this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories... less than two weeks after testing positive for coronavirus, president trump is back on the campaign trial — addressing an election rally in florida. i feel so powerful, i will walk into that audience. i will walk in there, i will kiss everyone in that audience. democratic party senators in the us say the confirmation of amy coney barrett, to the supreme court would be a disaster for the rights of ordinary americans, as she makes a pitch for thejob. i believe americans of all backgrounds deserve an independent supreme court. that interprets our constitution and laws as they are written. i believe i can serve my

country by playing that role. we report from the devastated region of nagorno—karabakh as a ceasefire between armenia and azerbaijan comes under more pressure. hello to you. president trump has returned to the campaign trial for the first time since his coronavirus diagnosis less than two weeks ago. mr trump appeared energetic as he told the large crowd in florida that he wanted the experimental medicine he received during his treatement to become widely available. and amongst a series of his usual attacks on joe biden, he told supporters that it felt "great to be back" campaigning. one thing with me, the nice part, i went through it, now they say i'm immune, i feel so powerful. i will walk into that audience! cheering. i will walk in there, i'll kiss

everyone that audience. i'll kiss the guys and the beautiful women and everybody. i'lljust give you big fat kiss. no, but there is something nice, i don't have to be locked up in my basement, and i wouldn't to allow that to happen anyway. i wouldn't allow it to happen. when you are the president, you can't lock yourself in the basement and say, "i'm not going to bother with the world." you've got to get out there. it's risky, it's risky, but you've got to get out. but it does give you a good feeling when you can beat something and now they say you're immune. i don't know for how long, some people say for life, some people say for four months. and every time i think about it, every time i hear that it gets shorter and shorter and shorter, they want it to be as bad as possible. while the president is in florida, his opponent joe biden has been speaking in another possible swing state — the midwestern state of ohio — where he continued to focus on the president's handling of the pandemic. as a consequence of months

of overwhelming lying, misleading and irresponsible action on the part of donald trump, how many empty chairs are going to be around the dinner table tonight because of their negligence? how many? how many brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, mums, dads are gone? folks, we are so much better than this. despite the crisis we face, we have an enormous opportunity, like america has done, unlike any other country after every crisis, we have always come out of the crisis stronger than we were before we went in. that's the uniqueness of who we are. and we now have an opportunity to build back and build back better to give everyone a fair return on their work, an equal chance to get ahead, begin to reward work not just wealth. well chris gibbs is a farmer in ohio wherejoe biden

was speaking earlier. he is a lifelong republican who voted for mr trump in 2016. but 4 years later he is now backing joe biden — and encouraging other republicans to do the same. i asked him why the change of mind? well, for me, it started way back in helsinki in march of 2018 — when president donald trump stood beside a dictator, vladimir putin, and threw our intelligence services overboard. and believed putin over our own us intelligence services — whether or not they had interfered in our 2016 election — which is absolutely clear that they did. that was the last straw for me, and beyond that, as a farmer, the moment that the president started the war on trade, it's not a trade war, it's truly a war on trade for agriculture. he put tariffs punitively on all of our trading partners around the world,

including china, but every other country as well. and that collapsed our agricultural markets. that was just all i needed. so i am off the trump train. yet, this is a big change for you. i know you were chair, i think, of your local party. you know what mr trump would say? he would say that the democrats are not whatjoe biden appears to be — that the party is to the left of him, and thatjoe biden, as the president puts it, "would wreck the economy." for a virus that the president says is "not that serious." i guess other republicans have said that you, what do you say in reply? well, i would say very emphatically that the republican party is not what the republican party used to be. they are not what they report to be. you know, iam a reagan republican, i came up in an adult age and voting age in the age of reagan and george h w much when we believed in diplomacy, statesmanship, we believed in a shining city on the hill,

if you will, 1000 points of light, we believed in american exceptionalism for sure, fiscal responsibility. none of those traits are to be found today in the trump republican party. yes, it's clearly a very different party than i also spoke to trump supporter donna jane crocker, a businesswoman from florida, about the reasons why she is voting for trump a second time this year. so we have had the best job unemployment ever — record—setting — for all cultures, for the hispanics for women, for everyone. we were doing fantastic when covid hit and we are almost getting back up again. the stock exchange is fantastic, almost record—breaking. he's been instrumental in the immigration and building that wall — which is obviously what i wanted because that's what he's doing and the crime that went with so much of it.

