welcome to bbc news — i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories. the final weekend — trump and biden campaign this is bbc news. the in the midwest — where polls suggest several us states headlines. president trump and could still go either way. joe biden have been campaigning the number of americans tested in the midwest before tuesday's positive for coronavirus passes nine million — us election. more than 85 as the us breaks the record million people have cast their vote leading to predictions for the biggest rise of cases that this year could see the highest turnout in over a in a single 2a hour period. century. the number of americans testing positive for coronavirus has passed 9 million with the us breaking the record for the biggest rise is another lockdown on the way? experts warn coronavirus in cases in a single 24—hour is spreading "significa ntly" period. over faster through england in cases in a single 24—hour period. 0ver1 million new than the "worst case" scenario. a powerful earthquake kevin 19 cases have been hits turkey and greece — reported for the past 1a days. more than 20 are confirmed dead british government may be as rescuers search considering if more the rubble for survivors. restrictions are needed across england after medical sources said the country was at a crunch point with rising cases of kevin 19. british media say a second national lockdown could be imposed as early as wednesday.

france has warned that more militant attacks are likely. his comments follow the fatal stabbing of three people in a knife attack. nick pick reports. at the notre dame basilica they mourned the murders, became a side of killing. the last words of but of three simone would tell my children i love them. she had moved to france from brazil 30 yea rs moved to france from brazil 30 years ago. here she is filmed taking a cookery course, enthusing about the secrets of southern french cuisine. a friend, miriam, said she would be hugely missed. i want to remember her smile, what

character i simone was her smile. that is what she will leave to her children and to all the people of nace. this was the churchwarden, he dedicated his life to the place safe. but he and the other victims were defenceless yesterday morning. this was the moment police confronted their attacker. prosecutors said he arrived on the italian island last month before travelling onto nace. at the family home in tunisia relatives told the bbc they believed he was looking for work in france. his mother said he had previously struggled with drink and drugs. his answer was always that he would quit only one god wanted him to. nearly two and a half yea rs him to. nearly two and a half years ago he began to pray, he would leave home to go to work and back. he stopped using drugs. france is once again in

lockdown and in grey. this is the third terror attack in barely one month. the country is fighting an invisible virus and today the government said it isa and today the government said it is a war against another enemy, islamist ideology and the extremists are a shared enemy of the millions of muslims in france, according to one prominent community leader. this terrorist act as an affront to our faith. we asked the muslims of france to cancel all celebrations marking the birthday of the prophet today and to mourn the victims. but in lebanon today, anti—french protest a nd in lebanon today, anti—french protest and elsewhere including bangladesh but there is still fury over president maduro and's defence of the right to publish cartoons of the prophet muhammad. back in france, no explanation for this latest attack, just profound sadness that has become all too

familiar. next on bbc news, it is talking movies. hello from new york. i am tom brooke and welcome to our special talking movies programme, where we look forward to award season. normally, at this time of the year, award season is taking shape, but because of the pandemic, everything has changed, with the oscars now shifting to april. but, some potential awards contenders have emerged, especially at the venice film festival. from venice, for talking movies, emma jones reports. to the astonishment and the acclamation of the film

industry, the venice film festival took place in 2020. it even had, behind the masks, instantly recognisable faces. but this year, with only two american films in competition, it was undoubtedly a european event and given its timing, that is unusual. this is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, but coming to venice in september and its festival, usually means the start of autumn award season, because this place has a habit of spotting oscar winners. but in 2020, by necessity, it has been a very different kind of festival. venice shows us that award season, if it has a physical form, will involve socially distanced carpets, masks, and temperature checks. and british actress, vanessa kirby's best actress prize for pieces of a woman, makes her a serious contender to be part of it, having already made a name for herself as princess margaret in the crown

and in the mission impossible franchise. i got us something. oh my god. that is so cute. directed by hungarian kornel mundruczo, the independent film, now bought by netflix, co—sta rs shia labeouf. it is about a woman, martha, who loses her baby. it features an unbroken 30 minute labour scene. when i read it, i thought, oh my god, i have not seen anything like this on screen before. i haven't seen and an uninterrupted birth like that and the more women that i spoke to, all the research that i did and the more i spent time with, all of them said, there is not that much awareness around it, people do not talk about it. some talent had to zoom into the festival, including teenage environmental campaigner, greta thunberg who found her school clashed with the event. thank you, everyone and now i need to get back to school. i am greta, released in cinemas this month, is a film like michelle 0bama's

becoming, seeking to discover the personality behind the icon. made by swedish film—maker nathan grossman, who met her alone on her very first school strikes, he is prepared for controversy, given the many conspiracy theories about her that have sprung up, as herfame has grown. i must actually say, that in many ways, i don't even like understand or have read other conspiracies, but of course i have always been interested to kinda see how she reacts to it and a lot of the idea of the film is to see how much i could kind of go behind the facade. she has done so many interviews and speeches and i wanted to see how did she react to the hatred. if social distancing demands gifted unusual interview locations in the middle of the festival, the crisis has also presented critics with the most unusual award season for years. i do think award season is going to be maybe a less glamorous affair, certainly a cheaper affair.

