hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. welcome to the programme. we begin with a developing story here. reform uk hasjust dropped three candidates standing in thursday's general election. it's because of offensive comments they had made in the past. but it is too late for their names to be removed from the ballot paper. speaking on the bbc on friday, leader nigel farage had said he wanted nothing to do with them. well our political correspndent ben wrightjoins me now on set. with me is our political correspondent ben wright. bring correspondent ben wright. us up to date on this particular bring us up to date on this particular issue. fin bring us up to date on this particular issue.— bring us up to date on this particular issue. on a couple of fronts, particular issue. on a couple of fronts. nigel — particular issue. on a couple of fronts, nigel farage _

particular issue. on a couple of fronts, nigel farage is - particular issue. on a couple of fronts, nigel farage is under . particular issue. on a couple of. fronts, nigel farage is under real pressure, underfire from his political opponents and battling to defend his party attic list, and values. nigel farage was asked yesterday about comments made about three his —— made by three of his palmetto candidate sally said yesterday he wouldn't want anything to do with them, and a spokesman for reform uk has confirmed that vardy has dropped those three candidates. however,... not entirely discerning them, saying they are there on the ballot but legally they cannot be removed from the ballot paper so they will still be standing under they will still be standing under the reform uk banner but as i said, these are really dreadful headlines for mr farage. while he loves courting controversy, making waves, he doesn't want to be explaining, i think, the words of candidates and activists face close to polling day. is there anything more we can say

about what they said? ida. is there anything more we can say about what they said?— is there anything more we can say about what they said? no, not at the moment, about what they said? no, not at the moment. we — about what they said? no, not at the moment. we can _ about what they said? no, not at the moment, we can talk _ about what they said? no, not at the moment, we can talk about - about what they said? no, not at the moment, we can talk about the - moment, we can talk about the channel 4 moment, we can talk about the channel a documentary which is another dimension of the story. reform uk continues to insist that andrew parker, who was heard making a racial slur against the prime minister as well as making other racist remarks, reform uk are continuing to insist that he was a setup, ringo, an actor, that it was staged, and reform uk has britain to the electoral commission this afternoon complaining about that. channel 4 emphatically stand by theirjournalism. we channel 4 emphatically stand by theirjournalism._ channel 4 emphatically stand by theirjournalism. their “ournalism. we are going to look theirjournalism. we are going to look at some _ theirjournalism. we are going to look at some of the _ theirjournalism. we are going to look at some of the background i theirjournalism. we are going to. look at some of the background as some of the reaction from the other parties. let's take a look at this report from my colleague damien galacticos. i've always been a tory voter... still causing reverberations, the undercover filming from

channel 4 of reform uk canvassers. one suggested gay people were paedophiles. another, this man, andrew parker, suggested people crossing the channel in small boats should be shot at, and used a racist insult to describe the prime minister. the leader of reform uk, nigel farage. applause. it's put the spotlight on nigel farage. last night, he claimed mr parker was an actor, and it was a setup. this was a comedy act, - it was designed to hurt us, and sadly, sadly, - some people believe it. let me promise you... so who do you think would have done this, nigel farage? i want nothing to do. with people like him, and he is nothing to do with us. but there were more questions about three of his candidates and comments they'd made. live on air, mr farage appeared to disown them, saying he wanted nothing to do with them. rishi sunak has already condemned the comments made about him, describing them as shocking. he said he wanted to call out blatant racism when he saw it, and added there were clearly deep, deep problems in mr farage's party. nice to see you. the labour leader was out meeting veterans this morning for armed forces day.

he said he shared rishi sunak�*s disgust at the racism, and he said it was not good enough that mr farage had condemned the comment after the event. leadership, mr starmersaid, was about setting the culture and standards for your party. well, i am concerned about populism and nationalism, and i think in a time where in our country and across the world there are increasing challenges of every variety, the like of which we haven't seen until recent years, it's very important we have a progressive answer to those challenges. it all means that there is now increasing scrutiny are nigel farage, his party, his canvassers, his candidates and his leadership. damian grammaticas reporting there. damien —— ben is dealt with me. i guess the question is how much this

