The Trump campaign has written to the Commission on Presidential Debates to demand that foreign policy be added to the list of topics for Thursday night's debate in Nashville, Tennessee.

The topics that have been approved so far are:

• "Fighting COVID-19"
• "American Families"
• "Race in America"
• "Climate Change"
• "National Security"
• "Leadership"

Earlier today, top Trump aide (and former golf caddy to the president) Jason Miller, claimed in a tweet that foreign policy is being deliberately excluded to protect Joe Biden from uncomfortable questions.

The commission is reportedly holding a last minute meeting today, where possible rule changes are being discussed.

The previous debate was canceled after Trump would not agree to the commission's decision to hold it virtually. Each candidate held competing town hall events on rival TV networks instead.

Keri Smith is a podcast host and former Democrat who “walked away” from the party in 2018 because she says it has been “eaten up by illiberal authoritarianism.” After casting her first ballot as a Republican in the 2018 mid-term elections, she is now voting for Donald Trump.

"I'm voting for Trump because he is the most liberal candidate running. Joe Biden has proven that, much like the rest of my old party, he is willing to kowtow to illiberal and violent social justice ideology -- the greater existential threat to our democratic republic, to freedom and to western civilisation itself at the moment.

"It is not simply a single issue - it is a belief system which influences the way a person will govern on all other issues. President Trump has shown he will work with the American people to try to root this dangerous and racist belief system out of our institutions."

Keri is a member of our US election voter panel. You'll hear more from her, and many of our other voters, throughout the week.

Join the conversation:

• We want to hear from you - what questions do you have about the US election?
• In five words, tell us what's at stake in this election.

We're asking our American readers this week to tell us in just five words, what's at stake in this election.

Here's what some people had to say four years ago when the choice was between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton:

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

The love-hate attitude Donald Trump has displayed toward Anthony Fauci veered toward the latter on Monday, as the president offered some of his most pointed criticisms of the government infectious diseases expert.

It’s hard to imagine the strategy – if there is one - behind Trump’s decision to call Fauci, who has become a popular and respected voice of medical expertise during the coronavirus outbreak, a “disaster” and lump him in with “all these idiots”.

The president may have simply been venting frustration with the damage Covid-19 has inflicted on his presidential campaign.

With two weeks left before election day, however, the president is voluntarily creating a controversy that once again places national focus on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic – a topic on which the public, according to polls, does not give him high marks.

A public sparring match with Fauci does not seem likely to improve his standing.

Dr Anthony Fauci's interview on CBS has apparently touched a nerve in the US president who has hit out at the top White House coronavirus task force disease researcher on a campaign call and on Twitter in the past few hours.

Fauci told the network that he was not surprised that Trump got sick, given the way he has flouted common mitigation measures.

Trump responded by insulting Fauci's previous policy statements on masks, locking down travel from China and his less than impressive baseball pitch.

Image source, CBS

Fire officials in Los Angeles are investigating a fire that was apparently set inside a metal ballot drop-off box in the Baldwin Park area of the city.

The fire was discovered on Sunday night, officials said.

Fire-fighters placed a hose into the box to put out the fire, and used a chainsaw get inside and remove the burned ballots. An estimated 60 to 100 damaged ballots are now in the custody of police.

The incident comes amid controversy over the ballot boxes in California. The state's Republican party has set up collection boxes, which are falsely labelled "official".

California's top legal officials have called the boxes illegal, but so far the Republicans say they have no plans to remove them.

By the way, today is also the last day for Californians to register to vote.

Image source, CBS

President Donald Trump has hit out at top government scientist Anthony Fauci following the doctor’s appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes programme on Sunday.

Mr Trump claimed Mr Fauci appears to get “more airtime than anybody since the late, great Bob Hope”.

But who is Bob Hope?

Bob Hope was a Hollywood star, but he was actually born in south London before moving to the US aged four.

He became one of America’s most successful entertainers, performing on Broadway and as a stand-up comedian, singer and actor.

Born Leslie Townes Bob Hope, he changed his name to Bob while in the US.

After a brief career as a boxer he moved into show business, appearing in more than 70 short and feature films.

He hosted the Academy Awards and wrote 14 books.

Although never nominated for an Academy Award, he was given five honorary awards for his services to film and the Queen made him an honorary knight in 1976.

