this is bbc news. our top stories... there's less than a week to go until the us midterm elections — president biden says democracy itself is on the line. we must have one overwhelming unified voice, speak as a country, and say there is no place, no place, for voter intimidation and political violence in america. the japanese government issues a rare emergency alert after north korea launches ballistic missiles towards its territory. a surprise peace deal after nearly two years of civil war in ethiopia. it's hoped vital aid can now

flow into northern tigray — where 90% of the population is going hungry. and the legacy of invasion — how is russia's war on ukraine affecting russians back home? welcome to the programme. mid—term elections. mr biden accused the former president, donald trump and his supporters of undermining democracy and fuelling anger and violence by refusing to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election. in this moment, we have to confront

those lies with the truth. the very future of our nation depends on it. my fellow americans, we are facing a defining moment, an inflection point. we must have one, overwhelming, unified voice, and speak as a country, and say there is no place — no place — for voter intimidation or political violence in america, whether it is directed at democrats or republicans. no place, period, no place ever. speech, arranged by the democratic national committee, just a few blocks away from the capitol building brother was that attempt by demonstrators to overturn the results of the 2020 election. president biden started his speech by talking in some detail about the attack

on the husband of nancy pelosi, paul pelosi, in san francisco last week, something that has dominated the news here. the person for that responsible, allegedly said where's nancy, where's nancy, the same words are used during the attack on the capitol building last year, and president said that the capitol building last year, and presid must,,,,.,sait ourt americans must resolve our differences at the ballot box rather than using violence and he urged americans to choose candidates next week who will accept the election result. he said that election deniers will take the country down the road to chaos, and he did also focus on the former president without naming donald trump, everyone aware of who he was talking about, accusing the former president and his supporters are fuelling anger, hate and vitriol, by undermining democracy.— vitriol, by undermining democra . �* democracy. american democracy is under attack _ democracy. american democracy is under attack because - democracy. american democracy is under attack because the - is under attack because the defeated former president of

the united states refused to accept — the united states refused to accept the results of the 2020 election — accept the results of the 2020 election. he refused to accept the will— election. he refused to accept the will of the people. he refused _ the will of the people. he refused to accept the fact that he had — refused to accept the fact that he had lost. he has abused his power— he had lost. he has abused his power and _ he had lost. he has abused his power and put the loyalty to himself— power and put the loyalty to himself before loyalty to the constitution, and he has made a bil constitution, and he has made a big liar. — constitution, and he has made a big liar. an— constitution, and he has made a big liar, an article of faith among _ big liar, an article of faith among the maga republican party — among the maga republican pa . ~ ., , among the maga republican pa . ~ . , �* among the maga republican pa . ~ ., , �* ., , party. what president biden was talkin: party. what president biden was talking about — party. what president biden was talking about during _ party. what president biden was talking about during the - party. what president biden was talking about during the speech | talking about during the speech he has articulated before in other species over the last couple of years but it seems significant that he is returning to this topic, just days away from polling day. he is not doing well in the opinion polls. he acknowledged during this speech that there are other issues that americans are other issues that americans are concerned about, the cost of living crisis, rising inflation, the future of abortion rights, crime in inner cities and elsewhere, those are theissues cities and elsewhere, those are the issues people are talking

about, but it seems as if the president believes that there is perhaps a consensus across the country about the importance of democracy, and being able to believe the result of an election. peter bowes reporting. - north korea has launched three ballistic missiles, according to the south korean military. warnings were issued in some regions ofjapan, but none of the missiles crossed their territory. the news comes after wednesday's launch of around 20 missiles, including one that landed less than 60 kilometres from the south korean city of sokcho. those launches were described by us secretary of state antony blinken as dangerous and escalatory. north korea appears to be retaliating for the joint military drills that the south and the us have been carrying out. both sides will know that their actions are potentially destabilising for the region — so why is it happening? here's our south east asia correspondentjonathan head. there are different perspectives on that. the north koreans have

