of coronavirus infections — the uk announces billions of pounds of extra support for businesses and workers. hello: president trump goes into his final tv debate withjoe biden injust two hour's time, having received a boost — with the senate judiciary committee approving amy coney barrett — his nominee for the supreme court. angry democratic senators boycotted the hearing. the move clears the way for a full senate vote next week. earlier, the president took the unorthodox step of making footage from an interview with the cbs network public. mr trump was pushed on several subjects, but the most notable part of that interview was the way that it ended. let's take a look. he brought up a lot of subjects

that were inappropriately got back rent from the beginning. your first back rent from the beginning. yourfirst question back rent from the beginning. your first question was going to be tough questions. your first statement was not mr president, don't you think you should... excuse me, no, no, no. ..accountable to the american people? listen, your first statement to me, "this is going to be tough questions." i don't mind that. when you set up the interview, you didn't say that. you said, "oh, let's have a lovely interview." i saw the interview you did with joe i saw the interview you did withjoe biden. i saw the interview you did with joe biden. i i saw the interview you did withjoe biden. i seejoe biden getting softball after softball. i've seen all of his interviews. he has never been asked a question that is hard. as for thejoe biden — the democratic presidential candidate — he didn't comment on donald trump's confrontation with the 60 minutes team. but he did have this to say ahead of the debate. hopefully he's going to play by the rules. hopefully everybody‘s been tested.

hopefully it's all worked out, the way the rules are. i'm looking forward to this. thank you. we're just we'rejust an we're just an hour or so ahead of that debate. let's have a live look into the room where this is being held. this is in nashville. where the presidential candidates will be encountering. the first one was ill tempered. this time they are bringing in a mute button so are bringing in a mute button so they can speak over each other. we are getting reports the plexiglass on the stage has been removed. that was a bit of an issue when he came to be vice president of the debate but in this case the second presidential debate the plexiglass has been removed. my colleague laura trevelyan is in nashville, where that debate is taking place. the build—up has been absolutely huge. let's face it, there's a lot at stake. that is right. 12 days to go until the

election, more than a0 million americans have already voted. national polls suggest thatjoe biden has a leader but it is much closer in those key battle ground states. tonight is the chance for the president to reset the race and forjoe biden it is more of a do no harm strategy. i have been speaking to both campaigns about tonight and how they are approaching it. ispoke about tonight and how they are approaching it. i spoke to tom perez, chair of the democratic national committee and also to tell murtaugh of the term campaign. here's what they said. president trump is accomplished more in a7 months thenjoe is accomplished more in a7 months then joe biden is accomplished more in a7 months thenjoe biden has accomplished and a7 years in washington. the president already built a world—class economy once and he is doing get a second time already. joe biden on the other hand is an economic disaster and now his proposal is to raise taxes on the american people by $4 trillion. president trump is the outsider washington even still, and joe biden you see is a consummate insider. to the

extent that we see the evidence i'iow extent that we see the evidence now today with one or hunter biden's former business partners putting his name in a statement on the record saying not only forjoe biden know that hunter biden was travelling the world selling aspects of his father when he was vice president, but also advised hunter on those deals and in fact some cases have to sign off on them. this is corruption at the highest level. do you think the american people want to hear about hunter biden went 1000 people in this country died from coronavirus yesterday? this isn't about hunter biden. it is about joe this isn't about hunter biden. it is aboutjoe biden. and the fa ct it is aboutjoe biden. and the fact he allowed his son to sell access to one of the highest offices in this country, about corruption and about people selling access to power. yes, i think people do understand that when they are struggling in the economy and people are trying to get back to work to see the hunter biden was allowed to travel the world and set access to his father. i absolutely think you understand that. we have four crises in our country right now. we have a coronavirus crisis killing so many people and wreaking havoc on our economy. so we have an economic