it has become a bit of a circus and maybe something on its merits will come through. good news has been in short supply for cinema in 2020, yet one story reverberated around venice, as survivor of the 2015 bataclan murders in paris had his first film, zanka contact, in the side bar competition, with no sales agent and no publicist, ismael el iraki managed to sell his film and win a prize. it is incredible to be in venice this year. there have been so many cancelled festivals, there has been so much demand for movies to be here, to have whole parts of the selection that have been cancelled and so there is a lot of demand. there are very few slots and we are here. venice may have been a rare event this year, but it was also a moment

of hope to hold onto. moving on from venice and toronto, the new york film festival, which were both largely virtual affairs, although both did each have a bit of a physical presence here in new york, some of the films were shown at a drive—in like this one here. but i watched most of the festival movies at home, on my laptop and it was one picture in particular that made a great impact on me. it is called nomadland and it stars francis mcdormand. nomadland, already a strong 0scar contender transfixed audiences at this drive—in show at the new york film festival movies. it is the story of fern, an addict woman with a cast of both real—life nomads. directed by chinese film—maker, chloe zhao,, it shows rootlessness set against a backdrop of the american landscape. i wanted fern to be a guide, to be able to bring us into this vast really rich world of nomadic living and

what i have learned, you have to anchor the audience in one person's intimate experience, so they can feel, you know, comfortable to be able to experience everything else and without getting lost. fern, played by francis mcdormand is a woman who left her home town of empire in nevada after economic collapse. there is a childlike quality that we were really interested in for fern, that she has had a very prescribed set of rules, living in empire and once she hits the road, the possibilities become open and her sense of self sufficiency is tested. frances mcdormand is being widely tipped for a best actress 0scar nomination for her work in nomadland and another possible best actress candidate emerged at the new york film festival. michelle pfeiffer for her highly praised performance as francis in the satire french exit, in which she betrays a new york socialite who flees to paris

with her son. it is this sort of, you know, odd world, filled with these odd people, who are sort of in some ways like into people marooned on an island who end up finding each other. french exit is directed by azazeljacobs, who is clearly smitten with his leading lady. for me, what michelle does is near impossible in the film. i have been watching, living with this film now for the past year, since i shot it and watching it, as you do, backwards and forwards and frame by frame and i still cannot get over what she brought to frances. the new york film festival, as have several other festivals, have showed the indian film, the disciple, to great acclaim. it is a story set in the world of indian classical music and the central character is a young vocalist in mumbai who is trying to master the art form.

the film is called the disciple, but i think the protagonist is not only a disciple of his teacher, but he is also a disciple of his father, his musical heroes and then ultimately also of life, in a way, you know, the way he adapts to the real world and when life happens to him, in his mid life. the disciple could become india's official submission to the oscars for best international feature film. india, despite the richness of its movie industry has never won a best foreign language film academy award. talking movies reporter in delhi believes it would be a big deal if the disciple prevailed at the oscars. i think it would be a matter of great pride, because it is a story that is very original, it has not been done by anybody else, it does not have any kind of a hollywood trademark to it, in all facets, in the way it has been shot, in the way that the performances have taken place, in the way that the music is such an integral part

of the story and that, to indian classical music, and i think it is really important to see it from an indian perspective, to see a story that is so specific to india be accepted at the global stage and also be awarded for it. cassius marcellus clay is the new heavyweight champion of the world. other pictures with an oscar bad include actress regina king's directorial debut one night in miami, which revolves around four blackicons coming together in 1964. and the trial of the chicago seven, based on the real—life story of countercultural figures in 1969, facing off against government prosecutors. 0ne nomination that seems inevitable is a best actor nod for sir anthony hopkins, starring opposite 0livia colman, as a man succumbing to dementia in the father. it is being touted as his best performance ever and that is certainly saying something. i am not leaving my flat!

