamala harris remains a single point ahead of donald trump that in the seven swing

states, the leads are so narrow, it is impossible to know who is ahead. let's get more on that. here in michigan, one of the major issues is the war in the middle east because it has the us�*s largest arab american population and there is a lot of anger about the democrats support for israel, particularly among those with family in lebanon and gaza. even if donald trump hasn't necessarily said what he do differently. trump also managed to win over a lot of blue—collar workers here in 2016 with his economic pitch but there are also a lot wealthier and college educated republicans who do not like his character or values in one place that's one republican to democrat in 2020 was kent county where donald traditional party lines in michigan are out the window, neither candidate can rely on their core base in the same way they used to. in arizona, donald trump believes he is on course to win thanks to his favourite talking point, immigration. this estate has hundreds of miles of the border with mexico and donald trump is often told voters how would he tackle what he calls the invasion of illegal migrants.

he won this state in 2016 and then lost it in 2020 by the narrowest of margins. and this beautiful state, of deserts and mountains, saw some really ugly scenes with protesters coming out onto the streets as donald trump and his supporters spread conspiracy theories that the election had been stolen. and those conspiracies spread from arizona across america and they are still feeling the repercussions today. here in nevada, the economy is a key issue that is animating - voters. state in the nation, 5.6%, i and even higher in las vegas where you have a tourism driven service economy. i so proposals like formerl president trump's no tax on tips had gained traction here~ _ so much so that vice president kamala harris has said - she agrees with the idea i although she wants to see it paired with a hike - to the federal minimum wage which has not gone up here in| the united states for 15 years.

millions of americans have already voted and millions more will head to the polls on tuesday to cast their ballot but it is worth reminding you how the election actually works. the us uses a unique system called the electoral college, meaning the winner is not the person who gets the most votes across the country. instead, both candidates compete to win contests held across the 50 states. each state has a certain number of electoral votes and there are a total of 538 for grabs, and the winner is the candidate that wins 270 or more. all but two states have a winner takes all, so whichever candidate wins the highest number of votes wins all of the electoral college votes. most states lean heavily towards one party or the other so the focus is usually a handful of battleground or swing states where either of them could win. it is possible for a candidate to win the popular vote, like hillary

clinton did in 2016, but still be defeated by the electoral college, which led to the when of trammps. we spoke to a professor at the university of sydney and he explained why they use the electoral system. it dates from the idea that almost every state at the founding of the united states at the end of the 19th century was almost like a country, not quite the european union today but many states didn't want to give up too much of their own sense of identity and wanted to have certainly their own say in any election. and it was particularly the southern states that word their place, obviously where slavery was based and the majority of slaves were, those states wanted to make sure that they had particular rights, and this led to the peculiar system where each state proportionate to the population but with a minimum of three electoral votes for the smaller states,

they got to have this federalised a system where each state has a certain voice, as you say. in reality, it has meant that only a small number of very closely contested states, we know them from the outside of america, pennsylvania is a regular one, florida has been the place of a lot of electoral manoeuvring in the selection, georgia, michigan, wisconsin, arizona, they are the key places where candidates have spent all their time because that is where the election will be decided.- election will be decided. given what ou election will be decided. given what you have _ election will be decided. given what you have explained - election will be decided. given| what you have explained about the origins of the electoral college, is it still fit for purpose in 202a? college, is it still fit for purpose in 2024?- college, is it still fit for purpose in 2024? college, is it still fit for --urosein2024? , �* purpose in 2024? why hasn't it chanced? purpose in 2024? why hasn't it changed? no. _ purpose in 2024? why hasn't it changed? no, i— purpose in 2024? why hasn't it changed? no, i don't— purpose in 2024? why hasn't it changed? no, i don't think - purpose in 2024? why hasn't it changed? no, i don't think it i changed? no, i don't think it is particularly fit for purpose. i think it has got a lot of faults. i think for most people, vote across the nation, the winner of the most votes is the winner of the most votes is the most simple and straightforward way of deciding who the president is, that is the person who is most popular

