welcome to bbc news, i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: back to work. donald trump's doctor says he has completed his course of treatment and could return to public engagements from saturday. in michigan, the fbi arrests six men in an alleged plot to kidnap the state's governor, gretchen whitmer. more fighting and more deaths in the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh, but peace talks are imminent. and the acclaimed us poet louise gluck wins the nobel prize for literature.

donald trump's doctor says the president has completed his treatment for covid—19 and can return to public engagements this week. dr conley released a statement saying that the president has remained stable since returning to the white house and responded extremely well to treatment. our washington correspondent nomia iqbal has been reading the memo. well, it's interesting what the memo doesn't tell us, to be honest, lewis. while dr conley says that donald trump is on the road to recovery and he should be able to resume his public duties by saturday, it doesn't really answer any questions on when mr trump was diagnosed with coronavirus or when he starts to get those positive —

those first symptoms. we don't know — nothing about his first symptoms or his first positive test. we don't even really know if he's tested negative, and those of the questions that people want to know. i'm not a medical expert but there will be some scepticism over how the president is able to resume public duties so quickly. i think it's not a coincidence that as soon as that note came out, bill stepian, donald trump's campaign manager who has also tested positive for coronavirus, released a statement saying the debate next week — there is much drama going on around that — that it be continued, that it should be held in person. the debates commission wanted to hold it virtually because of donald trump having the virus. one thing we do know is that donald trump of course loves the rallies, the campaigning, being out there in person. he will certainly want to be out there.

and also that he is trailing on the polls, and he will obviously feel he needs to do something to move the dial on that. that's right. in fact, donald trump was released from hospital pretty soon after getting coronavirus. and he maintains that he's in good health, he's recovering. he released a video today appealing to the seniors, which he called his favourite people in the world, and touted his belief that this experimental drug he is on, regeneron, has cured him, effectively speaking. but yes, he wants to be out there on the campaign trail. next week's debate was a town hall event and he said he wanted to do it in person. joe biden pulled out eventually, so now we are in a situation where we don't know if it's going to go ahead, and i'm sure we'll get an update at some point. there is another debate to be had at some point towards the end of the month.

but these debates — it's getting close now. we're less than four weeks away from election day, and most americans have made up their minds at this stage. 13 men have been charged with an alleged plot to kidnap the governor of the us state of michigan, gretchen whitmer. the fbi says the plot involved six of the men abducting the governor and taking her to a remote location to put her on trial for treason. governor whitmer has accused president trump of encouraging far right groups by as she put it fraternising with domestic terrorists. just last week, the president of the united states stood before the american people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two michigan militia groups. "stand back and stand by," he told them. "stand back and stand by." hate groups heard the president's words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action. when our leaders speak, their words matter.

they carry weight. when our leaders meet with, encourage or fraternise with domestic terrorists, they legitimise their actions and they are complicit. tracy walder is a former fbi special agent and cia operative and currently a professor in criminaljustice at texas christian university. i asked her to explain the motivation behind these us militia groups. i think a general misconception about these groups is that they are all white supremacist. some do have white supremacist leanings, but what they really are are a gathering of mostly males, groups of males, who are arming themselves and are predominantly anti—government. that is what we're seeing, mostly folks that are

anti—government. we saw that in the 1990s in the united states with the oklahoma city bombing, and it looks like we're seeing a resurgence of that again. that's interesting. and given your experience with the fbi, et cetera, how do you go about — and in this case, how was this group infiltrated, tracked down or whatever? so the good thing about these groups is that they tend to really utilise social media. and because of that, they leave a digital footprint. and it looks to me and what i've seen is this particular group, the wolverine watchmen, have been on the fbi's radarfor a long time, maybe since the start of 2020. i don't believe the plot to kidnap the governor was started in early 2020. however, they were obviously engaging in online activity that was alarming and had probably been reported by a user to the fbi.

the details of this alleged plot seem absolutely extraordinary — to kidnap the governor. how surprised were you when the details of that came out? i was surprised but not completely shocked. i mean, like i said, we've seen this before with these sorts of militia groups. we had waco, texas, with the branch davidians, and that was pretty out there. and the bombing in oklahoma city. i don't know i would have immediate gone to kidnapping the governor. but what we've seen before in may, armed men storming the michigan capital, clearly the governor had become a target. there is much more on this story on our website, including this breakdown on what the accused men were planning and a detailed look at us militia groups. just log on to bbc.com/news.

