We've got just six days until the crucial midterm elections in the US - but what are people voting for?

The midterm elections decide the make up of the US Congress, which has two parts: the House of Representatives and the Senate.

These votes are held every two years and when they fall in the middle of the president's four-year term of office, they are called the midterms.

There are 100 senators - two for each state - who sit for six-year terms. The House of Representatives is much larger, with 435 members that represent smaller US districts. They sit for two-year terms.

All House seats and one-third of Senate seats are up for grabs.

The elections are important because Congress has the power to pass or block laws in the US.

Here’s a useful breakdown of who controls which part of Congress now, and what’s at stake in this election.

Image source, Getty Images

Republicans are expected to make gains in next week's midterms, according to new analysis., external

Gallup, a global analytics and advice firm, says 40% of Americans approve of the job Joe Biden is doing as president, while just 17% are satisfied with the way things are going in the country.

Current ratings of the economy and national satisfaction are the lowest during a midterm campaign since these polling trends have been analysed by Gallup, in 1994 and 1982 respectively.

Biden's 40% job approval rating is higher than only one other recent president at the time of a midterm election - George W Bush in 2006, at 38%.

In 2010, 2014 and 2018 - between 41% and 45% of Americans approved of the job the president was doing, with seat losses ranging from 13 to 63 in those years, Gallup states.

Just two presidents since World War Two have seen their party gain House seats in midterms - Bill Clinton in 1998 and Bush in 2002.

Clinton had 66% and Bush 63% - the highest and tied-for-second-highest pre-election midterm ratings in Gallup's trends.

Former President Barack Obama has spoken out about the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband, during a midterm campaign rally for Democratic candidates in Nevada.

Paul Pelosi remains in hospital after he was struck with a hammer by a male assailant at the couple's San Francisco home on Friday.

The suspect, David Depape, 42, is said to have demanded to see Mrs Pelosi - stoking fears about political violence in the run-up to next Tuesday's elections. He pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon on Tuesday.

Obama warned that more people will be in danger unless the political climate changes.

He expressed grave concern about "this erosion of just basic civility and democratic norms", in a country where supporters of former President Donald Trump violently attacked the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.

"This increasing habit of demonising political opponents creates a dangerous climate," he said, while calling out elected officials who fail to reject the violence, make light of it, or inflame the situation with heated rhetoric.

"If that's the environment that we create, more people are going to get hurt."

Image source, Reuters

The man who broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home and attacked her husband with a hammer last week was recorded on police CCTV which was not being monitored, it has emerged.

According to the Washington Post, external, US Capitol Police - who provide security for congress members - noticed the break in at Pelosi's San Francisco home after the fact during routine checks of cameras on Friday morning.

One officer in Washington DC spotted San Francisco police vehicles outside her home dealing with the aftermath of the attack on Paul Pelosi - which appears to have been a failed kidnap plot against the most senior Democrat in Congress - and subsequently rewound the footage to observe the suspect entering her home, hammer in hand.

Pelosi, who is second in line to take over the presidency behind the vice-president, normally has round the clock Capitol Police security, but they travelled with her when she returned to DC.

The Post reports that the force have been working to introduce more than 100 improvements to their security in line with outside expert recommendations.

But Capitol Police face ten times the number of threats to the 535 members of Congress it is charged with protecting, the paper adds.

Image source, Mike Pence/Twitter

While Biden was in Florida, former Vice-President Mike Pence headed to another crucial battleground state - Georgia - where he campaigned to raise voter turnout on behalf of the the Republican candidate for governor there.

Addressing a rally in the suburbs of Georgia's largest city Atlanta last night, Pence told supporters the state must "lead the way to a great American comeback" by re-electing Governor Brian Kemp.

Kemp is ahead of his Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams in most polls, but that did not stop him or Pence from emphasising the need to get people out in support - whatever the data suggests.

Pence, who was elected alongside Donald Trump in 2016, emphasised what he called Kemp's credentials as a "champion for the Conservative Agenda".

After the rally, Pence said: "No-one has done more to create jobs, cut taxes, restore sanity to our schools, put criminals behind bars, protect the unborn, secure our elections, and defend our God-given rights enshrined in the United States Constitution."

Image source, Reuters

With less than a week until the US midterms, President Joe Biden has warned voters that "democracy is on the ballot".

