this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm tim willcox. just two hours until they go head to head in theirfirst live televised debate — but have us voters already decided who to back in november's presidential election? why was no police officer directly charged over the death of breonna taylor? the deliberations of a us grand jury will be published on wednesday. walt disney in america plans to lay off almost 30,000 theme parks worker — as its resorts struggle through the coronavirus pandemic. and — as the number of coronavirus cases passes the1 million mark worldwide, we'll find out what medics can do, to get the pandemic under control.

hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first... president trump and former vice presidentjoe biden have arrived in cleveland for their first debate of this year's us presidential election and the stakes couldn't be higher. with a distinct lack of campaign events due to the pandemic, the political clash is seen as the best chance for both sides to make their case to the country. but this contest won't be quite like anything we've seen before — while as many as 100 million americans will tune in to watch the two men go head to head, only 70 will be in the room to see donald trump and joe biden‘s verbal joust.

let's head over to cleveland, ohio and my colleague laura trevelyan. they are both there. who has the most to lose? it is a very good question. certainly for president trump, it is an opportunity to reset the race as he seems to be behind in the polls but forjoe biden, who is a virtual campaign strategy has hurt him well, of course this is risky because he goes 90 minutes man on man against donald trump, the most unpredictable debater, but you can feel the atmosphere building here tonight, both candidates have gone and done their walk—throughs, the debate hall and there will be on stage ina hall and there will be on stage in a couple of hours' time. i have been speaking to congressman tim ryan, a democrat of ohio and he will be there tonight, when it's when he supported thejoe biden who was allowed in and i asked them what can we expect from the

former vice president tonight. i think you will see someone who will look like they can be president. he will be calm, he'll be deliberate. it will be a good contrast to donald trump with his really lack of knowledge and he will be very aggressive. and he will look very presidential, which he is. and joe biden has released his tax returns, clearly is trying to put pressure on the president. the president has put pressure on himself. here we are four years in and he still has not released his taxes and that is like if you want to put this issue to bed, release your taxes, if there's something different than what you are saying the new york times is saying, so i think in contrast to that because joe biden will shoot straight with the american people and tell them the truth even if it is hard, like the covid—19 where the president chose the easy road and that led to over to over 200,000 deaths in the united states and destroyed our economy because of his

irresponsible nature. the trump campaign is claiming the former vice president has problems with his mental acuity. a chance forjoe biden to lay that to rest? no questions. it's been a smear campaign from the very beginning. they tried to plant that seed. joe biden obviously knows a lot about these issues. he will be very articulate about these issues, and once he crosses that threshold, people are doubtful of politicians today. but once he crosses that threshold, i think a lot of american voters will move in his camp and that will happen tonight in my opinion and a lot of states will move towardsjoe biden in a big way. we are hearing 0hio, which president trump won in 2016, but you are a representative here, is that a swing state? it will be blue. 0hio will be blue. all the polling, fox news polls had itjoe biden the 50 to 46. the suburbs, who are moderate republicans and independent voters, are moving tojoe biden all over the state. they are appalled

by the donald trump's by the donald trump's conduct and leadership and his behaviour and sensibilities. a lot of the people who voted against hillary clinton, they are moving tojoe biden. and i think after tonight, once he proves to the american people he is ready for the job, a lot of those voters will move into our camp and ohio will turn blue. you can take that to the bank. how high are the stakes tonight? pretty high. there's so much noise out there, and this is one of the few moments in a presidential race where the country is watching, 80, 90,100 million people. and so to prove you can do the job tonight, it will benefit us for the next four weeks and the rest of the campaign. congressman tim ryan of ohio there, and that debate will be 90 minutes long, no commercial breaks, six topics, 15 minutes per topic in the topics include the records of donald trump and joe biden, coronavirus, and that supreme court nomination. the moderator chris wallace who

has interviewed president trump before to my fact i think he did the same mental cognitive test that the president was talking about. will president trump be allowed to walk around as he did behind hillary clinton? that there is the two men won't even shake hands. they will be behind their podiums, they are apart and not wearing masks. but it will be fascinated to see. donald trump isa fascinated to see. donald trump is a very unpredictable upon it. as you said, one of the things he did was almost physically shadow hillary clinton but the big difference this time is that there is such a small audience, only about 80 to 100 people. chris wallace is saying that the audience will be silent throughout. 20 people will be on joe be silent throughout. 20 people will be onjoe biden‘s team and the other 20 from the president and the rest of the journalists and the rest of the journalists and associated debate staff. there is hardly anybody in there who is really representing the general public. so there won't be that