will make an impact on reform uk in this election, given they were seen to be picking up support in the opinion polls. to be picking up support in the opinion polls-— opinion polls. reform uk did electrify the _ opinion polls. reform uk did electrify the early _ opinion polls. reform uk did electrify the early days - opinion polls. reform uk did electrify the early days of. opinion polls. reform uk did| electrify the early days of this campaign, particularly when nigel farage went on the stage and spotted an opportunity and announced in the leader and then candidate in this election. i made it certainly start to grow in the polls, i think that has flatlined a little bit in the last week or so, they may have hit a ceiling, certainly in terms of the polling. but i think it is undeniable he doesn't really want this sort of scrutiny now about his party. i think what is also interesting is that in the early stages of this campaign, the conservatives, who see themselves very much in the target of nigel farage, and nigel farage hopes to hoover up lows of conservative voters in this election and help position himself as a major voice in the right of british politics,. until now, i think they have tiptoed around him and been reluctant to

criticise his party and people who support him but in the last few hours, led by rishi sunak and led by other cabinet ministers, we have seen them go for him, we have seen them turn their strategy towards attack, and we will see what difference that makes. test your voice before _ difference that makes. test your voice before election _ difference that makes. test your voice before election night, - difference that makes. test your l voice before election night, you've got a busy week ahead. let's stay with more on the uk election. the liberal democrats are on theirfinal tour of the country — a five—day journey from john o'groats in northern scotland, to lands end in the south—west of england. lib dem leader sir ed davey�*s first visit of the day was to st andrews. he's been playing the highland game of shinty at the university ground in north east fife and has been talking about the lib dems' prospects in scotland. the lib dems leader is in edinburgh and so is our political respondent nash correspondent tom simon. turf moor what is happening.

ed davey is learning a bit of spin today, not political spin on this occasion, we are told he will be going through a range of different circus skills in this lovely outdoor environment not far from edinburgh. it is the second of his three visits today, the third also in scotland, very much concentrating on the seats that the liberal democrats have to hold onto in scotland. the reason i say have to hold onto rather than perhaps concentrating on winning more seats from the conservatives is that they think the boundary changes in scotland have affected their charges in the forces they have —— chances. so they have to campaign to try to make sure they make sure they hold onto those seats. this is part of a five—day trip through the united kingdom, right from john o'groats where we were last night down to land then. and he's going to be hitting the constituency is the liberal democrats are really concentrating on. they have been

criticised for not doing enough in the north of england. they say they would have loved to have stopped him the lake district of cumbria and yorkshire but this is a tightly scheduled set of visits on the liberal democrat battle bus. what has he been talking about today? well, he has talked a little bit about defence. we asked him early on armed forces day, when the liberal democrats could commit to increasing defence spending to 2.5% of gdp, gross domestic product, and he said he couldn't give a date. other parties are giving dates. he said it would be ridiculous for a party in a position to commit that level on funding in advance without even seeing the national finances. funding in advance without even seeing the nationalfinances. but funding in advance without even seeing the national finances. but of course the liberal democrats are unlikely to end up in government so what this is all about is getting them attention, getting them the attention of the electorate, being sure that they know ed davey is a person, he has portrayed himself as

somebody who is up for a bit of fun but has serious policy to back that up, that is why the stunts keep coming one after another and will be another week. thank you very much for the moment. the leader of the scottish national party, john swinney, has been campaigning in glasgow today. swinney said his party would tackle child poverty and austerity. he raised concerns about the level of support for the labour party and said snp mps would be able to hold the party accountable in parliament, should it win government. to keep 100,000 children in scotland out of poverty. and we want to do more. but the way we do more is by ending austerity. and the labour party has made it crystal clear, they're going to keep on with tory austerity. where the tories left off, labour will take up. and we've got to make sure in this election that we elect snp mps to westminster who will protect the scottish interest, who will rail against austerity,

who will take the action to address the cost of living crisis and make sure, as my modest bus says, there is a future made in scotland for scotland. that is what snp mps will deliver if they are elected to the house of commons. and there is nobody finer is a representative of that idea and that outlook than alison thewliss who has led our campaign against the two child limit. so, remember in the next few days, there is going to be a labour prime minister but he's a labour prime minister that will be carrying on the tory agenda of austerity and the tory agenda of the two child limit. and we've got to have snp mps in westminster to make sure that's brought to a halt. and if you want to see a list of the