there has been fresh fighting between azerbaijan and ethnic armenians over the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh ahead of talks involving the us, france and russia aimed at securing a ceasefire and averting a wider war. more than 300 people have died and thousands have been displaced since the latest fighting broke out last month. our international correspondent orla guerin reports from the city of goranboy. the newest victim of a conflict decades old — an azeri woman killed in indiscriminate shelling by armenian forces. but both sides are guilty of that. a mourner cries out, "god, kill the armenians!" the community here steeped

in its own pain, just like its enemies across the front line. tourian guliyeva, on the left, was 63 and a widow. her neighbours deep in shock, just hours after the attack. translation: she was a single woman and she wouldn't leave her house. we were asking her, "come to us, stay with us or go to your relatives." she said, "they won't be able to hit us." but they did, at 6:30am. her sister—in—law is anguished but committed to the fight for nagorno—karabakh. "kara bakh is ours", she tells me. "it was ours and it will be ours." "our sons and brothers

are fighting now, and i know they will be fighting to the end." it has already been a long battle for many here. they were driven from nagorno—karabakh during the war in the early ‘90s. they say it's occupied territory and part of their motherland. there is a real sense here of shock, of grief and of anger. this was a woman killed in her own home, in her own bed. every fresh attack, every new death, adds to the bitterness here, which already stretches back for decades. as tourian was buried, russia, france and the us were pushing for a ceasefire. for now there is no sign of that, no respite for those

who mourn, here or inside nagorno—karabakh. orla guerin, bbc news, goranboy, azerbaijan. four hostages have flown into barmako airport in mali after being released by their islamist captors. they received a jubiliant welcome from family and supporters. french aid worker sophie petronin was welcomed by her son. she had been held almost four years. malian opposition politician soumaila cisse and two others, both italians, were also freed. it is not known how they gained their freedom, but it follows the release of more than 100 islamic militants at the weekend. one of america's leading poets, louise gluck, has been awarded this year's nobel prize for literature. the swedish academy praised her unmistakable poetic voice and its austere beauty, but added that her work was also full of biting wit. she is only the 16th

woman to win the prize. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. it came to me one night as i was falling asleep that i had finished with those amorous adventures to which i had long been a slave. "finished with love? " my heart murmured. the words of louise gluck, read by the poet herself. a writer exploring familiar themes like love, ageing, death and humanity. her work had already won plenty of awards, but now it would win the biggest of them of all. the nobel prize in literature for 2020 is awarded to the american poet louise gluck, for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal. louise gluck has published more than a dozen works of poetry and essays.

her voice described as unmistakable, uncompromising and candid, always striving for clarity. this is a great resource when treats great topics with radical change, when a leap forward is made out of deep loss. gluck herself, presented with a national humanities medal by barack obama in 2016, has said she was surprised by the award. she gets to be a nobel laureate as well. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the debate over the debate. it won't be virtual, but will the next us presidential match—up still go ahead? 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. i'm lewis vaughan jones.

the latest headlines: donald trump's doctor says he's completed his course of treatment for coronavirus, and could return to public engagements from saturday. in michigan, the fbi arrests six men in an alleged plot to kidnap the state's governor, gretchen whitmer. as we heard earlier, there are many question marks over the likelihood of a second presidential debate between president trump and his democratic challenger, joe biden. the plan was to hold a virtual debate because of mr trump's treatment for covid, but the president said that would be a waste of time. allan lichtman is professor of history at the american university in washington. he's known for calling correctly eight out of the last nine us elections and he would argue due to a technicality

it is actually nine out of nine. i asked him what he made of all the issues over the debates. i cannot understand why donald trump wants to avoid the debates. looking at conventional analysis, he is way behind. he needs to change the game. avoiding debates won't do it. and by the way, there is a precedent in essence for a virtual debate 60 years ago, one of the kennedy—nixon debates was held virtually. nixon, kennedy and the moderator were at remote locations and they had a screen with the two of them together, certainly there is less opportunity to interrupt and bully, if that is what trump wants to do, but they did not serve him well in the first debate. interesting. how much difference do you think these debates can have? none at all. there is no predictive value in the debates.

