investigating the use and abuse of power across the globe on. one week to go donald trump claims he's the best bet for the u.s. economy as wyvil for the presidency joe biden accuses him of surrendering to coronavirus. come about this and this is all to save a life from doha also coming up. over 1000 cases rise again in europe as criticism grows over how some governments are handling the pandemic. poland's conservative government remains defiant as protests well i guess

a court ruling that severely restricts abortions. calls for peaceful elections in tanzania to violence and the rest of the opposition leader in zanzibar . 7 days to the u.s. presidential election and both candidates are making their final pitches to swing voters democratic candidate joe biden has gone on the offensive over coronavirus during his 1st campaign visit to the former republican stronghold of georgia where polling now shows a tight race this administration has yet to offer a single plan yes one of the reasons why the most one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world the new england journal of medicine the president quote dangerously incompetent went on to say the president turned a crisis into

a tragedy i'm ready to act i know what to do. starting on day one of my presidency we will do it meanwhile donald trump is maintaining a hectic schedule he's held rallies in michigan and wisconsin and he's going to be in nebraska in the next hour where one electoral college vote is closely contested he's been praising his own handling of the economy is dr oblique the number one reason that i'm standing here because of 3 and that around. 7. we're going to win. i was going to win for years. but the number of people who still haven't made up their minds is shrinking quickly more than 69000000 americans have already voted that's already more than half of the total ballots cast in 2016 some analysts are projecting a record turnout of about 150000000 now as voter turnout is growing so too is the

coronavirus pandemic infections are surging again in the u.s. 36 out of 50 states have already seen an increase for at least 2 weeks in a roll by canada live for us in washington d.c. mike talk us through why these states are so important to the candidates. well for president trump the 3 states he's visiting in the course of the day he talked very easily and 2016 but now all polls indicate that it's neck and neck with joe biden biden has shrunk that gap the lead that trump had 4 years ago shrinking a significantly president trump focusing on these states because they are critical to him if he's going to be able to win the election and or to just you know his term within the white house he's attempting to reset the debate as well before he went out on the campaign trail he tweeted fake news media is going full on covert

covert covert we are rounding that turned 99.9 percent. so that's what he's saying attempting to reset the discussion from his handling of the coronavirus pandemic to his handling of the economy now all polls indicate that joe biden is rated far more highly in terms of his handling of the pandemic president trump is regarded far less favorably however on the economy president trump would agree to have the edge as the polls indicate but this final week absolutely critical because now we're seeing the gaps narrowed down between the 2 candidates states that were not in play in 2016 for the democratic party are now in play such as where joe biden is today and that is georgia. my we were just mentioning a moment ago about the extraordinary numbers of votes that have already been cast in this just talk us through some of the polling that's been coming in.

well it's a massive amount of votes that have already been cast it's 2 reasons one obviously the pandemic very people many people scared of going to vote in person on election day itself but this also it would appear to have been a revival in a spirit of voting among americans the fact that all indications are that this is going to be the largest number of voters taking part in an election in decades is indicative perhaps of exactly how intense this campaign has become and the degree to which the trump white house created this defiance of nature within a society driving people who may not have voted in past elections to vote this particular time with the intention of getting trump out now the significance of this massive number of people who voted before is that traditionally early votes tend to come from the democratic party this would indicate that the democratic

party does have a lead throughout the united states which would bear out every poll that we've been seeing however biden's own campaign manager is warning very strongly that traditionally once again republicans cast their vote votes on election day itself republicans go to the polls in person traditionally and the biden campaign is warning this is no time to lay back this is no time to think that you've got the election held that is still possible for president trump and his republican supporters to turn it around in person on election day itself that's my kind of talking to us live from washington d.c. mike thanks a lot for tom's victory 4 years ago was partly due to a big turnaround in the usually democratic state of michigan to be reelected next tuesday the president's going to need to win in the states larger countries such as mecum in the suburbs of detroit some of the mainly middle and upper class voters have been telling al-jazeera is john hendren about the issues that matter to them.

mccomb county in suburban detroit is auto country it's also home to the reagan democrats who switched parties in 1980 to vote for ronald reagan and after voting twice for barack obama it switched again in 2016 devote republican donald trump. mccomb county which sits between 2 great lakes lake huron in lake erie is scenic patriotic middle class and overwhelmingly white in the last election trump resonated here in 2016 pledged he would not cut medicare medicaid or social security very different from other republican candidates and i think that combined with a lot of his appeals to white identity politics really i think really appealed to a lot of people in mccomb county trump inspires tributes on land and water and a rare devotion among supporters to the greatest president we've ever had in my lifetime he has made so many promises and he's kept more promises that he's made