Biden was speaking at a fundraising event for Charlie Crist, the Florida Democratic candidate for governor, who is running against Ron DeSantis, the state's incumbent Republican governor.

"You've got 350-so election deniers on the ballot, on the Republican ticket ... democracy is on the ballot this year," Biden said.

He was referring to Republican candidates who back Donald Trump's false assertion that he won the 2020 presidential election.

Biden also took aim at DeSantis.

"Charlie is running against Donald Trump incarnate," he said.

DeSantis is widely believed to be considering a presidential run in 2024, along with former President Trump.

Crist said DeSantis "is tearing us apart".

He accused his opponent of "attacking anyone who doesn't look like him, doesn't act like him, doesn't think like him and they are women, people of colour, LGTBQ community, teachers, doctors, scientists.

"He punishes businesses like Disney World because they disagree with him on a bill. It's unconscionable."

"Governor DeSantis only cares about the White House. He doesn't give a damn about your house," he added.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the countdown to next Tuesday’s crucial midterm elections in the US.

It’s still early in America, but here in London we’re up and poised to run you through all the developments from yesterday - and look ahead to what’s happening today.

Here’s a recap in case you missed it:

• President Joe Biden warned voters in the key state of Florida that “democracy is on the ballot”, at a campaign rally for the state’s Democrat candidate for governor, Charlie Crist. He also took aim at Republican incumbent Ron DeSantis, calling him “Trump incarnate”
• Former Vice-President Mike Pence has been urging people to vote in the key battleground of Georgia, speaking at a rally in the state’s largest city of Atlanta in support of Republican Governor Brian Kemp
• Leading anti-Trump Republican Liz Cheney has backed a second Democrat in next week’s vote - this time Tim Ryan, who faces Republican JD Vance in Ohio’s unexpectedly tight Senate race
• Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s top court has ordered incorrectly dated postal votes to be discounted, a move that could impact several close races on Tuesday
• And a right-wing group in Arizona - Clean Elections USA - which believes the 2020 election was stolen, was handed a temporary restraining order after two of its members were seen in military gear and allegedly armed monitoring an early-voting drop box

Stay with us for the latest news from the campaign trail, explanation of what it all means, and analysis from our experts across the United States.

Thanks for following our live coverage today.

Today's page was edited by Marianna Brady, Nathan Williams and Emma Owens, with writing from Laura Gozzi, Nadine Yousif, Max Matza, Adam Durbin, Oliver Slow, Malu Cursino, Mike Wendling, Chelsea Bailey and Anthony Zurcher.

Join us again tomorrow for more breaking news, analysis and on the ground reporting from our BBC correspondents.

We'll shortly be pausing our live coverage for the day, but we will be back tomorrow morning.

Here's a quick recap of what happened today:

• We are seven days away from the US midterm elections, where Americans will decide who gets to control Congress - the body responsible for making laws in America
• Congress is made up of two bodies - the House of Representatives and the Senate - that are both under Democratic control heading into this election
• Politicians have been busy campaigning for their parties. In Florida, US president Joe Biden warned that a Republican congress will put social security and Medicare policies in jeopardy
• A few races are still too close to call. This includes Arizona, where Republican Kari Lake, who denies that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, is facing off against Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs
• The race is also close in Georgia and Navada, where Republican candidates for governor hold narrow leads
• Republicans have been monitoring boxes where voters drop off their early ballots. In Arizona, the US Justice Department said the ballot box monitoring may be illegal "voter intimidation"
• In Kansas and New Jersey, officials are warning of people receiving false information on how to vote via text message. It's not clear if the texts are an attempt to deceive voters or were sent by error
• Former US president Donald Trump who has been actively campaigning for Republican candidates ahead of the election, won't have to release his tax returns any time soon, thanks to a temporary injunction issued today by the Supreme Court
• The man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi - husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - has pled not guilty in a California court today

A few rallies are underway later this evening - Biden will be campaigning for Val B. Demings, the Democratic candidate for Senate, and Charlie Crist, the Democratic candidate for governor. Meanwhile, former president Barack Obama, a Democrat, will hold a rally at a high school in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Obama is back on the campaign trail on Wednesday in Arizona to support Democratic candidates in the key swing state.

Chelsea Bailey
Reporting from Kalispell, Montana

Stranger things are happening in Kalispell, Montana.

