The World Tonight

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has scrapped plans to make foreign care workers already in the UK wait 15 years to qualify for permanent settlement. We hear from the home secretary, a worker from Nepal who’s now facing an uncertain future, and Labour MP Rachael Maskell – who thinks the plans are unfair.Also in the programme: James Coomarasamy reports on one Republican incumbent’s attempts to show independence from President Trump as campaigning draws to a close ahead of US midterm elections tomorrow. And novelist Hanif Kureishi discusses his latest book, written after an accident meant he’s lost the use of most of his body.

James Coomarasamy reports from Pennsylvania as Rust Belt voters focus on the economy. Midterm elections are often viewed as a referendum on the party in power – so what verdict might next week’s deliver? James speaks to workers, Republicans and Democrats ahead of votes that will determine who controls Congress during Donald Trump’s last two years in power.Also in the programme: Cryptocurrency giant Binance attempts to recover $6.3bn stolen in a hack linked to North Korea. And we visit the British Library’s new exhibition ‘Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery’.

This evening, the death has been announced of the actor Sir Patrick Stewart. We reflect on Sir Patrick's career, which spanned Shakespeare and Star Trek, and hear from his co-star in the science fiction series, Wil Wheaton.Also on the programme: Spanish authorities are working to identify victims from yesterday's train crash near Madrid, which killed at least 69 people; and we'll hear about the offshore workers using weight-loss jabs to comply with new rules to ensure they can be safely evacuated.

Chancellor John Healey has used the Budget to announce that millions of households will receive £100 this winter to help with the rise in energy costs. He will also increase tax on bank profits and has offered tax breaks for some high street shops. We consider the winners and losers. Also on the programme: The Spanish prime minister has said the whole country is in mourning after a train crash killed at least 68 people. And passengers on a three-and-a-half-year cruise around the world have been left stranded in Cambodia due to high fuel costs.

Israeli exit polls suggest Gadi Eisenkot's bloc has won the largest number of seats in the general election but has fallen short of a majority. Eisenkot leads the newly formed Yashar party and is the main figure in the "change bloc", a group of opposition parties with the shared goal of ousting Benjamin Netanyahu. We hear from one of the party's candidates.Also on the programme: the United States says it has issued visas for Flavio Bolsonaro, who on Sunday lost Brazil's presidential election, and his family. Bolsonaro is reported to have fled his home country after being order to surrender his passport by Brazil's Supreme Court amid allegations of money laundering.And we speak to a leader of the 'Effective Altruism' movement about how they're trying to take on the AI industry.