hillary clinton won all 3 debates according to scientific polls quite handily, she still lost. barack obama was trounced in the first debate in 2012 by mitt romney, but he won. john kerry, bested george w bush in the 2004 debates, he lost. i am not against debates, they are important moments, but in terms of predicting elections, forget it. let's go to your predictions then. you predicted donald trump when not many people dead, and you got a little memento for your prediction. indeed. would you like to see it? yes, go on, show it to us. yes, indeed. this is a note that donald trump wrote to me after his election on the washington post, where i predicted his win. as you can see, it says "professor, congrats. good call." and in big sharpie letters, donald j trump. wonderful. thank you very much

for showing us that. the thing is, he is right. it was a good call. did you feel quite lonely making that prediction four years ago? were you nervous about it? i'm 73, i have been doing this for a0 years, i get butterflies in my stomach every four years. unlike nate silver, i don't give you probabilities, i tell you who is going to win. nate silver says there is a 71% chance hillary clinton will win, then when trump wins he says, see, i told you. 29% chance, just can't be wrong. i tell you, predicting trump last time did not make me popular in 90% democratic washington, dc. but i have a different prediction this time. shall we go through it? what is your prediction this time? my prediction is this time donald trump will become the first sitting president since george hw bush in 1992

to lose a reelection bid. it is based on my 13 keys to the white house, which gauge the strength and performance of the party in power. and if six or more of the keys go against trump, he is a predicted loser. well, at the end of 2019, he had only four keys against him, but then we had his ineffective response to the pandemic and to the cries for social and racial justice, which cost him three more keys. the short—term term economic key, measured by an election year recession, the long—term economic care, the cost of the nation's growth, and the social unrest key because of what is raging across the land. he is down seven keys, one more than needed to protect his defeat, never before in the history of the united states has the party holding the white house ever suffered such a dramatic and sudden

reversal of fortune in just a matter of a few months. never happened before. the older brother of the manchester arena bomber has refused to say why he won't co—operate with the public inquiry into the attack. 22 people were killed in may 2017 when salman abedi detonated a bomb at the concert venue. his older brother ismail is still living in manchester as our correspondent judith moritz reports. ismail judith moritz reports. abedi was once happy to be ismail abedi was once happy to be seen on social media holding a gun in libya but since his younger brother detonated a bomb in manchester arena he has been keeping a lower profile. that is, until we tracked him down in the centre, not far from the public enquiry is refusing to co—operate with. ismail abedi, the brother of the killers, has been required

but the legal team to answer a series of question relating to what might in a general term be described as the issue of radicalisation. to date he has refused to answer on the basis that he maintained his answers may incriminate him. salman abedi was recorded on cctv using ismail abedi's phone. he received messages from his brother, hashem abedi and at the same time hashem abedi texted ismail abedi. the same time hashem abedi texted ismailabedi. ismail abedi was arrested on the day after the attack and released without charge. in his possession, police found the bank at which he is brothers had used while repairing the bomb. it is bbc news, can i ask you a few questions? why won't

you a few questions? why won't you help the enquiry? did you know what your brothers were doing? when we got up with him, it is clear he is not prepared to call. did you speak to them during the time of the attack? don't you have a moral obligation to speak to them? relatives of those responsible for the motors at london bridge gave accounts. they continue to press ismail abedi for answers, saying the family has a moral obligation to provide answers. lawyers for the relatives of those who died say there must be maximum clarity and for those closest to the brothers. if, on either side, there is a lack of openness and

transparency, it makes it much more difficult for the public enquiry to achieve its ands delivering truth and justice to the family and ultimately trying to prevent something like this happening again. 22 people were murdered in the bombing, the youngest child of eight. the public firies a search for truth for how and what claim their lives. returning to our top story now, and us president, donald trump has just given an interview with fox news, saying he feels fantastic wants to hold a campaign rally on saturday in florida. for more i'm joined by our north america correspondent, david willis in los angeles. what has he been saying?m what has he been saying? it is very interesting, the present bullish about the state of his health. —— president. and that