he's for the police protection — which we are for. i don't understand how anyone cannot be. you mentioned covid, i understand those other things are important to you, butjust looking at the latest figures, infections in the us are still running about 40,000 a day. you are clearly a smart woman, you theus has 4% it accounts at the moment for more than 20% of global covid infections, five times more than you might expect. in what way is that a good result? well, i think that there are countries that are doing a lot worse than we are with covid. i'm thankful that our president stopped the people coming in from china and other countries right off the bat. so we didn't have to continue bringing it in. so, yes, we are losing people, but so is everyone. this is a pandemic, worldwide pandemic, not just us.

we are doing everything that is possible to do. democratic senators have told judge amy coney barrett's confirmation hearing that it would be "disastrous" if she were to take a place on the us supreme court. donald trump's pick is a staunch conservative and devout roman catholic. aleem maqbool reports from washington. if confirmed, amy coney barrett will play a huge role in shaping society for her seven children, and for generations to come. the stakes are that high. the republican chair of the senate committee making the decision once promised not to try and confirm a supreme courtjustice in the last year of a presidential term. but he has reneged on that. this is going to be a long, contentious week. i would just ask one thing of the committee. to the extent possible,

let's make it respectful. in their opening statements, democrats focused on what they called extremist views held by amy coney barrett. they said these would threaten the health care provision for millions of americans, and many other aspects of american life. with this nomination, equal justice under law is at stake. 0ur voting rights are at stake. workers' rights are at stake. consumer rights are at stake. the right to a safe and legal abortion is at stake. one man is dead set on making sure that amy coney barrett is appointed before the election, heavily tilting the supreme court conservative. the gathering he had to announce her nomination just over two weeks ago is now thought to have been a coronavirus super spreader event. controversially, some of those who tested

positive there participated in the hearing today. thank you, mr chairman. welcome, judge barrett. some democrats said that the process should have been postponed but kept returning to the way in which amy coney barrett would shape policies, something that she said would not be herjob. but courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life. the policy decisions and value judgements of government must be made by the political branches, elected by and accountable to the people. her nomination comes after the death of ruth bader ginsberg, the iconic and pioneering her nomination comes after the death of ruth bader ginsberg, the iconic and pioneering progressive justice. some of those protesting the new nomination feel strongly that the american people who have already voted in their millions, should be the ones to decide whether the next justice is conservative or liberal. republicans say the public already recorded their view and they voted for donald trump four years ago. aleem maqbool, bbc

news in washington. a vaccine study being conducted byjohnson and johnson in the us has been paused because of unexplained illness. the company says in a statement the study has been paused to ensure the safety of all involved — but says illnesses are an expected part of vaccine trials. the study has 60,000 participants — it's one of many vying to produce a vaccine for covid—19. researchers have reported the first confirmed case of coronavirus reinfection, in the united states. writing in the journal lancet infectious diseases, they say the twenty five year old man's symptoms were much more serious the second time round. the scientists say the man, in nevada, had no known health problems or immune defects that would make him particularly vulnerable. the case raises questions about how immunity may be built up — or not. it is the fifth confirmed reinfection worldwide. others have been reported in belgium, the netherlands,

hong kong and ecuador. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we report from the devastated region of nagorno—karabakh as a ceasefire between armenia and azerbaijan comes under more pressure. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life, but in the marina area — where most of the damage was done — they are more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he has gone from being a little known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20 pound bomb which exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel — ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken, democracy will prevail! it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this

this prestigious honour. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they called the 33. and then... bells toll. ..bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue, and chile let out an almighty roar. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines... less than two weeks after testing positive for coronavirus, president trump is back on the campaign trial — he addressed an election rally in florida. us democrats have attacked the nomination of amy coney barrett to the supreme court during the first confirmation hearing. the government of bangladesh is to introduce the death penalty for rape, after days of public protests about high

level of sexual violence against women and girls. the country's law minister told the bbc the president will issue an ordinance on tuesday. there's been widespread outrage in bangladesh over a vicious gang attack on a woman which came to light last week when footage of the assault spread widely on social media. iftikher mahmood is a paediatrician and founder of hope foundation which helps provide health care for women and children in bangladesh. good to talk to you. this is a severe penalty — very much against the way the rest of the world is moving — what makes you feel it's the right move? well, pink you for inviting me tojoin this well, pink you for inviting me to join this important conversation. —— thank you. i have been involved in women's health for a long time and we know that there has been the law in place for light sentences for rape, but in in

nine months, there were 975 rapes, and 43 victims died. that means that there needs to be justice, the whole country is outraged. from every corner of the country, there are voices, that's why think there needs to be done. although is severe, but there are precedents to this. it was the highest profile attack in bangladesh, they passed the death penalty, and that has since disappeared. so i think something has to be done, with this decision that the government took. do you have a view on why the problem is so serious, particularly in bangladesh? and writer have been soaked you convictions? yes, you are right about the convictions, because there was a study done that in seven yea rs a study done that in seven years since 2011—2018 there are

