the us presidentjoe biden insists he's going nowhere, in his first major television interview since his debate against donald trump. and keir starmer begins his first full day as the uk's prime minister. he will hold a meeting of his new cabinet later this morning. hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. we start in iran where the reformist — massoud pezeshkian has been elected the country's new president, beating his hardline conservative rival saeed jalil. the vote was declared in dr pezeshkian�*s favour after he secured 53.3% of the more than 30 million votes counted. mrjalili polled 44.3%. the run—off came after no candidate secured a majority in the first round of the election on 28june,

which saw a historically low voter turnout of a0%. the election was called after iran's previous president ebrahim raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in may, in which seven others died. with me is kasra naji from bbc persian. thank you forjoining us on the programme. how significant are these results coming in? it’s these results coming in? it's uuite these results coming in? it�*s quite significant in a sense because it was not meant to be. the islamic establishment in iran and the supremely, they didn't want this to happen. i think their plan was they were hoping that another ysland neck hardliner would take the rent of the presidencies of that all of the presidencies of that all of the presidencies of that all of the letters of power are in the hands of the hardliners who are loyalists to iran's supreme

leader. but massoud pezeshkian has upset their plans. the last few hours before the final result, massoud pezeshkian�*s supporters were already on the streets of tehran and other cities and they were celebrating. that they have their candidate relatively moderate candidate that beat a very hard line person. he moderate candidate that beat a very hard line person.— very hard line person. he said his position — very hard line person. he said his position would _ very hard line person. he said his position would upset - his position would upset hard—line leaders in iran. tell us more about massoud pezeshkian and what ultimately made him successful? massoud pezeshkian _ made him successful? massoud pezeshkian is _ made him successful? massoud pezeshkian is a _ made him successful? massoud pezeshkian is a hard _ made him successful? massoud pezeshkian is a hard person - made him successful? massoudi pezeshkian is a hard person and in the recent years has been a member. he is a relative moderate conservative islamist and he was the only one of six

candidates who were allowed to run in these elections and the only moderate candidate. the rest were hardliners and that was the key, because an a lot of people thought 0k, we have all of these hardliners and we have somebody who is relatively moderate, so a lot of people voted for him so that others wouldn't get elected. in fact it happened and in the run—off it happened and in the run—off it happened and in the run—off it happened again. with saeed jalil, his rival and a lot of people voting tactically. so the hardliners would not get back into power.— the hardliners would not get back into power. what do you think his victory _ back into power. what do you think his victory means - back into power. what do you think his victory means for . think his victory means for iran policies? first of all domestic policies we have seen protests in iran also internationally, has lots of foreign interest in what happens in iran?-

foreign interest in what happens in iran? only 5096 of those eligible _ happens in iran? only 5096 of those eligible to _ happens in iran? only 5096 of those eligible to vote - happens in iran? only 5096 of those eligible to vote voted l those eligible to vote voted yesterday. it means half of the people who are eligible to vote did not. a lot of those were boycotted the election, they didn't want anything to do with this, they thought they were no real choices there and nothing much happens in iran because the reins of power in the hands of the supreme leader and he cannot be voted out of office. a lot of people are angry with the regime and the hardline but did not vote. massoud pezeshkian is a relatively moderate person and during his campaign he promised that he would push for a more moderate policy internally, for example theissue policy internally, for example the issue of women and the suppression of women, repressive policies against women. he was against it and time and again he said he

doesn't want hardline treatment of women and those people that do not want to wear the hijab for example. in the confines of what he can and cannot achieve, to push for more moderate policies internally. externally we are talking about him pushing for the revival of nuclear talks, as you might recall iran until three years ago was in talks with world powers and the us to revive the nuclear deal that they signed in 2015. that did not happen and now massoud pezeshkian has been saying in his campaign that iran cannot expect to progress economically and otherwise if it is under this

crippling sanctions, because of iran's nuclear activities and he was saying that we have to release the negotiations with the us and the world powers so we can lift the sanctions. thank you very much for bringing us that news. us presidentjoe biden says only "lord almighty" could convince him to end his bid for re—election, despite growing calls to step aside. during a debate with donald trump last week, mr biden was seen to lose his train of thought — something he has repeatedly blamed on illness. he has spoken to abc news in his first major television interview since the debate, as our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. do you want to talk about your message in wisconsin? can you still beat trump?— still beat trump? yes, replied the president, _ still beat trump? yes, replied the president, as _ still beat trump? yes, replied the president, as he - still beat trump? yes, replied

