reform uk has 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. with me is our political correspondent alicia mccarthy. just correspondent alicia mccarthy. tell us what has hai it just tell us what has happened, when it comes to these three candidates. these three candidates have all made comments and nigel farage when he was asked about the things he had said, the leader of reform uk, he said, the leader of reform uk, he said we don't want anything to do with these candidates and distant himself from them and suggested he wasn't going to be associated from them. as you rightly said, it is too late to take them off the ballot paper because the ballot papers have already been printed and sent out,

some people will already have had a postal vote. the slight complication was when he was asked again, what are you going to do about these candidates, would you encourage people still to vote for them what are you going to do? and they said, we would encourage them to vote for the party in these areas because by voting for these people, it is all about the share of the vote that reform uk gets and that is important. so they are saying they have dropped the candidates but still want people to vote for reform so that is the slightly unusual position. even the party accepts that this is not ideal.— that this is not ideal. what has also not been _ that this is not ideal. what has also not been ideal— that this is not ideal. what has also not been ideal other - also not been ideal other revelations in a channel 4 revelations in a channel a documentary, allegations made about a reform uk canvasser but there is a dispute over that between reform uk on channel 4. this dispute over that between reform uk on channel 4-— on channel 4. this was someone who turned u- on channel 4. this was someone who turned up to — on channel 4. this was someone who turned up to campaign _ on channel 4. this was someone who turned up to campaign for— on channel 4. this was someone who turned up to campaign for reform - on channel 4. this was someone who | turned up to campaign for reform uk, they were secretly recorded by channel 4 and made some pretty

unacceptable, racist comments, they made a racist pot comment about the prime minister and the prime minister came out an address that head on and used the exact language that this be —— this person had used, which was shocking because they are not worth that people say. rishi sunak came out and said it is really offensive, this is not acceptable. nigel farage has since been saying that he thinks it is all a setup and he disputes entirely that what had happened in this instance. channel 4 is standing by its journalism so there is quite a row about what has happened. let’s row about what has happened. let's take a deeper _ row about what has happened. let's take a deeper look _ row about what has happened. let's take a deeper look into some of the issues around this and some of the reaction from other party leaders. 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, - but 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. this all comes against the backdrop of opinion polls in recent weeks which has shown a little bit of a bump for reform uk, do you think

related events might impact the election? it related events might impact the election? , . , related events might impact the election? , ., , , election? it is really interesting. reform uk _ election? it is really interesting. reform uk were _ election? it is really interesting. reform uk were at _ election? it is really interesting. reform uk were at a _ election? it is really interesting. reform uk were at a low - election? it is really interesting. reform uk were at a low base, | election? it is really interesting. - reform uk were at a low base, nigel farage came along stepped back into the campaign and they took off in the campaign and they took off in the coles nash polls and they are polling at 12%, that i seem the coles nash polls and they are polling at i2%, that i seem to have flatlined in recent weeks so they have sort of stayed at that level and bumped round about there. it is probably too soon to say whether this is going to have an impact or not but i think what we can say is that this isn't really where a party wants to be the weekend before polling day, this is not what they want to be talking about, we are in the face of a campaign where all parties want to be out there hammering home their messages where instead of which we are talking about this instead.— instead of which we are talking about this instead. thank you for brinuain about this instead. thank you for bringing us _ about this instead. thank you for bringing us up-to-date - about this instead. thank you for bringing us up-to-date with - about this instead. thank you for bringing us up-to-date with that| bringing us up—to—date with that story. the leader of the scottish national party, john swinney, has been campaigning in glasgow today. mr 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 labour to account in parliament, should it win government. alison in byres road in the glasgow north constituency, and to give alison my wholehearted support for her successful election as the mp for this constituency on thursday. we fought a really strong campaign throughout this election campaign, and over the course of the next few days we have got a lot of work to do to make sure that we strengthen the position of the scottish national party and get an outstanding result for scotland. if we look at the polls, what the polls are showing us is that labour support in scotland is steadily coming down, and scottish national party support is steadily going up. we need to build on that in the course of the next few days. applause. our party is together and our party

is working hard for our successful results in this 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 tried 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. hoping to gain but there have been big boundary changes here in north—east fife, in caithness where we were this morning. and so these big boundary changes would actually make them notionally snp seats. we have got to fight to retain them with these big boundary changes. but i'm really excited by the response we are getting from scottish people. they really like the fact that we are focusing on the bread—and—butter issues — things like health, things like schools. under the snp standards in schools have declined. it used to be world class education here in scotland.

we need to get it back there. and things like the ferries. the snp have really let down so many communities in scotland by their disastrous handling of the ferries. these are the bread—and—butter issues that people want to talk about, and that's what the liberal democrats are doing. we'll have more on all of the events in the uk election and more on the bbc news website. let's turn to the us. 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. 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 on friday. the election is being held after the death of ultra—conservative president ebrahim raisi in a helicopter crash last month. the contenders are the reformist masoud pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, who won the largest number of votes. and saeed jalili, a hardliner who came second, after taking an early lead.