crowd to riff off of the way donald trump likes to do. he'll be fascinating to see how it affects the debate and whether it makes it more substantive. thank you, laura. let's get some of the day's other news. a pakistani teenager accused of attacking two people with a meat cleaver in paris last friday has been charged with attempted terrorist killings. he told investigators he thought he was attacking staff from charlie hebdo. the suspect was said to be angered by the magazine's decision to re—publish cartoons of the prophet muhammad. kuwait has announced a0 days of mourning following the death of its ruler, sheikh sabah al—ahmad al—sabah. he was 91. widely regarded as the architect of the nation's modern foreign policy, he was dubbed the "dean of arab diplomacy" for his efforts to restore relations with nations which had backed iraq during the first gulf war. he'll be succeeded as emir by crown prince nawaf al—ahmad al—sabah.

there's been widespread outrage and shock across india following the death of a nineteen— year— old woman allegedly gang raped by four men. police say four suspects have been arrested. protesters in the capital, delhi, demanded they should face the death penalty. the woman belonged to the dalit community, which is at the bottom of the hindu caste system. the suspects are from the upper caste. the killing of breonna taylor — a black woman shot dead by police at her home in march, has become a focal point for ongoing protests in the us. last week, a grand jury decided no officers should be charged over her actual death. normally, the tapes ofjury deliberations are kept secret. 0ur north america correspondent, larry madowo, is following developments.

there's been a lot of pressure from breanna taylor's family and their lawyers and activists and protesters in the streets of louisville and across the nation to reveal what happened. this is because there's a lot of disaffection and disappointment that none of the officers involved in the shooting of breonna taylor were directly charged with her killing, instead one officer was charged for wanton endangerment of the neighbour's that live close to breonna taylor. he shot blindly through the house into the neighbours apartment where there was a small child and that is why he's being charged. that is why there is this pressure that has yielded the release of the tapes expected tomorrow. the world health organization says it will investigate allegations of sexual exploitation by aid workers in the republic of congo. the alleged abuse is detailed in a new report by the thomson reuters foundation. it's claimed to have happend during efforts to combat the ebola outbreak. 0ur correspondent paul hawkins told me more about the alleged abuse. this is from two news agencies,

the thomson reuters foundation and the new humanitarian agency and this covers from 2018 to march this year and in it, they have spoken to 50 local women who they say were allegedly plied with drinks, ambushed in hospitals, forced to have sex forjobs and two became pregnant. one woman described the sexual exportation as a passport to employment and another said they hire you with eyeballs, most of the allegations are against who staff and most of them men, they include doctors, there are also allegations against the country's health ministry, two other un agencies, for international charities are also mentioned in the report and to give you an idea of some of the things that are detailed in this report, some of the allegations, a 25—year—old cleaner was invited to a who doctor's home to talk about a promotion, he shut the door and told me there is a condition, we need to have sex. he then forced himself upon me and i asked him to stop and he did not,

but i made it to the door and i ran out. so essentially rape. essentially. another one talked about a 32—year—old ebola survivor invited to a hotel for counselling. she was offered a drink and she woke up naked and alone in a hotel room and she was raped. and she believed she was raped. the world health organisation released a statement and say the allegations will be robustly investigated and anybody involved will be held to account and serious consequences in immediate dismissal. the abuse of people in the communities we serve is apprehensible. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the countdown to the big debate as donald trump and joe biden go head to head in the us presidential campaign. in all of of russia's turmoil, it has never quite come to this. president yeltsin said the day would decide

the nations destiny. the nightmare that so many people have feared for so long is playing out its final act here. russians are killing russians in front of a grandstand audience. it was his humility which produced affections from catholics throughout the world, but his departure is a tragedy for the catholic church. this man, israel right's winger visited the religious compound and that started the trouble. he wants israel allowed to have sovereignty over the holy sites, an idea that's unthinkable for the palestinians. after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin, a million german celebrate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. donald trump and joe biden are preparing for the first television debate of the us presidential campaign. from nixon to trump — every president has sat for interviews with bob woodward — nine presidents in a row, offering themselves up to the pulitzer prize winning journalist for what ultimately becomes a lasting literary self—portrait of their time in office. during the process of writing "rage" his latest book on the current president, donald trump spoke with woodward 18 separate times. their conversations totalled nine hours and 41 minutes — that's a big chunk of time in a busy man's agenda. during theirfinal talk — mr woodward warned mr trump what kind of book he could expect.

