- Trump reels from taxes bombshell as he gets set for crunch debate
- Biden laughs off demand he take a drug test before debate
- Breonna Taylor grand jury recordings release is agreed
- 344 new Covid deaths and 37,234 new cases recorded yesterday
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
12.17pm BST
Primary season may – finally – be over, but there’s actually a special election going on today in Georgia, as seven candidates are facing off to become the short-term successor to the late Rep. John Lewis.
November’s general election will decide the full two-year congressional term, which begins in January, but in the meantime voters will get a temporary replacement.
12.00pm BST
A quick snap from Reuters here about secretary of state Mike Pompeo. He’s on a mini-tour to Europe which takes in visits to Greece, Italy, the Vatican and Croatia. He arrived in Greece yesterday.
Grateful to meet with my team at @USConsulateThes and @USEmbassyAthens. Their contributions to this historic high point in U.S.-Greece relations is remarkable, and our engagement in energy, investment, and military cooperation has never been better. pic.twitter.com/v3rp6idwsX
Deeply impressed by my visit to @NSA_SoudaBay. Thanks to the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement @NikosDendias and I signed last year, our military-to-military relationship has been enhanced significantly. The strong @NATO Alliance continues to contribute to regional security. pic.twitter.com/xOORGIn2Gt
Related: Mike Pompeo to criticise Vatican’s renewal of China deal during visit
11.47am BST
Donald Trump’s presidency has changed American society. With weeks until the most important election in a generation, Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone are crossing the US to uncover the fault lines that underpin American politics. In the vital swing state of Florida, where disinformation on Covid-19 has spread unchecked, the race for the White House is tightening by the day. Watch their video report here:
11.38am BST
Janie Har for Associated Press has the latest on the new outbreak of wildfires in California.
She reports that firefighters say they are hopeful that dying winds would enable them to bear down on a wildfire that exploded in the Northern California wine country, prompting tens of thousands of evacuations while a second blaze killed at least three people.
11.32am BST
Those voting problem in New York add to concerns around how the election will be conducted – and perhaps more importantly, how it might end up being litigated.
Julian Borger reports for us this morning that there will be far fewer international election observers than planned at this year’s election, because of a combination of health concerns during the pandemic and the lack of an invitation from the state department for Latin American observers.
The electoral arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has had to scale down its ambitions because of Covid-related precautions and travel restrictions. It is sending 30 observers, instead of the 500 that had been recommended in view of the scale of concern about the US election.
The Organization of American States (OAS) has yet to receive an invitation to send observers to the 3 November vote, which is threatening to be the most contentious in modern US history as Donald Trump himself repeatedly claims it will be rigged and refuses to say whether he will leave the White House if defeated at the polls.
Related: US election to have far fewer international observers than planned
11.29am BST
Trump’s overnight tweets have also focused on a story emerging in New York about Brooklyn voters receiving absentee ballot envelopes with wrong voter names and addresses. The Gothamist reported yesterday evening that:
Multiple voters in Brooklyn told Gothamist / WNYC that they have received a mislabeled “official absentee ballot envelope.” Normally, the voter inserts their completed ballot into the envelope and signs the outside. But in these cases, their ballot envelopes bear the wrong name and address. If a person signs their own name to this faulty ballot envelope, the ballot would be voided. So far, voters in Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Carroll Gardens, Crown Heights, Clinton Hill, Bushwick, Flatbush, Brooklyn Heights, and Sunset Park have already reported the issue.
At this point, the BOE does not know how many voters may be affected or how it will remedy the problem. But Ryan said they will make sure the vendor addresses this problem in future mailings, and by determining the best way to make sure people who received erroneous envelopes receive new ones. “We will ensure on behalf of the voters in Brooklyn that the proper ballots and ballot envelopes are in the hands of the voters in advance of Election Day so they can vote” Ryan said.
Now Fake News @CNN is actually reporting that I wanted my daughter, Ivanka, to run with me as my Vice President in 2016 Election. Wrong and totally ridiculous. These people are sick!
Related: Donald Trump wanted daughter Ivanka to be running mate in 2016, book says
11.17am BST
The Wisconsin supreme court is scheduled to hear arguments today in a case that could result in the purging of about 130,000 people from voter rolls in the hotly contested battleground state.
It’s the latest in a long series of court battles around November’s election, but it isn’t clear if the court would rule in time to affect an election that is just five weeks away. Attorneys for both sides didn’t expect a decision until after the election.
11.04am BST
Adam Gabbatt has got you covered for all you need to know about tonight’s debate, including these gems about the guy running it:
Fox News host Chris Wallace will be the man in charge. The Fox News channel has been fawning in its coverage of Trump for the past four years, but Wallace is seen as a relatively independent, straight journalist.
Wallace won praise for an interview with Trump in July, when he challenged Trump over the coronavirus death count and memorably dug into Trump’s claim to have aced a cognitive test. He’s no favourite of Trump – who on Thursday baselessly claimed Wallace is “controlled by the radical left”.
Related: US presidential debate: all you need to know about the face-off in Cleveland
11.01am BST
Good morning. All roads lead to Cleveland today, as the presidential election campaign gears up for the first televised debate. Here’s a catch-up on where we are, and what we can expect from today: