resistance in some parts of europe over the government's handling of the covid-19 pandemic as the number of cases rise. an explosion kills at least eight people and dangers more than 100 others at a religious school in pakistan -- and injures more than 100 others at a religious school in pakistan. unrest after the arrest of a religious leader in zanzibar. ♪ with exactly a week to go until the u.s. election, donald trump and joe biden are spending tuesday crisscrossing the united states in an intense day of campaigning. national polls give democratic contender biden a solid lead, although it is tighter and crucial battleground states that could swing the election. the pandemic continues to overshadow campaigning. president trump has been holding three mass rallies tuesday, again downplaying the effect of the virus, trying to shift focus to the economy. >> it is probably the number-one reason i am standing here. and have we turned that around. [applause] seven days from now, we are going to win the great state of michigan. [applause] and we are going to win four more years in the white house. host: biden has accused the president of dangerous incompetence in handling the cope with outbreak, and has practiced -- and his promised to act quickly if he is elected. nearly 500,000 cases have been confirmed in the past week alone, more than 225,000 deaths since the pandemic began. and a rescue package remains held up in congress, republicans and democrats deadlocked over details. the latest polling shows biden lead in michigan has increased a little over the past week. john hendren has been touring battleground states and joins us from chicago. john, we have seen biden leading trump not just in national polls, but also in many states that could influence the outcome of the election, but perhaps in some places, the lead isn't as strong as his team would like. . john: a lot of people in 2016, pollsters, were relying on nationwide polls to talk about the election. now, they are focusing more on these battleground staples. a lot of states like california and new york are going to vote for the democrat, and conservative states like kansas and nebraska, that will always vote for the republican, pretty much all the time. the new rotors if so's pole -- the new reuters ipsos poll, donald trump one by swinging through these midwestern states that used to be called the blue wall for barack obama, and he was winning all of those in emma craddick -- in democratic, new colors. one place you can go to michigan to determine what has happened is macomb county, a swing county in michigan, it is automobile country, middle-class people, some wealthier houses, so kind of a microcosm of the united states, voting for barack obama and then donald trump. so we went there to find out what voters were thinking. take a look. macomb county, which sits between the two great lakes, lake huron and lake erie, is scenic, patriotic, middle-class and overwhelmingly white. the last election, trump resonated here. >> in 2016, he pledged he would not cut medicaid, medicare or social security, very different from other republican candidates. that, combined with his appeals to white identity politics appealed to a lot of people in macomb county. elizabeth: trump inspires -- correspondent: trump inspires tribute on land and water, bare devotion from supporters. >> the greatest president i have ever had in my lifetime. he has made so many promises and cap more promises that he made, which has never happened. ever. >> i believe in all his policies. he has got the job done. he is pro-life, everything i believe in correspondent: the 2020 election will test if he is still popular here, despite the coronavirus and economic collapse. as democrat joe biden' us campaign workers canvassed the county, he leads trump handily in recent polls. >> what has changed is this mask. the epidemic here has been very difficult. we lost over 1000 people to covid. the president doesn't have a plan, doesn't pretend to have one. he wants more people to die. joe biden will have a plan that will fix this covid, so that we can try to get back to normal life. correspondent: what has also changed is a growing political conflict within the state. democratic governor gretchen whitmer's aggressive pandemic response led armed protesters to force their way into the state capital, and it led to the arrest of 13 militia members who allegedly planned to kidnap her. and trump has been fanning the flames. >> you've got to get the governor to open up your states, ok? correspondent: it is not just in michigan where biden is ahead in the polls. in wisconsin, real clear politics doesn't average of them major polls and finds biden ahead by five point five percentage points in wisconsin, and by 3.8 percentage points in pennsylvania. so these candidates are aggressively going after those states but today, donald trump was in michigan, wisconsin and nebraska, unusual because it is a reliably republican state. so he is fighting a defensive battle, trying to hold on to those states he won in 2016, whereas joe biden is trying to widen the map, not just getting states democrat typically get. he has gone to georgia today, a place that has reliably voted republican in the past, but there is an interesting phenomena. i asked a number of political scientists and pollsters about those polls in 2016, and can we rely on these polls? and what has pretty consistently been