the president, as he boardedl the president, as he boarded air force one to run the democratic voters in the state was constant. ordered by his disastrous debate performance against donald trump, joe biden still has to convince many of his supporters that he is fit enough to serve a second term. the crowd at this campaign rally was enthusiastic enough but the president felt he had to say it again.— to say it again. what is joe auoin to say it again. what is joe going to — to say it again. what is joe going to do? _ to say it again. what is joe going to do? is _ to say it again. what is joe going to do? is he - to say it again. what is joe going to do? is he going . to say it again. what is joe | going to do? is he going to stay in the race? is it going to drop out, what is going to do? here is my answer, i am running and i am going to win again! fix, running and i am going to win aaain! �* ., , running and i am going to win aaain! ., , . , ., again! a rousing reception here, again! a rousing reception here. but _ again! a rousing reception here, but what _ again! a rousing reception here, but what about - again! a rousing reception here, but what about the l again! a rousing reception . here, but what about the rest of the country? several members of the country? several members of congress including one democratic senator have called for the president to pull out of the race. shortly after the valley he sat down for an interview with abc news, who pressed the president on what had gone wrong during the debate and why he had been so exhausted. debate and why he had been so exhausted-— exhausted. because i was sick, i was exhausted. because i was sick, i was feeling — exhausted. because i was sick, i was feeling terrible. - exhausted. because i was sick, i was feeling terrible. the - i was feeling terrible. the doctors with me i asked that

they did a covid test to figure out what was wrong, he tested to see whether or not i had some infection or a virus, i didn't, ijust had a really bad cold. didn't, i 'ust had a really bad cold. , , ., ., . cold. did you ever watch the debate afterwards? - cold. did you ever watch the debate afterwards? i- cold. did you ever watch the debate afterwards? i don't l debate afterwards? i don't think i debate afterwards? i don't think! did, _ debate afterwards? i don't think! did, no. _ debate afterwards? i don't think i did, no. the - debate afterwards? i don't i think! did, no. the president thinki did, no. the president was asked — thinki did, no. the president was asked whether _ thinki did, no. the president was asked whether he - thinki did, no. the president was asked whether he had i thinki did, no. the president i was asked whether he had taken cognitive tests and released the results to the people. he said it wasn't necessary. i have a cognitive test every single day. every day i have that test, everything i do. not only am i campaigning but i'm running the world. that sounds like hyperbole but we are the central nation in the world. every single day, today before i came out here i'm on the phone with the prime minister of... i shouldn't have given the detail but with benjamin netanyahu, i'm on the phone with a prime minster of england. with a prime minster of england-— with a prime minster of encland. ., , ., england. he cast doubt on oinion england. he cast doubt on opinion polls _ england. he cast doubt on opinion polls that - england. he cast doubt on opinion polls that said i

england. he cast doubt on opinion polls that said he l england. he cast doubt on | opinion polls that said he is trailing behind donald trump. he didn't think anyone was more qualified or better than him to win the race. the interview is unlikely to silence the democratic critics who want him to call it a day. peterjoins us now from los angeles. what did you make of his performance? you mentioned it was not necessarily a disaster but perhaps not enough to convince some of his doubters? it certainly was not a disaster, he was able it seems quite simply to answer most of the questions, there were times that he was a little incoherent, you are left wondering where he was going with his answer or whether it would be relevant to what he was being asked and that is typical ofjoe biden. this interview was by the media here is a make or break situation forjoe biden after that disastrous bait. i don't think it's made him but thejury is

still out on a lot of democrats especially those who have been criticising him saying that should be a different candidate. i don't think there will be satisfied by this or it will be satisfied by this or it will silence them and i think we will hear more about this over the coming days and i think there is a yearning from rank and file democrats forjoe biden still to prove himself and that will take more interviews like that, maybe more longer interviews perhaps town hall events where he answers always required to answers always required to answer off—the—cuff questions from members of the public. they want to see joe from members of the public. they want to seejoe biden can think on his feet. they want to see joe biden can think on his feet.— they want to see joe biden can think on his feet. where do you think on his feet. where do you think this leaves _ think on his feet. where do you think this leaves those - think on his feet. where do you think this leaves those who i think on his feet. where do you think this leaves those who are | think this leaves those who are calling for him to step aside? because he has made it clear that he intends to continue with his presidential bid, his plans to be re—elected. what can those who doubt his performances really do to remove him?— performances really do to remove him? . , ., ., , remove him? that is going to be interesting _ remove him? that is going to be interesting over _ remove him? that is going to be interesting over the _ remove him? that is going to be interesting over the next - interesting over the next couple of days because there's a lot of talk, at least one