Instead of admiring the local barbershop's mural of a hairdresser styling a new do, my eyes naturally gravitate to the prominent Q on the shop's front door.

The not-so-subtle reference to the QAnon conspiracy theory - a false belief that former President Donald Trump was waging a secret war against a cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles in government, business and the media - is intriguing.

Inside, there's more references to the QAnon conspiracy as well as the “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen.

Mike, who's owned the barber shop for more than 20 years, said he still plans to vote despite believing election fraud is "blatant".

"My whole life has been voting for the lesser of evils, my Creator (God) doesn’t want me supporting evil, so I'm getting tired of that."

Shayan Sardarizadeh
Disinformation specialist

Within hours of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband being attacked by a hammer-wielding intruder at the couple's home, a series of unsubstantiated claims began circulating in fringe far-right circles that contradicted the official police account of how the attack unfolded.

One of the most viral false claims about the attack suggests that Pelosi and his attacker David DePape were in a relationship and had a drunken quarrel.

There is also an online claim that both DePape and Pelosi were in just their underwear as police arrived at the scene, or that the two men knew each other before the attack and were friends.

But the FBI complaint against DePape quotes a witness as saying he was dressed "in all black" carrying a large black bag on his back, external, and, according to the complaint, Pelosi did not know DePape.

Another claim circulating is that two blogs and a Facebook account, which show signs that DePape was radicalised, were fake and only created on the day of the attack to support the narrative that he believed in far-right conspiracy theories.

But the BBC has screenshots of the blogs which show he had made posts as early as August, external, weeks before the attack.

Many of these misleading claims have since gone viral after being amplified by new Twitter chief Elon Musk and a number of conservative influencers.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

The attack last week on the husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in their San Francisco home has punctuated what US government officials say is a rising tide of violence against election officials.

It also comes amidst dire warnings about the potential for more incidents in the coming weeks.

According to the US Capitol Police, there were 9,600 threats against members of Congress last year – a number that has increased every year since 2017.

Earlier this year, Capitol Police announced that it would cover up to $10,000 for security upgrades in the homes of congressional legislators. Members of Congress have a growing concern about their personal safety and that of their families – concerns that were exacerbated by the 6 January 2021 assault on the US Capitol by Donald Trump supporters angry about his election defeat.

Just hours after news broke of the Paul Pelosi attack on Friday, the US government distributed a bulletin to law enforcement across the nation warning of a "heightened threat" of domestic violent extremism against candidates and election workers driven by individuals with "ideological grievances".

Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, writes that the increase in violence and violent threats is a result of the spread of inflammatory rhetoric in US politics in recent years.

"The lack of civility has reached such a dangerous level that it threatens the safety of leaders, the functioning of law enforcement and our society’s ability to address major problems," he writes.

Read more: Violent extremism warning ahead of US election

Image source, EPA

The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has said Fox News played a part in fuelling the vitriol against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul – who was attacked by an intruder at the couple's home last week.

In an interview with CBS, Newsom said he had witnessed Pelosi being "dehumanised" by Fox News hosts such as Jesse Watters, who Newsom said has been "mocking" Paul Pelosi "consistently".

Newsom said that Fox News was "sowing the seeds, creating a culture and a climate like this".

"I mean, look online. Look at the sewage that is online that they amplify on these networks and in social media to dehumanise people like Nancy Pelosi and other political leaders."

Conservative TV host Watters has previously criticised Paul Pelosi for pleading guilty to driving under the influence. A few months ago, Watters accused the Pelosis of using "liberal privilege" to "cover up" the incident.

A short while ago, the alleged attacker of Paul Pelosi, David Wayne DePape, appeared in court with his right arm in a sling. His lawyer said he had suffered a dislocated shoulder when he was arrested.

DePape has been ordered to remain in custody without bail at least until a formal detention hearing is held. He also remains under a federal detention hold too.

David Wayne DePape, the man accused of beating House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul with a hammer during a struggle in the couple's San Francisco home, has pleaded not guilty during his first court appearance, Reuters reports.

The state charges against him are attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, elder abuse and threatening a public official. He will be held without bail.

The accused faces 13 years to life in prison on the state charges and maximum of 50 years on the federal charges.

The motive is being investigated but police say it was "not a random act".

