>> it's 9:00 p.m. here in the french capital. you are watching "live from paris" on france 24. as the covid-19 epidemic worsens, the french government discusses conditions to stop the spread. president macron will address the nation tomorrow evening. with a week to go until election day, president trump and challenger joe biden crisscross the u.s. as the campaign reaches its final phases. and the prime minister vows justice for an explosion at an islamic seminary.

♪ welcome back. the french interior minister is warning that france needs to defend what he called difficult decisions as it becomes clear that the measures to mitigate covid-19 are not having the desired effect. the french health authorities announced the latest numbers. there have been 33,700 more cases since yesterday, up from yesterday's figure but sharply down from the number announced sunday. 523ne deaths have been reportedn the past day. that number is up to fold on the day before, and it's the highest sie [indiscernible]

president macron will address the nation tomorrow evening at 8:00 p.m. french hospitals are currently seeing the biggest influx of new coronavirus patients since april and many worry how the country's health system will cope if this keep edging up. >> services overwhelmed, crisis cell activated as the situation worsens in french hospitals. at least at this intensive care unit in toulouse, there are no more free beds. this 47-year-old man has no risk actors for the disease and is suffering from a serious form of covid-19. >> [speaking french] >> there are 160 people being treated for coronavirus at this hospital. as soon as a bed freeze up, it's quickly taken by another

infected patient -- as soon as a bed frees up. >> [speaking french] >> the number of hospitalizations has surpassed 16,000 in france, lower the numbers seen in spring but a trend that is on the rise. >> [speaking french] >> the spread of the virus is accelerating almost everywhere in the country, including areas that were relatively unaffected during the beginning of the outbreak. concern is also building for health care personnel with staff shortages meaning many are pushed to exhaustion. >> for many in france, a daily

curfew was already a bitter pill to swallow, so the idea of the restrictions is weighing on the minds of many people. we speak to an expert in health and care in psychosocial issues. thank you for joining us. how would you say the population of france is coping with these measures? >> the french population is trying to cope after just recovering from the first wave. we have seen an increase in

anxiety. we have observed adt -- a decrease in sexual activity, which is a determinant of mental health. >> who would you say feels the effects most? is there one age group that perhaps is struggling more than another, or is it nothingo do with age? >> yes, for institutionalized people, and young people between 15 and 24, women living with

children, smaller business owners socioeconomically disadvantaged people. and older people living with this disease. >> one of the things that must be keeping a lot of people awake at night is money. business owners, people without secure jobs -- they must be feeling really vulnerable right now, especially in an environment where, let's face it, it's not as easy to go out and find a job like it would be under normal circumstances. >> yes, it's difficult, and

people are feeling distress. they are having a hard time accepting these new measures. we need people to agree to this and give them a sense of future. >> what do you think is causing more anxiety? do you think it is the fear of more measures which might announced in the next day or two, or do you think it is the fear of the virus itself? what worries people more?

>> very interesting question. in the surveys, people are less afraid of covid. they are afraid of losing jobs. they are afraid of having to repeat a new lockdown, so it's difficult, and if you are afraid of anything, you are not ready and not ok to say you will get through it. there is a lot of work to do to mend the sense of solidarity, sense of security. all of us, we need counseling.

people need to be taking care of us. >> thank you very much indeed for speaking to us. across europe, governments are taking steps to put the brakes on the fast growing surge in coronavirus infections. in italy, restrictions which include the early closure of bars and restaurants, have sparked anger. in milan, the scene was particularly violent, as you can see. angry crowds through petrol bombs at the police, who respond with tear gas. >> a show of anger. these restaurant and bar owners vented their frustration at a new 6:00 p.m. curfew by throwing away leaders of beer onto the road. they are being forced to close

early for the next month across italy while theaters and gyms have been ordered shut. they say the rules could devastate them. >> [speaking foreign language] >> other european countries have not been spared, either. spain has declared a new state of emergency and nighttime curfews while german authorities have until wednesday to decide on other restrictive measures. >> [speaking foreign language] >> in belgium, school holidays have been extended. the number of new covid-19 cases have been tripled in five weeks. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> the slovenian government is also concerned. it has announced the tightening of the current offshore lockdown and border closures. the czech republic is also placed a curfew between 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. starting wednesday. >> election day in the united states is exactly one week from now. today, president trump and challenger former vice president joe biden are crisscrossing the country. according to national opinion polls, joe biden ranks in the lead, but the contest looks tight in some of the key battleground states. biden has been mentoring into what is traditional republican territory including torture, which has not turned blue in nearly 30 years.