senator, a democratic senator canvassing opinions among democrats, there is talks of a letter circling the house of representatives to gather signatures to persuadejoe signatures to persuade joe biden signatures to persuadejoe biden that perhaps he should step down. i think if there are a large number of these signatories to a letter or a significant senators saying going forward en masse that may be a reason forjoe biden to think again. he is a politician after all, think again. he is a politician afterall, he think again. he is a politician after all, he can weigh up a situation and for all he is saying quite categorically whenever he gets the opportunity now, he is staying in the race. if you think about it, most politicians say thou staying in the race until the moment that they drop out of the race. he is being quite belligerent and determined at the moment, but it will depend on the response of his colleagues, his close colleagues, his close colleagues over the next few days. colleagues over the next few da s. ., , , ., ., days. how is his rival donald trump reacting _ days. how is his rival donald trump reacting to _ days. how is his rival donald trump reacting to this i trump reacting to this confusion within the democratic

party? i ask because it's the outspoken about it as he usually is or is he choosing to take a step back and watch his rival go through this very challenging time? definitely the latter- _ challenging time? definitely the latter. we _ challenging time? definitely the latter. we haven't i challenging time? definitelyj the latter. we haven't heard much at all from donald trump over the last few days, he had some rallies coming up but he has been noticeably quiet on this fair and even during that debate he was quite restrained. he could have probably attacked joe biden more strongly during the debate but he chose not to do that and he has certainly held back and has not been putting the messages on his social media site about this. he could have had a absolute field day like he often does at the problems joe field day like he often does at the problemsjoe biden is facing but i think the calculation as you say must have been that he doesn't need to say anything-— to say anything. thank you very much. let's turn to a concluded election. in the coming hours, uk prime minister sir keir starmer

will hold the first cabinet meeting of his new labour government. speaking outside 10 downing street, he said "the work of change" would begin immediately, following the party's landslide victory in the uk general election. our political correspondent harry farley has the latest. sir keir starmer triumphant as he arrived at his new address with his wife victoria. 27 years after labour asked one from opposition. the smiles and chairs for the whopping majority the party now has. whether you voted labour or not, in fact especially if you did not, i say to you directly, my government will serve you. changing a country is not like flicking a switch, the world is now a more volatile place. this will take a while. but have no doubt that the work of change

begins immediately. have no doubt that we will rebuild britain. with wealth created in every community. from now on, you have a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by the determination to serve your interest. to divide quietly those who have written our country. you have given us a clear mandate. and we will use it to deliver change. earlier there was a meeting with the king. and later calls with the king. and later calls with world leaders including the us presidentjoe biden, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky at the president of the european commission. immediately we saw the new faces that will run the country. the deputy prime minister will also oversee housing and local government. rachel reeves, the first woman to be chancellor. yvette cooper

will be home secretary in charge of immigration and policing. juvan a mood responsible for present and the justice system and several others. today that new cabinet will meet here for the first time. they are facing significant challenges with overcrowded prisons, thousands crossing the channel in small boats, presses to increase public sector pay and crises in both housing and local government funding. it was all smiles yesterday but any honeymoon will be short lived. from today, the policy of this department is the nhs is broken. when we said that patients are being failed on a daily basis, it wasn't political rhetoric but that daily challenge faced by millions.— daily challenge faced by millions. ., ., , ., , millions. for the conservatives was a disaster, _ millions. for the conservatives was a disaster, the _ millions. for the conservatives was a disaster, the debate i millions. for the conservatives| was a disaster, the debate over their future and who reads it has already begun. it was the opposite story for the liberal democrats. their share of the vote has barely changed. ased

davey led his party to a record 71 it is. i davey led his party to a record 71 it is. ., ., ., ~ 71 it is. i want to thank people _ 71 it is. i want to thank people for— 71 it is. i want to thank people for trusting i 71 it is. i want to thank people for trusting us | 71 it is. i want to thank- people for trusting us again. we will not you down. we will honour your trust.— we will not you down. we will honour your trust. nigel farage -romised honour your trust. nigel farage promised to — honour your trust. nigel farage promised to be _ honour your trust. nigel farage promised to be a _ honour your trust. nigel farage promised to be a disruptor- honour your trust. nigel farage promised to be a disruptor in i promised to be a disruptor in westminster. although was his event yesterday that was disrupted i protesters. reform uk won more votes than the liberal democrats but spread more thinly around the country. they ended up with five seats. they ended up with five seats. the green party won their best ever results with four mps. we are expecting keir starmer to announce more ministerial appointments today as labour and server first full day in government in ia years. sticking with the theme of elections happening around the world. france is gearing up for the second round of parliamentary elections which are being held on sunday. there are concerns about violence over ther weekend with 30,000 police