across the united states. i think it would lead to less pandering to these really sort of specific interest groups and states which have become so important, like pennsylvania and georgia. it would also lead to a lot less pressure on those era running elections, those people have come under a lot of unfair scrutiny, people have come under a lot of unfairscrutiny, i mean unfair scrutiny, i mean elections unfairscrutiny, i mean elections in the united states aren't perfect but there is no great record at all of much fraud, to politicise people who are counting votes, to follow them home, to publish their home addresses, this has been a really unfortunate development really u nfortu nate development that really unfortunate development that donald trump has been very associated with. so there are many reasons to say that the electoral system should change, but it is very hard to achieve. i mean, you need a constitutional amendment or you would need a very big group of states to say, look, we are going to hand our votes over in a different way, we are going tojust give our a different way, we are going to just give our electoral couege to just give our electoral college votes to the person who gets the most votes across the

country. so that is a possibility but very difficult to get to the margin that you need of 270 electoral college votes from enough states in the united states. you can watch live coverage of the results on bbc news and bbc and the iplayer in the uk on tuesday, will be bringing you a special programme from washington dc. at least ten people have been killed when a volcano has erupted in east indonesia. ash and lava speed kilometres from the crater of mount lewotobi laki—laki on the tourist island of flores. this video received by the bbc indonesia service shows burned and damaged houses. residents let —— fled in terror. it happened in the middle of the night. our

correspondent told us about the latest rescue efforts. figs correspondent told us about the latest rescue efforts.— latest rescue efforts. as of toda , latest rescue efforts. as of today. so _ latest rescue efforts. as of today, so the _ latest rescue efforts. as of today, so the latest - latest rescue efforts. as of| today, so the latest update latest rescue efforts. as of - today, so the latest update we received from the government official was yesterday evening when they are still trying to evacuate one village that is badly damaged by the ash and rocks and spews. as of now, as we are speaking right now, the government is giving updates on how they are going with the evacuation process for today but as of yesterday the government also mentioned that they are focusing on giving aid to the people who are now sheltering in schools in the nearby villages. the ministry of social affairs say they have sent thousands of packs of food and also clothes for babies and people who are now sheltering in the buildings.— in the buildings. could you tell us a — in the buildings. could you tell us a bit _ in the buildings. could you tell us a bit more - in the buildings. could you tell us a bit more about i

in the buildings. could you i tell us a bit more about how many people have been affected by this and some of the challenges that rescuers have been facing?— challenges that rescuers have been facing? around more than 10,000 people _ been facing? around more than 10,000 people are _ been facing? around more than 10,000 people are evacuated l 10,000 people are evacuated from the nearby villages yesterday but before that because the eruption has happened on and off since december last year, hundreds of people have already left their homes and shelters in schools in the villages around further away from the mount lewotobi laki—laki and what we have received yesterday, videos from locals who are badly affected by the eruption, many of them are still feeling traumatised, they are still panicked when they are still panicked when they hear loud noises, especially because the volcanic activity of the mount lewotobi laki—laki is right now still

happening, even though we are still unsure whether there will be a follow—up eruption of the mountain, but the indonesian authorities have said that we have to be prepared for the worst, and that is why they are now declaring emergency response status until the end of this year. response status until the end of this year-— response status until the end of this year. and 'ust quickly, how common — of this year. and just quickly, how common are _ of this year. and just quickly, how common are eruptions . of this year. and just quickly, l how common are eruptions like this in indonesia?— this in indonesia? indonesia has over _ this in indonesia? indonesia has over 130 _ this in indonesia? indonesia has over 130 volcanoes, - this in indonesia? indonesia l has over 130 volcanoes, many this in indonesia? indonesia - has over 130 volcanoes, many of them are still active, and a lot of the communities also live nearby the volcanoes, people around this active volcano mainly work as farmers because they are benefiting with the fertile soil that is provided by volcanoes, so this kind of disaster is unfortunately quite common in indonesia. we are also sitting in the so—called pacific ring

of fire which is an area where we are at the top of a lot of seismic activity and that is why indonesia has been known to be really prone to volcanoes eruptions and these kind of disasters. south korea and japan say north korea has test—fired several short—range ballistic missiles, its second launch in under a week. seoul said the projectiles were fired off north korea's east coast into the sea of japan. tokyo said seven missiles were launched in total. the missile tests come as north korea faces condemnation for sending troops to russia for possible involvement in the war against ukraine. us officials say they're monitoring the situation — but don't believe this launch poses an immediate threat to the us or its allies. extremely heavy rain is causing problems in barcelona. this is less than a week after over 200 people died in flooding in valencia. water has entered parts