told is that they expect the polls to narrow by november 3, election day, although more than 460 million people -- more than 60 million people have art -- more than 460 million people have already voted. and they say there may be shy trump voters, those who don't respond to polls or pollsters, and they may show up on election day voting, even -- giving trump 1% or 2% more than these polls are showing. host: thank you very much, john hendren in chicago. as part of our series polling battleground states in the midwest, john hendren reports from the battleground state of ohio on wednesday on al jazeera. moving to our other top story this hour, the second wave of covid-19 is hitting europe quite badly. the death rate in france has more than doubled over the past 24 hours. they report 523 deaths, up from 257 monday. record numbers of new cases are being reported across the continent, more than 230,000 on monday, almost 3.5 times the daily rate at the beginning of the month. belgium hit a daily high have more than 18,000 last week, almost a 10-fold rise on the highest number seen in the first wave in spring. in the german government says they will likely hit 20,000 cases a day by the weekend. it comes as medical workers in spain are holding a series of one-day strikes, demanding improved safety and working conditions. they say they are exhausted after months of dealing with the pandemic. arthur herrera reports from madrid. correspondent: doctors across spain came out in the thousands for a 24-hour nationwide strike. addicts are calling for better working conditions and more health spending is the number of covid-19 cases continue to rise. spain, with more than one million cases and 35,000 deaths, is one of the worst-affected countries in europe. >> we are in the middle of the second wave in spain, sicily and madrid, all the health workers are very exhausted, because we are very tired from the first wave, both physically and mentally. there is not a high enough covid tracer, we are not making enough pcr tests. clearly, the social confinement measures came late. we feel completely undone. correspondent: after battling on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring, doctors are taking action and demanding that conditions and improved safety before they are immersed in the second wave of covid-19. the strike came as the spanish government unveiled its budget for 2021, with the promise of a 150% increase in health spending. the coalition government led by pedro sanchez has already imposed a state of emergency, giving central government sweeping power, including restrictions on freedom of movement. a curfew has been introduced from 11:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. everywhere except the canary islands. the state of emergency also gives regional governments some powers to try to stop the spread of the virus. each region will be able to apply its own measures, after central government -- the government hopes to extend the state of emergency until next year, but for this they need the backing of other political parties, and that will top and without a fight. meanwhile, covid cases continue to spiral upwards. al jazeera, madrid. ♪ host: at least eight people have been killed in a bombing at a religious school in a northwest pakistan city of peschel are -- peshawar. police said the bomb was left in a bag in the school -- and the bomb detonated as students gathered. victoria: up to 500 students were packed into this room with the bomb exploded. [explosion] they were listening to election by a prominent scholar at the religious school in peshawar. >> it was 8:00 in the morning, the teacher was giving a lesson. we are to big bang in the students were all running here and there. correspondent: they say the bomb was hidden in an abandoned bag in the main hall. students, teachers and other members of staff are among dead and injured. several are in critical condition. police expect more fidelity's. the injured were taken to the city's main hospital, where relatives gathered waiting for news. the attack comes days after pakistan's intelligence service warned armed groups could target public links, including religious schools across pakistan. the prime minister condemned the bombing. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. the pakistani taliban condemned the bombing and denied involvement. schools, and the military have been targeted since 2001, when pakistan supported the u.s. invasion of afghanistan. >> they could be anyone, there could be a foreign country behind it. there could be any element who is working for anti-state elements within pakistan. victoria: more than 1000 students were at the school when the bomb went off. police say most of those killed were young people in their 20's. al jazeera. host: at least eight people have been killed in more than 45 injured in two attacks in afghanistan. five police officers were killed when a suicide bomber detonated their vehicle in an eastern province, near a police special forces base. and three civilians were killed in the capital of kabul, when a car filled with explosives was detonated near the interior ministry. one has claimed to be behind the attack. it comes as the government and taliban continue to open talks in qatar. a main opposition party in tanzania is accusing police of killing at least nine people who were protesting voting fraud in the upcoming election. protest seven