opinion polls there show the race could be tight. i spoke to our international affairs commentator and asked why so many people have been voting early. >> was driving it? a lot of things. a lot of people, especially democratic voters, want to ensure they are voting in the safest conditions possible. they don't want to go to polling places, so mail-in ballot is a very appealing prospect. also, people want to avoid the crush of lines on election day itself. they want to get it over with. they don't want to have to confront those long lines, although those still exist, and beyond all of that, one of the biggest reasons is the enthusiasm of this election. the stakes could not be higher, you know? we say all the time, and there is giant enthusiasm on both sides. everyone sees it as a very important election. we have some numbers up on your

screen. when we talk about early voting, we are talking about a combination -- well, maybe we can bring them up again -- talking about a combination of both people going in person and voting, absentee ballots, drop boxes station, you see 22 note -- 22 million people have done that already. 44 million have mailed it in by post. it's going up almost by the hour. before i came to the studio, it was almost 67 million. i will note these are figures by the u.s. election project, which has been tracking the early voting, but basically, a lot of enthusiasm in this election. it has been across the board, especially in early battleground states, you have the prospect you will have more people voting early than voted altogether in the entire last election in 2016. >> what do we read into that? much in the sense that it is

overly simplistic to say democratic voters tend to favor voting early. that is true. in states like pennsylvania, for instance, three times as many registered democrats have voted then republicans in early voting. we do not necessarily know that they are all democratic voters. there are a lot of republicans voting. the other great unknown is that republican voters -- and this has to do with different worldviews and approaches to the covid pandemic -- republicans are going to probably vote much more on mass -- much more en masse in person. that's why donald trump keeps saying the voting -- the election should be over november 3 because he is expecting a big red wave, whereas democrats are expecting early voters to give them that blue wave they are hoping for. you have seen many states intent

on breaking how much mail-in ballots can count. there are efforts to perhaps break the process of being able to count mail-in ballots. some say it amounts to disenfranchise voters who are not inclined to go to the polls because they fear the pandemic. it will be interesting what happens there, but don't read too much into it because you will get a lot of republicans voting on election day itself. democrats will tell you they are excited about these numbers. they see a lot of democratic enthusiasm. they think the high turnout is in their favor. >> on monday, the u.s. senate voted along party lines to confirm president trump's choice for a judge on the supreme

court. amy coney barrett was sworn in as the court's ninth justice today. her first -- her first vote on the court could include issues that directly affect the men who appointed her. the court is weighing a plea to prevent the manhattan district attorney from obtaining his tax returns. the court is also considering appeals from the trunk campaign team to shorten the deadline of receiving and counting absentee ballots in two battleground states, north carolina and pennsylvania. french authorities said earlier today that at least four migrants have died after their boat capsized in the channel when they were trying to reach the united kingdom. among the dead were two young children. 15 migrants have been rescued so far in the search effort continues. it is thought there were two small children amongst the dead, for people in total died when

their boat capsized in the channel. it is thought they were headed for the u.k. police in the city of peschel a set at least eight students were killed and 136 others injured when a powerful bomb exploded at the islamic seminary. so far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the pakistani prime minister has vowed those responsible will be brought to justice. >> ambulances carrying the dead and injured arrived at this hospital in northwest pakistan after a bomb attack on a koran study class. a livestream of the lesson showed a religious scholar delivering a lecture on the teachings of islam when the blast ripped through the madrasa . >> [speaking foreign language]