you would think with all the tumult in the world right now, the pandemic, economic meltdowns and here in the us, a very intense presidential election campaign, that audiences would be seeking out escapist movie entertainment. well, surprisingly, the real world, by way of documentaries is very much in demand as tristan daley reports, several strong documentaries have awards eight. some films that have focused on recent events seem to rank high in the list of possible contenders for the oscars 2021 best documentary category. welcome to chechnya follows a network of activists who attempt to smuggle lgbtq people out of the country to avoid persecution. the documentary features gripping scenes of people trying to escape the chechen government's widely reported campaign to silence their lgbtq population by means of abduction

and violence. a documentary shot in china called 76 days is also seen as a strong contender. it chronicles the first 76 days of lockdown in wuhan during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. this whole discussion about covid has been primarily focusing on politics, numbers and with my film, i'm really trying to bring viewers into hospital, to witness and to watch, how the human experience has been in this pandemic. documentaries racing to address current events have been popular, but so have films that deal with history. among them was possible 0scar nominee crip camp.

the film focuses on a summer camp in upstate new york, catering specifically to disabled teenagers. crip camp shows how that experience had a positive impact on their lives and how the sense of community at the camp fed into the american disability rights movement of the 1970s. i would appreciate it if you would stop shaking your head and an agreement me when i don't think you understand what we are talking about. free at last. thank god almighty, we are free at last. a documentary that premiered at the largely virtual toronto international film festival this year was mlk/fbi. and it unveiled the inner workings of fbi director j edgar hoover's campaign of character assassination and disinformation against civil rights leader doctor martin luther king junior. he was killed in 1968, but this film is no period piece. it touches on several topical matters.

some of the things that i expect to resonate with 0scar voters will be the same themes that are on our headlines right 110w. things that reflect on systemic racism and trying to fight that. could you start walking to me? that is fantastic. there are other documentaries that may be in the running for an oscar that focus on more personal topics. dickjohnson is dead is a documentary about film—maker kirsten johnson's father, who was suffering from dementia. in order to better deal with his passing in the future, johnson made a film in which he acts out his death in multiple ways. the tragic comic scenes in the film are bittersweet and may seem irreverent at times, but the director felt it was important to find a way to face her dad's condition. to acknowledge that certain people have been through terrible things or are going through terrible things is meaningful, in and of itself. i don't know what it is to experience dementia, i don't know what my father is going through, but i don't want to abandon him. i want to keep them

at the centre of my thoughts and conversation. i don't want to sideline him as a person who is ageing and who is less mentally lucid than he was. a pool of strong documentaries have definitely emerged this year and so far none fiction films have been making a powerful impact. on both audiences and critics. when it comes to the oscars race, the pandemic has thrown everything into disarray. at this point the ceremony is scheduled to take place on april the 25th. two months later than planned. and the eligibility window has been extended until the end of february. these changes by the academy raise some questions. the first cow in the territory. before the pandemic forced cinemas to close in the us, the first few months of 2020 saw a number of independent films released, including first cow and never rarely sometimes

always that were critically acclaimed and, to many, deserving of the academy attention that small films rarely receive. where's the money? with so many studio movies push to 2021, this would have been a great for the oscars to honour a smaller film, but the academy's decision to extend the eligibility period seemed to some like it was designed to keep a lower profile titles out of contention. it does behave the academy to continue to promote films with its awards that a lot of have seen. and there is a relationship there that works in both directions, the show tends to be more successful when they honour films that were people have seen and the films tend to be more successful when they are honoured by the academy awards and so you have this dovetailing interest between these two parties or essentially the same people. they are the people who make movies and are celebrating themselves. of course, it has not worked. as the pandemic rages on,

cinemas in the us may not all be open by the february deadline and studios could be largely shut out at the oscars. the biggest beneficiary may be netflix, which is releasing several major films this autumn, including the trial of the chicago seven and ma rainey‘s black bottom, which features the final performance of the late chadwick bozeman. typically, streaming films are only eligible for 0scars if they are also released in cinemas, but the academy made a temporary change that share, allowing only streaming films which were planning on having some distribution in cinemas to be eligible. the new rule definitely allow some room for negotiation and it represents something of a truce between the academy, which has long fought to preserve its cinema going or the theatrical experience and the streaming services, all of which covered 0scars to legitimise the platform. i think that this sort of bowing to a reality of saying, we cannot fight this war for theatrical experience, if the theatrical

experience does not exist. i think it was a way of them do not concede the larger battle about movies in theatres, but it was a recognition of this year that is not going to fly. you need netflix, you need amazon, because these are the only places that people are going to be seen movies and, if like the academy, your mission is to essentially get people interested in movies, you have got to go with a movies r. what we define as cinema seems to change a little bit every day, but these changes from the academy represent a more structural shift. if the streaming service wins big at an academy awards held in april, it will feel like a significant change in an institution that has always clung tightly to its traditions. hollywood has ever been slow to change, but this year it may not have a choice. like many institutions, the academy of motion picture arts and sciences has been accused of being too white, both in terms of its membership and its preferences. its new diversity