centered on the semi a taunus island of zanzibar, where the main opposition candidate was arrested and then released. the chairman of the african union is calling for calm. catherine has our report. catherine: these protesters in the semiautonomous zanzibar region of zanzibar, the main presidential opposition candidate was arrested on the island at a polling station during a band for voting. he was later released. it has been tense in the past few days on the island, with fighting between opposition supporters and police. tanks and troops from the tanzania mainland have also been deployed. voting continued at polling stations despite demonstrators alleging the election will be rigged. >> it is a few protesters wanted to cause disruption -- destruction and disrupt voting. we have arrested some of them. they're criminals. everyone is going well. correspondent: on the zanzibar archipelago, several people have been killed and others injured for attempting to block distribution of voting material. they say some ballots had been marked. elections in zanzibar have often been contentious and violent. in voting during the 2015 presidential election, the electoral commission on old the results and and opposition court ordered a new election. some analysts fear in a favorable result for the opposition this time could trigger another violent fallout with the ruling party. zanzibar is known for its vibrant culture, but many people say they are feeling increasingly marginalized, others want more atomic for tanzania rulers -- more tommy for tanzania -- more autonom -- a town outomony for tanzania les in zanzibar. coming up, defending reproduction rights in poland against further restrictions on abortion. ♪ ♪ >> storms around brisbane and more typically in queensland, new south wales they have been pokey recently, but they aren't going away. you have the warmth of spring to build showers again, they could be pretty big ones in new south wales around brisbane and eastern victoria. in the west, most of the coast is dry, including darwin, after a record-breaking wet october, enjoying 25 degrees in the sunshine and it will warm up more for you significantly. lower brisbane might probably be storm free on thursday, but new south wales and adelaide will still be wet. that is where the action is. in complete contrast, while we wait for winter to come to china, there is fairly quite weather, clouds and a bit of range from about light stuff. you have increasing breeze off the water coming into hokkaido. the south coast of china is more active, with a typhoon, before it falls apart, throwing rain into the south of china, and india. ♪ host: the headlines now, president donald trump and joe biden crisscrossing the u.s. in the final days before the election, campaigning and battleground areas that could swing the election either way. the latest polls show the biden leading some swing states, particularly michigan, has widened, but they remained can't in north carolina. this is the president addressing a crowd in racine, wisconsin. the death rate from covid-19 in france has more than doubled in the past 24 hours. they report i've 23 debts, up from 257 monday. -- 523 deaths, up from 257 monday. one of tanzania's main opposition party accuses police of killing at least nine people protesting voting fraud on the island of zanzibar, where the main opposition candidate was arrested, then released. now, more than 90 people have been arrested during protests in philadelphia over the police shooting of a black man. 30 officers were injured during the unrest. police cars were set on fire and several stores were looted. 27-year-old walter wallace was shot dead by police in philadelphia monday as a bystander filmed the incident, then posted it on social media. officers say wallace was holding a knife and they ordered him to drop it several times. the city's mayor called for calm. >> we need a speedy and transparent resolution for the sake of mr. wallace, his family, the officers and all of philadelphia. many philadelphians are frustrated and outraged following yesterday's tragic incident. we fully support your first-amendment rights to protest. we want to ensure our committees are not further hurt as a result. please be careful. host: let's get more from gabriel alexander in philadelphia. gabriel, in terms of understand what happened -- understanding what happened, tell us about the video footage content, what does it appear to shout? gabriel -- appear to show? gabriel: the cellphone video that has been released appears to show mr. wallace moving around in a somewhat erratic matter around a vehicle, officers motioning to him, and then shooting him. he falls to the ground and is taken to hospital, where he later dies. it does show mr. wallace was several meters away from the officers at the time of the shooting. that has led to a lot of questions on why the officers felt that they needed to use deadly force, among many other questions that have yet to be answered, even though the police chief did hold a press conference, he did not give a lot of details, only saying each officers, two officers were involved, each fired seven shots. he would not say how many struck mr. wallace, but witnesses at the scene think he may have been shot as many as 10 times. also, questions circulating on why officers felt they needed to use deadly force, if there were body cameras and the footage did or did not show, and why