al-jazeera. donald trump arrives in ohio for his 1st presidential debate with rival joe biden. watch al-jazeera lie from headquarters in doha i'm dead you know brigades are also coming up the way it mourns the death of fits and mirrors. would steer the country's foreign policy for more than 50 years. the u.n. calls for an immediate end to fighting between azerbaijan and armenia as the 2 sides accuse one another of firing into their territory. and as the global

coronavirus death toll continues to rise we look at why latin america has been hit hard. thanks for joining us in just about 2 hours from now the u.s. president donald trump and his democratic challenger joe biden will go head to head in the 1st of 3 televised presidential debates so trump's taxes are likely to be the highlights as well as race issues the coronavirus pandemic and the economy take a look at the live pictures there they are the stage is set as you can see live pictures from ohio where they will face each other and this will be a debate like no other before it's coronavirus measures means there will be no handshake and the live audiences being limited to around just 80 people of this 1st debate will be an opportunity for donald trump to reframe the election in his favor

joe biden is expected to stay on script trying to make november's vote a referendum on the president's fumbled pandemic response let's bring in john hendren he is joining us from the city where the debate will be held that's in cleveland ohio so 2 hours from now john as we're saying just look at the strategies what are the strategies of the 2 man going into this debate. what we can expect donald trump to be on the attack he's the one lagging in the polls so he's going to want to mix up the dynamic he's going to want people to leave this debate saying wow joe biden messed up or donald trump made some good points for by who he is likely to play a much safer role he's the guy who's been ahead in the polls he's been campaigning largely from his delaware home recently getting out a little more but he's going to he's going up against a dangerous potent because donald trump in the words of. aid is going up

against a chimp with a machine gun somebody using unpredictable and dangerous and that's what yo biden is going to face president trump wants to mix this up you know there are 6 topics for this debate all of them chosen by the moderator chris. wallace of fox news but the new york times injected a 7th earlier this week when it did a blockbuster story revealing that trump has paid no tax in 10 of the 15 years examined and in 201617 paid just $750.00 you can bet that joe biden will be talking about that and it will be to a large number of viewers 75 percent of registered voters say that they will view this event but only 3 percent according to a monmouth poll say they believe it could change their minds that there's already been bickering ahead that head of the debate trump has asked biden to take a drug test he said he said he wanted to inspect biden for an earpiece and said that biden wanted to take too many breaks ahead of time biden has denied most of

that we put together a story suggesting what might happen tonight please take a look. there will be no pats on the back no shoulder rubs and no handshakes this time for a very different reason american presidential debates are supposed to be about policy differences and there will be distinctions on coronavirus the economy and racial justice with the biggest contrast will be a colossal clash of personalities joe biden son of a used car salesman this has been the most corrupt administration. versus donald trump the self described billionaire who has paid is literally nearly taxes that some families pay for a month's rent as biden points out in this ad. or in trump's telling a successful entrepreneur versus a radical dotard they will deliver a crippling shutdown and a steep you will have if sleepy joe biden becomes press 1st of all you can have

a massive tax increase you're going to see interest rates go through the ceiling you will have a depression the likes of which this country has never seen before and despite a lack of evidence the victim of a concerted campaign by. dark forces to defraud the election and stop with this nonsense because we're going to be counting ballots at x. 2 years the president has made it clear as always he'll be on the attack one of the aims of the trump campaign is to try and show that biden is not competent to show him stumbling and so the more they. get him off his game the better one tactic he's used before target biden's son hunter which prompted this angry response when a voter try to so you have. the debate is being held in ohio a state that often decides elections in the middle of a pandemic on the campus of one of the nation's most prestigious medical centers biden is expected to go after trump's coronavirus credentials noting that he told

a reporter who knew how deadly the virus was even as he was telling voters it would magically disappear. if people know the president's allies i mean they know that it's not like it's. going to come as a surprise and so i'm prepared to go out and make my case as to why i think she's failed when it's over if history is any guide both will declare victory until the next debate. and john i mean not surprisingly covered 19 is in fact one of the list of topics that they will be asked about but how are conditions different this year . well they'll be very different they're only going to be 80 people in that pavilion behind me and to give you an idea how big it is it was temporarily the hospital which had a 1000 beds inside that was never used because it wasn't needed but that gives you

an idea of the kinds of social distancing that will be going on there as you mentioned earlier there will be no handshakes there will be no touching at all. everyone who came here had to be tested including those of us in the press who are just standing outside that tells you that you are negative for covert 19 you don't have one of these they send you home and you have to go on quarantine but the main issue is that coronavirus will become a major part of this debate not just because it's on the agenda of the moderator but because joe biden is going to try to bring it up no matter what they're talking about if you're talking about the economy biden is going to say the economy is in the tank because $30000000.00 people are out of work because donald trump mishandled the economy and that it's going to take months to recover because he didn't act quickly enough joe biden thinks he has a strong argument about coronavirus and he is going to try to make that topic number one throughout the night donald trump will likely throw

