this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. all eyes on the us state of utah as mike pence and kamala harris take centre stage at the vice presidential debate. a us court charges two members of isis — nicknamed the beatles — with murder, for killing american hostages in syria. life in a warzone — we report on the families trapped by fighting between azerbaijan and armenia. people here tell us this is the way it's been for the last few days. it's become the normal routine to have indiscriminate shelling.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. do stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. and analysis from here it is the turn of us vice president mike pence and the democratic vice presidential nominee kamala harris to take the stage tonight. the pair will face off for their one debate at the university of utah in salt lake city. sophie long is there for us. sophie, over to you. what is it like there? would a vice presidential debate be billed as such a conical i°y debate be billed as such a conical joy event normally? i do not think so. “— joy event normally? i do not think so. —— consequently event. this presidential campaign, like so much else in 2020, is like none other that has gone before. notjust because the age of the presidential candidates themselves, who are in

their 70s, not just candidates themselves, who are in their 70s, notjust because president trump is being treated for in recovering from coronavirus, which means we don't yet know if the final two presidential debates will ta ke final two presidential debates will take place, but also because the candidates cannot campaign in the physical way they have for every other election to date. it means this is their big opportunity to read those undecided voters. there is less then a month now until election day. the stakes are high and they have one shot. judge kavanaugh, i am concerned whether you will treat every american equally. she is a senator from california known for her incisive questioning of president trump's nominees for the supreme court. i know full well the importance of presidential leadership. he has been president trump's right—hand man for the past four years. tonight, they will take to a specially adapted stage for a debate that will be watched by tens of millions of voters.

vp debates are not normally the headline act of a presidential election campaign, but this one is anything but normal. given the age of their bosses and the fact that president trump's recent hospitalisation with coronavirus means we don't yet know if the remaining two presidential debates will even take place, tonight's meeting between kamala harris and mike pence will be the most important of its kind in history. they take over under the death or the resignation of the president of the united states. when you have one candidate that's fairly old and one candidate that's sick right now, everyone is talking about it. there's no way that you can't talk about that particular issue because there is at least some track where one of these two candidates could end up being president of the united states. we are an independent collection of latter day saint women from across the political spectrum, who speak for ourselves. in this deeply religious state, president trump's first term and his reaction to covid—i9 has led lifelong republicans to look for something different. i wish no ill towards him. but i think that it's time for us to once again

think about doing better. this should have never been a politcal issue. coronavirus should have been something where we all come together and work together for the good of everyone. and that's why character matters in a president. but at this pro—trump potato bar — yes, there is such a thing — people think his personal handling of the pandemic is a show of strength. when you're a soldier, you're at risk and you're at a war, and you're fighting something, you go in there and you've got to rally your troops. you've got to build the morale of the troops. you got to be victorious, you can't be afraid. and that's what i look at it as. and unfortunately, some soldiers when they go to war, they get wounded. tonight, mike pence will go into battle for the current commander—in—chief against a former prosecutor fighting for his competitor, joe biden. with less than a month to go and a campaign thrown into chaos by covid—i9, the stakes are high. sophie long, bbc news,

salt lake city. sophie, they're so much going on, i never thought i would see a approach trump potato bark and i never thought i would be asking about a plexiglass... thought i would be asking about a plexiglass. .. that was the pre—debate debate, the safety precautions that have been put in place following the presidential debate last week. kamala harris's camping had asked for additional safety measures. mike pence, has tested negative, but on tuesday, and we are told by the white house he and his wife were tested negative again today here in salt lake city, but he was at the event where it is believed the president and adviser to the present did contract the coronavirus, so what they wanted to put in place was plexiglas between the two desks. mike pence's campaign felt the fact that they were just over 12 feet apart should be enough,