which is never happened ever as i believe in his policies he's gotten the job done so far he's pro-life he's everything i believe in. the 2020 election will test whether he's still popular here despite the coronavirus and an economic collapse his democrat joe biden's campaign workers canvassed the county early train how are they missing work he leads trump handily in recent polls what's changed is this mask the epidemic here as been very difficult we have lost over a 1000 people to call the president doesn't have a plan doesn't pretend to have one he wants more people to die joe biden will have a plan that will fix this code so that we can try and get back to normal wife. what has also changed is a growing political conflict within the state. democratic governor gretchen whitmer

his aggressive pandemic response led armed protesters to force their way into the state capital and it led to the arrest of 13 militia members who allegedly planned to kidnap or in trump has been fanning the flames you got to get your governor to open up your state. for donald trump to win again in 2020 he will almost certainly have to win michigan and to do that he will likely have to win right here john hendren mccomb county michigan. and in part 3 of our series touring some of the battleground states in america's midwest john hendren reports from ohio to find out what matters to voters there on al-jazeera oh while the u.s. has been suffering under coronavirus so has europe the 2nd wave is hitting europe hard the death rate in france has more than doubled in the past 24 hours they're reporting $523.00 deaths that's up from $257.00 on monday record numbers

of new cases are being reported across the continent more than 240001 monday almost 3 and a half times the daily rate at the beginning of the month belgium had a daily high of more than 800000 last week almost a 10 fold increase on the highest numbers seen in the 1st wave in spring and germany's government says they're likely to hit 20000 cases a day by the weekend medical workers in spain are holding a series of one day strikes demanding improved safety and working conditions they say they're exhausted after months of dealing with the pandemic and they're going to come out on strike on the final tuesday of every month on how that all reports from madrid. doctors across spain came out in the thousands for a 24 hour nationwide strike medics are calling for better working conditions and more health spending as the number of coffee 1000 cases continue to rise spain with

more than 1000000 cases and 35000 deaths is one of the worst affected countries in europe we are now in the middle of the 2nd wave of spain especially in madrid. all the health workers are very exhausted because we are very tired from the front of her eyes wave. were tired physically and mentally there is not enough. praise or if we have an old make enough to see our tears. clearly saw seal and confinement mess or work on the later we fill. from nowhere built isn't after years of whole service cast and after battling on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring doctors are taking action they are demanding better conditions and improved safety before they are in merced in the 2nd wave of coverage 19 of the strike came as a spanish government unveiled its budget for 2021 with the promise to 150 percent

increase in health spending the coalition government led by better santa has already imposed a state of emergency given central government shipping powers including restrictions on freedom of movement a curfew has been introduced from 11 pm until 6 am everywhere except at cannery islands. the state of emergency does also give regional governments some powers to try to stop the spread of virus each region will be able to apply its all measures after central and regional governments clash on the best way to battle the pandemic the central government hopes to extend the state of emergency until may next year but for the state need the backing of other political parties and that won't happen without a fight meanwhile cases continue to spiral upwards. magicked more protests are taking place across italy against new restrictions to tackle

a recent spike of infections dozens of takes then in multiple cities some parts chanting freedom earlier on monday protesters clashed with police in milan and today in her fires were lit and stores were looted riot police responded with tear gas on sunday the government ordered new restrictions which include restaurants and bars closing at 6 pm and so also promised a relief package to calm tensions. police in tanzania have denied firing bullets at protesters in the semi autonomous island of zanzibar a major opposition parties 8 people were killed during demonstrations over the last ballot fraud ahead of wednesday's elections the chairman of the african union is calling for calm. this protesters in tanzania semi-autonomous region of zanzibar are mostly supporters of safe shareef from that the main opposition presidential candidate was arrested in the early

morning at a polling station during advance voting special groups such as security personnel election officials and people with disabilities he was related released. it's been tense in the last few days on the island with fighting between opposition supporters and police after a political rally at the weekend pank sent troops from the tanzania and mainland have also been deployed voting continued at the polling stations despite demonstrators alleging that the election will be reet. it's a few protesters who wanted to cause destruction and. we have arrested some of their criminals everything is going well there is no major problems of the. several people on are reported to have been shot and killed and others injured after attempting to block the distribution of voting material they said some ballot papers had been remarked. elections in zanzibar have often been contentious and

violent in voting during the 2015 presidential call malim safe sheriff claimed victory for the electoral commission a nod to the results and the opposition courted are repeat an action. some analysts fear that an unfavorable result for the opposition this time could trigger another violent fall out with the ruling party. is known for its vibrant culture but many people say they're filling in recently marginalized others want more tanami from tanzania's rulers in direct and everyone wants to benefit from the reserves of natural gas discovered off the coast catherine al-jazeera. still ahead on al-jazeera a bomb blast kills at least 8 people and injures more than 100 others at a religious school in pakistan. al jazeera gains exclusive access to operations at the biggest u.s. military base in the gulf.