Jazmin Kay is a writer and voting rights activist who runs a non-profit that aims to expand youth civic engagement in the electoral process. She is a liberal voting for Joe Biden.

"I am voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris because they have set forth a vision that is rooted in equity and kindness, not corruption and greed, like the alternative. I want a White House that will stand up for those who are silenced and feel forgotten. Biden and Harris will fight every day to ensure that America is not just working for those at the top, but for all Americans from all walks of life."

Jazmin is a member of our US election voter panel. You'll hear more from her, and many of our other voters, throughout the week.

Join the conversation:

• We want to hear from you - what questions do you have about the US election?
• In five words, tell us what's at stake in this election.

Image source, Getty Images

The United States and Britain say Russian government hackers targeted this year’s Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games before they were postponed, with the likely intention of disrupting them. They allege the hackers were a unit of Russian Military Intelligence, the GRU - the same unit that attacked the 2018 Winter Games, when the hackers pretended to be North Korean or Chinese. The US Justice Department has indicted six members of the unit; Britain has also imposed sanctions.

Read more: Russian hackers 'Targeted Tokyo Games'

Ritu Prasad
BBC News, Florida

We’ve been asking our readers for their most pressing questions about the US election. Now it’s our turn to respond.

Click here if you want to know more about this project or send in a question of your own.

• Where do the two candidates stand on LGBT+ equality rights? (Furdoon Contractor, 58, UK)

Some of Donald Trump’s supporters claim he’s the most “pro-gay president” ever. That’s how an August political ad featuring Richard Grenell, the administration’s former openly gay acting intelligence director, described the president - but Trump’s record is a bit murkier.

The Trump White House did ease bans on blood donations from gay and bisexual men and pledged to end the Aids epidemic by 2030. But Trump’s also brought down Obama-era discrimination protections for LGBT Americans and banned transgender troops in the military. His right-hand pick of evangelical conservative Mike Pence is another apparent contradiction.

Veteran lawmaker Biden doesn’t have a spotless record either, but despite questionable remarks in the 70s and an iffy voting history on LGBT issues in the 90s, he’s turned a new leaf.

He supported marriage equality back in 2012 - before Obama publicly did the same. In his platform, Biden promises he’ll pass the Equality Act (to include gender and sexual orientation to protected groups) within his first 100 days in office.

Also on the Biden agenda: Fixing broad religious freedom anti-discrimination exemptions, addressing the “epidemic” of violence against trans people, and ending Aids by 2025.

Image source, PA Media

If you’re looking to catch up with the latest news about the election, then try our new feature, The Countdown – a daily digest of what’s going on in the US election. Here's a taster:

"Just over two weeks to go and while Joe Biden may be having quiet week, he made sure it came after he dropped some ads timed for peak NFL audiences that might just hit a key demographic - one that knows 90s music."

Read more: The Countdown: Early voting, Biden’s ads and the Beastie Boys

Image source, Getty Images

Kamala Harris has arrived for a day of campaigning in Florida, making an appearance in Orlando.

“I had to come here on the kick-off of early voting in Florida, because you all are going to make it happen,” she told a drive-in event. “You will make it happen. What you will do by early voting is you will be the first to put our country back on the right track.”

“Everything is on the ballot in 2020,” she added.

She also hit out at the Trump administration telling the crowd: “We are witnessing the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of America.”

Ms Harris is set to hold another rally in Jacksonville today.

Rom Solene served as a US Marine for seven years. He voted for Donald Trump in 2016 because he considered him "the lesser of two evils". This year, he is enthusiastically voting for the president.

"Notwithstanding his caustic and unconventional demeanor and personality, there are three primary reasons I support Mr Trump: He holds dear the values that have made this country great; he follows through on his campaign promises; and he has shaken the establishment class to its core. He's the Disruptor-in-Chief and I believe disruption has been in order for a long time because the establishment class - Washington - has been out of touch with the general working-class population."

Rom is a member of our US election voter panel. You'll hear more from him, and many of our other voters, throughout the week.

Join the conversation:

• We want to hear from you - what questions do you have about the US election?
• In five words, tell us what's at stake in this election.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

It is no secret that President Trump enjoys campaigning.

His rallies are big showstopper events with a carnival atmosphere. Big singalong hits are played ahead of the president’s appearance - usually the track list includes Elton John, the Rolling Stones and Pavarotti.