collapse. we have a civil—rights pandemic and we have a climate crisis. joe biden has a plan to address all of those things. he has a plan that will help build back america, build back better. he will listen to the scientists. he will work together with governors and mayors, not cross purposes with governors and mayors. he will reenter the paris climate agreement. he will make sure that we are working together as a nation. we are a house divided right now and joe biden will bring us together. that will be his closing argument tonight. donald trump, on the other hand, has no closing argument other than, "lock up the governor of michigan," because he has no answers for these crises. and he has had no answers from day one. it goes to showjust how confident both sides are. but are we expecting another messy debate? we have those mute buttons come again this time

around. that is the million—dollar question. i was there in cleveland just over three weeks ago at the end of it we were all reeling company could hardly hear anything that anybody said. this time yes, when each candidate makes an opening two minute long statement in each of these six sections and the 90 minute debate, the other candidate will be muted during that opening statement. but of course, as people have been pointing out, you can still yell over your microphone and it can be picked up by the other persons. but a sitting president have been telling him he needs to be focused and his message and talk about the economy. “— message and talk about the economy. —— but the aides to the president. that is the one area where posterjesse is ahead. people like its economic record and want to hear about how they will rebuild. but the question is for the present is can he reset the race and can he stay on message tonight. looking at so much of my new show when it comes to the event tonight. that we are talking about the plexiglass barriers.

—— at so much my new cell. because both joe biden —— at so much my new cell. because bothjoe biden and donald trump have tested negative for covid—19. i never thought i would be speaking about plexiglass until these us election has taken us to places, a sister in the making. it is so true. when we were last speaking in cleveland for that debate there and half weeks ago, the president three days after that announced that he had tested positive. —— history and the making. it has been a complete roller coaster and as you say come early on today, when we were inside the debate hall, there was plexiglass that was up, but now that plexiglass has come down. you have to bet the president doesn't want to there. he didn't like the imagery and doesn't want to talk about the impact of the coronavirus. it was a talk about how the vaccine is coming orjoe biden is making the selection a referendum of the president handling a coronavirus. he can expect tonight to hear a lot about what tim murtaugh was telling me about joe about what tim murtaugh was

telling me aboutjoe biden and his son hunter biden and president trump trying to replay what he did in 2016 when he turned up with the guest and women who claim to have been abused by bill clinton. president clinton when he was debating hillary clinton and tonight we are told whenever scarce at the debate will be a former business associate of hunter biden. the trump campaign trying to shift the message and the biden campaign saying that just shows message and the biden campaign saying thatjust shows the president doesn't have an argument for his own reelection. but to the americans make up all of this? how much interest and excitement is there ahead of this event tonight? it is such a good question because the audience for the first debate was actually lower than for the parallel one in 2016 between president trump and hillary clinton. and last week when there were a dueling town halls on different networks instead of the second debate was the president didn't want to do because i was going to be virtual, we saw because i was going to be virtual, we sanoe biden nearly eked out a win. but the question tonight is what the 1a

million plus americans having already voted for him are there enough people who want to tune in to hear the closing arguments, that sliver of undecided voters, so we will see. there will be completely fascinating but we do know that we would 12 days ago come interest in this election when it comes to voting is off the charts. absolutely. i know you and the team will be giving producing special coverage of this event tonight so that will get under way and an hour and a half. all everybody stays here with us on bbc news. for the time being, thank you so much, laura. the nigerian president has called for an end to protests against police brutality, which have led to widespread unrest. in a short televised address, muhammudu buhari made no direct mention of the shooting of demonstrators in lagos on tuesday, which has been blamed on the military. but he said he was pained

by the loss of innocent lives. meanwhile, there have been further disturbances in parts of the country. mayeni jones reports from lagos. firing live rounds in broad daylight. armed men in police uniform roaming the streets of one of africa's largest cities. the roads of lagos, usually lively with activity, are now tense. despite a round—the—clock curfew, vandals still move freely enough to cause havoc. the smell of smoke still hangs in the air around the high court here in lagos island. this is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city, but this symbol of law and order was left to burn overnight, with neither security forces nor the fire brigade showing up. authorities here seem to have completely lost control. it's not clear who burned down this 70—year—old building, but eyewitnesses say it wasn't protesters. they‘ re not protesters. and you also mentioned that they were wearing some of thejudges' wigs.

