us presidentjoe biden faces further pressure from top democratic lawmakers to end his re—election campaign. fears for russian dissident vladimir kara—murza who's been taken to a prison hospital. we speak to his wife evgenia kara—murza. hello, i'm carl nasman. a coalition of left—wing parties in france has pulled off a shock election victory over the country's far—right, although no group is projected to win a parliamentary majority. sunday's outcome defied expectations, after the far—right national rally party won handily in the first round of voting last week. these were the scenes as supporters of the left—wing coalition celebrated in paris. translation: i really was not expecting it. i right now it is a moment of pure emotion and it really gives

us hope again, since i was really down emotionally. it is beautiful and it makes us believe even more. the bbc�*s europe editor, katya adler, is in paris and has more on the reaction across the country. in a shock result for all and a huge relief for many here, the left, far—left coalition has unexpectedly become the biggest party in the french parliament, beating the far—right. translation: the vote is final. the defeat of the president and his coalition has been clearly confirmed. equally stunned by tonight's results, marine le pen�*s national rally party — so sure victory would be theirs, except it wasn't. at an absolute loss for words, it seems. this has been a huge slap in the face for marine le pen�*s party. all the polls before this election had predicted they at least would become the largest party in the french parliament. they said they were poised to govern, but the french people today

said a resounding, non. confusingly, their star had shone so brightly in the first round of this election. translation: unfortunately, an alliance of dishonour - and a dangerous electoral arrangement set up by this government with the far left coalition has deprived the french people of a political recovery. so, emmanuel macron�*s gamble calling a snap election paid off — or did it? no party has a majority to govern in france now, and president macron�*s prime minister hasjust announced his resignation. just ahead of hosting the olympic game, with all eyes on france, this eu and military power — key ally of ukraine — has plunged into political limbo. and when france is unstable and distracted, the impact can reverberate outside the country, too. katya adler, bbc news, paris. the left—wing alliance, called the new popular front,

came together after president emmanuel macron called a snap parliamentary election injune. it has now acheived its goal of blocking the french far—right from winning a majority. here's a closer look at the projections. the new popular front will take between 177 and 192 seats. emmanuel macron�*s centrist ensemble coalition will have 152 to 158 seats. and the far—right national rally party, from 138 to 145 seats. none of the groups came close to the 289 seats required for an absolute majority. there are many voters in france breathing a sigh of relief and so are some european leaders. donald tusk posting this... the spanish prime minister saying...

and the eu commissionerfor economy rights... i spoke to a professor of french politics and the university of london. many were expecting the far—right national rally would finish in first place. how surprised are you by what we are seeing in france? i’m are seeing in france? i'm surprised _ are seeing in france? i'm surprised like _ are seeing in france? i'm surprised like rest - are seeing in france? i'm surprised like rest of - are seeing in france? in surprised like rest of the world. it was widely anticipated. they came first in the european elections, in the first round in the selection and they were the front runners in the opinion polls, so it was a reasonable expectation for the voters and everybody else that they would come first tonight and they have in fact in appearances, third, which is

quite an upset, but one that is widely celebrated by all those who actively fought to resist having the far—right and the government. having the far-right and the government.— having the far-right and the covernment. , ., ., government. many of those who are celebrating _ government. many of those who are celebrating are _ government. many of those who are celebrating are belonging i are celebrating are belonging to that left wing alliance, the new popular front. what kind of coalition is this? it seems to be a big umbrella, we have greens, socialist, the far left anything? it greens, socialist, the far left anything?— greens, socialist, the far left an hina? , ., anything? it is a big umbrella and because _ anything? it is a big umbrella and because of— anything? it is a big umbrella and because of that, - anything? it is a big umbrella and because of that, it - anything? it is a big umbrella and because of that, it is - and because of that, it is quite fragile. it was formed in great haste by partners who probably had the distaste for the far—right in common more than anything else. some of the people within there are relatively centrist and might work under the centrist president, emmanuel macron, others are considered far left and are considered by some to be an extremist party in their own right who have been tarnished with claims of

anti—semitism, of rejecting the rules of the republic. so it is going to be very interesting to see whether this alliance holds it together and what kind of government it might be able to form, eitheras government it might be able to form, either as a very minority government or perhaps impartial collaboration with other parties. as a partial collaboration because no alliance that includes the far left is going to be able to work with anybody else. what do ou see work with anybody else. what do you see for _ work with anybody else. what do you see for the _ work with anybody else. what do you see for the stability - work with anybody else. what do you see for the stability and - you see for the stability and the political future of france? we are hearing prime minister gabriel attal will hand in his resignation. it gabriel attal will hand in his resignation.— gabriel attal will hand in his resianation. , resignation. it is complicated. i think one — resignation. it is complicated. i think one option _ resignation. it is complicated. i think one option would - resignation. it is complicated. i think one option would be i resignation. it is complicated. | i think one option would be for all of the moderates to work together in a kind of grand coalition, spanning the moderate left, the centre and the moderate right, but there are at least two caveats for that. the first is it would require the moderate left to dig the far left and be willing