but that is now taking place, so we will see the two candidates sitting farapart, will see the two candidates sitting far apart, sitting at desk with placing less screens in between. 0ne reason mike pence's camping would have been reluctant to happen is that will be a visual reminder right in the centre of the stage of the pandemic that has claimed, of course, in excess of 210,000 american lives. he, of course, is the leader of the task force. donald trump put him in charge of the administration's respond to that pandemic. and while it will visibly be there on the stage, kamala harris will be wanting to use her skills to hold to account the pens and trump administration for this pandemic going forward. absolutely. you touch upon present —— prosecutorial skills. hoping for more polish than the debate we had

between joe more polish than the debate we had betweenjoe biden more polish than the debate we had between joe biden and more polish than the debate we had betweenjoe biden and president trump himself. last week's presidential debate has had much press coverage here, as you can imagine, a lot of people calling it neither presidential nor a debate. some call it a national embarrassment. i think we're good to see a very different debate tonight, two very different characters on stage, of course, and i think they will have been paying attention to coverage. and what you are from eve ryo ne coverage. and what you are from everyone here, from students, who are very engaged in this process, and more mature members of the community here, everybody wants to hear more about policy. they want to hear more about policy. they want to hear what their plans are for the next four years. i think they are going to both want to engage with the viewers, we are told by kamala harris's campaign that she is not there to eviscerate mike pence, she is that you speak directly to the american people. i think that's what the american viewers want to get and isaac they have that much greater hope of getting it this time around. sophie, we will be back with you

throughout the evening. for the time being, as always, thanks so much. and a little later here on bbc news, we'll be talking to the chair the democratic national committee, tom perez. two british members of the islamic state group have arrived in the united states to face charges related to the murder of western hostages. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh were flown from iraq, where they'd been in american military detention following their capture by kurdish forces two years ago. the two men admit belonging to is, but have denied killing hostages. here's our state department correspondent barbara plett usher. what they have said is that their main role was facilitating ransom negotiations, that they had nothing to do with those gruesome killings which were recorded on video and posted online. but the indictment has said that they took part in physical and psychological violence, prolonged physical and psychological violence, and that they were part of a hostage—taking that resulted in death.

and american prosecutors feel they have quite a strong case, especially since they just got some additional information from the uk and they've been looking for that for many years, or for a number of years. but the hold—up was that there is capital punishment in the usa and there isn't capital punishment in the uk. and finally injuly, the attorney general here promised that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty, and so that was the big breakthrough for the trial to go ahead. and of course, there are british victims, as you mentioned in your intro, and judicial officials have acknowledged that. but this trial is going to be about the four american victims, and it's very important to the families, in particular, who see it as the best way to ensure that the islamic state group doesn't get the last word. barbara plett usher there. the journalist james foley was murdered by the group. his mother, diane foley, gave the bbc her reaction to the news. i am tremendously grateful to all of you good people in the uk, as well as to our fbi,

department ofjustice, ag barr, and so many people outside of government also, pro bono attorneys on both sides of the atlantic. i'm just hugely grateful to everyone that has helped us get to this first huge step in some accountability for these horrific crimes. i really hope that they will give us information about not only our children, but of some of the other crimes done by isis, as well as implicating others. these two were not the only ones, and i fear that there's others still in refugee camps, hiding in our midst. so, i think it's really a national security issue for all of us that this step towards accountability be undertaken. i feel that it's essential that these crimes are made public. i think people need to know

the depth of the hatred of this group and others who seek to destroy our way of life. i think that transparency is really essential. i think too much of the world is just naive and unaware of the threats of international hostage taking, for one. diane foley speaking to the bbc. let's bring you up to some of the other day's new stories. —— today's other day's new stories. —— today's other news stories. the main officer charged in the killing of george floyd has been released on a million—dollar bail. derek chauvin is scheduled to face trial in march along with three former colleagues. footage of mr chauvin pressing his knee on george floyd's neck caused a huge outpouring of protests around the world. hurricane delta has torn across mexico's eastern coastline, toppling trees and ripping down power lines with winds of up to 175 kilometres per hour. the powerful storm now has the northern gulf coast