yeah, they've got lawyer wigs. this footage of people looting a supermarket was taken earlier today. the authorities have blamed protesters for much of the violence of the last few days. tonight, in a television address, president buhari warned them to stop. for you to do otherwise will amount to undermining national security and the law and order situation. under no circumstances will this be tolerated. i therefore call on our youth to discontinue the street protests and constructively engage government in finding solutions. but the president's words will do little to satisfy the demands of a generation that has grown desperate for change. youth unemployment is rising and coronavirus is only making things worse.

it's a dangerous cocktail. mayenijones, bbc news, lagos. pro—choice demonstrators in poland have been holding a vigil outside the constitutional court in warsaw after it introduced an almost total ban on abortion. with wide legal restrictions already in place, thejudges ruled that ending the life of a deformed foetus is counter to the country's constitution. paul hawkins reports. waiting for a verdict from poland's top court. anti—abortion activists cheer the ruling that means the procedure will be banned for foetal defects. translation: today, poland is an example for europe. it's an example for the world. ladies and gentlemen, we're not stuck in the historical necessity which commands us to march to the left and facilitates murder. it's possible to protect life. regular pro—life activism which

brings results is possible. poland already had some of the most restrictive abortion laws in europe. women's rights groups estimate around 100,000 women a year travel abroad for the procedure, while in poland last year, there were just over 1,000 legal terminations, 98% of them because of fatal defects. but this ruling now tightens the law further. it means abortion is only legal in cases of rape, incest or where the mother's life is at risk. even then, doctors can refuse to carry out the procedure on the grounds of freedom of conscience. back in 2016, the conservative ruling party tried to tighten abortion legislation, prompting thousands to pour onto the streets of the capital warsaw in protest. there was opposition in parliament, while opinion polls showed voters weren't in favour of tighter restrictions, so the government asked the country's supreme court — with judges picked by the government — to rule on the matter. but four years later, the reaction is the same — pro—choice protesters ignoring coronavirus restrictions to make their voice heard.

0ne campaigner said 3,000 demonstrators had marched on the ruling party's headquarters. we're going to the european commission to start in infringement procedure on poland for attempting to legalize torture in poland, to go to the european court of justice against poland for that, and we'll support each and every individual case against a doctor that will try to lie that this kind of abortion is banned in poland because it's not. but poland's top court disagrees, and that means any legal challenges will have to come at european level. paul hawkins, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: ghislaine maxwell denies witnessing any inappropriate activities between herformer boyfriend — the convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein — and underage girls.

a historic moment that many of his victims have waited forfor decades. the former dictator in the dock, older, slimmer and as he sat down, obedient enough. dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside korem, it lights up a biblical famine now in the 20th century. the depressing conclusion, in argentina today, it's actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. we've had controversies in the past with great britain. but as good friends, we have always found a good and lasting solution. concorde bows out in style after almost three decades in service, an aircraft that has enthralled its many admirers for so long, taxis home one last time.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: joe biden and donald trump are preparing for their final presidential debate in nashville — but new rules are in place to prevent them talking over each other. nigeria's president buhari has called for demonstrators to end their protests, after several days of violent clashes with security forces. the us six offender jeffrey epstein's former girlfriend, ghislaine maxwell, has said she never witnessed "inappropriate underage activities" by him, according to transcripts of a 2016 deposition. the testimony was made in a now—settled civil defamation lawsuit brought by one of the late financier‘s accusers, virginia giuffre. ms maxwell had long fought to keep the testimony secret. she will go on trial in a criminal case next year and has pleaded not guilty.

