this is bbc news: i'm christian fraser with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. donald trump and joe biden are just one hour away from their last presidential debate — with new rules to stop them talking over each other. lam laura i am laura trevelyan i live in nashville, tennessee or the excitement in the atmosphere are building and the candidates are building and the candidates are about to arrive. nigeria's president buhari calls for demonstrators to end their protests — after several days of violent clashes with security forces — and reports of shots being fired in lagos. poland's top court tightens the law on abortion — making terminations only legal to save a mother's life — or in cases of rape or incest. and — as europe struggles to contain a new wave of coronavirus infections —

the uk announces billions of pounds of extra support for workers and businesses. hello: president trump goes into his final tv debate with joe biden in just an hour's time, having received a boost — with the senatejudiciary 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 public footage from an interview with the cbs network. mr trump was pushed on several subjects, but the most notable part of that interview was the way that it ended. you brought up a lot of subjects that were inappropriately...

isaidl i said i was going to a few tough questions. they were inappropiate right from the beginning. your first question was this is going to be tough questions. your first statement was... 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." you don't askjoe biden... i saw the interview you did withjoe biden. it was a joke. 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. joe biden there on his way. must take a live look at the debate hall. you see the two podium set up, people starting to arrive. you might notice that the plexiglass dividers have been removed by the debate commission, both candidates testing negative on their way to the debate. lets go live to nashville and speak to laura trevelyan who is in place withjust under an hourto go. set the scene for us, laura. what is he going to be like in there? christian, you can see there? christian, you can see the dramatic red and blue lighting behind me. very different debate tonight is what the commission president is hoping for and they hope it will serve the interest of the american people after that chaotic one three and a half weeks ago. so tonight what we have 50 candidates i2 weeks ago. so tonight what we have 50 candidates 12 feet in eight inches apart, no plexiglass, clearly somebody didn't want to bear because it

was there earlier, and this time during opening statements, there will be six opening state m e nts there will be six opening statements on the six different bits of the debate. there will bea bits of the debate. there will be a mute button for the other candidate. so that there is that one person will get to speak uninterrupted for two minutes followed by the other and then they get into the cut and then they get into the cut and thrust of the debate but of course if one was to shout over once muted microphone it could still be picked up by the other one. we will see what happens. the stakes couldn't be higher. just 12 days ago. the a0 million americans have already voted. joe biden looking to do no harm and president trump looking to reset his campaign. and lame some punches onjoe biden. that mute button, it's been a contentious issue. the president as opposed to it. though we know who has control of it and how often might use it? not the moderator. we are told it will be some fighting on the commission on presidential debates but i have

been stocking to strategist both sides here roaming the media corridors and i have seen what they are expecting so i spoke to tom perez of the democratic national committee and tim murtaugh the trump campaign and first of all, here's him on what the president is trying to achieve tonight. president trump has accomplished more in a7 months thenjoe biden has accomplished in a7 years in washington. the president already built a world—class economy once and he is doing it 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, andjoe biden, you see, is a consummate insider. to the extent that we see the evidence now today with one of hunter biden's former business partners putting his name in a statement on the record saying not only did joe biden know that hunter biden was travelling the world, selling the access to his father when he was vice

president, but also advised hunter on those deals and in fact some cases he had to sign off on them. this is corruption at the highest level. do you think the american people want to hear about hunter biden when 1000 people in this country died from coronavirus yesterday? this isn't about hunter biden. it is aboutjoe biden. and the fact he allowed his son to sell access to one of the highest offices in this country, it's 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 sell access to his father. i absolutely think they 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. interesting listening to tim murtaugh, it is clear the president will try a rectaljoe biden. looking at the six topic areas, fighting covid—i9, american families, race in america, climate change, national security, and leadership. so covid—i9 will hang heavily over the debate tonight. it well. remember, three and half weeks ago that debate in cleveland, the president most likely was already infectious with

covid—i9. two days later, he tested positive. so it is hanging over the country and over the whole campaign, who sought more than 1000 people die in america yesterday from covid—19. we are seeing well over 50,000 cases a day as americans go inside for the winter and the economy still hasn't recovered. it is top of the agenda if you are a parent, running a household, many of your kids are zoom school and come in affecting every area of peoples life even if they don't personally have the disease was up personally have the disease was up the president wants to focus on the vaccine and focus on has one strong point where he is polling better than joe biden, how to handle the economy. you can expect to hear him tonight hammering joe biden on his plan to raise taxes for people earning over $a00,000 a year and joe biden trying to make this campaigna and joe biden trying to make this campaign a referendum on the president handling a coronavirus. i know the audience for the first debate wasn't as big as the corresponding debate in 2016, but this is the final debate.

more people tend to tune in ahead of 12 days from the vote, we can have 70 a:d., 90 million people listening tonight. there will be this opportunity to finish with a closing statement. what do you think president trump needs to do then to get back into this race? —— 70,80, 90 million people. what his assistants are telling him is he needs to focus and not be resentful and focus and not be resentful and focus on his many grievances. instead, focus on the fact that it was a great economy, before covid—19 hit, and it's beginning to come back. and to focus on joe biden's beginning to come back. and to focus onjoe biden's a7 years in public life and they say he doesn't have very much to show for it. also the focus on his foreign policy record around the world. the trump campaign advisers are telling report is the president is brigade the troops home, he is at the forefront of getting countries in the arab world to normalise relations with israel. that is what they want him to talk about, not to just go down the rabbit hole what joe about, not to just go down the

rabbit hole whatjoe biden. as one political strategist put it this morning on breakfast television, joe biden needs to keep it on the easy listening channel while the president goes full on heavy metal. laughter. i like it. good analogy. thank you, laura. we will be back with you shortly, no go anywhere. the presidential debate gets under way in just under an hour: we'll have full coverage of it — here on bbc world news — in a special programme starting in about 20 minutes with katty kay and myself. stay with us for that. other news now: 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. 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. anti—abortion groups celebrated the decision, as 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: the seach for fungie the dolphin — who's lived in dingle harbour for almost a0 years. 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, our top story this hour: joe biden and donald trump are preparing for their final presidential debate in nashville — new rules are in place to prevent them

talking over each other. the us six offender jeffrey epstein's former girlfriend, ghislaine maxwell, says 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 has been reading through the documents in new york. 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 it's 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.

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. iaman i am an optimist. let's keep our fingers crossed they find him. a fascinating evening up for us. should go to nashville. there is a stagejoe biden and donald trump will come face—to—face in just over half an hour's time. the third and final debate. no second debate, so this really the second debate in which the two of them will be discussing a whole range of issues. their last

opportunity to put the case to the american electorate. we will have live coverage coming right up. 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.

welcome to this bbc news special. there are 12 days to the presidential election, and tonight, the final televised debate. donald trump and joe biden will go head—to—head in half an hour's time in nashville, tennessee. the first debate was a shouting match, the second never happened. tonight, it is the rematch. this is the scene live at belmont university in nashville, where the two men will debate six topics over 90 minutes. will their performance swing any votes? we'll have analysis of the debate from democrat strategist mary anne marsh and former trump communications specialist bryan la nza.