however there is particularly cold air in this part of the u.s. and that's prompting these thunderstorms and snow behind and of course you got hurrican zita due to make landfall somewhere around the louis yes louisiana coast with the code of risk they want that goes in and stretching out towards d.c. eventually another hurricane to hit louisiana coast yet a record breaking and where this pumps moisture and significance though seems likely in the texas panhandle in new mexico and quite possible but in oklahoma as well where the rain will be flash flood tide right is it do slowly northeast with the tempers behind arising in denver having not even made it above freezing sunday and monday is up to 13 degrees the current position of z.

terror's is going across the yucatan and sitting over the water so behind it things are now much quiet is still showers you'll notice in this part of mexico but dry picture in cuba and the cayman islands a good few showers in central america where you might expect and for now i was we say goodbye to the hurrican again we watch a similar picture in central america same is true in south america was brazil now seeing the thrust of those showers i think further east than they were before then particularly wet between salvador and rio. held for over 3 years in an egyptian prison cell denied the right to a fair trial no charges have been brought against al jazeera correspondent must move into saying his crime journalism. to demand my news release and voice solidarity with all detained journalists sign the petition.

free 100 percent. we want to know is it a reminder of our top stories this hour one week to go until the u.s. election and a record 69000000 americans have already voted but the coronavirus pandemic continues to cast a shadow over the campaign with nearly half a 1000000 new infections in the past week. in italy police have fired tear gas at protesters over renewed restrictions to limit the spread of ovid 19 a 2nd wave is hitting europe on record new infections are being reported across the

continent. african union is calling for calm in tanzania and had a local and national elections on wednesday police in the semi autonomous zones of our region have denied firing bullets at protesters a major opposition party says 8 people were killed during demonstrations. more than 90 people have been arrested during protests in philadelphia over the shooting of a black man by police dozens of officers were injured during the unrest police cars and waste bins were set on fire while several stores were looted 27 year old walter wallace was shot dead by police on monday as a bystander filmed the incident and posted it on social media officers say wallace was holding a knife and had ordered him to drop it several times let's get more from gabriel elizondo who's live for us in philadelphia what are things like there now. well night has fallen here in west philadelphia we're just a few blocks away from where mr wallace was shot and killed we're hearing about

them x. park and there are several 100 people that have gathered here now where they're giving speeches all calling for justice they say that they will protest here this evening to have their voices heard so far at these streets are pretty quiet but there are several police helicopters you might be able to hear them but seeing. overhead there is sort of a tense call on the streets here of west philadelphia this evening after we saw very. some scenes of looting. and some scenes of very strong protests last night here but this is clearly a city that is on edge because a lot of people are quite frankly. upset and they want justice and they feel that many here at this protest that we've been talking to since we arrived here all say the that they feel that in his killing was certainly unjustified we did hear from

the police department a lot more questions than answers still they have not released the identity of the 2 officers that were involved and also there's no indication from the police on why they felt they had to use lethal force when mr wallace was several meters away from the officers and allegedly holding a knife when his parents his mother called police saying that he was had mental troubles and was calling for some sort of intervention but said that his mother said that he was under no threat to anybody philadelphia's already had suffered a summer of protests and violence many of them linked to claims of police brutality is there any suggestion that the protests are likely to ignite or is that a sense that the now that the protests have been held that things may stay calm. you know it's really anybody's guess at this point we don't know what's going to happen tonight on the streets of philadelphia quite frankly the police are preparing for anything but the protesters say at least the ones that we've spoken

to they're upset and they feel that even then last night's protest they say 90 protesters were arrested. and they feel that was unjustified their clergy members that we've been speaking to they're calling for peace but quite frankly no one knows what the next night or 2 will hold here in philadelphia but there is. only simmering anger on the streets it's just a matter of what way it goes in the next few hours and we just simply don't know but no matter what happens on the streets tonight you get a sense here that this will be going on for a very long time because as you mentioned there's been calls for black lace matter protests throughout the summer here in the united states and they felt that many people here in philadelphia felt this was just one more example of a black man that was killed without any sort of justification from police now police are saying that they're investigating it but still certainly a lot of questions are remain unanswered to see at this point this evening and i

know we're going to be checking in with you in the as things progress over the next few hours but for now gabriel thanks very much indeed that's good but other song in philadelphia for us. least 8 people have been killed in a bombing at a religious school in the northwest pakistan city of peshawar more than 135 all those were injured but he said the bomb was hidden in a bag left in the school's main hall the device detonated as students gathered for lessons victoria gating reports. up to 500 students were packed into this room when the bomb exploded. they were listening to a lecture by a prominent scholar at the jimmy is a very religious school and push our could eventually out a budget it was 8 o'clock in the morning the teacher was giving a lesson we just heard a big bang and all the students are running here and their. police say the bomb was hidden in an abandoned bag in the main hall pakistani and afghan students teachers