the bbc‘s nada tawfik, who's in new york, has been reading through the documents. a very comprehensive deposition. it gets testy at times in the exchanges. she really through out denies she had any knowledge ofjeffrey epstein having any inappropriate underage relationships with underage girls. she denies that she ever hired underage girls because remember, the claim is that she was the mastermind behind jeffrey epstein's alleged sex trafficking ring. she also really hits back at the notion that she knew virginia roberts and recruited her at the mara lago resort, her at the mar—a—lago resort, basically hiring her to use her for massages, for powerful men and traffic across the world. that's where all the deposition comes from, a defamation suit that roberts brought up. in that, numerous names pop

up in the deposition. maxwell makes clear that she has flown in planes with president clinton. but that she was never on jeffrey epstein's private island. she said she would not classify those two men as friends. prince andrew's name is not explicitly in the deposition because there are names that are redacted. but there are one or two sections that really refer to some of the claims that virginia has made, particularly during events in london where she claims she had sexual activities with prince andrew. he has vehemently denied that and ghislaine maxwell also says the claims by virginia are just not possible. here in the uk, the chancellor of the exchequer has unveiled billions of pounds of extra

support for jobs and workers hit by covid restrictions. rishi sunak said that even businesses not forced to shut were facing "profound economic u ncerta i nty". 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports. limbo — not fully open, not completely closed. thousands of firms, millions of us, living under limited restrictions. it is no way to make ends meet, so, the government, again, stepping in with more cash to try to keep people in work. from the beginning, this government has provided unprecedented support to everyone in this country, support worth £200 billion. i'm making ourjob support scheme more generous for employers, who can open safely, but who are struggling with the impact of restrictions on their business. instead of employees working at least a third of their hours to qualify for support, they will now have to work just one day a week. the dole queue in slough has

already grown faster than in most parts of the country. there, along with coventry and stoke—on—trent, friends and family won't be able to meet indoors or stay with each other unless they live together, from saturday. zia is a fishmonger — his customers are hard—up and spending less. the people, they don't have a job, and that's why all of my customers, they used to spend lots of money, but they spend, like, less every time they come, they're just surviving. rizwan has even had to shut some of his businesses down. we used to have, like, ten different shops, like, in a different part of london, and outside london, and now we've got only two. with real hardship around, it's easy to see why the chancellor had to go back to parliament, not even a month since the last big announcement of cash, to top it up. for his critics, though, harder to see why he didn't see the scale of the problem to begin with. for months, we've urged the chancellor to get ahead of the looming unemployment crisis and act to save jobs. instead, we've had a patchwork

of poor ideas, rushed out at the last minute. and on tuesday, the government was still waging a furious battle with leaders in the north—west of england over £5 million. now, on thursday, cash for across the country has arrived, with some of it backdated, too. i honestly was just openmouthed, really, when i read the headlines last night that there was going to be a support package. it was billed as being for london and birmingham and it was just a case of, "hello! "we've been under these restrictions for three months!" it's the third time since the summer that the chancellor has had to revise his plans. why do you keep underestimating the help that people really need? as these new restrictions have been put in place, the impact they're having on the ground has been highly significant. we will adapt and evolve our response as the situation changes. and prime minister, to you — this week, you've been to war with leaders in the north of england, you're still leaving some workers on two thirds of their wages, or telling them to claim

benefits, and cases of coronavirus keep on rising, is this really the kind of leadership you think the country deserves? well, laura, i must i'm afraid strongly reject what you say about me being at war. we've had great conversations with local leaders, mayors and others, and everybody has come to the table, shown leadership, stepped up to the plate. whatever he says, this has been a very bumpy week for the government. and even among tories, the start of some doubts about the chancellor, whose star had shone, and fears that ministers aren't prepared yet to do enough for those facing hardship this winter. and with yet more of the country heading to tighter limits, a tough season for the government and the economy approaches, with no certain way out. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. it's not every day that an entire town launches a search operation for a dolphin. but, for the residents of a small fishing community in ireland, fungie is more than an animal.

