this is bbc news, our top stories. on the eve of the us midterm elections, democrats and republicans make their closing arguments to american voters. president biden has been addressing the crowds in maryland, while donald trump was in ohio. parted by war — we speak to the bride of one ukrainian man still being held prisoner by russia. a stark warning at the opening of the un's climate summit — humanity must co—operate or perish. the clock is ticking. and why europe's energy crisis is forcing some communities to rethink how they will celebrate christmas.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. with hours to go, the final round of frenetic campaigning for the us midterm elections is under way ahead of the in—person polls opening on tuesday. tens of millions of votes have already been cast. but there's still plenty to play for. earlier, president biden spoke at a rally in maryland, in support of the democratic candidate for governor, wes moore. it's a choice of two very different visions for america. he told the crowd that the election is not a referendum, it's a choice of two very different visions for america. biden, who has avoided campaigning in several swing states as his approval rating continues to lag, travelled

to the reliably democratic state, where the nominee is widely expected to win back the republican—held governorship. former president trump has been speaking in ohio at a rally to support the republicanjd vance for senator. he spoke to the crowd about immigration, claiming that president biden and the democrats have not done enough to stop migrants and drugs from entering the us across the mexico border. he also told them he will be making a �*big announcement�* on the 15th of november at his florida home. he didn't elaborate on what it might be. it all comes down to this. congress could change hands if republicans make a net gain of five in the house of representatives, and a net gain ofjust one in the senate. it's that close. let's get a sense of what things are like on the ground in three key states. in a moment, we'll hear

from our correspondents in atlanta and florida, but first here's jon sudworth in pennsylvania. the polls here are too close to call. not over the race for governor, as the republicans put up doug mastriano, whose opinions are so extreme with election denialism that they are beyond the pail even for some republicans. but over the key senate race that is up for grabs here, the democrat candidate john fetterman suffered a stroke a few months ago and has recovered. he made it part of his campaign. and standing against him, dr mehmet oz, a slick celebrity tv doctor. the polls are so close, which is why the democrats have sent injoe biden, former president obama, why we have had trump rallying in this state,

all of them trying to appeal to those key undecided voters in a race that could swing the senate either way and could determine the future direction for the rest ofjoe biden�*s first term in office. republicans expect a blow—out night. for example, where i am in miami, dade county, the state's most populous. more republicans than democrats have cast early votes here, and while that's not the full picture, it's certainly adding once a democratic stronghold. a key reason for that is the gains they have made with latino voters, not just cuban—americans but also south american that trump made gains with in 2020. we have more registered republicans than democrats in this state for the first time ever. many feel the governor ron desantis will win by an even larger margin than donald trump did, and that would certainly

help him kick—start a presidential campaign if he decided to run. there is already an ad he has put out that is getting a lot of attention, it depicts him as being a fighter for god, appealing to the religious right, painting the democrats as liberals trying to take away people's individual freedoms. a lot of eyes on how ron desantis does, someone who is currently behind donald trump as number two in a hypothetical republican primary. absolute dead heat at - the moment for this crucial senate seat which could decide the outcome of power- in washington for. the next two years. raphael warnock, the reverend, the incumbent, fighting for his l former football star, i man facing allegations of violence against women, having paid for abortions, l against his stated beliefs.

but they are still neck and neck. l to win this race outright. georgia demands that - if you want to get elected, you have to get more than 50%| of the vote, and at the moment from doing just that. so we could get a run—off in four weeks' time, - at the beginning of december, to decide the outcome - for the senate. bear in mind what happened two years ago when there were two i run—offs which gave joe bideni a 50—50 senate with a casting inflation reduction act, - his microchips act, all the big bills and the - legislative wins... this could decide howjoe biden can do and how he can operatel and what he can get done in the next two years. -

earlier, i spoke to our us correspondent nomia iqbal. i asked her whether a democrat controlled white house might co—operate with a potentially republican controlled congress. that's certainly the hope by president biden and the democrats that they can work together. the moment president biden became president two years ago he made a big point of bipartisanship. he is friends with a lot of republicans so he had made when the ukraine invasion happened, there was a rare glimpse of bipartisanship, because both parties agreed that sending aid to ukraine was a good thing. however, many republican candidates running in a variety of races for the midterm elections who have said that if they win, they will make sure that not one penny goes to ukraine. another thing to think about, the republicans in the house are saying that if they do win the house this week, and the polls suggest they could do, they will more