officers did not use non-violent tactics. mr. wallace's mother said she it call police because he was having mental problems, was unstable mentally so she says she was calling police for help, and that he did not necessarily pose risks to himself or others. that is why his family members and people around here in the neighborhood or he was killed, which is a few blocks from where i am right now, are very mystified and quite frankly, angry that this reached this level where he was killed. host: there has been unrest and clashes there in philadelphia, and we are likely to see more of that. and arrests have taken place for looting. gabriel: yeah, there have been some arrests. and a lot of people are upset about that as well. they said, listen, they are on the streets protesting, and they feel like police have just an out arresting, more than 90 people last night. very people -- very peaceful protests by clergy, they were here where we are, calling for peace and also justice. there is supposed to be another big protest within another half hour at a park not far away. we are going to check that out after i am done talking to you, but the bottom line is there is a lot of anger on the streets that another black man has been killed, and that there are not a lot of answers on why. and what particularly angers many people your is that they feel, if he was even holding a knife, many people say that based on that video, he wasn't an immediate threat to the officers, so why did they have to use such deadly, lethal force to bring him down and ultimately kill him? he was a 27-year-old man, a father, a son and also a husband to a woman that is actually pregnant. and many people say that, while he did have some mental health issues, he was an aspiring musician that died way too young, according to so many people in this neighborhood that knew him. host: thank you, very much, the latest from philadelphia. gabriel elizondo, thank you. i united nations delegation has made a new visit to camps in syria after a russian airstrike killed 78 turkish-backed rebels in northern syria monday. the syrian observatory for human rights says more than 90 others were injured in an attack on the train -- attack on a train. the syrian envoy is urging calm between the two sides that are backing different sides in the conflict. correspondent: the un's special envoy told the un security council he is worried about the situation in northwest syria, where there has been a deterioration in security, with an airstrike believed to be carried out i russia on opposition fighters. about 50 were killed. and then come a retaliation from opposition groups that have been shelling syrian government positions. he believes it could destabilize the situation, where there has been for some time a shaky truce. >> these dynamics can unravel the precious calm achieved through cooperation, which already faces challenges. i appeal to both russia and turkey to move to contain the situation. correspondent: there is one bit of good news coming out of idlib , and that his reports from local media saying there has been a visit by u.n. humanitarian delegation to the province, the first of its type in nine years. however, the humanitarian picture in the province and across syria is not good at all. covid-19 cases are going up. winter is coming. there is a fear of further shortage of food in the area. and the u.n. says there is a problem of ringing in food, aid, and medical supplies, because there is now only one authorized border crossing from turkey into syria. host: bangladesh is the latest muslim nation calling for a boycott of french products. the growing protests are against french president up cost of yes -- french president emmanuel macron recent remark on islam and a cartoon. micron has refused to condemn the character -- the caricature. the turkish president is now suing a dutch politician after the dutch politician while there's -- wilders published a cartoon showing articl -- showing president erdogan wearing a bomb on his head. a ruling by a country's court might mean abortion is only legal in cases of rape and insist. here's more. correspondent: defending what demonstrators say or reproductive rights, they appeared before the poland parliament tuesday, chanting this is war. thousands of joined ailey marches across the country in defiance of covid-19 restrictions. warsaw streets were blocked, bringing traffic to a standstill. >> i'm so sorry. i need to fight for my dr.'s future. i can't imagine not being here. -- for my daughter's future. i can't imagine not being here. correspondent: a ruling last week said abortion in almost all cases are illegal. abortion will only be this is my origin and my destination. our apartment here in frederiksberg in the heart of copenhagen. but in my work, travelling around the world, i look differently at my own city now. i see the challenges and i see the hurdles. this city has been a global benchmark for urbanism for many years, and i want to show you some of the great things that make this city so unique and make it work so well. leadership is not "resting on your laurels". it is a constant search for innovation, for improvement, for urban development. i want to find out what the state of the urban nation is right here, in my own city: copenhagen. but first... it's time for school. you guys ready? yeah. - all right. let's do it.

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