being deployed. more than 50 candidates and campaign activists have been physically assaulted during the campaign. the far right national rally made big gains in the first round of the election, winning 33.4% of the vote. some opinion polls gave them a chance of winning an outright majority in the national assembly. however for this vote, 217 candidates from the left—wing new popular front and the macron ensemble alliance have withdrawn to block the national rally from winning. meanwhile yesterday, around two hundred people gathered at place de la victoire in bordeaux to demonstrate against the extreme right. it was in response to a call from sos racisme. efforts to secure a ceasefire deal and a hostage release in gaza are gaining momentum — after weeks of stalled negotiations. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's office says indirect negotiations with hamas will resume next week, after the head of israel's spy agency mossad

returned from an initial meeting with mediators in qatar. our middle east correspondent sebastian usher has the latest from jerusalem. the most that we can probably say for now is a process towards getting a ceasefire deal and the release of remaining hostages in gaza released is under way in earnest again. and i think we can tell that from the fact that israeli delegation headed by the spy agency went to qatar which is one of the mediators with injured and the us. they held talks and has already returned to israel. we heard little and what came out of those talks for now but we have heard from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's office saying that a delegation would be sent again for

discussions in the coming weeks. we also heard from the prime ministers office that gaps still remain and before the israeli delegation left if issues were saying that there should be low expectations. i think those expectations had risen when a response from hamas had been given to israel to look at and there were reports from various sources that the response may contain a significant breakthrough. a significant breakthrough. a significant breakthrough. a significant break that would essentially be an agreement by hamas to drop its key demand that they must be a permanent ceasefire at the start of any process. which is not in the joe biden deal set out which would allow the process to begin and move towards a permanent ceasefire after that. if that is the case and that would be a major shift and it would be a major shift and it would put the ball very much in israel's court. that was sebastian usher in jerusalem. the palestinian health ministry says israeli forces killed seven people on friday after it

raided a refugee camp in the occupied west bank. the israeli military says the raid was carried out to find militants involved in an attack last week in which an israeli captain was killed. hamas says five of its members were among the dead. the military said there was a gun battle in thejenin refugee camp — after surrounding a building it said militants had barricaded themselves in, while an airstrike struck several armed terrorists in the area. in gaza — civilians are facing terrible conditions, after nearly nine months of war. the united nations reports that about 1.9 million — or nine out of every ten people — have been internally displaced in gaza at least once since october. the staggering numbers come after the most recent israeli evacuation order. on monday, the military ordered an estimated 250 thousand palestinians to evacuate from the southern gaza city of khan younis.

with me is is said shehata from bbc arabic. starting off with those hopes that perhaps it could be efforts to reach a ceasefire deal in gaza. hamas has put forward a proposal, what we know about their proposals? the ro osal know about their proposals? iie: proposal gives know about their proposals? tie: proposal gives some hopes, because hamas dropped for the first time the condition of the permanent ceasefire. it was one of the big conditions to a because session with israel. dropping out and giving hope to people inside israel and america and the mediators, qatar and egypt so that is one thing. there's still some sticking points between them. one of them is the names of the palestinian detainees are returned for the israeli hostages. the other one is the

length of the first stage because the deal was three stages, the first one is a six—week truce where the ceasefire happens and a release of elderly, sick and women of the hostages in return of palestinians and some aid. to move from the six—week to the second stage with a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of israeli forces from the whole of gaza, it is palestinians conditions that would be a written commitment by the states egypt and qatar to guarantee that israel would not resume any hostilities or any war in any military operation until there is a second stage where the condition of hamas are made. the third stage, the hope is hamas dropped the permanent ceasefire as a precondition which is helping but as i mentioned three sticking points between them so

negotiations next week into how israel sends its delegation, the united states and egypt all work together to find a solution because the situation inside gaza is deteriorating. very briefly, what about aid provisions? it would be a crucial part of any agreements that are reached. how has it been affected while they has been affected while they has been no agreement between hamas and israel? it is been no agreement between hamas and israel? , , ., . and israel? it is problematic. the head _ and israel? it is problematic. the head of— and israel? it is problematic. the head of unrwa - and israel? it is problematic. the head of unrwa called i and israel? it is problematic. | the head of unrwa called for and israel? it is problematic. i the head of unrwa called for a hold of hostilities and evacuations of people about a quarter of a million people asking to be moved so they would be moved somewhere overseas so they can drink clean water. since israel controls the crossing from the gaza side there's few trucks going there. eitherfrom gaza side there's few trucks going there. either from the crossing or other places, so the situation is airy deteriorating. there's also the hospitals and medical supplies.