a few jabs back at him on a number of other things but one of them is biden's son hunter who trump knows could rile biden up that's going to be one of the things he is likely to do according to his campaign expect coronavirus to play a big part throughout this debate. all right and john will speak to a little later on thank you for the time being john reporting from cleveland ohio the scene of the debate that will start in just under 2 hours time let's bring in henry olsen he's a columnist at the washington post and a senior fellow at the ethics and public policy center he's joining us from alexander that's in virginia thanks very much for your time with us on al jazeera let's talk about what's going to happen in 2 hours time look polls are moving in the wrong direction for donald trump what does he need to do tonight he needs to reset the race in some way what he needs to do is convince americans not so much that biden is not up to the task old boy if you can do that that would be his home run what he needs to do is give them a different framework of how to view his accomplishments i think the subtext of the

trump campaign for the next 6 weeks needs to be not perfect just better say that he was somebody who was introduced a huge economic boom before one of our recent mistakes were made but not terrible mistakes and that under the circumstances he did as well as he took how do you think that he's been preparing for this debate. with the president he's been going sue some mock debates i assume he's been going through some briefing books but this is a president who's run his entire political career and it's got my guess is that he is prepared but that what you're going to see a little bit lee is less a matter of his preparation and more a matter of his instinct in the moment that's the way he's run his political career and i can't imagine he's going to shake that up now look we do expect by it and of course we'll see what happens but we do expect biden to criticize truong for paying just $750.00 in his 1st year 7 $150.00 in taxes that is in his 1st year at the

white house that's according to a new report that has just emerged how do you expect that to play out during the debates and amongst the undecided voters. i think that that is one of the most great unknown questions is that clearly trump is going to say look i took advantage of the law in order to minimize my taxes everybody does that whether they're. a real estate developer like me or you're just trying to take advantage of every last adduction i wouldn't be surprised though if he then went on the counter and talked about how biden has made millions of dollars he and his wife since he left office i wouldn't be surprised if he talked about hunter biden and talk about the millions of dollars under biden got and try to turn it less into a discussion of his taxes and more question of how he will try and insinuate the fighting family has cashed in on public assets yet how do you think in the end that

bite and it will be preparing for this and specifically like you mention reports that trump could be attacking. attacking him personally the biggest thing providing it is going to be keep his cool biden is somebody who gets hot under the collar when he's aggressively questioned about topics he's sensitive about there are a number of clips running around on you tube where somebody who we didn't even know were just a random questioner in the audience asked him a tough question about a sensitive topic and he just started raising his voice and kind of going crazy if he does that on the stage tonight i think that's a huge problem for him and i think trump if he's smart is going to try and push him into that and by him is going to have to keep his cool for 90 minutes if he's going to get through this and not take it down convincingly. there's a poll from the wall street journal n.b.c. which seems to suggest that more than 70 percent of those americans who were polled

say that the debates wouldn't really matter much to them i mean in your opinion do these the baits make a difference in swaying voters. the debates have not made a big difference in court or what they offer the opportunity for somebody less to break through than for somebody to screw up in 2012 rick perry who was a running for going to. presidential rick perry who is running for the republican presidential nomination was one of the banking tenders to mitt romney but then he goofed up from the bay state couldn't remember the 3rd department in the cabinet that you wanted to eliminate and he immediately dropped from all you that's the sort of mind lowing the state actually oh a campaign as long as nobody does that this will not be something that will change the outcome of the race very are i 10 real son we thank you very much for speaking to us from virginia thank you for just

a reminder that you can watch the debate right here on al-jazeera later from a 100 hours g.m.t. on wednesday that in a little over an hour's time we'll move on to other news in kuwait has begun 40 days of mourning to honor the death of its emir viewed by many arabs as a savvy diplomatic operator 91 year old. had ruled the gulf arab states since 2006 before that he stared kuwait's foreign policy for more than 50 years as a foreign minister he'll be succeeded by his half brother the 83 year old crown prince who is expected to be sworn in as the next emir on wednesday the modify the crown prince has always been known for his prudence on the state did occasion in devotion to serve for the benefit of kuwait and the kuwaiti people want to be the base exists as well to the base that insists you know idea. that in the united

states where he'd been in hospital following surgery in july jemma looks back at his life in recent years. had become recognized and relied on as a regional mediator. in 2017 when g.c.c. member states saudi arabia and the united arab emirates along with egypt accused qatar of supporting what they described as terrorism and imposed a land air and sea blockade it was him who intervened the kuwaiti amir attempted to broker a settlement urged for more dialogue between the gulf rivals and pushed for reforms to prevent future disputes. no question what triggered months of we have discussed the situation in the country for most unfortunate dispute between our brothers in the gulf region and our efforts to contain it. was born in kuwait city in 1929 the son of ahmed their job who was a mirror from 1984 to 1950 for 4 decades he held the post of foreign minister