candidates standing in the seat, you candidates standing in the seat, you can see them up there. and of course any constituency that you are interested in, you can see the constituency candidates standing just by going to the bbc website, if you put in the name of the seat you have an interest in, all of the people standing for every party will be available there. president biden has come under more pressure to stand down from the race for the white house, with an editorial in the influential new york times newspaper, calling on him to drop out, saying it's in the best interests of america. it followed his widely criticised performance in thursday's tv debate with donald trump when he stumbled over words, and at times seemed to lose track of what he was saying. mr biden remains defiant. at his first campaign rally since the debate, he told supporters in north carolina that the us itself was at stake in november's election, calling his opponent a genuine threat to democracy. directly addressing concerns about his age, mr biden told the rally he'd been knocked down but would get back up. our north america correspondent

david willis reports. fired up by a faithful crowd, joe biden took to the stage in the swing state of north carolina, seemingly unfazed by the torrent of bad headlines his disjointed debate performance had generated. i don't debate as well as i used to. but i know what i do know! i know how to tell the truth. crowd: yes! he seemed for all the world like a new man, reading from the teleprompter with a passion that had been all too absent the night before. gentlemen, thanks so much for being here. let's begin the debate. let's start... it was a far cry from the rasping and rambling performance on the debate stage that was all too often painful to watch. everything we had to do with... what... if... we finally beat medicare. it has left his party in a state of crisis.

yet despite rumblings about replacing their candidate, publicly, at least, democrats are circling the wagons. referring to his own lacklustre performance in the presidential debate in 2012, joe biden�*s former boss barack obama tweeted... "bad debate nights happen. trust me, i know". despite being just three years younger thanjoe biden, donald trump has consistently condemned his rival as too old to be re—elected. but addressing supporters in virginia, he said the question was less one of age and more one of competence. the question everybody should be asking themselves today is not whetherjoe biden can survive a 90—minute debate performance but whether america can survive four more years of crooked joe biden in the white house? crowd: boo! and the calls for joe biden to pull out of the presidential race are growing. this, the headline in an editorial in the new york times, which goes on to declare...

"mr biden is not the man he was four years ago". i don't think so. the word from the biden camp is that their candidate has no intention whatsoever of pulling out of the race. much may depend on how he fares going forward and what the opinion polls make of his debate performance. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. plenty more on our website. let's get a little break from the news. now it's time for a look at today's sport with paul. we're entering the business end of euro 2024 as the knockout stage begins later, with two round of 16 matches coming up. both the hosts and the defending champions will be looking to reach the quarterfinals. italy, who won the title in 2021, take on switzerland in the first game of the day. they meet in berlin — while germany's game with denmark is in dortmund. germany are unbeaten,

but needed a stoppage time equaliser to resuce a point in their final group game against switzerland, meanwhile denmark will be looking to channel the spirit of 1992 when they beat germany in the final. a lot has been said about 1992, especially in denmark, it is a part of growing up that you learn about that particular samba. the big story back then was that denmark was quite an outsider, hadn't even qualified for the tournament. we have, i think we have a good team, but there is no doubt that for anything special to happen, we would have to be a bit of an upset. it is a mentality that we embrace. we would like to tease the favourites and obviously germany will be strong favourites here in front of their home cloud. manchester united have confirmed that goalkeeper mary earps will leave the club following the end of her contract,

coming just days after captain katie zelem's departure was announced. earps joined the club in 2019 and made 125 appearances. the 31—year—old england keeper has been widely linked with a move to paris st—germain. a club statement said: "everyone at manchester united would like to thank mary for her fine service and wish her the best of luck in the next stage of her career." cricket�*s t2o world cup final gets underway in around 10 minutes. whoever wins in barbados will end a long wait for global silverware. india last won a major trophy in 2011, while south africa have never won one. long known as the team that couldn't get past a semi—final, they have the chance to make even more history. probablyjust see it as a new game of cricket, to be honest. we all know india is a great team, as a team as south africans have been trending in the right direction the last couple of years but maybe not progressed in tournaments as far as we would have liked,

so an exciting excursion tomorrow against a good opposition in india, but a good opportunity for us as well. i think everyone will agree we are probably the top tier teams in the tournament, we have played the best cricket in this tournament, so deserving finals for both the teams and hopefully it is a great game of cricket and hopefully it falls on the right side. daria kasatkina has won herfirst grass—court tour level title, after beating leylah fernandez in straight sets in the final of the wta 500 event in eastbourne. kasatkina broke the canadian�*s serve in the first game of the match — taking the opener 6—3. the world number 1a then took the second, 6 games to 4, to secure her 7th career title. perfect preparattoin ahead of wimbledon which begins on monday.