tested more missiles this year than ever before, with the total at well over 60. everyone is expecting an imminent nuclear test. that'll be the first resumption of nuclear testing since the failed diplomacy between mr kim and former president trump, a worrying indication of how far north korea's nuclear capabilities are moving, it is all about whether they can get the nuclear warheads that they test, the eighth test if they hold it, whether they can get those on missiles and the launches of these flurries of missiles are one interpretation. always an element of guesswork but one interpretation seems to be north korea showing how advanced their missile capabilities are that they can launch multiple missiles at south korea if needed and ultimately of course, if there was a nuclear warhead missile that is an exceptionally alarming scenario, and the war games from the south korean and american point of view are to show north korea how capable the air defence systems are, these were

the largest air exercises, and that the north koreans would not control the airspace, that south korea and the us together would deny them airspace, and they would face a very severe retaliation so on the one hand people say this is escalation but on the other hand, given the way in which north korea has been firing missiles, and that is the real question, what is the real motive behind that, i guess the us and south koreans will take the view they have to show them, to deter them from anything drastic. this is the year in which vladimir putin did something no—one thought he would do in ukraine, so nerves are much more frayed now than in previous years and those exercises were to send a very clear deterrence message. some will say that they also inflame the situation even more. it comes after a worrying two months, of an unwelcome trajectory,

and if that continues, where do you think de—escalation could come from first? a lot of that comes down to the north koreans. the current south korean government is not the kind that is likely to offer any amazing concessions or peace overtures especially at the moment and especially after these very worrying missile tests. the south korean mood is quite belligerent at the moment, quite indignant. they had a missile cross into what they view as their waters, off the coastline, yesterday, so, it would really have to come down to what the north koreans are doing and that is where the interpretation vary. another nuclear test is very worrying, but it might well be that kim jong—un is trying to shore up his own position domestically. the north korean economy is thought to be in very bad shape and even possibly going back to famine conditions, and in those circumstances, this may all be about him putting on a distracting show of strength, but there is also the possibility that, and he is talking about this, that he is trying to move his forces towards the ability to mount a nuclear strike or a very severe strike against south korea

and that is very alarming, even if he doesn't intend to do it, it makes the situation far more dangerous. jonathan head keeping an eye on developments. after ten days of peace talks — a surprise deal has been reached between the government of ethiopia and rebel forces in tigray for a permanent cessation of hostilities. it's almost two years since a brutal conflict began in ethiopia's northern tigray region. since then a civil war has left hundreds of thousands dead, almost five million displaced, and a population on the brink of starvation. the two parties in the ethiopian conflict have

formally agreed to the cessation of hostilities, as well as the systematic, orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament. well, earlier i spoke to by ethiopian journalist zecharias zelalem. i asked how confident should we be about this latest truce when previous peace agreements have fallen apart. well, the ceasefire is ground—breaking, in that it seems to have been able to secure the restoration of phone and internet services to the region as well as humanitarian aid supply flow, something that has i guess it would be

up to how quick the details are fascinating. they talk about reintegrating the tplf fighters into the federal army, disarming it. these are big steps. yes, it has actually caught most it would be a major concession from the tplf,

i suppose. the beginning of your show you showed that 90% of tigray�*s

as a victory for it because it has been able to achieve this without making the larger concessions and it will be a big ask of the tigrayan population to be able to allow ethiopian soldiers entered our towns and villages and to be able to control these villages, only very nearly after a slew of atrocities over the last two years, so there will be the lingering trauma of having to cope with that. zecharias zelalem, talking earlier.

brazil's defeated president, jair bolsonaro, has called on hundreds of truck drivers blocking the country's highways to go home — warning that the road blockages would cause harm to the economy. the blockades began on sunday in protest at the right—wing incumbent�*s narrow loss to his left—wing rival, luiz inacio lula da silva. they caused severe shortages of fuel and food. stay with us on bbc news — still to come... # when i wake up early in the morning...# still fab after all these years — the hand—painted video inspired by the music of the beatles. the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated. a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested and an extremist jewish organisation has claimed

responsibility for the killing. the monarchy would survive. they are being held somewhere inside the compound, this mission has surpassed all expectations. _ to keep on going. the latest headlines...

