out of 21 women who accused him of sexual offences. and liam payne's father has read tributes outside the hotel in argentina where the former one direction star died. the 31—year—old fell from a third floor balcony on wednesday. there are just over two weeks until voters head to the polls in the us election — where democratic hopeful kamala harris has been looking to increase her popularity with a key group of the electorate. according to recent polling, black men are failing to support ms harris in the way they did joe biden at the last election. it's an issue for her campaign which could have a real impact in places like georgia, the key swing state with the largest population of black voters — from where our north america correspondent nada tawfik reports. georgia is one of the biggest prizes of this election and the way to win this swing

state mayjust be through savannah and this largely democratic coastal county. in 2020, an increase in voter turnout here propelled joe biden over the line to his narrow victory in the peach state. with election day now in focus, though, kamala harris may struggle to replicate that performance with one key group. #all|do is be me...# her good vibes campaign hasn't reversed a worrying trend of young black men abandoning democrats. we spoke to a group who has no plans to vote for kamala harris. in my community, we've been voting all the time — especially black people. we vote, we vote, we vote. people promise, people promise, people promise and we never get anything. and right now, i'm just not sold on anybody. his friend, though, is all in for donald trump, who shares the very qualities he admires in his father.

very blunt, very brash, very straightforward. they say they're going to do something, they go figure out a way to get it done. that, to me, reminds me of... they call it toxic masculinity now, but to me it'sjust straight up masculinity. it's straight manhood. hello to savannah| and hello georgia. we love georgia. to stem donald trump's potential gains here, democrats have dispatched their heavyweights. kamala harris became their first nominee to visit this county since the �*90s. bill clinton was sent out to shore up the rural vote in the southeast. and barack obama had this direct message to black men thinking of sitting out the election. part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president. now that early voting is under way here in the state of georgia, there's even more pressure on the candidates to get their message out. kamala harris is expected to get the majority of black americans, who make up a third of the electorate in this

state, but her numbers with young black men could have an outsized impact. at georgia's oldest public, historically black college, savannah state, many of these students say kamala harris will get their vote — but not because of her race. neither candidate is a good option at this moment, but i feel like on the more professional side, kamala harris has that edge as opposed to donald trump. being that kamala's an african american woman, that does notjust particularly sway me to just go with kamala because she's black. i just really want to understand who is actually the human, who actually cares? in a race this close, a once—loyal voting base is keeping democrats on their toes. nada tawfik, bbc news, savannah, georgia. much more on the us election of course on our website. the father of liam payne has visited the hotel in argentina's capital,

buenos aires — where the former one direction singerfell to his death from a balcony on wednesday. although the family had asked for privacy, his father's journey was tracked by local argentine tv. fans formed a barrier between mr payne and photographers, as he spent some time taking in the tributes outside the hotel, reading letters and pausing around flowers, photographs and candles. his visit comes after the singer's family said they were "heartbroken" following the death, adding, "liam will forever live in our hearts and we'll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul." now on bbc news, following the death of liam payne, ione wells in buenos aires reports on the events leading up to it and hears from his fans, friends and family as they come to terms with their tragic loss. and a warning the programme contains flashing images. # you're insecure. # don't know what for.# liam payne, one direction star. the whole street would have to be shut down by police because all the fans

would be outside screaming. they were worldwide i known and just so very, very famous and successful. killed in a fall from a hotel balcony, he was just 31 years old. i needed to be here, to be present and know this is real. he had been open about his personal struggles. fame can look so glamorous, but it can really take its toll. a tragedy for liam, his family and all who knew him and admired him. i never thought we would have to say goodbye to him so soon. a lot of fans have said that they now feel as though a part of themselves has died. their childhood and their innocence. october 16th, 202a. police are called to the hotel in argentina where liam payne was staying. it's 5:04 pm.

emergency services reached the hotel in minutes. liam payne had fallen from a third floor balcony. a short while later, his body was taken from the scene. hotel staff found liam payne's room in a state of total disorder, with several things broken. they also found the drug clonazepam, which is sometimes used to treat anxiety disorders, as well as a range of over—the—counter medications. police say that an initial post—mortem suggests liam payne died from multiple traumas, internal and external bleeding, as a result of his fall. the next day, police said they were looking into substances found inside the bedroom that, at first glance, looked like narcotics. my reaction when i first heard the news was sadness because he's incredibly

young, 31 years of age. my reaction was probably like many people: shock. it's very sad news. the thoughts immediately go to the family, to his young son. we are here in argentina. it is such a beautiful day out. liam had flown to buenos aires with his girlfriend, kate cassidy. they were there to watch a concert by his former bandmate, niall horan. # ifind it so hard tojust keep it simple...# liam remained in the country while kate flew home. wherever he travelled, liam was followed by fans and seen on social media almost daily. he was filmed with fans in the hours before his death. today, we ride. er, we're going to ride some horses. when this social media post was released, there was no sign at all of the disaster to come.

