Image source, Getty Images

Jon Meacham may not be as household a name as some of tonight's other speakers, but the historian is deeply familiar with the White House.

A Pulitzer Prize-winner, Meacham has offered eulogies for the late President George H W Bush and Congressman John Lewis. He's known for writing the 2018 bestseller The Soul of America, which takes a look at hope during the dark days of the nation's past.

"So we must decide whether we will continue to be prisoners of the darkest of American forces or will we free ourselves to write a brighter, better, nobler story?" Meacham says. "That's the issue of this election. A choice that goes straight to the nature of the soul of America."

The historian has voted for both parties before, but the Trump presidency has sparked his first endorsement of a candidate.

He told Axios earlier: "This president poses such a clear and present danger to the things we should value most that I think it's incumbent on all of us who believe that to say something."

While the convention event unfolds, President Trump is being interviewed over the phone on Fox News. He is asked if he has seen the Democratic event.

"I watched some. Not that much but I’ve watched some. Lot of hate," he responds.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Image source, Reuters

California Governor Gavin Newsom was supposed to have a featured speech on this final night of the Democratic National Convention. Instead, he delivered an opening message, seemingly shot from a cellphone, where he spoke about the wildfires that are ravaging his state.

He said his state’s plight is the result of impending environmental catastrophe, while incredulously noting that Donald Trump ascribes it to insufficient brush-clearing.

“If you are in denial about climate change, come to California,” he said, in what sounded like a most unusual tourism pitch..

It’s no secret that Newsom harbours presidential ambitions of his own - few who rise to the governorship of America's most populous and economically powerful state can resist such temptation.

At age 52, he probably has a long political career ahead of him. If he can keep afloat politically in California, he will most definitely be in the presidential mix the next time the Democrats have an open primary, whether that’s in four years or eight.

• Kamala Harris and the US state looking to take down Trump

Image source, Getty Images

The Democratic Convention is now offering a tribute to Congressman John Lewis - an American civil rights icon.

Lewis passed away from cancer in July, aged 80. He had held his Georgia congressional seat since the 1980s.

Standing alongside Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Lewis fought for racial equality in the 1960s. At the age of 25, he marched with protesters in Selma, Alabama, and suffered a fractured skull at the hands of the armed police officers who sought to push them back.

He was the last surviving speaker from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the rally at which Dr King delivered his historic 'I Have a Dream' speech. Three former presidents - George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama - spoke at his funeral last month after he laid in state at the US Capitol.

"When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something" - John Lewis.

• Obituary: John Lewis, US civil rights champion
• In pictures: Civil rights icon John Lewis honoured at US capitol

Lance Bottoms' remarks focus on the legacy of the civil rights movement and the importance of voting.

She begins by remembering civil rights icon John Lewis.

"He walked gently among us - not as a distant icon but as a god-fearing man who did what he could to fulfill the as-yet unfulfilled promise of America," she says.

"We've cried out for justice, we've gathered in our streets to demand change and now we must pass on the gift John Lewis sacrificed to give us. We must register and we must vote."

She says Biden and Harris are leaders with integrity, who "believe that the lives of my four black children matter".

"Our votes can be our voice," she concludes.

The next speaker is another lawmaker who was reportedly on Biden's running mate shortlist, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

As the mayor of a majority African American city, she's a fitting choice for this part of the evening's events, which centres on a tribute to civil rights leader Congressman John Lewis.

An early Biden supporter (she backed him last year), she's garnered national coverage for her condemnation of the destruction in the wake of the anti-racism protests in the US this spring. Bottoms called on demonstrators to vote instead of disgracing the lives of those killed by police brutality.

Bottoms has also made headlines for her row with Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp over his handling of the Covid-19 crisis.

Kemp sued Bottoms for enforcing a rule to wear masks in public, but eventually dropped the suit. She has herself just recovered from the virus and has been critical of the lack of state leadership regarding containing the disease's spread.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Youtube

She is not part of the Democratic event, but the Duchess of Sussex has just been speaking at an online event, urging US women to vote.

"If you aren't going out there and voting, then you're complicit," Meghan told the event staged by When All Women Vote.

Appearing as a special guest by videolink, she thanked former US First Lady Michelle Obama, one of the co-chairwomen of the initiative, before appealing directly to women voters to make a "change".