and finally the first stage of the tour de france is under way in italy, with the riders facing a gruelling 206 kilometres from florence to rimini. defending champion denmark'sjonas vingegaard and race favourite tadej pogacar led the peloton away from the start line. britain's mark cavendish is already struggling at the back of the race — the manxman was sick heading up the first climb of the day. all the news on the bbc sport website. and that's all the sport for now. the race to find a new president in iran continues — after none of the candidates in the snap poll secured a majority, it's been announced that a run—off vote will be held this coming friday. the election is being held after the death of ultra—conservative president ebrahim raisi in a helicopter crash last month. the contenders will be the reformist masoud pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, who won the largest number of votes. and his hardline rival is, saeed jalili, who came second, after taking an early lead.

let's talk to siavash ardalan from bbc persian. tell us what will happen on friday. we will have the contest between these two candidates which was the difference of votes is very marginal, difference of1 million votes. the heart surgeon reformist candidate, he won 30 full cash he won 43% of the votes and the hardliner won 38%. the kingmaker here is the centre—right candidate, the third candidate was assumed to become the next president of iran, he didn't win a lot of votes. given how radicalised the conservative face —— base in iran has become. so he endorsed the far right candidate, saidjalili. if he he endorsed the far right candidate, said jalili. if he and his supporters decide to vote for him than the next president of iran will be hardliner. but the real

kingmakers are those iranians who have chosen to stay away as a sign of defiance against the regime. the turnout was the lowest ever since the 1979 revolution. 60% decided to stay away. the 1979 revolution. 6096 decided to sta awa . ~ the 1979 revolution. 6096 decided to staawa. , ,, the 1979 revolution. 6096 decided to sta awa. , ,, ., stay away. were you surprised that the reformist _ stay away. were you surprised that the reformist candidate _ stay away. were you surprised that the reformist candidate did - stay away. were you surprised that the reformist candidate did so - stay away. were you surprised that| the reformist candidate did so well? not so well. he ran a very good campaign. in the beginning he was thought to be one of those reformist candidates that the clerical conservatives establishment usually throws into spare people to come and vote, and usually that is the case, just to give a facade of competitiveness to the system. but this time it was a very high risk game, he managed to inject some excitement into many voters and many of them went to vote for him, though when we say he is a reformist, he is as close to the centre—left candidate as can be possible. irate candidate as can be possible. we often hear about the supreme leader often hear about the supreme leader of iran, how does that figure relate

to the president? and how significant are both roles? supreme leader of italy _ significant are both roles? supreme leader of italy has _ significant are both roles? supreme leader of italy has a _ significant are both roles? supreme leader of italy has a final _ significant are both roles? supreme leader of italy has a final say, - significant are both roles? supreme leader of italy has a final say, he i leader of italy has a final say, he gets to decide everything, he even gets to decide everything, he even gets to decide who gets to run for president. —— the supreme leader has a final say. but the president is an administrator in iran. it makes a difference who the president is. we have had hard—line presidents who brought about horrible security council resolutions against iran with devastating effect on a's economy. and then you had the pro—reform kind of moderate which opened up to the west and we had that nuclear deal with a great western powers russia and china, so it doesn't matter who the president is, in terms of how they can persuade the supreme leader but for many of those iranians who are disappointed with the pace of reform and to feel the reformers have

abandoned them and not gone far enough, they feel we don't care, it doesn't make a difference who is the fundamental change that they desire which is a change of constitution will not happen, whether it is conservatives or reformists. and today the majority of iranians, 60% of them, showed that they hold the majority vote. ok. of them, showed that they hold the majority vote-— majority vote. ok, thank you very much for taking _ majority vote. ok, thank you very much for taking us _ majority vote. ok, thank you very much for taking us through - majority vote. ok, thank you very much for taking us through that. l majority vote. ok, thank you very i much for taking us through that. and of course, there is more on the elections in iran on the bbc news website. german police have said eleven officers have been injured in clashes with demonstrators trying to disrupt the annual conference of the far—right alternative for germany party or afd. most of those protesting against the two—day conference in the western city of essen have been doing so peacefully. but the police said they made some arrests and used batons and pepper spray to stop people breaking through roadblocks. some afd delegates needed police