of the main airport and some motorways are flooded. further south, rescue workers in valencia continue to search underground car parks, as the search for missing people goes on. nick beake nick bea ke reports nick beake reports from valencia. the official search for bodies goes on, all along the flood—ravaged ravines, but many of the families of spain's missing have given up on the authorities and are doing the work themselves — this new instagram page, part tribute, part plea for help to find their loved ones. among them, brothers izan, on the left, and ruben, just three years old. we went to the boys' town and found the family home — what's left of it, the brothers' bedroom door one of the few things still standing. every one of the communities devastated by these floods has its own particular dreadful story. what happened here is the sheer power of

the water picked up trucks. one of them came crashing down towards the family home. it knocked down a wall. the lights went out. the water came in, sweeping away the two boys and their dad. jonathon, their next—door neighbour, told us what happened next. translation: the water destroyed everything - in its path. the dad told me that he'd managed to take his boys in his arms, but then realised they had gone. he said the power of the water was incredible. "oh, my god," they shouted. when the water flooded valencia's largest shopping centre last week, it had been full of families. many of them escaped, but fears have grown that some may have been trapped in the underground car park. dozens of empty cars have been retrieved, but others have not yet been reached. when we asked one police officer if he knew whether

anyone had died here, he wouldn't tell us. many spaniards are furious at a lack of information. today, in the second city, barcelona, a new deluge filled the streets, cancelling trains and planes, bringing more misery. last week's devastating floodwaters have long receded, but they've exposed anger and a sense of abandonment, and that feeling is not going away. nick beake, bbc news, valencia. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are alive with bbc news. let's turn to the latest from the middle east, and the us secretary of state has urged israel to substantially increase humanitarian aid into gaza. antony blinken has spoken with israel's defence minister yoav gallant and called

for civilians in all parts of gaza to get better access to food, medicine and other essential supplies. the us has given israel a deadline of next week to boost aid supplies into gaza or risk having some military assistance cut off. it comes as unrwa, the united nations agency for palestinian refugees has warned that an israeli ban on its operations could lead to the collapse of humanitarian work in gaza. israel has rejected the warning, claiming the agency only carries out a small percentage of aid work in the strip. earlier, israel formally told the un it was cutting ties with unrwa after accusing some staff of colluding with hamas during the october 7th attacks. the us state department says unrwa is playing a crucial role in gaza. so, right now, there is no other way to distribute aid in sufficient form and that is why the secretary made clear in the letter that we were posing that legislation because unrwa plays a critical role. there are other humanitarian operations that work inside gaza, but we

see unrwa is continuing to play a critical role. the us has also urged israel to take action over violence by settlers in the occupied west bank. it follows the torching of more than a dozen cars near ramallah. the us state department says it's also deeply concerned by reports of palestinians being attacked by settlers who damaged property, assaulted civilians and released dogs to attack residents. officials in northern india say 36 people have been killed after a bus fell into a gorge. police said the bus was carrying more than 40 people when the accident occurred in the mountainous district. several people were taken to nearby hospitals. the local state has all the dining cash inquiry into the accident. vladimir putin has read —— mehd

north korea's foreign minister. the meeting comes as the us criticised russia and china at the united nations for quote shamelessly protecting north korea as pyung and continue to build up its nuclearforce. eight people have gone on trial in paris in connection with the beheading of a french school teacher behead —— four years ago. samuel paty was murdered outside the school where he worked after messages were spread on a social media that he had shown people cartoons of the prophet muhammad. seven people are accused of encouraging the killer who was shot dead by police. the legendary musician and producer quincy the legendary musician and producer quinchan has died at age 91. in a career that spanned more than 71 years, he worked with frank sinatra, aretha franklin and michael jackson. he produced thriller