or less start investigations into president biden�*s son, hunter biden, a realfixation for the conservatives, they have accused him of corrupt business dealings, something he and his father have denied. they have said they will look into him, so if that happens, it's hard to see how both parties will be best of friends. and nomia, it's been a rough campaign, hasn't it? katty kay was saying earlier that the level of violence in political rhetoric has been unnerving compared to many of the midterms that she has reported on in the past. why do you think it's been such a brutal campaign? just recently, paul pelosi, the husband of the house speaker democrat nancy attacked in his home. you have poll watchers in tactical gear who are staking out ballot drop boxes. in arizona, the republican

nominee in the governor race saying she received an envelope full of suspicious white powder and she had to shut down her headquarters. also a democratic candidate for pennsylvania named richard ringer was attacked in his home. just some examples. law enforcement saying there has been an increase in election—related threats, mainly from far right circles, but it's worth also mentioning that the white house spokesperson did say today that while there have been threats, they don't believe there has been any real credible threats that could happen this week in the run—up to the midterm elections. turning now to the war in ukraine, and it's been six months since the fall of the azovstal steel plant in the ukrainian city of mariupol,

and hundreds of ukrainian fighters who surrendered in may are still being held prisoner by russia. some have been released in prisoner swaps, but the families of those still being held fear for their loved ones. our correspondent hilary andersson has been speaking to one such family — and a warning, you may find some of her report upsetting. hannah, a 25—year—old french teacher from mariupol, had it all. just before the war, she fell in love and got married. they had a child. a dream. but in a day her world turned to chaos as mariupol became the epicentre of the war. her husband joined up.

hannah moved into a bunker in the vast azovstal steel plant. her husband was based on the other side of the steelworks, fighting. azovstal became a living hell, with russian firepower raining down on the steel plant. hannah's bunker was hit. but many were injured and died here. finally, in late april, an evacuation was agreed — civilians trapped in the steel plant and hannah with her

baby walked out alive. her husband was still inside and had been wounded. hannah got a call through to him. when russia won the battle, hundreds of ukrainian soldiers surrendered.

and so did her husband, who's still a russian prisoner. hannah dreams of his return. hilary anderson, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news — still to come. trying to avoid a christmas blackout — why the war in ukraine is presenting stark choices for western europe.

has defied the pollsters to take the keys to the oval office. i feel great about the election results. i voted for him because i genuinely believe he cares about the country. it's keeping the candidate's name always in the public eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display, but on the local campaign headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. berliners from both. east and west linked hands and danced around their liberated territory. i and, with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first i attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. _ yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died. palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy. women ministers, who have long felt only grudgingly accepted amongst the clergy, suddenly felt welcome.

this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: us politicians are making their final push for votes ahead of tuesday's midterm elections, which will decide who controls the senate and the house of representatives. president biden has been addressing the crowds in maryland, while donald trump is in ohio. the new owner of twitter, elon musk, has urged american voters to back the republican party ahead of the us midterm elections. it's a break with tradition, since leaders of social media companies typically avoid making any overt political endorsements. taking to his new platform, he wrote "to independent—minded voters: shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore i recommend voting for a republican congress, given that the presidency

is democratic." our news reporter azadeh moshiri joins us. how unusual is such an explicit endorsement? he how unusual is such an explicit endorsement?— endorsement? he is definitely strikina endorsement? he is definitely striking his — endorsement? he is definitely striking his own _ endorsement? he is definitely striking his own party. - endorsement? he is definitely striking his own party. he - endorsement? he is definitely striking his own party. he did| months 5 months ago j months ago that he voted tweet months ago that he voted republican in a congressional race in texas and he was predicting a big red wave. he also tweeted that he felt had been hijacked bi; democrats had been hijacked by what he called extremists. but it's definitely new to have the —= =-= of a social media platform head of a social media platform explicitly tell users on the platform who to vote for especially so close to the elections. in congressional hearings, lawmakers have grilled executives from facebook, youtube and even twitter when owned by jack dorsey about whether they are doing all they can to prevent