in that time the oil rich country experienced huge economic growth but was also vulnerable to regional struggles although kuwait had supported the iraqi government during the nearly decade long war with iran in the 1980 s. . then president saddam hussein ordered his forces to invade kuwait in 1998. more than $1000.00 civilians were killed and hundreds went missing during the 7 months of iraqi occupation which triggered the 1st gulf war that same year. after u.s. led air campaign forced iraqi troops out of kuwait so bach was closely involved in rebuilding his country. and in 2003 he was appointed prime minister. at the time it was widely expected that his next role would be that of crown prince but in 2006 then. his half brother died

a new enemy or saddam abdullah saddam was sworn in almost immediately concerns were raised over the state of his health and sparked what's appear to be a power struggle within the royal family. after a tense 9 day reign the emir abdicated the koichi cabinet swiftly nominated as the next leader ending what was seen as a major crisis. in 2015 a suicide bomb exploded in a packed mosque in the east of quaint city killing 26 people. there near immediately rushed to the mosque despite security warning staring his sympathy with the people in the long life of some of the slovak he witnessed kuwait's so-called golden years of economic growth and darker periods of conflict regional turmoil and political crises towards the end his well honed skills in diplomacy mediation were increasingly relied on by other gulf states a role here p.r.

to welcome and one that's will be missed al-jazeera senior political analyst madeleine beside a looks at some of the late and mirrors achievements while in power. i think we can probably say 3 important things one. balance foreign policy that is balanced to step in to see within the country a region in the region and 3 reform. since that has served as foreign minister for some 40 years he's become what he became quite the seasoned politician quite a seasoned diplomat and he was very careful. with suffered the invasion of iraq to make sure that great always hears its way along re her powers and go over powers

so he would find a balance to do so again iran and say the united states and china there aren't many sort of doing appointments of the united states that they're shocked a foreign policy that's not totally and utterly dependent on the united states but then the oppressive succeeded in doing that somehow through a balance foreign policy coupled with mediation among the various. warring parties whether in the region or our side that i think that gave a special role if you up now and then the balance and continuity he sits in the ensure that within the country the only family in its relationship with the as elected national assembly that would be sort of a mutual respect if you will with the division of labor so the national something this role as to why he and the wooden family or the

executive and i think that's going to work out for a while i don't want to there were some pressures support for him and i think the media in that sense even before they have sex. began the reform within the country allowing women to join the national assembly has elected parliament there yes even allowed for the 1st time the national assembly could be questioning government officials so in a sense to keep on we're going to perform as well as with the balance. still ahead on al-jazeera we look at the devastating effect of 1000 as having on south africa's economy more than 2000000 jobs lost since. i am.

hello the eastern sections of the united states rain also some thunderstorms and the course out across the west it is dry it is also host as well as how much is still well above average into southern california this is people fleeing the scene . napa valley people have had to evacuate their homes and in fact the actual village of the town of has really been mostly evacuated now temperature wise to the north in california not too bad the winds are quite strong is when you get to the south 38 in los angeles on wednesday and no real changes they go on into thursday you'll see also for the next couple of days that rain will be sweeping across the great lakes the midwest heaviest at times and the winds a fairly brisk so tom which is actually coming down quite noticeably just minneapolis but ahead of the feeling and looking very nice a nice sunshine and some good temperatures 26 in atlanta 25 celsius in raleigh not quite it's a fine and dry across much of the caribbean and central america panama costa rica

that is where the rains will be very heavy for the next couple days cuba as well still seeing some fairly heavy downpours but really it is going to be the yucatan peninsula and southern mexico that's where the heaviest rain will be it'll stay there for the next couple days we could see 250 millimeters of rain. the world's biggest economy was put on. deregulating industries of old delivered growth for a president who promised greatness again. at the coronavirus pandemic has seen resurgence replaced with a recession. as the world eagerly watching to see how either presidential candidate might revive the u.s. economy. details coverage of the u.s. elections on al-jazeera.