ahead of the us midterm elections, president biden says that democracy itself is on the line. i asked domenico montanaro — senior political editor for national public radio in the united states — whether president biden has a point. donald trump has thrown a lot of this incendiary rhetoric about and stuff that is practically not true at all. president biden mentioned in this speech that there have been no closer watched election and the 2020 election, there were audits and reviews, but we have got to a point in this country where some 35—40% of the countryjust doesn't believe anything that you or i would say or any independently verifiable facts, if it doesn't agree with their previously held beliefs, and that makes for a very difficult situation, to have a country where

trust in elections has been a thing that set the united states apart from a lot of countries, previously, we still do see that people say that they trust their state and local election officials to conduct fair and accurate elections for the most part, but that number has waned and you are seeing a lot of republicans buying into conspiracy, buying into what donald trump is saying and republican elected leaders going along with that because they know where the power is, and the base, and they follow trump. joe biden chose this subject to talk about and one wonders whether it will have an impact on independent voters in those key states that he needs to convince and many people just point to the fact that it is the economy, stupid, that is on top of their minds. kevin mccarthy, the republican house minority leader says this was a distraction from the president so that he is not blamed for bad economy.

it's funny coming from kevin mccarthy, the likely next speaker of the house and now, right afterjanuary 6th, after the trump rhetoric about what happened injanuary 6th, he was highly critical of the former president so was senate republican leader mitch mcconnell, but they have both made this bargain, that they knew that the republican base would likely abandeon them and stick with trump rather than sticking with their lines of criticism. i have spoken to a lot of republican strategists who are not necessarily aligned with trump and are not on his side of things, and they are saying that there has not been an effort, in an organised, consistent way, to take the microphone back from donald trump. he really owns the right in this country, and that is where things are. from a raw political standpoint, it is understandable why they are doing what they are doing but it is a heck of a bargain that they are making. inflation has been the top issue overall in this country,

we have seen our polling where republicans are trusted by more than 20 points on that issue. independents are much further down the list on those who are going to go out to vote in a few days so you look, looking at a base election with democrats trying to fire up their voters with reproductive rights as a main issue and republicans hitting president biden on inflation and making that bargain that, if there are people who deny the results of the election, and there are plenty of them who are running, that they will vote for them as long as they agree with them on policy. political journalist domenico montanaro. let's turn to ukraine now, where many areas have been devastated by vladimir putin's war. but — it's worth reflecting on what it has done to putin's own country. in russia there are signs of growing repression and state control, as well as escalating economic problems caused by sanctions and a brain drain. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg reports

from st petersburg on how russia is changing as the military offensive continues. singing how many in russia want to remember the darker chapters of their country's history? very few. every year they gather to remember the great terror of the 1930s. .. ..by reading out the names ofjosef stalin's victims, the million he executed, the millions more sent to prison camps. the gulag has gone but fear is returning. "repression is increasing by the week," local politician sergei troschen tells me. you can feel the fear today in russian society. and we can feel we are being watched and filmed. hardly undercover surveillance. for critics of the authorities, there are consequences.

university lecturer denis skopin has just been sacked for "immoral behaviour". he had been arrested for protesting against mobilisation for the war in ukraine. he had spent ten days injail. but look at the send—off his students gave him on his last day at work. cheering i love my students very much. they understand very well what is happening now in russia. denis says many of his colleagues, academics and scientists, have fled russia. russia is losing the best people now, the most educated, the most energetic, the most critically thinking people are leaving the country. where is russia heading right now? in short, russia is going in the wrong direction. and it feels like the past

is still casting a shadow over russia's present and future. history never repeats itself exactly, but there are worrying parallels between russia's past and the present. underjosef stalin, soviet citizens who fell foul of the authorities were often labelled enemies of the people. after invading ukraine, vladimir putin vowed to cleanse russia of what he called "traitors, scum and the fifth column". to help him do that, president putin has introduced it is called conversations about what is important. in this "conversation", putin claims that in ukraine, russia is fighting to protect russia. critics call it indoctrination. there are children who just believe, they open their eyes and they are ready to believe in everything.