escorts to reach the venue. a court has acquitted all 28 people charged with money laundering in connection with the panama papers scandal. the verdict concludes a trial in panama that began in april. among those exonerated werejurgen mossack and the now deceased ramon fonseca, founders of the defunct law firm, mossack fonseca, who were at the centre of the scandal. the panama papers were a trove of 11 million documents leaked to journalists in 2016, revealing the offshore financial secrets of world leaders and other public figures. a temporary us pier designed to deliver aid to gaza has once again been removed because of high seas. these are newly—released images of the pier in operation this month, showing aid being offloaded from a ship. it's the third time since it became operational in mid—may that weather conditions have forced the pier to be detached from the gaza coast. distributing the aid to gaza's population has also been problematic, because of israeli military operations nearby. as a result, aid is piling up at a depot onshore. a pentagon spokesperson has acknowledged that the marshalling area is almost full.

if there is not enough room on the marshalling area, then it doesn't make sense to put our men and women out there when there is nothing to move. there is still room, i don't want to give the impression that it is at capacity, it is certainly full, but we do need to see that marshalling yard open up to allow for groups to continue distribution so we can get more aid in as we get it from cyprus. pride events are being held around the world this weekend, to celebrate the lgbtq community and its achievements. in mexico, the start of the event was marked with a mass wedding of same—sex couples. 147 couples expressed their commitment at the ceremony in mexico city — which legalised same—sex marriage in 2009. we'll have more on that and all of

the rest of the news. if you want to see more in—depth, you can go to the bbc website, i'm rajini vaidyanathan, do stay with us, i'll be back in a moment. hello, the weather has been pretty mixed and i think we will see the best of the sunshine today and a bit cloudy for tomorrow with some rain here and there. it has been a glorious last few days for glastonbury, today has seen good sunny spells, 21 degrees, but a chance of thicker cloud, maybe a spot of rain as we move through sunday. all courtesy of these weather fronts which have been pushing in from the west through the course of this morning, bringing thicker cloud for northern england, large parts of wales and the north midlands. some splashes of rain here. to the north of it, some sunshine, improving picture for northern ireland, breezy with showers for northern scotland, best of the sun shines through the afternoon will be across the south—east quadrant of england where it could be up

to 25 degrees but cooler under the thicker cloud further north. that area of cloud and rain begins to ease as it pushes its way southwards, it weakens but it will bring a cloudy night for the south—east quadrant so a milder night to come here, further north clearer skies so a few chilly spots there, patchy cloud, just the odd shower here and there. so, into part two, this ridge of high pressure building in, that will kill this weather front which will sink southwards. there could be the still the odd shower here and there across the far south—east, some early sunshine. but i think clouds will be isolated for most. south—west england up to 21 degrees, temperatures a little disappointing. across into the continent, the euro football continues, england play slovakia later on sunday, looks like we could have a few heavy thundery showers on the earlier part of the game and then as we head towards

the latter part of the evening, it should turn a bit drier. back home, we've got a weather front pushing into northern and western areas for monday. we start off dry with early sunshine, skies will turn cloudy and we will see splashes of rain pushing their way eastwards through the course of the day, eventually reaching the south—east after dark. disappointing temperatures again in those north—westerly breezes — 14—19 celsius, not much improvement through the rest of the week, low pressure always close by, wetter in the north—west, drier further south and east.

this is bbc news. the headlines: us presidentjoe biden hits back at criticism of his poor debate performance against donald trump, telling supporters he will win november's election. but the new york times joins calls for him to leave the race. reform uk drops three election candidates for derogatory comments they have made in the past. leader nigel farage told the bbc he "wouldn't want anything to do with them" iran is to hold a run—off presidential election after no candidate won more than 50% of the vote in the first round. the election was triggered after president ebrahim raisi died in a helicopter crash last month. and coldplay are to take to the stage for a record fifth headline set at glastonbury festival after pop star dua lipa raised

the roof of the pyramid stage with friday's performance. the leader of the scottish national party, john swinney, has been campaigning in glasgow today. swinney said his party would tackle child poverty and austerity. i spoke to david linden, the socialjustice spokesperson for the scottish national party. i began by asking him how his party can address a vote for independence, when both the conservatives and labour have refused to discuss another independence referendum. we will continue to do as we always do, which is to make the democratic argument. sir keir starmer and his pro—brexit labour party have gone into this campaign asking the population at large to endorse their manifesto.