Paul Pelosi, 82, suffered skull fractures and injuries to his hands and right arm.

Mike Wendling
in Kalispell, Montana

Image source, Getty Images

Two adverts are running on local TV stations in Montana’s first congressional district, an enormous mostly rural tract of land in the Rocky Mountains.

Neither ad mentions the political party of the candidate. Can you guess which one they belong to?

Ad number one, external for incumbent Ryan Zinke touts his environmental credentials.

"When foreign companies wanted to mine Paradise Valley," one supporter tells the camera, "Congressman Zinke said 'No way.'"

Ad number two, external for challenger Monica Tranel features endorsements from a clutch of prominent Republicans.

A former Montana governor says Tranel "has proven that she can bring people together".

You've probably figured it out - Zinke is the Republican.

Image source, Getty Images

While environmental concerns are usually a preoccupation of left-wing voters and Democrats, he represents a booming area with some of the most stunning natural areas in the country. Locals tell us they’re concerned about encroaching development.

Meanwhile Tranel, the Democrat, is running as a moderate in a Republican-leaning district. She's been painting Zinke as extreme, pointing to his record as a former cabinet member under Donald Trump, as well as his opposition to abortion.

You'll hear a lot in coming days about polarisation and the entrenched views of each party. But across America there are still plenty of local quirks and surprises in store.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent, reporting from Virginia

This early voting location in Stafford County, Virginia, has an elaborate display hitting pretty much all of the Democratic talking points in the congressional election – it also includes placards against Republican candidate Yesli Vega, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

There's a sign showing pro-Trump protestors storming the Capitol in 6 January, 2021 - but that's something not too many Democrats are talking about on the campaign trail.

However there's also support for Republicans in the county, which is just over an hour's drive south of Washington DC.

Mike Flood, sporting a "Make America Great Again" hat, has been outside the government building in Stafford for all but two days since early voting began here on 28 September.

He believes support between the two candidates in the House of Representatives race has been evenly divided so far, with perhaps a slight advantage for the Republicans.

One thing he hasn't seen so far though is a sizable number of young voters – a key demographic for Democrats across the country.

That's an assessment backed up by early voting returns in states that keep track of age. In North Carolina, for instance, the median age of an early voter is 66. Only 5% of ballots cast so far have been from voters under 30.

Democrats are hoping younger voters turn out in high numbers on election day. And opinion surveys suggest that young-voter interest and engagement is high, in part because of the recent conservative-leaning Supreme Court ruling on abortion - a move widely condemned by President Biden.

The US Supreme Court has declined to block Senator Lindsey Graham from having to testify before a grand jury in a criminal investigation looking at former Donald Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia.

On Tuesday justices denied his emergency request to put on hold a judicial order which demanded him to appear as a witness before the grand jury.

Graham, who is a prominent Trump ally, argued that as a member of Congress he is protected under the US Constitution from being questioned during an investigation.

The South Carolina senator is scheduled to appear before a special grand jury on 17 November.

Image source, Reuters

As the US gets ready for next Tuesday's crucial vote, we'd love to hear about which key issues matter most to you, to help shape our coverage.

Whether you have a particular interest in how much abortion is defining the Midterm campaign, or the effect other issues like inflation, crime and immigration are having on voters, please do get in touch.

Over the coming days, BBC News correspondents from across the US will be answering your questions as part of the build up to election day - one which could define the next two years of Joe Biden's presidency.

For anyone who would like to submit one, click here and fill out the form so our experts can take a look.

Image source, Getty Images

With only a week to go until election day Democrats and Republicans - current and former presidents included - are going all out to energise the electorate.

Here's where to find some of the big players in the days ahead.

• As we've been telling you, Biden is in Florida where he's delivered a speech focussed on healthcare as he seeks to make the case for the Democrats
• Barack Obama, a Democrat, will hold a rally on Tuesday night at a high school in Las Vegas, Nevada
• On Wednesday, former-president Bill Clinton will campaign for a Democrat running for Congress in upstate New York
• Biden will travel to San Diego, California, on Thursday to campaign for an incumbent Democratic congressman facing off against a Republican businessman
• On Saturday, both Obama and Trump will be holding duelling rallies in western Pennsylvania, with Obama speaking in Pittsburgh and Trump speaking just outside the city