earlier, i wasjoined on set by siavash ardalan from bbc persian, and he explained what we can expect to happen on friday. we will have a contest between these two candidates, in which the difference of votes was very marginal, a difference ofi million votes. the heart surgeon reformist candidate, he won 43% of the votes. and the hardliner won 38%, that is abouti million votes. they kingmaker here is obviously the centre—right candidate. the third candidate who was assumed to become the next president of iran, he didn't win a lot of votes, given how radicalised the conservative base in iran has become. so, he endorsed the far right candidate saeed jalili. if he and his supporters decide to vote for him, then the next president of iran would be a hardliner. the real kingmakers are those iranians who chose to stay away, as a sign of defiance

against the regime. the turnout was very low, the lowest ever since the 1979 revolution, 60% decided to stay away. where you surprised that the reformist candidate did so well? hat reformist candidate did so well? not so well. reformist candidate did so well? not so well- he — reformist candidate did so well? iirrt so well. he ran a very good campaign. in the beginning, he was just a thought to be one of those reformist candidates that the clerical establishment usually throws into spur people to come and vote. and usually that is the case, just to give facade of competitiveness to the system. but this time was a 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 conservative camp as can be possible in a reformer. let’s can be possible in a reformer. let's ut it into can be possible in a reformer. let's put it into a — can be possible in a reformer. let's put it into a wider _ can be possible in a reformer. let's put it into a wider context - can be possible in a reformer. let's put it into a wider context because we often hear about the supreme

leader of iran, how does that figure relates to the president and how significant are both roles? supreme leader obviously _ significant are both roles? supreme leader obviously has _ significant are both roles? supreme leader obviously has the _ significant are both roles? supreme leader obviously has the final - significant are both roles? supreme leader obviously has the final say, l leader obviously has the final say, he gets to decide everything, he even gets to decide who gets to run for president so he has the final say on big matters, foreign affairs, you know, the economy and so on. but the president is an administrator in iran. it makes a difference to the president is. we have had hardline presidents like the one who brought about the horrible security council resolutions against iran with devastating effect on iran's economy. and then you had the pro—reform moderate which opened up to the west and we have a nuclear deal with the great powers, western powers, russian and china. so does 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 who feel the

reformers have abandoned them and not gone far enough, they feel, look, we don't care, it does make a difference who is, the fundamental change that they desire which is a change that they desire which is a change in the political establishment and the change of constitution will not happen, whether it is conservative or reformist. and today, the majority of iran, 60% of them, showed they hold the majority vote. now it's time for a look at today's sport. 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 around 45 minutes. they meet in berlin — while germany's game with denmark is in dortmund. germany are unbeaten, but needed a stoppage time equaliser to rescue a point in their final

group game against switzerland, their boss says they'll be better for the adversity. ido i do not know if you think about the group stage before, sometimes if you are a bit more comfortable and you win every game 3—0 but at the end it is important for our team to get to know how to deal with difficult situations during a game or during a group stage, you learn to deal with different situations, but at the end i hope we will win tomorrow a bit more easy and we do not have to score a late goal. i more easy and we do not have to score a late goal.— score a late goal. i consider germany — score a late goal. i consider germany one _ score a late goal. i consider germany one of— score a late goal. i consider germany one of the - score a late goal. i consider. germany one of the favourites score a late goal. i consider- germany one of the favourites and it is too _ germany one of the favourites and it is too had _ germany one of the favourites and it is too bad they are playing us tomorrow. but for sure the quality they have, — tomorrow. but for sure the quality they have, the way they expressed themselves in the first couple of matches, — themselves in the first couple of matches, the talent they have, but so do _ matches, the talent they have, but so do we. — matches, the talent they have, but so do we, we also have a great team.

so they— so do we, we also have a great team. so they have — so do we, we also have a great team. so they have to be very, very good tomorrow — so they have to be very, very good tomorrow to — so they have to be very, very good tomorrow to beat us. 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. earpsjoined united 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." india captain rohit sharma has won the toss the chosen to bat first in the final of the t20 world cup against south africa in barbados, and rohit and his south african counterpart aiden markram both named unchanged line—ups from the teams which won their respective semi—finals. a short while ago, india were 78—3.