which is the best selling album of all time. lizo mzimba looks back at a remarkable life. # cos this is thriller...# quinchones could do it all. producing some of music's biggest hits... # you know it's thriller, thriller night # you're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller.# music: soul bossa nova song quinchones ..and writing songs that helped define an era. ladies and gentlemen, mr quincy jones! this is where the movie gets its mojo, baby. . mwan — groovy, yes, baby. a teenage jazz trumpeter, by his mid—20s, he had his own ensemble, before leading the band and arranging songs for frank sinatra. # luck let a gentleman see.# quinchones had a genius for rhythm, structure and instrumentation. # fly me to the moon, let me swing among the stars.# his screen work too was prolific, writing the music for more than 50 film

and tv productions... # in the heat of the night...# ..from the gospel—inspired theme to sidney poitier�*s in the heat of the night... # seems like a cold sweat creeping cross my brow.# ..to the italianjob's triumphantly english anthem. # the self preservation society # the self preservation society...# _ # you gotta feel that heat and we can ride the boogie.# one of his great gifts was bringing out the best in others. # i wanna rock with you all night...# he produced michael jackson's solo album, off the wall. it madejackson a star. # i wanna rock with you all night.# their next record together became the biggest album ever. it won him countless awards.

one of quincy's biggest pleasures was seeing others enjoying his music, although few enjoyed it as much as he clearly did here. # ai, no corrida, that's where i am # you send me there.# and over the last three—quarters—of—a century, he was undoubtedly one of music's greatest artists. mr quinchones! gone but not forgotten, quincy jones they're dying at the age of 91. before we go, let's take you to the artist i swear we can show you the very last rallies of both kamala harris and donald trump. on the left of your screen is, harris's rally, and under right is donald trump, oh, the other way round. kamala harris on the right of your screen. worth

knowing that polls open in vermont in about five hours' time. complete coverage right here on bbc news, will see you soon. hello there. mother nature is being a little bit stingy with sunshine at the moment, so if you've got it, you have to make the most and look up and enjoy through the beautiful autumn colour. we had just shy of 2.5 hours of sunshine in kent on monday afternoon, but most of us sat under cloudy grey skies. that's how we're going to continue for the rest of this week. a lot of dry, cloudy weather around. fog and drizzle could be an issue, but, again, it will be mild for this time of year. this high pressure just drifting its way steadily eastwards. but it's still blocking weather fronts from making too much of an impression as they try to move in from the atlantic. so on the whole, again, we start off quite cloudy, perhaps some patchy mist and fog lifting to low grey

cloud in the south east. if we're going to see the best of any sunshine, potentially, once again, across northern and central areas of scotland. temperatures peaking at around 11 to 14 degrees. a bit more of a breeze by the end of the day developing in the far north west and a few scattered showers here, but on the whole for bonfire night, the quiet theme continues. chance of seeing some returning mist and fog across south east england. so that weather front willjust brush the far north and west of scotland, but as it does so on wednesday, we will see a subtle change in wind direction to more of a southerly. that will mean just a degree or so warmer, and it might start to help break up the cloud just that little bit as well. so some showers across the north and west of scotland, but on the whole we keep quite a lot of cloud around. we will be chasing breaks from time to time, and as a result, temperatures may well peak at around 16 or 17 degrees, so still above where they should be for the first week of november. not that much in the way of change as we move into thursday.

again, the cloud will break up to allow for some brief glimpses of sunshine. favoured spots are likely to be the further north and west you are as we go through the day on thursday, and, again, somewhere like western scotland could see highs of 16 degrees. weather fronts trying to push in all the time, being blocked and weakened by this area of high pressure. but there's a potential as we move towards the weekend for some showery outbreaks of rain to start to push in from the extreme west. not too significant — we keep some sunshine further south. that's it. take care.

as us voters head to the polls on tuesday, we take a look at how economies and businesses in asia are preparing. plus, it's a big week for china, as top lawmakers gear up to sign off on stimulus measures for the world's number—two economy. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. the countdown is nearly over, with americans heading to the ballot box on tuesday to cast their vote for the next president. many polls have shown it to be a tight race between the two candidates — former president donald trump for the republican party, and vice president kamala harris for the democratic party. constance hunter, chief economist at economist intelligence unit, explained how the outcome of the vote could impact relations with china. a trump victory, combined with enough congressional

votes, would give him more power to change the way