4372 rapes reported, but only five convictions. the convictions are very low because the judicial system is slow, or they are not getting the justice. but i think that the justice. but i think that the deeper problem with rape is that it's the most serious form of gender—based violence, but this violence is there between men and women, the power struggle, and then the jobs men and women, the power struggle, and then thejobs in society and their families, and all of us. so i think that systematic changes need to be done, and with this kind of lobbying past, ithink done, and with this kind of lobbying past, i think that people are more aware of this issue and will have more discussion about this, because dialogue is important. we need

to intervene in all levels of life from childhood to adulthood, jobs in society, everywhere. i think there should also be a systematic change in the judiciary, otherwise our country will remain like this, which we don't want. it sounds like this is an issue we will be back to. thank you very much indeed. there's been more violence between ethnic armenian forces and azerbaijani forces, around the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh just days after a ceasefire. both sides accuse each other of breaking the truce. the region is internationally recognised as azerbaijani territory, but ethnic armenian forces control the region. our correspondent, steve rosenberg, has been talking to people trying to live under constant shellfire in the city of ste pa na kert. when you drive into karabakh, the first thing you notice is the beauty of the place. it's different in the towns. what you see here

are signs of war. in the town of martuni, armen shows me his house, or what's left of it. despite the ceasefire, a shell landed here and killed his father. he blames azerbaijan. in the last karabakh war in the 1990s, armen lost two brothers. "it is politicians who make war," he says, "and ordinary "people who suffer." suddenly, air raid sirens. we head for cover. officially, nagorno—kara bakh is part of azerbaijan, but it is controlled by ethnic armenians. ophelia has spent more than two weeks down in the shelter. "my house was destroyed and there is bombing "every day," she says. "where else can i go?"

"the graves of our grandparents and great grandparents "are here," says vladimir. "we are not leaving karabakh." i asked this lady, could she imagine peace between armenians and azerbaijanis? "that's impossible," she says. "we've lost so many young people, sons and brothers". in this conflict, there is a lot of history, a lot of raw emotion, as we have been hearing, and a lot of violence. what there isn't much of it all, though, is trust, and until that can be somehow created and built between armenians and azerbaijanis, this is a conflict which is going to be very difficult to resolve. and in this conflict, the other side is grieving, too. norsin and her husband anar were killed on sunday in a missile attack azerbaijan

blames on armenia. this ceasefire between them isn't in ruins just yet, but it is extremely fragile. building a lasting peace in the south caucasus is a huge challenge. steve rosenberg, bbc news, in nagorno—karabakh. let's get some of the day's other news... facebook is to ban any content that denies or distorts the holocaust, in an update to its policy on hate speech. mark zuckerberg said it was responding to a rise in anti— semitism, and what it called an alarming level of ignorance about the holocaust, especially among young people. a british—born italian teenager, who used the internet to express his love of religion, is one step away from becoming the world's first millennial saint. carlo acutis, who died aged fifteen in 2006, was beatified in a ceremony in assisi after he was claimed to have cured a sick brazilian boy.

in europe, two of the countries worst hit by coronavirus have seen a big jump in cases and hospital admissions. spain has registered nearly 28,000 more cases since friday, bringing the total recorded infections to nearly 900,000. 200 people died over the weekend, taking the total deaths to more than 33,000. france has placed the southern cities of toulouse and montpellier under maximum alert, along with paris, marseille and lille. here in the uk, the prime minister has introduced a three—tier alert system — putting every area on medium, high or very high alert. the liverpool region is under a "very high" or tier—three alert level. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. stand by. we cannot see clearly what is ahead. but the prime minister is, reluctantly, marking the way to a tighter phase. the lecterns back in their place, despite repeated rule

changes, coronavirus is not in retreat. the number of cases has gone up four times in four weeks, and is once again spreading among the elderly and vulnerable. these figures are flashing at us like dashboard warnings in a passengerjet, and we must act now. we are today simplifying, standardising and, in some places toughening local rules in england by introducing three levels of covid alert. only 1.5 million or so people in the liverpool city region will be in the toughest category, but in england more than 4 million people face extra limits from this week. no one wants to impose these kinds of restrictions, least of all me, erosions of our personal liberty. but i am as convinced as i have ever been that the british people have the resolve to beat this virus and that, together, we will do just that. so, liverpool's pubs will be shut by the time

it is sarah's actual birthday later this week. their wedding business has not had a job for six months, so she is taking on extra shifts as a nurse. like many, they are worried about paying the bills and protecting their family too. i worry about my kids not being able to socialise, go out and see their family and friends. so it has a big impact. where businesses are forced to close, the treasury will pay some of the wages, but only two thirds from the start of next month. rebecca owns the bar and worries it is not enough. a lot of our staff only do 17 hours a week, so if they are only going to be paid 63% of that, they're not gonna be able to afford to live. but as cases rise, could we be stuck in a painful holding pattern? prime minister, you have said many times you want to avoid a national lockdown, but it seems every week you introduce new rules and cases still rise. are you just delaying the inevitable? i really hope we are not going to have to go back into any kind of national lockdown like the kind we did in march and april.