daria kasatkina has won her first 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 14 then took the second, 6 games to 4, to secure her 7th career title. perfect preparation ahead of wimbledon which begins on monday. talking of which, 2023 winners carlos alcaraz and marketa vondrousova returned their respective men's singles and ladies' singles trophies to the all england club ahead of the start on monday. spain's alcaraz won his first wimbledon title after defeating novak djokovic in five sets. he'll start the defence of his title against mark lajal on monday. czech republic's vondrousova defeated 0ns jabeur in the final to become the first unseeded female player to win the wimbledon title. qualifying hasjust finished for sunday's austrian grand prix. world champion max verstappen

will start from pole position in his red bull team's home grand prix, and cheered on by 40,000 travelling dutch fans, he made the most of the shortest track in formula 1, to finished ahead of mclaren's lando norris with fellow britain george russell in third for mercedes. and that's all the sport for now. dozens of firefighters, police and mountain rangers have joined what authorities had hoped would be a massive search on tenerife for missing british teenagerjay slater. they had also called for experienced volunteers to come and help, but by 10am, fewer than a dozen members of the public had arrived at the meeting point. the 19—year—old was last seen on the 17thjune in a national park on a remote part of the spanish island. police confirmed that today's search would go over much of the same ground as previous ones, but that it would be more intensive and detailed, making use of the extra personnel. 0ur correspondent nick garnett is on tenerife and has the latest on the search.

the search started earlier on today and involved around 25 to 30 fire officers, police, civil protection officers and around half a dozen members of the public. the call had gone out yesterday asking for people who had mountain experience or were experienced walkers to come and offer their support. only half a dozen did come. one of them was a british tiktoker, one was a private detective, and there were a couple who live on the island who wanted to offer their help and support. they say that they are doing what they can. they'd seen the news that jay had disappeared, and they wanted to help as much as they possibly could. they're searching the same areas that they have been searching since he disappeared 13 days ago now, and they've been in this valley here, right the way through the search and indeed today have been back in there. they say that they're going further

and deeper than they've been able to before, and therefore it is searching new ground and making sure that the ground that they have searched is completely clear. at the moment, though, we've still not heard that they have found any clues whatsoever as to how he disappeared. now, the man who's leading the inquiry is a man called cypriano martin. he explained what the terrain is like. translation: there are difficult areas, and we've given instructions for people not to risk their own safety. but there's something we need to make clear, which is that any area we don't go to, well, jay won't have gone there either. you have to think about it logically. if i see there's vegetation in front of me and i'm going to get spiked and i can't get through, then he won't have gone through that area either. we have to be logical, obviously. can you reach the sea directly from the area you are searching? you can reach the sea. in fact, last saturday i went along the whole path. there are old paths which are only occasionally used because it's

a cliff with very little attraction for sporting purposes, but you can reach the beach along them. so i reached the beach. we didn't find anything. it's a path that goes above and not along the bottom of the cliff. it has drops and what's needed are ropes to get down. and we also know he was not equipped for that. how difficult are the difficult areas? there are rocky drops that you cannot get beyond. you can only get down with a harness and ropes. the people searching that spot today will have to turn around, i think, because they don't have the necessary equipment. and anyway, the best that jay could do was simply to walk. so the search goes on and it will continue to go on in the same numbers, doing the same thing that they have done so far, hoping to get that final clue that will unlock what happened to jay slater.

let's get some of the day's other news now. at least 13 people have been reported killed and more than forty injured — in the latest round of russian strikes on ukraine. in the city of dnipro — a russian missile hit a nine—story apartment block, killing at least one and trapping several others in the rubble. president volodymyr zelensky has called on international partners to increase their supplies of air defences to ukraine. german police say eleven officers have been injured in clashes with some demonstrators who've trid 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. some afd delegates needed police escorts to reach the venue. some flights to and from the republic of ireland are being disrupted on saturday, because of strike action by aer lingus pilots. hundreds of pilots are taking place have been taking place in an eight hour strike in dublin. the action is part of

an ongoing dispute over pay. the airline says there are "a number of options" for the up to 17 thousand passengers affected. it's the second full day of the glastonbury festival — and 200,000 people are expected to attend over the weekend. on friday night, global superstar dua lipa headlined the pyramid stage. the grammy and brit award—winning singer described it as a "dream come true". today, cyndi lauper performed on the famous stage, having just announced her farewell tour after more than 40 years of hits. and later coldplay will make glastonbury history — becoming the first act to headline five times. and viewers in the uk can find coverage from glastonbury across the bbc.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello, there. the weather is looking pretty mixed this weekend and i think today will see the best of the sunshine, tomorrow looks rather cloudy for many, we will continue to see a little bit of rain here and there, but i think many places staying dry this weekend. 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 sunshine 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: reform uk drops three election candidates for offensive comments they made in the past. leader nigel farage told the bbc he "wouldn't want anything to do with them" us presidentjoe biden vows to fight on despite 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 quit the race. 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 popstar dua lipa raised the roof of the pyramid stage with friday's performance. now on bbc news, newscast: electioncast. newscast from the bbc. hello, it's adam, and i'm not in the newscast studio because i'm making a flying visit to glasgow. it's paddy in the newscast studio, and i've just seen professor sir john curtice in reception. it's all starting! hello, it's laura in the studio, and i am here. hello and welcome to newscast. newscast is the bbc�*s daily news podcast, which you can listen to on bbc sounds. but every week we're popping up here on radio four. normally we're live at 11:00, but this is sort of pretend live, because we're actually recording it at 9:00 because laura is quite busy doing...

uh, well, a programme tomorrow, a big programme with some