to work with the same people that they have been in opposition against for the last two years. and the second is the electorate might feel pretty dissatisfied if at the end of all of this and having voted for a different configuration within parliament they end up with a government that looks rather similar to the one they had previously. so it is going to be a real challenge, i think, for any grouping within this to emerge victorious when at the moment there is a fairly even balance between the different competing forces and no—one is close to a majority. of course, parliament doesn't look different in - majority. of course, parliament doesn't look different in what i doesn't look different in what way. there will be more seats belonging to the far—right, marine le pen's party, she said today, "our victory has only been delayed." if today, �*0ur victory has only been delayed."— today, "our victory has only been delayed." if she right? it is hard to _ been delayed." if she right? it is hard to say _ been delayed." if she right? it is hard to say what _ been delayed." if she right? it is hard to say what is - been delayed." if she right? it is hard to say what is going i been delayed." if she right? it is hard to say what is going to | is hard to say what is going to happen next. the far—right have been on an upward trajectory.

the disappointment this evening of not getting into power, not being the first place party is offset by the fact that i all previous standards, they have done extremely well. this is a new record in terms of their presence in government. the final seat count is going to be double what they had previously but bear in mind that before 2022 if they only had a handful of seats in parliament, you could count them on your fingers and now they are one of the major political forces fingers and now they are one of the major politicalforces in france. so whether this shows the majority of the electorate still do not want them in power or whether it shows they are a party ever moving closer to the political mainstream and to perspective government remains to be seen. perspective government remains to be seen-— to be seen. taking the bigger icture to be seen. taking the bigger picture here _ to be seen. taking the bigger picture here in _ to be seen. taking the bigger picture here in france, - to be seen. taking the bigger picture here in france, we - to be seen. taking the bigger l picture here in france, we have seen some headlines in major newspapers asking whether france's ungovernable. voters move into the far left or to the right. what are we making

of these trends nationwide? it is partly a function of the rise of emmanuel macron in 2017, who came into power by capitalising on the unpopularity at the time of both the centre—left and at the centre ride. the centre—left were exiting five years of government which made them fairly unpopular. the centre—right had enjoyed a major scandal which made them unpopular and so emmanuel macron tried to take on both sides and create a new combined centrist party that brought in all the moderates from all the spectrums. the problem with that, when you have a centre—left and centre—right you always have competition and an alternative, you get sick of what you vote in the other and vice—versa. when one party claims to cover the entire moderate ground, the alternative to that is the extremes and with emmanuel macron in powerfor seven macron in power for seven years, macron in powerfor seven years, a lot of people have

grown tired of him and do not know where else to turn and until that problem is resolved, upfront will continue in this quandary. we will see for all the benefits of the centrist government, you do need competition on the moderate ground for democracy to thrive. us presidentjoe biden is facing fresh calls to end his reelection bid as questions mount over his fitness to run. on a leadership call convened by the top democrat in the us house of representatives on sunday, at least a senior house democrats said that biden should step aside as presidential candidate — that's according to our us news partner cbs. biden sought to ease concerns among voters on sunday, with campaign stops in the battleground state of pennsylvania. speaking to nbc news on sunday, senior democratic congressman adam schiff said presidentjoe biden needs to make a decision about his candidacy. especially after a recent supreme court ruling which

grants the office brought immunity for official acts by the president. either he has to win overwhelmingly, or he has to pass the torch to someone who can. it's as simple as that, because what the supreme court did in that decision was give the next occupant of that office, whether it'sjoe biden or anyone else, nearly dictatorial power. i've been speaking with brian stelter, a media commentator and special correspondent at vanity fair, who has been following the president's reelection campaign. always great to have you on bbc. house democrats holding this private zoom conference and several reporting they would call on president biden to drop out of the race. this is already a leaky dam for president biden. at what point do you think this might start to burst? i would say in the next few hours. monday morning east coast time when congress reconvened, when lawmakers are back physically together on capitol hill, this will be a major test

for president biden. we're talking here sunday night into monday morning. the next few days are the ultimate test for the american president because many of the whisperers, for the american president because many of the whispers, many of the the private conversation, they will either start to become public now or they mey never become public at all. the fact congress is back in session is the staging ground for what could be a very real rebellion against biden. conversely, it could be a moment where this starts to fade away. my bet is it is going to be the former and we will see this rebellion take place in public but either way this will be a decisive week for the american president for the democratic party. while that call was taking place, the president was making this flurry of appearances. he was in pennsylvania, he's been in wisconsin, that big a sitdown interview with abc news. do you think that this strategy of putting the president a bit more out there, making appearances, is paying off? is it working to relieve the concerns of the democrats and the activists and the donors who want him out?