>> the attack took place near pakistan's border with afghanistan. officials said initial investigations show the bomb exploded minutes after someone left a bag in the madrasa. the prime minister took to twitter to offer his condolences, saying the perpetrator would be brought to justice. it was not immediately known why the religious school was targeted and no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which followed months of relative calm in pakistan. peschel was once the center of militant violence in the country . >> for years, the moon was thought to be bone dry, but a series of discoveries pointed to water in areas, but now according to reports, there could be a lot of water on the

moon's surface, meaning astronauts could have access to drinking water. >> we are guessing water could survive. inking about how to get there and how it survived is a question that might tell us about processes that take place. >> lets go from the moon to business. let's begin with that on and off courtship between lvmh and tiffany. >> a possible merger could be on the horizon. it was called off in september, citing in part the jeweler's dismal performance during the pandemic and political pressure over transatlantic tariffs.

reports have suggested they have launched negotiations for below the $16 billion that was agreed upon. tiffany's shares rose around 5% in new york. that brings us to a check on the day trading action. wall street closed mixed. dow jones and nasdaq -- s&p and nasdaq managing some gains, dow jones down coming off its worst single session since early september. tech companies are set to be really in the spotlight wednesday as executives from google, facebook, and twitter will be answering questions about if they should be held accountable for misleading content posted by their users. the major european indices close lower as the number of coronavirus cases across the continent continues to rise. french gaming company ubisoft

saw its shares up 4%. a chinese company set to break records with its stock market launched in hong kong and shanghai next week. it is majority owned by the country's richest man, jack ma. >> investors have been bitten by the aunt -- the ant bug. the company's ipo is set to become the largest ever, raising over 25 billion euros. >> we are betting that ant group will be able to grow at a very high pace in the future. >> it is the second brainchild of english teacher turned billionaire jack ma, who founded alibaba. already the richest men in china, the flotation is expected to make him another 22 billion

euros. alipay has more than 713 million active users, around half the chinese population. during peak spending time, such as during holidays, it can handle up to 400,000 transactions per second, six times the capacity of visa. over 14 trillion euros in payments go through the app every year. in china, it is used to buy almost anything. it is also used to make loans for consumers and small businesses. >> [speaking foreign language] >> the company has not been free from controversy. in 2018, and apologized for with its credit scoring arm, and there are years the data could

be misused by beijing. shares of u.s. equipment maker caterpillar dropped 3%. quarterly sales and earnings dip for the company which makes industrial machinery and is often seen as a bellwether. it saiit saw encraging signs for recovery but declined to give financials. lufthansa is basing for -- bracing for a very slow recovery . it said over the next year, it could see just a 15% return to precrisis levels. tens of thousands of jobs are being cut there. tiktok has landed a deal with canadian shopping platform shopper five -- shopify. the partnership is a major advance for the chinese app, which still faces scrutiny from

the u.s. government. in france, the number of people out of work fell sharply. the figures for people registered as fully unemployed fell by 11.5% after a record jump in the previous three months. the jobs numbers are still almost 10% higher than they were in the same time last year. meanwhile, the french government is considering further measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus, and it is douing down on employers to encourage working from home is much as possible. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> it deemed places of significant contamination, gym and sports facilities have been closed in all french cities on high alert, including paris. the closures have been an opportunity for the businesses to explore new ways to connect with customers. >> margo tes yoga classes in her living room. >> [speaking foreign language] >> with paris on high alert for covid-19, her jim -- her gym has had to temporarily close its doors, but it learned to adapt earlier in the year. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> but the online classes far from makeup for the losses while it was close. when it reopens, it will offer plans that combine online and in person classes. not all sports facilities had to worry about closing. station f, a startup hub in paris, has been offering online only classes since 2017. >> [speaking foreign language] >> with community challenges, eating programs, they're looking for new ways to engage with customers and ensure they stick aroundhen jim's -- when gyms

and sports centers reopen. >> online classes i think is something we have all had to experience over the last few months. quick note to self, more online gym. thank you so much. i'll be back. ♪ >> france 24 brings you live coverage of the american presidential election. in six key states, our special correspondence on the ground meat with some of the people who will decide the outcome. watch the reports from north carolina to georgia, florida, arizona, wisconsin, and pennsylvania. from remote parts to major cities, american news helps you understand today's united states. we will be forecasting simultaneously across all our

channels with our correspondent covering the final hours in the race to the white house. nonstop coverage following and analyzing resul as they come in.

10/27/20 10/27/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, thiss mocracy now! r 52,is boat,he theeas ns 48. toe an on the supre court the unitedtates isonfirmed conservative judge amy coney barrett has been swin