health. —— president. and that he wants to get back on the campaign trailas he wants to get back on the campaign trail as early as saturday. he's hoping put together a rally in the swing state of florida and one the following night in another swing state of pennsylvania. john connelly, his personal physician, says he is now completed his treatment and can return to normal duty. —— sean conley. shon hannity, a supporter of his, asked whether he had been tested since his diagnosis a week ago and did you test negative and on both occasions, the president dodged and declined to give a straight answer. a lot of speculation about when the president first became infected with the coronavirus which potentially

infects the people he associates with. even more confusion about the background to president trump's coronavirus diagnosis. he lost his voice a couple of times? there was one moment when he coughed and disappeared off the line returning to say, excuse me. that, iam line returning to say, excuse me. that, i am sure will raise further speculation among those who believe the president is not, as he puts it, a perfect physical specimen at this particular point in time. it has become a very controversial matter here in the united states because the president's personal physician has very often dodged direct question not least about the sort of treatment at the president has been receiving at the walter reed army medical centre. thank you, david. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @lvaughanjones this is bbc news, bye—bye. hello there. when the sun came out yesterday, we saw 19 celsius, temperatures above where they should be. and they have been for much of the week. but we will swing now to feeling colder for the next few days, probably with temperatures dipping a little bit below where they should be. we will still see some sunshine like we saw on thursday between the showers, this was the rain that moved away, the showers came in, but this next little area of low pressure comes in, giving some quite heavy rain actually through the night as it crosses scotland, northern ireland into the northern half of england and wales. you can see the wraparound here, the area of low pressure, a brisk north—westerly bringing heavy showers, frequent showers following that rain. so, as we go through the day, there will be early brightness in the south and east, but the rain will eventually reach here by lunchtime.

still some heavy rain upon that weather front and we still have that wraparound left around the area of low pressure and rain in the north—east of scotland, northern isles and elsewhere, sunny spells and showers. quite a brisk breeze, gusty near those showers, and temperatures will be down, it is colder air, so we will do well to reach about 13—14 in the south, more like eight to 10 degrees in the north. some of these showers could be heavy with hail and thunder. they will continue through the night into saturday morning as well with further bands of showers going southwards, but the air is colder, so where we see the clear spells, it will turn quite chilly as temperatures fall fairly close to freezing in the glens of scotland. so, it's because we have this cold air mass coming down on that north—westerly breeze. but again, we have high pressure to the west and that will tend to start to see the showers easing away through the second half of the weekend, but we're going to keep a close eye on this area of low pressure, as always it's going to include the risk of showers or even into next week some longer spells of rain, but for saturday, bands of showers will make their way southwards on that north—north—westerly airstream,

probably more showers in northern and western areas, but they could at times fall further east and again, temperatures as on friday, well down, except in shelter. 13 or 1a if you shelter from that northerly breeze. and that wind is still with us on sunday, but probably lighter, the high pressure starting to build in from the west, probably fewershowers, but again, always going to be more of a chance near the low pressure in the north sea, so closer to the eastern parts of england and wales. so, into next week, some uncertainty on where that area of low pressure is going to go. as ever, we will keep you updated.

views this is bbc news — the headlines: donald trump's doctor says the president has completed his course of therapy for coronavirus and could return to public engagements as early as saturday. in a memo — dr sean conley said the president has remained stable since returning to the white house and responded extremely well to treatment. the democratic governor of the us state of michigan has accused president trump of encouraging right—wing militia groups after 13 men were charged with an alleged plot to kidnap her. gretchen whitmer said that when leaders fraternise with domestic terrorists, they legitimise their actions. there's been fresh fighting between azerbaijan and ethnic armenians over the disputed region

of nagorno—karabakh ahead of talks involving the us, france and russia aimed at securing a ceasefire and averting a wider war. more than 300 people have died since the fighting broke out last month. now on bbc news, panorama. oh, my god! it was really difficult to see. we had trees burning on either side. we're worried about them coming down. it's been a year since fires spread across australia, scorching and charring at a speed never seen before. the flame heights were jumping to the 60, 70—metre mark well in excess of the crown of the trees. at least 33 people died. an area, bigger than the size of england, laid to waste. it's been called an apocalypse, a nightmare, looking like the gates of hell. whoa! kangaroo! the sky just constantly

was changing colour and itjust