The New York Times reports that John Fogerty, former frontman of Credence Clearwater Revival, recently issued the president with a cease-and-desist order over the use of "Fortunate Son" (ironically, about draft dodging) at campaign rallies.

The crowd is always enthusiastic, and happy to display their Trump swag.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Democratic candidate Joe Biden is no stranger to politics: he was first elected to the US Senate in 1972 and spent eight years in the White House as Barack Obama's vice-president.

But it is his first time as the Democratic presidential nominee, after several attempts. What does he stand for?

Biden is promising to create new opportunities for workers, restore environmental protections, safeguard healthcare rights and patch up international alliances, which he says have suffered under Donald Trump's leadership.

Biden is also facing a presidency that will be shaped by the country's battle with the coronavirus. He says he will provide free testing for all Americans and hire 100,000 people to set up a national contact tracing program.

Read more about what Joe Biden stands for.

Image source, Getty Images

We're now in the home stretch of the 2020 campaign, and the candidates have just over two weeks to make their pitch to American people.

So what does Republican Donald Trump stand for?

Looking ahead to a possible second term, the president now faces a country struggling to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic and its aftershocks.

His 2020 pitch is to make America great again - again - focusing on the economy, protecting US trade interests, and carrying on with the hard-line immigration policies that have animated his entire political career.

Read more about Donald Trump's 2020 campaign promises.

Image source, Reuters

• Early voting is now underway in the crucial swing state of Florida. A record 28 million nationwide ballots have already been cast ahead of election day so far. Queues of voters in Florida have been braving the rain to vote in person
• President Trump is heading to the battleground state of Arizona today for rallies in Tucson and Prescott. He won Arizona by three percent in the 2016 election
• Joe Biden is busy preparing for Thursday’s final presidential debate. His running mate Kamala Harris is campaigning in Florida. She will hold a drive-in rally in Orlando before heading to Jacksonville
• Trump has been mocked online for telling people not to vote for Joe Biden because the Democrat will “listen to the scientists” regarding Covid-19
• Conservative activist Charlie Kirk had his Twitter account locked over the weekend after tweeting incorrect reporting about postal voting

We’re keeping track of the polls and trying to work out what they can and can’t tell us about who will win the election – you can read that here.

Finding the election a bit confusing? Read our simple guide on the US political system, how voting works and how the winner is decided here.

Image source, Getty Images

On a call with campaign staff on Monday, President Trump dismissed Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, as a "disaster".

"People are tired of Covid," Trump said. "People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots."

The president added that if he had listened to Fauci - "a nice guy" - with respect to Covid-19, the US would have had "500,000 deaths". There have been some 220,000 Covid deaths in the US so far, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Fauci, who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease for nearly 40 years, has repeatedly urged a cautious and science-driven approach to the pandemic.

He spoke out last week after the Trump campaign used him in an advert for the president's re-election, saying it quoted him "completely out of context".

Image source, Getty Images

Americans will pick their president on 3 November - but that's not the only thing they're voting on.

US voters will also weigh in on more than 100 ballot measures. Some are the product of a citizen initiative - where citizens gather signatures to place it on a ballot - and others are referred by the local legislature.

So what are some of these measures?

• In California, a referendum is looking to overturn a law which eliminates cash bail entirely, and replaces it with a pretrial risk assessment
• Also in the Golden State, voters will decide if 17-year-olds can vote in primary elections if they will turn 18 - the nationwide voting age - by the date of the general election
• Marijuana is on the ballot in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota, where voters could legalise cannabis for recreation purposes. Similarly, in Mississippi, voters may cast their ballots to approve marijuana for medical purposes
• And in Washington state, voters will decide whether or not to overturn a law that requires public schools to teach comprehensive sexual health education

Red more: Our really simple guide to the US election

Image source, Reuters

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk had his Twitter account locked over the weekend after making claims about mail-in voting in the US.

Mr Kirk is the founder of Turning Point USA, a controversial and staunchly Pro-Trump presence on American campuses.

He was locked out of his account after telling his 1.8 million followers that people in Pennsylvania had sent in multiple ballots.

However ProPublica reports that 336,000 mail-in applications were rejected because people who requested mail-in ballots for Pennsylvania’s primary election were unaware that they had also ticked a box requesting a mail-in vote for the general election., external

Supporters of Mr Kirk including Eric Trump called for Mr Kirk’s account to be reinstated.

According to Newsweek, Mr Kirk’s account has now been re-activated., external