there are parts of the book he would not like and. why one i like them? it is tough times. the virus, it is you repeatedly told me come in as you have said publicly, it is the realm of things. —— it has the real thing. it is a big reality in peoples lives as you know. i will get it to you. the market is coming back. you do know that? did you cover that in the book? i did. well a little earlier, bob woodward joined my colleagues katty kay and christian fraser. katty asked him what was going through his mind during that clip. i needed to tell him the truth that the book was done and that

there were going to be some very tough things i said about him and make some judgements and then he went, the market is doing well and how sad, how outrageous that a president who oversees, at that point, almost 180,000 deaths in this country and is talking about the stock market. yes, the stock market is part of the story but the grave and historic miscalculations he made in dealing with this virus is going to go down in the books that are written decades from now. which i guess is why at the end of the book, you make a judgement about this president in your opinion in a way that you haven't about previous presidents. is that why? yes, and the overwhelming

evidence and when you do a book like this, you are so immersed in donald trump world and the administration and i got lots of new information and it's a book about the truth and i have to face the truth. i cannotjoin the ranks of republican senators in the united states who know that donald trump, who say privately that he is unfit for office or not the man for thejob, but will not say it publicly. i was not going to hide in silence. i can't do that as a journalist. why did you call it "rage"? because those are the words that donald trump used back in 2016 to say in this very confessional way, "0h, i bring out rage in people."

i asked him again about it this year and he repeated, he said, amazingly enough, he doesn't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. did you come to an opinion in these 18 interviews what four more years of donald trump would look like, where the world would be in 2024 if he gets a second term ? i cannot do the future, obviously, but if you'll bear with me about the past, because i was looking through some notes and transcripts and witness testimonies about what happened ten days after the president was told by his national security adviser and deputy that a pandemic was coming to the united states. like the 1918 spanish flu pandemic that killed 75,000.

ten days later, president trump decided that he better call the chinese president, and it is astonishing as he is ringing, donald trump is wringing his hands saying that i embarrass him with this. and they finally make the call on february six nine pm, donald trump is in the white house and he says to xi, we want to send some of our experts on viruses like this from the united states to help you eradicate it. then, just donald trump saying that they will need visas, as if he is the visa guy in the state department and xi says to him, oh, we are making great progress on the virus, donald trump calls him a second time and xi lies the second time seeing that oh, we are

safeguarding the world. we do not want to create panic and xi says, it is like the 2003 sars epidemic. just the exact opposite that donald trump's national security adviser had told him ten days earlier. donald trump was played by president xi in a way that, i have bee doing this for 50 years, i have never seen an american president cowtow so shamelessly to a communist dictator. of course, donald trump is saying that it is xi's fault and it is the chinese virus. you are tough on donald trump, you told the president that you are going to be tough on him and i guess you started off with watergate and exposing richard nixon. it begs the question, why did donald trump do this? why did he sit down with you for over nine hours

in late night phone calls? what was he trying to do? well, i wrote a book in 2018, "fear", about his first two years in the white house and he denounced it as fiction, a couple of people close to him said by the way, to him said by the way, "mr president, it's true," and donald trump agreed to talk to me and made it very clear, i went into the oval office, took my little 0lympus tape recorder, put it down and said this is all on the record for a book that will come out before the election and so i was able to take all the issues of the day, like the virus, his handling of the virus, it is a medical and moral catastrophe for this country and it is on his head because he knew it was coming,

he was warned in the kind of details that you do not see that often and he saw this and he heard this. the number of people worldwide who have died with covid—19 has passed 1 million, the un secretary—general called it a "mind—numbing" figure. our medical editor fergus walsh reports now on that milestone. every grave marks a life cut short, a mother, father, brother, sister lost to covid—19. this is indonesia, but the impact of coronavirus since it emerged in china late last year has been truly global. these are the five countries which have recorded the most deaths with covid—19. the united states is top with more than 200,000, followed by brazil, india, mexico and the united kingdom. many of those deaths, especially among the frail elderly, will have been at least partly due to other underlying health problems.