thank you very much, said shehata. slovakia's prime minister, robert fico, has made his first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt in may. mr fico spoke at a ceremony at a castle near bratislava to mark a public holiday. he said if his health had permitted, he would have joined his hungarian counterpart, viktor orban, for a meeting with president putin in moscow on friday. the slovakian leader underwent emergency surgery after being shot several times at close range. in the european football championship, france are through to the semi—finals. they beat portugal 5—3 on penalties. the game had remained 0—0 after extra time. in the day's other match, the hosts, germany, were knocked out. they were beaten two—one by spain after extra time. later today, england play switzerland and the netherlands face turkey in the last quarter—final matches. a reminder of our top story, iran has elected

the reformist — massoud pezeshkian — as the country's new president, beating his hardline conservative rival, saeed jalil. the vote was declared in dr pezeshkian's favour after he secured 53.3% of the more than 30 million votes counted. mrjalili polled 44.3%. the election was called after iran's previous president ebrahim raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in may, in which seven others died. you are watching bbc news. stay with us. hello there. friday was another pretty unsubtle day, but at least many areas saw at least some sunshine for a time and through the afternoon, it didn't look too bad here in flamborough

in east yorkshire — some hazy sunshine, a bit of high cloud and the seas looking quite calm. won't look like that, mind you, for saturday because further southwards, we ended friday with this band of rain moving in and this area of rain is actually going to develop into a whole new area of low pressure. so, that's notjust going to be bringing some wet weather our way but also, it'll be quite windy at times as we go through saturday — particularly for england and wales, where we've got the tightly packed isobars with us. so, next few hours — quite a heavy rain across england and wales. there'll be some heavy showers for northern ireland and another zone of quite persistent rain setting up across northern areas of scotland. our temperatures to start off saturday morning generally around about double figures — about 10—13 for most — but as we start off saturday, there will be these areas of heavy rain associated with this developing low pressure system. gusty winds running into the 30s of miles an hour, knocking the edge off the temperatures. and even as the rain clears through, showers will follow. sunshine and showers for northern ireland, some persistent rain

for northeast scotland — that could cause one or two issues here. and look at that — just 12 degrees in aberdeen. certainly a lot colder than it was on friday. now, the second half of the weekend on the whole looks like being the better of the two days of the weekend but it's all relative, really. we start the day on a dry and sunny note but showers become pretty widespread through the afternoon, some of those turning heavy and thundery as well. temperatures for many areas still generally mid to high teens. could be a few areas that sneak a 20 but i suppose where thejuly sunshine comes out, it won't feel too bad. next week, if you're hoping for signs of change, you can forget that. we've got low pressures coming our way from the southwest. now, monday is another showery kind of day, so most areas will start the day dry with sunshine. the cloud then develops late morning into the early afternoon and then, we start to see some showers and thunderstorms break out in places. could be a few areas that miss those — maybe east anglia, south east england seeing largely dry weather. and a little bit warmer here as well — temperatures could get into the low 20s for a time.

but overall next week, it is looking pretty unsettled with rain or showers around and temperatures still a little below average for the time of year. bye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines — the reformist candidate, masoud pezeshkian, has won iran's presidential election.

he beat his conservative rival, saeed jalili. videos, posted on social media, show supporters of mr pezeshkian celebrating in the early hours of the morning. "only the lord almighty could convince me to quit" — us presidentjoe biden insists he's going nowhere in his first major televised interview, again blaming illness for his poor performance during last week's debate with donald trump. sir keir starmer�*s new cabinet will meet for the first time this morning, following labour's election victory. the new prime minister has appointed angela rayner as his deputy, rachel reeves as chancellor, david lammy as foreign secretary, and yvette cooper as home secretary. france are through to the semi—finals of euro 2024, after beating portugal on penalties. now on bbc news, the travel show.

welcome to one of the most breathtaking and extraordinary