initiative has been winning praise and attracting some criticism from those who believe it infringes on artistic freedoms. we have been exploring the debate. the new diversity initiative aims to increase inclusion for all underrepresented groups, a goal that april reign, creator of 0scars are white shares. inclusion is the goal and for me it is inclusion, notjust based on race, but 0scars are white is notjust a binary black person white person thing. it is all traditionally underrepresented communities. the new initiative applies to films competing for a best picture starting in 202a. as made up of four standards, the first is having diverse representation on screen, the second is having diverse representation behind scenes, the third is providing training or internship programmes to underrepresented groups and the fourth is having diverse marketing and distribution teams. the standards are meant to be flexible and films competing for best picture only need to meet two at the four standards in order to qualify.

yet the backlash against the initiative was swift. in a series of tweets, academy member kirstie alley said dot bacco others said that the new criteria would basically result in participation 0scars, where any film could get an award, solely because it is diverse. there have been smacks of political correctness but the problem with political correctness is one she open the door to it, there is no limit to it, know where you can appease people enough. they keep saying we want more diversity, we want more of this category, there weren't enough south asians in this movie, there weren't enough gay people in this movie. to say that diversity diminishes excellence just makes no sense. when we see that when given the opportunity, we shine. look at the standard, you will see it does not restrict creativity,

it enhances creativity and also once and for all, hopefully, we will begin a plan, that will not only be the plan of the academy, but become the plan of the industry on how to create more equity and representation and inclusivity in our business once and for all. real inclusion in hollywood faces a few barriers, for example, the academy is still largely white and male. april reign thinks this restricts the types of films that the academy considers, because we are all limited by our own perspective, especially since academy members do not have to watch the films they award, resulting in choices that are already familiar. i call these new initiatives windowdressing on a condemned house. it is just, the fact that you can drive through the loopholes of this new initiative tells you that it is not enough. those that say we did not go farenough, they are correct. we believe you have to walk before you run and it is very hard for those

on the outside to understand the magnitude of this change on the inside. this organisation, the academy has been around for over 90 years. 90 years. the best picture award is almost like the symbol of what the academy represents and to make a step in the right direction, to say we want the symbol to represent inclusivity, not exclusivity, that is a massive step in a direction that this organisation has never taken. so, absolutely the progress starting was a step, not expand, a step. well, that brings this talking movies awards season look ahead to a close. we hope we have given you some idea of the possible contenders in the forthcoming 0scars race. please remember you can always reach is online and you can find us on facebook and twitter.

so, from tom brooke and the rest of the talking with his production team here in new york, it is goodbye, as we leave you with the official music video for the possible 0scar contender, the trial of the chicago seven. # hear my voice. # hear my dream. # let us make a world. # in which i believe. # hear my voice. hello. by mid week next week oui’ hello. by mid week next week our weather will finally have turned drier and, but for the

weekend it is far from it and for saturday storm aidan, as named by the irish weather service for impacts there, even across the uk it will be very windy and at times very wet. here is that area of low pressure passing to the north west of scotland and another will come along on sunday as it stays windy and there will be more rain. saturday begins already with some outbreaks of heavy rain towards the west in particular and for a time theory north across scotland and further heavy, even torrential bursts of rain sweep east across the uk with very gusty squally winds and for many of us it will clear to some sunshine. it is in the west where we will see strong of wind, 50 or 60 mph but closer to 70 on exposed coasts and hills but even elsewhere as this torrential rain moves on through, you could well see gusts of 50—60 mph and it will bea mile gusts of 50—60 mph and it will be a mile start to the weekend. many of us see the rain cleared to sunshine but there will be for the rain from northern

ireland into the west of scotla nd ireland into the west of scotland and strong parts of scotla nd scotland and strong parts of scotland could cost in excess of 70 mph. before that wednesday's overnight into sunday morning, more rain comes on from the west. some day will be another windy day and this area of low pressure contains the remnants of what was once hurricane zita and close to that will see the strongest winds, but all parts will have another windy day and after some early rain clears through, some early rain clears through, some will brighten up in scotla nd some will brighten up in scotland and northern ireland, further outbreaks of rain in england and wales and some of that, still gusty in north—west scotla nd that, still gusty in north—west scotland and the chance of seeing some gas about 70 mph on sunday is still looking mild. it does turn colder next week, but that is part and parcel of a significant change in the weather, still some rain or showers around to start the week, still quite windy, but it is drier, calmer, yes it is

culture and there could be frost and fog overnight. for we get, the focus on wet and windy weather and if there are some problems because of the weather, bbc local radio will keep you updated and do check 00:29:11,413 --> 2147483051:51:21,683 out the latest weather warnings 2147483051:51:21,683 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 online.