and other members of staff are among the dead and injured several are in a critical condition police expect more faith tallaght. the injured were taken to the city's main hospital where relatives gathered waiting for news of. the attack comes days after pakistan's intelligence service wounded armed groups could target public buildings including religious schools across pakistan prime minister imran khan condemned the bombing. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack the pakistani taliban condemned the bombing and denied involvement the group has targeted schools mosques and the military since 2001 when pakistan supported the us invasion of afghanistan but the starts out on going gun and running. to that. country so then. any any element. about it can end and women. more than

1000 students were at the school when the bomb went off police say most of those killed were young people in their twenty's victoria gates and be algis they are. protesters are continuing to demonstrate in poland following last week's near total ban on abortions a ruling by the country's constitutional court means abortion may soon be legal only in extreme cases including rape or incest or reports. the finding or demonstrators say a reproductive rights opposition m.p.'s brought protests to the floor of poland's parliament on choose day chanting face is war. thousands of joint daily marches across the country in defiance of coded 19 restrictions in the capital warsaw streets were blocked bringing traffic to a standstill. i am so sorry i need to fight for my daughter's future i cannot imagine not being every. week if follows last week's ruling by

poland's constitutional court that abortions in all but a few cases are legal the move paves the way for the governing rightwing lauren justice party to approve of terminations even in cases of fetal defects and when there is no chance of survival outside the womb abortion will only be allowed in cases of rape incest a where there's a threat to the mother's life. poland's prime minister promised to defend what conservatives see as an unborn child's right to life so nobody pays for the roads of pollicie dippold the freedom of choice truly is a fundamental thing that we should all agree that in order to have this freedom of choice one needs to be a life the one who is dead cannot implement one's right to freedom of choice. for the moves led to fears about a possible rise in the legal procedures how can you see just how bad this law will

not to crease the number of aborted foetuses what it will do is put women's lives in danger because they'll be less prenatal screening it will put children's lives in danger too because they will not be tested 3 prenatal screenings. on sunday activists disrupted church services across the country poland's predominantly roman catholic church strongly opposed to abortion wields enormous influence on the musette the country even further apart from the european mainstream e.u. leaders have accused the polish government of violating shared standards for years and of rolling back on democratic reforms demonstrators have promised many more days of action. al-jazeera. the biggest u.s. military base in the gulf is getting a multibillion dollar upgrade qatar's all oday the air base plays a central role in u.s. and coalition operations that are carried out every day across the region stephanie decker visited the facilities and got exclusive access to join a flight refueling f.

16 fighter jets. leave catarrh behind and head out across the gulf. we've been given exclusive access to join this refueling flight undervalue dade air base near doha it will be topping up the tanks of american f. 16 fighter jets already out on missions my job is pretty much to refuel other aircraft in the air so they can stay airborne longer it's all going to take place here at the back of the plane and you have to get down low so this is where the refuting happens it's called the to college and it's in the belly of the plane easy to lie on your stomach to be able to fit know what we're going to witness is the boob operator is going to connect with the fighter jets that are going to approach the aircraft from here. the 1st f. 16 approaches. these are multimillion dollar fighter jets. out on active mission and we're not told what where that is. they get so close you

can clearly see the pilots. the entire process only takes a couple of minutes we spend around 4 hours in the air while the crew fumed 5 and sixteen's with the fighters we do a lot of cargo aircraft we can pretty much refuel anything as long as scout of them are sceptical they also refuse allied aircraft not just american on the day the air base hosts a variety of nationalities back on the ground we speak to brigadier general donald tani who is the commander of the 379th air expeditionary wing is here at a central location in the south of command a.o.r. very strategic location so we're engaged up in afghanistan still with our forces on the ground up there up in syria and iraq and then out in the gulf forward to touring iran and we're partnering with other nations to ensure the free flow of commerce the government of qatar is in the process of upgrading the air base so the base is being expanded so fav to say you're here to stay i would say we are here to

stay i would stay away from the word expansion we're actually up. creating a modernizing what we have is already a huge facility it's one of the largest power projection platforms in the world i think but here to stay is probably a fair assessment americans are about to vote for their next president will also be their commander in chief back in the sky and if you vote i have course i have even watched. if i'm not flying despite the unpredictability of this presidential campaign for these men and women at least appear it seems and for now it's business as usual stephanie decker al-jazeera in the skies above the gulf.