we could go for a national lockdown again, but i think many people would think that was extreme. and it would do a great deal of extra harm to our economy. professor whitty, are you confident what is being announced now is really enough to slow the spread of the disease? i am not confident, nor is anybody confident that the tier 3 proposals for the highest rates, if we did the absolute base case and nothing more, would be enough to get on top of it. that is why there is a lot of flexibility. not exactly a ringing endorsement. and westminster wants local leaders to make some of the toughest calls. here in the west midlands, many are unhappy about how the government made its decisions. the tory leader, cross that mixing with other households is being limited here. i think it is very disappointing. in my view, it is not the right decision for the health

and livelihoods of citizens across the west midlands, and quite simply, there is very little evidence that locations like this pass on the disease. rules vary still in wales and northern ireland. but scotland has already closed many pubs. we will be looking to align as closely as possible with the other uk nations. i think it is important, and it makes sense to try to do that. labour does back the approach, but not how thejob is being done. i am now deeply sceptical that the government has actually got a plan to get control of this virus. but it increasingly feels like the prime minister is several steps behind the curve. the threat from this pandemic is sadly familiar, but the political climate is so different. rather than step confidently forward, this place feels riven with doubt. learner kunz berg without reports. there is much more, if you can handle it, and all the news anytime on the bbc website

and on our twitter feeds. news anytime on the bbc website and on our twitterfeeds. thank you so much for watching. good morning. it really wasn't the best start to a working week in terms of weather, was it? with the majority of the country seeing outbreaks of rain at times, slowly spreading its way southeast. this weather watcher picture from whitby, north yorkshire, tends to sum up monday afternoon for many. but i can offer a glimmer of good news as we head throughout the week, gradually turning a little bit drier, but staying on the chilly side for the time of year. now, for today, however, we're still under this area of low pressure. it's a bit of a messy weather story to try and tell, but here goes. once this weather front sinks its way steadily south through the day, we will start to see an improving picture gradually through scotland and northern ireland, but a brisk northeasterly wind here will make it feel on the cool side. the low pressure sinks its way south, spiralling around that low, plenty of showers,

a little bit like clothes in a washing machine spinning around. you'll probably feel it's going to dry up, and then there will be more showers flying in through the afternoon. so, it's a messy story across england and wales, and the temperatures, unfortunately, are not going to be particularly great either. top temperatures through the afternoon of around 10—13 celsius. now, as we move out of tuesday, we'll start to see those showers pushing their way a little bit further north and west back into southern, central and eastern scotland overnight. we also run the risk of a few showers just plaguing channel coasts. sandwiched in between the two, there will be some clearer slots, and we will see temperatures dipping into single figures. so, again, it's going to be a chilly start to our wednesday morning, but wednesday shows signs of the first spot of improvement. a weak weather front will move through, but high—pressure starts to build once again, and that's going to be responsible for quieting things down as we move towards the weekend. so, there is a risk of that northeasterly breeze just

driving in some showers through the morning — chiefly on the east coast to start with, but then some of those showers may well just filter a little bit further inland as we go through the day. maybe scotland and northern ireland — already under that influence of high—pressure — fairing best. top temperatures of around 15 celsius. but as we move out of wednesday into thursday and towards the weekend, you can see the dryer story kicking in. however, as we go towards the weekend, it's going to be bright rather than sunny. but i'll take that. take care.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: president trump has returned to the campaign trial for the first time since his coronavirus diagnosis less than two weeks ago. he told the crowd in florida that he wanted the experimental medicine he received during his treatement to be widely available. president trump's nominee for the supreme court, amy coney barrett, has told a senate confirmation hearing that she'll approach cases based on the law, not her personal values. she is a staunch conservative and roman catholic. her nomination is highly controversial, so close to a presidential election, and if approved, as looks likely, she would cement a conservative majority on the nation's highest court. with more virus cases now in hospital in the uk than there were before the full lockdown in march, the uk's prime minister has outlined a three tier system which will impose stronger restrictions on areas with the highest rates of infection. liverpool city region will be under the strictest measures.