of the united states in its sights, with hurricane warnings issued for parts of texas and louisiana. the uk government is likely to tighten coronavirus restrictions for parts of england on monday. this comes as new rules were announced for central scotland, which will see pubs and restaurants close in the area. iran has reported a record daily number of new coronavirus deaths, as it struggles with what officials have called a "third wave" of its outbreak. 239 people with covid—19 had died in the past 2a hours, bringing iran's total deaths since february to more than 27,000. italy has made the wearing of face masks mandatory in outdoor spaces. residents must now wear masks at all times unless they are isolated from anyone other than their household. 0ur reporter danjohnson spoke to residents in the english city of nottingham to hear their thoughts on rising cases and possible new restrictions.

in some of our biggest cities, there is fear. it's terrifying, because we don't know how long this is going to go on for. i didn't really want to come here today because they've gone up so much, but we risked it. there are appeals for more action. we have got to do something. i don't know whether we are going to go down, hopefully not a full lockdown again, like we did last time, but who knows? just the restrictions, just to get it over with, reduce the spread for a while. i mean, it's not ideal. it's not great. it's not what i would like. and calls for greater clarity. i look at what the scots are doing and that seems to be clearer messaging from the scottish government. that's a different issue in itself. clear messaging. it's the balance between public health and keeping the economy going. how long is it going to go on for if people are not taking it seriously? that's what i am worried about a lot. case numbers have surged here,

pushing nottingham to fit heisting in the —— for the highest in england. this has been the quietest day since we opened injuly. and sam is seeing the impact. i think that is because of the rising cases. i'm sure that people arejust more cautious about coming into the city, spreading anything, you know, catching anything. but over the last few days, they have increased exponentially. so those in charge are asking for tighter rules. whatever restrictions come in, i would plead with the government to make them straightforward, to make them easy to understand. some people, a small number of people are ignoring the restrictions now, but others are confused. i've had many e—mails this morning already asking me what people should do. in leeds, extra measures are already in place, but cases have kept rising. we just hope it doesn't come to that, come back to a full lockdown again. people can at least come and have some sort of socialising, some sort of eating out experience.

it's very sad, because we are old and our lives our our our children, grandchildren, we can't see them. i don't see how they can restrict me even more. i don't mind if they close pubs altogether. but back in the midlands, there are voices urging a different approach. all that you're doing is stopping business, stopping people enjoying themselves, and they've achieved nothing, as far as i can see. so what do you think should happen? let things go back to normal. take all the restrictions away. but further measures are coming, as this city and others struggle to keep the virus under control. danjohnson, bbc news, nottingham. do stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the stage is set. kamala harris and mike pence will debate in utah in under three hours' time.

this was a celebration by people who were relishing their freedom. they believe everything's going to be different from now on. they think their country will be respected in the world once more, as it used to be before slobodan milosevic took power. the dalai lama, the exiled spiritual leader of tibet, has won this year's nobel peace prize. as the parade was reaching its climax, two grenades exploded, and a group of soldiersjumped from a military truck taking part in the parade and ran towards the president, firing from kalashnikov automatic rifles. after 437 years, the skeletal ribs of henry viii's tragic warship emerged. but even as divers worked to buoy her up, the mary rose went through another heart—stopping drama. i want to be the people's governor. i want to represent everybody. i believe in the people of california.

this is bbc news. the candidates for vice president, mike pence and kamala harris, are preparing to debate in salt lake city, in the next event of the us election campaign. let's stay with that story. i'm joined now by tom perez, the chair of the democratic national committee, in salt lake city. i know the security measures are extremely tight and also the conditions in order to get in, to move around. you have to wear face masks. the plexiglas is on the stage. this will be, do you reckon, all about coronavirus?” stage. this will be, do you reckon, all about coronavirus? i think that will be a big issue. and mike pence is the chair of the coronavirus task force. under his direction and donald trump's direction, we have at your hundred 10,000 deaths. in the last month, 3a states... right now,