dingle harbour has built an entire tourism industry around its famous dolphin, who first appeared in the area 37—years ago. but now he's missing. 0ur ireland correspondent, emma va rdy investigates. it was the town's lighthouse keeper who was first to spot a solitary dolphin at the mouth of dingle harbour in 1983. no one knows more about that dolphin than i do. for i can tell you times without i seeing him in the years that followed fungie became a major draw for tourists as people flocked to see the friendly dolphin, who seemed to enjoy the interaction. the boats were initially small fishing boats then they developed and bought new vessels and invested heavily and fungie has been a huge boost and a vital part of the tourism. there are whole generations that have grown up and all they ever knew was that he lived

in the harbour and so generous and so playful. for that to be gone it's like a light hasjust gone out. since his disappearance a week ago, the town has taken part in a full—scale search with boats, divers and sonar, but without success. he was still totally wild, so the only thing he ever got out of this was the company and now he's just off again and the choice was always his. there are various theories as to why he has now vanished as mysteriously as he came but people say they will continue to hope fungie is out there somewhere. where did you come from? emma vardy, bbc news. injustand hourand a half the presidential debate gets under way. the debate gets under way

in nashville in about an hour and a half, at 0—100 gmt on friday. and we'll have full coverage of it — here on bbc world news — in a special programme with katty kay and christian fraser. hello there. thursday brought us a break from the rather unsettled run of weather we've seen. there was some sunshine to get out and about and enjoy some of the rather spectacular autumn colours on offer, but it was just a short weather window because, looking out in the atlantic, this swirl of cloud you can see here is the next area of low pressure that's going to be bringing rain across our shores for friday. and then further west, a developing area of low pressure. that's going to rapidly deepen to bring some strong winds across the uk this weekend. so, before we get there, a lot of cloud around at the moment. we've got some patches of rain working across from southwest england into the midlands, east anglia, probably see some in the southeast as well, and then this more general area of rain that's bringing some wet weather to northern ireland. that's moving into scotland, western parts of england and wales early friday morning, before pushing eastwards. notice, though, the rain band does weaken significantly.

there might be some areas across the midlands that escape the rain band altogether. same is true across east anglia and the southeast, with just perhaps a few patches of rain here and there to take us through the afternoon. it is an improving weather story, though, because for most of the northwest of the uk, we'll see some sunnier weather with just a few showers, mainly confined to the west coast of scotland through friday afternoon. the winds then start to pick up as we head through friday night. areas of rain begin to spread in and that really is what's on the menu for saturday. a very gusty day with some heavy rain moving its way eastwards. sunshine and showers will then follow for many of us as we head into the afternoon. here is our band of rain. notice some pretty gusty winds to start the day, then, for scotland and northern ireland, but it's actually on and ahead of this weather front that the winds will get really strong for a time across wales and across england. it's going to be quite a short—lived, squally band of rain, so intense downpours and some strong gusts of wind. they could be strong

enough to bring down a few tree branches. we could see some localised disruption out and about, the weather getting cooler into the northwest as those sunny conditions arrive across scotland and northern ireland but with some showers packed in as well. it stays quite windy, really, on sunday. generally a day of sunshine and showers, but close to the low pressure in the northwest, those showers will be frequent. showers won't just stay around coastal areas of england and wales. there's actually a trough moving through, so those showers will be blowing well inland. most of us, i think, will probably see a downpour or two.

this is bbc news. the main headlines: joe biden and donald trump are preparing for their final

us presidential debate, which is being held in nashville. after the bad—tempered first event, moderators have been given the power to mute the candidates' microphones if they feel it is getting out of hand. the nigerian president, muhammudu buhari, has called for, an end to protests against police brutality, for an end to protests against police brutality, and for "the people" to work with the government to find solutions. several people have been killed in clashes with security forces, and there were reports of gunfire in the centre of lagos. poland's top court has tightened the law on abortion, making terminations only legal to save a mother's life or in cases of rape or incest. judges ruled that ending the life of a deformed foetus is counter to the country's constitution. that's it from me. christian