33 million cases of coronavirus have been recorded, and we know the pandemic is accelerating, with two million new cases every week. but that is a gross underestimate because so many cases are simply never registered, in part because so many people have no symptoms. and that makes it really difficult to work out an accurate mortality rate for this disease. coronavirus can also leave people with chronic health problems, what's been dubbed long covid, affecting regions like the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain and nervous system. humanity‘s actually going into quite a dark zone right now. i mean, wejust have to look around the world. the virus is coming back with a vengeance into europe. it's still very active in the americas. it's also very active in the indian subcontinent. it's picking up again in russia, in indonesia. this is a global,

serious situation. every year, around 57 million people die globally from all causes. if we look at three other infectious diseases, tuberculosis, tb, a bacterial infection, it's largely a disease of poverty and is curable with antibiotics, and yet it kills around 1.5 million people a year. many of those are co—infected with hiv. flu, seasonal influenza, kills up to 650,000 people in a bad year, despite there being a vaccine. and measles, a highly contagious viral infection. it causes 140,000 deaths a year, most of them young children, yet it is entirely preventable by a vaccine. scientists are working flat out on coronavirus vaccines, but the world health organisation has warned that the covid death toll could hit two million before one is widely available.

fergus walsh, bbc news. disney will cut 28 thousand jobs at its theme parks and resorts in the united states. about two—thirds of the laid—off employees will be part—time workers. in a statement, the company said its resorts have struggled due to the coronavirus pandemic. let's cross to our asia business hub in singapore, where sharanjit leyljoins us. part—time workers are not, this isa part—time workers are not, this is a big blow. yes. absolutely. very big blow. the magic kingdom losing magic essentially come at a really we re essentially come at a really were a large number workers now finding themselves without a job fair. for six months, kept thousands of his employees at its theme parks on furlough with full health benefits in the hope that the pandemic would go away. but the covid—19 pandemic has really meant that it is now lost some of those

initial hopes. a disney is now a large media group, and other large chunk of his business and his movies like star wars films and his new streaming service, distally plus but its theme parks which really all over the world including here in asia are still a significant part of his business and many of course we re his business and many of course were forced to close due to the lockdown and strict social distancing rules put in place by many countries around the world, most have now gradually reopened, here in asia it is reopened, here in asia it is reopened as hong kong shanghai and tokyo theme parks and also it is florida and paris but it would limited the number of visitors to allow for physical distancing. the original disneyland in anaheim, california remains closed because of the states strict rules. the chairman of the theme park business blamed california's unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow disneyland to reopen. he also blamed limited capacity and continued uncertainty about the duration. we have to leave

it there. thank you very much. you have been watching bbc news. hello there. most parts of the country enjoyed some sunshine on tuesday — temperatures reached 21 celsius in kent. today, though, we are going to find cooler and wetter weather arriving across the uk, and sunshine will be in short supply. and that's because all this cloud has been massing out in the atlantic and is now starting to stream in, and these weather fronts are bringing with it some outbreaks of rain that will push their way eastwards steadily through the day. now, ahead of that rain, it's a milder start to the morning. temperatures in double figures in most areas. but the winds could be quite strong and gusty through the irish sea first thing, and we have got a wet start to the day across many western areas. some early brightness perhaps across eastern england, but the rain will push steadily eastward through the day. some heavier rain over some of the western hills.

and while some western areas may well turn a bit brighter in the afternoon. there will still be some heavy showers around as well — so not a straightforward clea ra nce. temperatures will be lower — 1a degrees in scotland, northern ireland, highest temperatures in the southeast before that rain sets in from mid afternoon onwards. that rain does then move away overnight. that weather front takes the rain into the north sea. then behind the outcome of the air gets cooler. so, temperatures will be lower still, i think, on thursday. may be still quite damp in the northeast of scotland for a while, there will be some sunny spells elsewhere, some showers likely to break out, particularly across more southern and western parts of england and into wales, perhaps into northern ireland as well. the winds will be lighter, there will be some sunshine at times, but the air is still on the cold side with temperatures only 12—15 degrees on thursday despite the sunshine. as we move things into friday, where we have got the threat of some heavier rain coming into southern parts of the uk, together with some strengthening winds, gales, possibly even severe gales as well.

looks a bit drier and less windy as you head northwards into scotland and northern ireland, but it's still on the chilly side. some uncertainty as we head into friday and into the weekend as well, because we've got a potentially rather nasty area of low pressure, and essentially over the weekend, we are going to find low—pressure dominating right the way across the uk. so the weekend forecast doesn't look particularly appealing. it's going to remain on the chilly side, there will be a lot of cloud around, some strong winds and some rain at times.

this is bbc news. the headlines...

the republican president, donald trump, and his democratic rival, joe biden, are preparing to go head to head in theirfirst televised debate, before the us presidential election in november. there will be no studio audience but the prime time event is expected to draw tens of millions of viewers. the family of breonna taylor — who was shot dead by police in kentucky — has called for the release of transcripts by the grand jury, which decided against prosecuting the officers involved. breonna taylor's death in march has become a key issue in protests over police brutality and racism. walt disney in america has announced plans to lay off almost 30,000 employees in its theme parks division.

that is