oh. probably down the top stories on al-jazeera in just under 2 hours from now the u.s. president donald trump and his democratic challenger joe biden go head to head in the 1st of 3 televised presidential debates trying to taxes are likely to take center stage as well as race issues the coronavirus pandemic and the economy 40 days of mourning have been declared across kuwait following the death of its emir ships obama. is 83 year old half brother the crown prince will be sworn in on wednesday. armenia and azerbaijan have accused one another of firing into each other's territory as they flare up and fighting entered its 3rd day their dispute centers on the region of nagorno-karabakh in one incident armenia says as

a really ally turkey shot down one of fitz fighter jets in its own airspace a claim turkey denied robin forestry walker reports from georgia's tbilisi. soldiers and civilians are being flown to hospitals you know media's capital good advice from the conflict zone. then the helicopter is returned to bridgeboro we did from the government cover about. but not everyone can be airlifted. again son is fighting for his life in the regional capital step panic at you know one thing there was incarnate or we took the children out so they could hide or run away but we failed one of my family members my 9 year old daughter was killed they either by all tillery or a bomb dropped by them my little boy seriously injured and my wife is in hospital she is also injured on this. dozens of people have been killed and

hundreds injured since the fighting began on sunday as a by john says it is taking back towns and territory held by armenians since 1994. armenian forces say they are holding their ground. the most important thing is we are brave fearless and we will go forward tossed stock that over the captured a lot of us very military equipment and we continue to fight against them using their own equipment we do well with this. all the while civilian men are signing up for the duty in azerbaijan's capital who just as they are in yerevan. by all that are our president people here gathered for a partial mobilization which means that it concerns a man under the age of 32 and those who are considered suitable for asked by their profession on tuesday armenia claimed that a turkish f. 16 fighter jet had shot down an armenian plane 60 kilometers inside armenian

airspace barcoo and ankara both swiftly denied that allegation but if true it would be a worrying new development turkey has already said it's prepared to help as a by gone on the battlefield and the risk is that russia could be brought into the fighting because armenia is part of the moscow led c.s.t. oh the collective security treaty organization and any attack on a single member state can be considered an attack against. france's calling an urgent meeting with russia and the u.s. to find a path to deescalation the 3 have mediated the dispute in the past. this is the most intense fighting between the 2 countries since the 1990 s. and so far the international community seems powerless to stop it robin for

a steelworker al-jazeera tbilisi. 2 years after his murder in istanbul one of saudi arabia's journalist. dreams has come true human rights watchdog group focused on the arab world launched in washington d.c. on shoes day the new nonprofit will focus on promoting democracy and supporting political exiles across the region. was at the launch event in washington. as we approach the 2nd anniversary of the brutal murder of journalist shoji at the hands of saudi arabian officials his colleagues his friends their launch in an effort that he was working on before he was murdered it's called dawn start that stands for democracy in the arab world now they say eventually they hope to cover the entire arab world but for now they're just going to focus on what they see as wrong doing in saudi arabia egypt the united arab emirates they have to have a platform to dissidents to expose what they say is wrongdoing in those countries

and also to put pressure on american officials they say that this is in fact the legacy of jamal khashoggi and that they are trying to honor it as they approach the 2nd anniversary of his murder in latin america is the worst coronavirus affected region in the world with 9200000 confirmed cases that's being attributed to several factors including poor government measures inequality and a lack of health care resources leaders and some nations most notably brazil and mexico have openly disregarded public health guidelines and virus restrictions have been ineffective in many areas because of overcrowded living conditions as well as informal employment. lago is the executive director of the institute for health policy studies in rio de janeiro he explains why many countries in latin america have failed to use their health resources effectively. i think there are 3 main reasons for the reason reason to become the biggest victim of the coheed 19 1st one

. is the fact that the region is the most unequal region of the world and inequalities social and economic inequalities are directly linked to help outcomes so we have it's harder to do a lock down it's harder to do hygiene policies the 2nd biggest challenge is concerns distinct passage in specially public health systems so we have a region with. more often fragile health systems very fragmented health the systems then you have the 3rd problem which is leadership so you have a government that does not do not believe does not believe in science does not believe in evidence based policy and. only looking at. how to increase its popularity. there have been more protests outside israel's parliament against coronavirus restrictions on the

a possible ban on demonstrations police say at least 3 people were arrested the government imposed a 2nd nationwide lockdown earlier this month to halt the spread of the virus it's recorded more than 234000 infection us south africa has lost more than 2000000 jobs the biggest fall on record it came during one of the strictest coronavirus lockdowns in the world almost 21000000 people were unemployed in june many couldn't look for work because of the restrictions and the country has reported 671000 cases and around 16600 deaths isabel frys the director of the studies and poverty and inequality institute she says the economic downturn is heightening inequality but africa was facing dire economic inequalities right act so we had we have. come and well what we've seen is that we will want to

focus shrunk so people out and. economic activity and what is the result. they are very few people will it will make money and so you have a very negative cycle which reinforces. hello again the headlines on al-jazeera in just under 2 hours from now the u.s. president donald trump and his democratic challenger joe biden go head to head in the 1st of 3 televised presidential debates trumps taxes are likely to take center stage as well as race issues that coronavirus pandemic and the economy more from john hendren was at the debate sides in ohio.