"When I think about voting and why this is so exceptionally important for all of us, I would frame it as, we vote to honour those who came before us and to protect those who will come after us," she told the voter registration couch party.

US-born Meghan is married to Britain's Prince Harry and the couple are now based in Los Angeles, California.

Image source, Getty Images

The host of the evening, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, begins by sharing some apparently off-the-cuff banter with Andrew Yang, including some not-so-subtle digs at current Vice-President Mike Pence - seeming to purposely mispronounce his name - before leading in the night ahead.

The comedian, who played fictional Vice-President Selina Meyer on HBO's Veep presses one of the main messages of this convention - urging Americans to get out and vote.

Image source, Getty Images

The Chicks - formerly the Dixie Chicks - are up now performing the national anthem.

The trio have been vocal activists for years. On tour in England before the Iraq invasion, lead singer Natalie Maines called out their fellow Texan - then-President George W Bush - saying they were "ashamed" to share a state.

The backlash from country music's conservative fan base was swift, and the band became a cautionary tale of what happens when country stars get political. The group received death threats, radio bans and boycotts - an ordeal that inspired their hit song Not Ready to Make Nice.

But now, the recently renamed group has a new album and a new accolade: making it on to former President Barack Obama's 2020 summer playlist with their single Gaslighter.

Image source, Getty Images

Delivering early remarks on the evening's theme, 'the promise of America', is Andrew Yang, a businessman whose quixotic campaign during the Democratic primary earned him devoted followers while taking the establishment of the party by surprise.

Yang, arguably the first East Asian American to gain such prominence in a national presidential campaign, drew attention to the challenge of future jobs losses due to automation and popularised the idea of a basic universal income for all adult US citizens.

Though he dropped out of the race in February, he is credited with bringing the ideas into the discussion of the party's mainstream. His supporters, known as the 'Yang Gang' have already begun agitating for him to run for office again in the future.

In September, BBC's Zhaoyin Feng profiled the unlikely rising political star

Image source, DNC

The evening begins with California Governor Gavin Newsom joining the virtual party from a forest. He had to change the location of his speech, he said, because California is battling wildfires that have forced evacuations.

The governor calls for a focus on climate change, as the state continues to grapple with wildfires.

"The future's not just something to experience, it's something to manifest. It's inside of us not just in front of us," he says.

And we're off! The final night of the 2020 Democratic Convention has begun.

Tonight's events will be centred around hyping everyone up for the main event, the culmination of this whole political show: Joe Biden's speech accepting the Democratic nomination to run for the White House - his vision for America under would-be President Biden.

Image source, Gett

Many Americans are yearning for a presidency they can have on in the background - soothing soft jazz after the round-the-clock heavy metal of the Trump years, writes the BBC's Nick Bryant,

And although elections are often framed as a choice between continuity and change, a selling point for Biden is that he offers voters a version of both.

Read more analysis from Nick here.

Ten minutes to go before the final night of the Democratic convention gets under way. That still leaves you time to watch this video on what young millennials and Generation Z voters who support the party think of their candidate, Joe Biden?

At the age of 77, the former vice-president is half a century older than the dozen voters we spoke to - yet it's his moderate politics rather than the age gap which has many struggling to get excited.

And you'll still have 6 minutes and 37 seconds left to pour yourself a glass of something, and get comfortable.

Laura Trevelyan
Presenter, BBC World News America

It’s a festival atmosphere outside the Chase Center in Wilmington, where the DNC is hosting a drive-in watch party for Biden supporters to view his speech tonight.

Supporters are opening up the roofs of their cars, waving flags, as the pop song Everyday People blasts out from the speakers.

The drive-in is a socially distanced way for Biden supporters to gather, and the DNC is hosting a few of these tonight across America.

Now let's meet two Americans from our voter panel who backed Donald Trump back in 2016 when he beat Hillary Clinton to win the White House. What do they think of Joe Biden?

Gavin Thompson, 22, a college student from Georgia.

Image source, Gavin Thompson

"A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for a more expensive and less secure America."

He is the founding chairman of the Northwest Georgia Young Republicans and a Christian conservative majoring in political science at the University of Georgia. He is voting for Donald Trump in November because he is concerned about lawlessness, illegal immigration and the loss of freedoms.