there covid cases are higher than they were in month ago, hospitalizations are going up. it has been an abject failure. people are dying. he did not have to be this bad. and tonight we are going to talk about it. we cannot fix our economy, and our economy has collapsed to levels unseen since our great depression, we cannot fix the economy until we fix the coronavirus, and the abject failure of this administration has had just a horrific consequent is in the united states. that's going to the centre of this discussion tonight. what are you expecting? 0ne assumes we are knocking —— not notice the 80 repeat of the presidential debate? you have kamala harris, a trial lawyer, incredibly eloquent, mike pence, former radio host. we are expecting an elevated debate, surely. i sure hope mike pence does not repeat what donald trump did last week, interruption

after interruption after interruption, and i hope he reads the pulling because the american people widely panned that. i want to understand the issues, what mike pence has been doing for the last eight months, because it has been such an abject failure. we want to talk about why this administration, it in the middle of a pandemic, is try to go to the supreme court to do away with the affordable care act which provides health care coverage for millions, in the middle of a pandemic, when people of austrojobs and their health care they want to do with the way with health care. —— go away with it. the vice president has not explained to do and kamala harris ago to talk about the biden— harris ago to talk about the biden— harris plan to have a national strategy, collaboration with states, a strategy to build back our economy — not the first time joe a strategy to build back our economy — not the first timejoe biden has inherited a mess, and he knows how to fix it. and we know how to protect people with pre—existing

conditions or they have their health care. a week after our election on november three, health care is again on the docket of the supreme court. voters wa nt on the docket of the supreme court. voters want to make sure they keep their health care. i think that's good to be a huge issue this november. 20 joe biden and kamala harris are going to come out on top. you speak about mike pence having been around forjoe —— fora —— for a while. joe biden, his very long political career, and we heard donald trump say in the debate, why have you not been doing the stuff you want to, the policies you want to bring through? why have you not done that when you could? just to play devils advocate there. the a nswer play devils advocate there. the answer is, we haven't. the informal ca re answer is, we haven't. the informal care act brought health the affordable care act act, people don't you worry because of the work of barack 0bama and joe biden. the violence against women act, joe biden authored when he was in the united states senate. it is an absolutely trash and

-- it is —— it is an absolutely transformational piece of legislation to get women critical connections they did not have it. the voting rights act, if feta metal element of our democracy, the reauthorization of that, time and time again, led byjoe biden. i could go on and on of all the things that he has done. it is hard for me to go on and on what donald trump has done other than a tax cut for very wealthy people and corporations that did not needed and then presiding over a pandemic that has been an unmitigated disaster here. they have failed in the economy has failed. and every time we have civil rights unrest, he puts gasoline on the fire. he cannot coloured white supremacy. i used to prosecute hate crimes cases. hate crimes are on the rise in the united states and they are fuelled in no small measure by this president's refusal to call—out hate crimes when he sees

them. that should be easy, but not for this president. tom perez, it's going to be an interesting night ahead. tom perez, chair of the democratic national committee, thank you for your time. enjoy the debate. the fighting between two former soviet republics could enter its third week if azerbaijan and armenia can't find a way to settle their territorial dispute over the nagorno—karabakh region. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin reports from the city of tartar, which lies on the front line. azeri forces continuing their advance, in footage released by the authorities here. they only show the victories, not the losses, and they don't allow independent access to the front line. but we were allowed to enter the ghost town of tartar, which borders nagorno—karabakh. it's normally home to 100,000 people. most have been driven out

by armenian shelling. but not 0sman, who we found picking up shrapnel. "the armenians caused a lot of destruction," he told us, "but it doesn't matter as long as they are driven out." some here in tartar are sheltering underground. he doesn't respond? aybeniz tells me her grandson faras is used to it, and she's not going anywhere. translation: we've been waiting for this for 28 years. that's why we don't want to take one step away. we're very excited about what's happening. my son and daughter are fighting on the front line. well, we've just been