and that is very dangerous. because if there is one thing russian history teaches us, it is this — that if you believe in everything a leader here says and does without question, that can have tragic consequences. steve rosenberg, bbc news, st petersburg. let's get some of the day's other news. ajudge in florida has sentenced a 24—year—old man to life in prison without parole for the 2018 parkland school shooting, confirming the jury's sentencing recommendation. nikolas cruz had pleaded guilty to murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. king charles has hosted a reception at buckingham palace to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of british asians from uganda. in august 1972, tens of thousands of ugandan asians were expelled from the country by its then leader idi amin. almost half

resettled in the uk. it's more than 50 years now since the beatles called it quits — but they continue to fascinate. the remaining members of the fab four have just released a new version of their acclaimed album — revolver. accompanying it has been a series of music videos — and the latest is a little work of art — as tim allman explains. # when i wake up early in the morning # lift my head, i'm still yawning...# the mystery and the marvel of the beatles is the way they're rediscovered with every new generation. their music always seems to inspire — essentially art creating art. that was certainly true for em cooper, a film—maker and animator given the chance to turn one of their songs into a living painting.

i've always been a beatles fan and when i saw the opportunity to work on i'm 0nly sleeping, it wasjust, like, really amazing. it kind of sparked a huge load of ideas straightaway for me. it's just a beautiful song and it'sjust got so much in it. using hand—painted animation cells — more than 1300 in total — she built up the work frame by frame, wanting the viewer to be enveloped, consumed — not only sleeping, but dreaming. i'm hoping that what you get is a sense ofjust being kind of swayed or held orjust kind of taken with the stream almost, of the painting. girls screaming the hysteria of beatlemania may have faded just a little, but the legacy of these four lads from liverpool endures. # i'm only sleeping #. not only in their music,

but also in the paintings, the videos, the art of those who followed. tim allman, bbc news. from me and the rest of the team, goodbye. hello. there was a stormy end to wednesday — low pressure sweeping rain and gales across the uk. as we move into thursday, though, we'll see some improvements, with some sunshine around. one or two showers, but it will stay quite wet in the south—east as the overnight rain band lingers. and you can see here on the pressure chart, eventually it'll wriggle away as we move into thursday afternoon, but this new area of low pressure will bring increasing showers to the south—west quadrant of the country, along with strengthening winds. you notice the blue hue there on the temperature map. it will feel cooler across the northern half of the country throughout the day today. so a wet, damp morning across the south—east. eventually that should clear away into the afternoon. one or two showers.

of england, with increasing winds here, particularly through the channel. but it will be a blustery day across the southern half of the country. winds slightly lighter further north — that is away from the far north of scotland, and temperatures ten, 11 degrees in the north, to around 12 or 13 in the south, so it will feel cooler for all. it looks like that area of low pressure will bring showers for wales, south—west england, perhaps the south coast as well, and certainly through the channel for the channel islands, winds will be strong for a while. but a ridge of high pressure starts to build in early and a bit of mist and fog too. early through friday, and then it's bright, temperatures rising a little

bit through the day. a few showers still across northern scotland, but most places dry. ii to 13 or 14 degrees across the south. so the weekend is looking unsettled. we've got more low pressure working its way in off the atlantic. that's going to bring rain and gales at times. it looks like one frontal system will cross the country on saturday, though. it will tend to weaken as it pushes towards the eastern side of the country, then it's blustery showers, strong winds into sunday and this front bringing so quite a mixed bag through the weekend. like i mentioned, it's wet in the west, showers further east, and then a little bit drier in the north on sunday. very wet across the south—east.

this is bbc news — the headlines... president biden has said americans must unite in opposition to "political violence" — saying democracy itself will be on the ballot paper in next week's mid—term elections. mr biden accused the former president donald trump, and his supporters, of undermining democracy and fuelling anger and violence. tokyo and seoul say north korea has fired three missiles amid heightening tension in the region. they said one of them was long—range. that prompted the japanese government to issue a rare emergency alert to residents to stay indoors. japan and south korea have both condemned pyongyang's actions. after ten days of peace talks, a surprise deal has been

reached between the government of ethiopia and rebel forces