fans gathered to mourn at the hotel. there was shock and disbelief. i needed to be here, to be present and know this is real. to know this is real. i didn't expect this at all, and i needed to leave it in present and... and ifound that i'm not the only one and i'm not alone. and i have people to share this feeling — that grief and pain and love. when i read about this, like, my heart stopped for a second. i couldn't believe it. and, like, i felt really saddened by the news. i can't believe that just a few i can't believe that just a few weeks before i was at niall's| weeks before i was at niall's| concert and liam was| concert and liam was|

dancing the macarena dancing the macarena and that now this happened. and that now this happened. i just... i just... i just can't believe. i just can't believe. we're hearing reports we're hearing reports that a former member that a former member of one direction, liam payne, of one direction, liam payne, has died after falling has died after falling from the third floor. from the third floor. when the rest of the world woke when the rest of the world woke up to the news of liam's death, up to the news of liam's death, tributes started pouring forever live in our hearts tributes started pouring in from far and wide. in from far and wide. the band were all so lovely the band were all so lovely always, but liam was always, but liam was kind of the grown—up one kind of the grown—up one in the group, the wise one, in the group, the wise one, and i can't bear that and i can't bear that this is where liam's this is where liam's story has ended. story has ended. for liam's family, for liam's family, the news was devastating. the news was devastating. "we are heartbroken," "we are heartbroken," they said.

"liam will they said.

and his appearance was different. there's some stuff that i've definitely, like, never, never spoken about to do with it. it was really, really, really severe. and it was a problem. and it was only until i saw myself after that i was like, right, i need to fix myself. there was a few pictures of me on a boat and i'm all like, bloated out and i call it pills and booze face. when we were in the band, the best way to secure us because of how big it got was just lock us in our rooms. and of course, what's in the room? minibar. so, at a certain point ithought, "well, i'm going to have a party for one." and thatjust seemed to carry on throughout many years of my life. and then you look back how long you've been drinking and stuff. you're like, jesus christ, that's a long time. i think it would be too simplistic to say that addiction goes in hand in hand with fame, but i do think that

one of the things we see is that people who already have some vulnerabilities might struggle more with fame, and then when addiction comes into it, the difficulty is that somebody who has incredible wealth, incredible access, unfortunately doesn't get those boundaries that many people do that naturally tempers that kind of behaviour. and it's also really hard for people to reach out — because if you are incredibly famous, it's very difficult to walk into a doctor's surgery or go and see a clinical psychologist and say, "i'm struggling." his behaviour in recent social media posts prompted concern among his fans that he had become unstable. sorry, i'm dancing. wait. come back. bye! i think one of the real problems with being i a pop star, or any kind - of really highly famous person, is that actually, it's noti all it's cracked up to be. there's a lot of loneliness. there's a lot of very sort of, you know, i living in hotel rooms. you're not around your friends and family. - so those people who might temper your behaviour- or might challenge you and say, "hey, i'm worried about- you," or, "i'm worried i about the amount you're

drinking" are not there. days before his death, it was widely reported that liam's ex—fiancee, the us model maya henry, had started legal proceedings. her lawyers allege that liam had sent unsolicited, intimate videos of himself to her and others, and they warned him not to pass on pictures he may have of her. liam did not respond publicly to the allegations. liam had a number of high profile relationships with celebrity women. between 2016 and 2018, his partner was girls aloud singer cheryl. the couple had a son, bear, in 2017. in 2019, he briefly dated the supermodel naomi campbell. # i don't wanna be broke when i d—i—e # wanna be livin it up.# in the same year, he released

his debut solo album, lp1. it attracted mixed reviews. i think when any band or anyone who works in the public eye - has separated from someone that they're previously known - to work with, they cannot help but i compare their success to these other previous people they've worked with. _ and even though they might have affection and support for one - another, there's still that - element of self—esteem wrapped up in your work. and yourfandom. so we see this quite a lot- with people comparing things like the number of people who are following them i on social media. that becomes this metric to look at. | # fly me to the moon # let me play among the stars # and let me see what spring is like # onjupiter and mars.# liam payne's rise to stardom began with the tv programme x factor. liam first auditioned for the x factor when he was 1a. he didn't make it through the audition. simon cowell said to him, "go away, finish school, keep practising and come back." and he did. the expectation was that this is an opportunity and you have to grab it

by everything that you have.