hearing more incoming fire. we heard what sounded like a jet a few minutes ago and there were some explosions in the last half an hour or so. now, people here tell us this is the way it's been for the last few days. it's become the normal routine to have indiscriminate shelling. and they say that nine civilians have been killed in this area. no cradle for faras, just a lullaby. but scenes like this are being repeated on the other side of the front line, as ethnic armenians are shelled by azerbaijan. in the azeri capital baku, they come to honour soldiers who fell in combat, stretching back to the soviet era. there's a lot of nationalism on display here and a lot of gratitude for strong backing from turkey. "we've come to visit the martyrs," says 20—year—old gulnar, "and to celebrate some

of our victories. we believe there are a lot more to come." while they look to turkey, armenia is looking to russia. so far, it's largely staying out of the picture. for people here, the conflict over nagorno—kara bakh was never frozen. and now, the old hatreds are threatening to inflame the region. 0rla guerin, bbc news, baku. the nobel prize for chemistry has been jointly awarded to two scientists. emmanuelle charpentier, who's from france, and america'sjennifer doudna have been honoured for their development of a technique for editing genomes. it's been used to contribute to new cancer therapies. emmanuelle charpentier said she hoped the prize would send a strong message to girls that they could have a successful career in science. doesn't get any stronger than that,

does it? congratulations to them. goodbye from me. hello. the weather picture first thing not looking so great across england and wales, a lot of cloud out there and some outbreaks of rain. but hang in there because the afternoon offers a much brighter picture. here we are with this area of low pressure currently feeding in all of the cloud and the rain, but notice to the north of it how much clearer the skies are. we'lljust pick out this little white streak of cloud here, though, because that is a line of showers that will push into scotland and northern ireland. and they're set to be pretty punchy. but once this band of rain starts its journey southwards through the morning, skies will begin to brighten. so, by 9am, hopefully something a little bit brighter already into wales. scotland and northern ireland should see some decent sunshine from the get—go, but a lot of those showers already in the west turning quite heavy, perhaps clumping together

into longer spells of rain. just a few, i think, further south and for northern ireland. the front finally off into the continent after lunch, and that's when we'll see things brighten for southernmost counties. for much of england and wales, though, not a bad second half of the day at all. perhaps just some cloud hanging back across east anglia, but up to 17 degrees in the brightness, 11—12 further north for scotland and northern ireland. through thursday evening and overnight into friday, plenty of showers crossing scotland, a more organised band of rain trails back into northern ireland and sinks into northern england. either side of that cloud and rain, quite a chilly start to friday, patchy frost perhaps in some rural spots across england and wales and northern scotland. and then a lot of cloud around for northern england, northern ireland and wales first thing on friday, then this whole system sinks its way southeastwards through the day. so, we'll see cloud and rain moving in for southern and eastern england, i think, later on on friday. still plenty of showers further north, but hopefully interspersed with some sunny spells. and then from friday into the weekend, here's our next significant transition. we move into a northerly airstream.

we move into polar air, that's the blue shading on the map behind me, and we do so because we finally pull away the low pressure that we've been talking about all week towards the continent and allow a high to establish from the atlantic. the squeeze between the two, though, gives us that northerly airstream, so quite a chilly northerly breeze but a lot of dry weather and sunshine for the majority of the uk for the weekend ahead. but some on northern coasts could be prone to some thicker cloud, perhaps the odd shower, and we may see some drifting in off the north sea into eastern england as well.

this is bbc world news. the headlines — the candidates for us vice president will debate in salt lake city in under three hours' time. kamala harris and mike pence will sit four metres apart and be separated by a plexiglass screen because of coronavirus. two ex—british islamic state suspects have been charged with murder in the united states over the killing of four american hostages in syria. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh are accused of belonging to an is cell dubbed "the beatles". the former us police officer charged with the murder of a black man, george floyd, in minneapolis has posted bail. footage from mr floyd's arrest showed the white officer, derek chauvin, kneeling on his neck for about nine minutes. all pubs and restaurants across central scotland are to be closed under new measures aimed at tackling a surge in coronavirus cases.