sway and interference in :-= z= and yet now 7 and yet now you have elections. and yet now you have the new chief twit as he calls himself, telling his users explicitly to vote republican in the upcoming midterms, which are going to come very soon. he did count it in careful language, saying he doesn't specifically support republicans, but he believes in a power—sharing system and that the are currently in the democrats are currently in control. but it showed he had a different way of treating ” an 7 n and, 7 of speech democracy and freedom of speech than his colleagues from other companies. iii} than his colleagues from other companies-_ companies. 110 million followers. _ companies. 110 million followers. and - companies. 110 million followers. and bad - companies. 110 million l followers. and bad news companies. 110 million - followers. and bad news for thousands of employees at twitter, around half of the workforce that, but he seems to have to chew his words on have had to chew his words on that one. , . have had to chew his words on that one-— that one. yes, a lot of talk about how _ that one. yes, a lot of talk about how he _ that one. yes, a lot of talk about how he is _ that one. yes, a lot of talk l about how he is - the about how he is breaking the mould and doing things but when you think differently, but when you think about the workforce being fired, it is a bit of a return

previous behaviour from to previous behaviour from previous ceos in silicon valley. he fired a large portion of the workforce by mass e—mail, he locked them out of it accounts, and he's been shooting from the hip when it comes to his decisions. that definitely harks back to what mark zuckerberg used to say in terms of moving fast and breaking things, although now he has distanced himself from that. he says move fast and stable infrastructure, that's what he said a few years ago. two schools of thought when you look at that behaviour from elon musk. you could argue that his leadership had led to great success at companies like tesla and spacex, and we should wait and spacex, and we should wait and see what he does with twitter which has not made any money so far. but you could also argue that social media companies should be treated differently, they have a much bigger hold on the fabric of society, and that what happens on their platforms has a very

big impact on freedom of speech and democracy. so it's a bit of and democracy. so it's a bit of a waiting game, but certainly elon musk�*s way of protecting those things, protecting democracy and freedom of speech, is different to what others have been doing so far. fascinating that he was saying how politically neutral twitter should bejust how politically neutral twitter should be just a few months ”w'theie’w” thank you forjoining us. the cop27 climate summit has started in egypt with the darkest of warnings from the head of the united nations. antonio guterres said the world was on the "highway to climate hell" with no sign of slowing down, and that humanity needed to "co—operate or perish". in the egyptian desert, world leaders have been gathering to try and tackle the climate challenge — including the british prime minister rishi sunak, arriving in egypt for what are expected to be some of the most difficult discussions in the three—decade history of these climate summits. global temperatures keep rising, and our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate

chaos irreversible. we are on a highway to climate hell, with our foot still on the accelerator. mr sunak said acting on climate also makes economic sense. putin's abhorrent war in ukraine and rising energy prices across the world are not a reason to go slow on climate change. they are a reason to act faster. but developing nations say they need the rich world to deliver on its promises of finance. this backdrop, the lengthy discussions at cops, - with its stalling, delayingl tactics and procrastination that have hampered - implementation and delivery, is simply cruel and unjust. it has been a year of climate—related dry weather in the north african country of mauritania

led to extensive fires last month. at the glasgow climate conference last year, countries agreed to raise their carbon—cutting ambitions every year. butjust 29 out of 193 have done so — and only one of them, australia, significantly raised its game. so where does that leave us? take a look at this. this is how much emissions have been growing. they have been increasing steadily. the un says we need to cut them almost in half by 2030, so in just seven years' time. but this is the direction the world is currently going. the un says that puts us on track for a temperature rise of almost three degrees centigrade. it would be, it says, a catastrophe for humanity. for the first time in the history of these conferences, there is a dedicated youth zone — and the young people are frustrated.

nothing new has been said. this is the 27th cop of its kind, its older than i am. we are notjust here as symbols of the future, we're here as representatives of the climate crisis being lived through us. my hometown flooded in mexico when i was 13 years old, that's why i'm an activist. we keep having to pressure them, and that is why- we are here as the young - people, applying that pressure, and we won't back down - because we believe that another world is possible, - and it is possible to make those policy changes. what do we want? climate justice! these young people worry their voice isn't being heard, however loud they are, but they hope that by being here at the conference, they will begin to influence the decisions that will shape all our futures. justin rowlatt, bbc news, egypt. europe is in the middle of an energy crisis.

the west's response to the invasion of ukraine prompted russia to reduce the amount of oil and gas it provides. that's having a knock—on effect, especially now that winter is coming. difficult decisions are being made, including how some celebrate christmas. the bbc�*s tim allman explains. it's a familiar scene all around the world — the twinkling glow of christmas lights on the high street, an attempt to draw in the crowds and spread a little festive cheer. but these illuminations consume energy and that is here in the belgian city of nivelles, rising costs mean christmas isn't quite what it used to be. translation: we'll keep the christmas market - for the two last weekends in december, but we will reduce the number of illuminations by two—thirds. we'll focus the illuminations on the shopping streets

to encourage access to the shops. there are calls to reduce energy consumption for environmental reasons, but the most immediate problem is the war in ukraine. vladimir putin's use of oil and gas as a weapon has presented many with a stark choice, but in nivelles, they think a middle way might be possible. translation: i think this year is difficult, l in terms of the crisis. so it's a shame to take away an element of happiness from our fellow citizens. our advice is to maintain illuminations but put timers on, perhaps reduce the time slots. maybe that is the solution — christmas on a slightly smaller scale. let there be light, just not all the time. tim allman, bbc news. americans on monday were lining up yet again to buy powerball tickets, dreaming of winning a $1.9 billion lottery jackpot, that had jumped to a record high after repeated

draws failed to produce a winner. saturday's draw was the 40th in a row without a winner. for many, picking the magic six numbers was a chance well worth taking. i'm going to do charity works, i'm going to travel, give to families, to all the people who need. uh. ..share the wealth. i'm going to reassess- all the things i want to do, whether it is travel, - buy a house, buy a new car. certainly give to charities. invest in the community. keep a little for myself of course. spend it! well, i'm gonna send that money to a hospital. some money in the hospital in this area here. they need help up here. give most of it away and enjoy the rest of my life and help people enjoy theirs too. where are you going to go?

everywhere! undisclosed. what do you think your chances are? oh, the billions, but why not play? hello there. tricky weather conditions out there at the moment, but tuesday generally is an improving story. it's going to be a case of sunny spells and scattered showers for many, accompanied by some squally winds, though, still from time to time. so we've seen this massive cloud spilling in off the atlantic, and the weather front is producing some rain, some of it really quite heavy. it's quite a narrow band of rain, and it is pushing through at quite a pace because it's driven along by gusts of winds in excess of 60—70mph. so by around 5—6am, the front will be sitting out in the north sea and leaves a trail of squally showers to follow behind. so there will also be a little more sunshine around for tuesday.

some of those showers really quite heavy with hail, with some thunder mixed in there, as well. and they are going to push their way in from the west further inland. now, as we go through the afternoon, we're still going to see some gusty winds, widely 30—40mph, but we could still see gusts in excess of 50mph down in the southwest. it's going to be a relatively mild story, though, because the wind direction coming from the southwesterly, so temperatures above where they should be for the time of year. we're looking at highs of ii—is celsius. now, the wind direction will change from a south—westerly to a bit more of a westerly as we go into wednesday. weather fronts waiting out in the wings, but that means a slightly fresher start to the day first thing on wednesday morning, single figures in one or two places. so not as mild as it has been of late. again, another day of sunny spells and blustery showers to look out for on wednesday. showers most frequent perhaps developing in the far northwest as we go through the afternoon. so there should continue to be

some spells of sunshine, because we've got that westerly flow, temperatures may be down a notch for some areas, generally between 10—15 celsius. now, as we move into thursday and towards the end of the week, we've got an area of high pressure that's going to build and centre itself across europe, and that will keep these weather fronts out in the far northwest. it still continues to drive in this southwesterly flow, this milderair ..,,, so temperatures will continue to be above the average for the time of year. and that high pressure should keep things a little bit quieter and drier.

this is bbc news — the headlines... candidates and leading political figures in the united states are making their final pitches ahead of tuesday's midterm elections — with control of both houses of congress at stake. president biden has been addressing crowds in maryland, while the former president donald trump is in ohio. the new owner of the social media website twitter — the billionaire elon musk — has recommended that americans vote for a republican congress in tuesday's election. back in april this year, elon musk said that twitter must remain politically neutral so as to earn public trust. the cop27 climate summit has started in egypt, with the darkest of warnings from the head of

the united nations. antonio guterres said the world was on the "highway to climate hell" with no sign of slowing down — and that humanity needed