Elisa Ruth-Calleiro, 37, a special education teacher from Tennessee.

Image source, Elisa Ruth-Calleiro

"I'm hoping a vote for Biden would mean Americans deal with the pandemic and social justice issues more seriously."

She is an independent voter of Cuban descent who cast her ballot for Donald Trump in 2016 because she saw him as an outsider who could shake things up but now regrets her decision. She is voting for Joe Biden in November because she is concerned about Trump's response to the simultaneous economic, social and health crises.

Joe Biden has used this convention to appeal to Americans across the political spectrum, from the left wing of his own party to moderates from the rival Republicans. We'll be getting reaction to his big speech later tonight from a similarly diverse panel of voters.

We'll introduce you to two voters who backed Donald Trump in 2016 shortly - but first let's meet two Democrats with very different views of their party's presidential candidate.

Bilal Aksoy, 21, a college student from Pennsylvania.

Image source, Bilal Aksoy

"Joe is a decent man of integrity and honesty who will work tirelessly to restore the soul of our nation."

A first-time voter in this election, he is a political science major at American University and has previously volunteered on several political campaigns. He is keen to vote for Joe Biden this November and cares about racial equality, prison reform, climate change and a $15 minimum wage. He says he worries about the future of American democracy.

Urmilla Deshpande, 57, an author from Florida

Image source, Frank-Udo Tielmann

"Yet again, I will not be voting for this bitterly disappointing Democratic Party candidate, but rather against Donald Trump."

Born in Mumbai, India, she is a progressive voter who was deeply frustrated by the defeat of Bernie Sanders and is reluctantly voting for Joe Biden this November. She says she fears for her safety as a brown woman in the South and worries that, even if Donald Trump loses, he may not leave office.

Jonathan Marcus
BBC Diplomatic and defence correspondent

Mr Biden needs to chart a US foreign policy for a very different age. America remains strong but its relative power is much weaker. He will seek to restore American leadership by force of example, through a re-invigorated alliance of democracies.

Mr Biden may in some ways be even tougher on China than the scatter-gun approach of Mr Trump. But the rivalry with Beijing cannot be a zero-sum game or else everyone may suffer. China is a new kind of peer rival, not just on the military front but perhaps more importantly on the economic and technical fronts too. That is why the struggle with China is not simply a Cold War Mark-II. China cannot be cantoned or contained in the way the Soviet Union was.

Mr Biden may be closer to Mr Trump’s approach in his desire to end the “forever wars” in which the US has become embroiled in Afghanistan and the Middle East. These are overwhelmingly unpopular among US voters; they have run their course, and in any case badly stretched post-pandemic Pentagon budgets will need to focus on a wholesale re-structuring of the US military to contend with the China challenge.

So where do Joe Biden and Donald Trump stand on the biggest issues for US voters - and for those around the world wondering how America will act under the next president?

Joe Biden says he stands for two things: the workers who built America and the values that can bridge its divisions.

As the US faces a slew of challenges ranging from the pandemic to systemic racism, Biden's promised to create new economic opportunities, protect the environment and healthcare, and restore international alliances.

Among his key campaign pledges are:

• Rising the minimum wage
• Creating clean energy jobs
• Investing in minority communities
• Ending Trump-era policies like tax cuts and asylum limits

Want all the details? Check out our guide to Biden's platform.

Trump won in 2016 on the promise to "Make America Great Again". So what's he saying this time around?

As Trump looks to keep his seat in the White House, he's facing a weakened economy and ongoing public health crisis.

But Trump's argued he's the only one who can revive the economy and bring back the jobs lost during the pandemic through his "America First" trade policies. His hard-line stance on immigration is sure to sit well with his base, too.

Among his key promises are:

• Ending trade 'reliance' on China
• Building the wall along the US-Mexican border and curbing immigration
• Bringing down drug prices
• Defending gun rights

Want to know more? Here's our guide to Trump's platform.

We're about 45 minutes away from one of the biggest nights of Joe Biden's five-decade political career. He'll be formally accepting the Democratic Party nomination to challenge Donald Trump for the White House, and setting out his vision for the US presidency in his speech to the party convention. Just a reminder that you can watch live coverage here on this page.