no. those concerns are not being relieved. those are not being mitigated. in fact, at every appearance you can find some new reason to be worried, whether it is in his interview with abc where he had a very egotistical answer about what would happen if trump wins again, how he would feel. whether it was today, whether it was in pennsylvania, where biden�*s speeches were relatively short, where, yes, he did seem to draft off the energy of the crowd but he was not out there accruing viral moments that are going to counter the narrative about him. so if you are in the bucket, in the camp that says he has to step aside, that he should be replaced, you are not feeling any better after this weekend of appearances. however, there is this a grassroots energy from biden�*s supporters saying enough of the elite media, enough of the donors, we other voters and we have the right to decide. we're seeing a battle hour by hour between these different sides of the party. you brought the word narrative. what you make of the way the media is covering

the president right now? it seems to have shifted, now almost hanging on every word, analysing the way he delivers a speech. we even saw that abc had to change its official transcript after that interview — it really is down word by word now. the debate was the ultimate wake—up call. for some people who were in deep sleep or in denial, who did not want to recognise the signs of biden�*s decline, the debate made it impossible to ignore. that is why we have seen major media outlets call for his ouster, even call for his resignation. let's be frank about how incredible and extraordinary this moment is. you have editorial boards and columnists and even some democratic activists saying joe biden should resign the presidency now and make way for president kamala harris. this is completely unprecedented. most would have laughed at this idea a month ago but it is all happening because of biden�*s behaviour. if he were able to hold a two hour news conference

and impress the american people, he probably would have done that by now. his inability to control or change this narrative is what is driving this story. overall, how do you think the media has been in terms of was it rigorous enough, going back months and years in the way it covered president biden and looked at his health issues or lack thereof? did it do a good enoughjob? number one, the signs were there and some of the signs were reported in real—time. where there was a failure by many major media outlet was to connect the dots, to say x and y and z all happened and maybe they are related. sometimes there were stories that connected the dots, in the new york times, the washington post, the wall streetjournal, but even those stories probably were not presented as loudly as they could have been. a real big factor, the biden white house and campaign worked very hard to criticise outlets that tried to pursue the age

question, the health question. a lot of pressure applied and that pressure it is impossible to say whether it had an impact or not but it was a very real factor up until recently. now however, the story has totally changed because you have democratic leaders being questioning biden�*s fitness for office. some top democrats in the house, ranking members saying he should step aside, this is absolutely extraordinary and no—one knows ultimately how it is going to play out. it is a big story but i want to ask about donald trump. he has been remarkably quiet about this. what does that tell you about the way he has been reacting? these have been the best news cycle, it has been off him the highlights. but it is not going to be to the side for much longer because the republican national convention is about to begin and as soon as this

fracus in the democratic party sort itself out, all eyes will be back on donald trump. is biden the best messenger for the democrats or is it someone, anyone else to take the fight against drug because a selection is about donald trump. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. the new prime minister, sir keir starmer, has travelled to scotland — the start of a tour of the uk's nations. here's scotland editor, james cook. no—one said being prime minister was easy. this was not part of the plan for keir starmer�*s third day in office. there was no handshake outside the first minister's official residence, but a chat inside, with chants about gaza drifting in from the street. afterwards, both sounded positive, we discussed the economy, we discussed energy, and as we'd expect, we discussed grangemouth, which is a cause for concern, and our governments will work

together on that issue straightaway. what i'm interested in as first minister of scotland is making a difference for the people of scotland, of delivering on my objectives of eradicating child poverty, of delivering economic growth, of improving our public services, sir keir swept out the back of bute house this evening, heading for northern ireland, then wales, before meeting english mayors. you're live with bbc news. the family and supporters ofjailed political dissident and journalist, vladimir kara—murza, are fearing for his health, after he was taken to a prison hospital on thursday. mr kara—murza's wife evgenia kara—murza said on x that prison officials refused to comment on his condition when his lawyers tried to visit him. last year, mr kara—murza — who is a dual russian—british citizen — was sentenced to twenty five years in prison after criticising russian president vladimir putin and the war in ukraine. he was later sent to

a prison colony in siberia. mr kara—murza suffers from a neurological condition that his wife says stems from being poisoned. he has repeatedly raised concerns about his health and welfare. russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, died in an arctic prison while serving a three—decade sentence. i spoke to his wife. what more have you been able to find out about your husband's condition and his health? good evening and thank you very much for your invitation. the problem is we do not know anything. the lawyers came to visit my husband at the prison colony where he is serving his 25 year sentence for so—called high treason for continuously denying the crimes of the leading a potent regime against population and against ukraine and they were denied entrance and told vladimir had been transferred to a prison hospital on thursday. they rushed to the prison

hospital and again denied access and given ridiculous pretext not to let them in, such as vladimir had not arrived yet or he has arrived but has not been registered into the system yet and so on. so they spent two days, thursday and friday, trying to get to him, trying to make sure that he is alive and as well as can be expected under the circumstances. and they were continuously denied access and then everything closed down in russia for the weekend so the earliest we will find out something, hopefully, is either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, when his lawyer will try to get access to him yet again. his lawyers not been able to get in touch with him. have you been able to speak to him? when was the last time you are able to communicate with your husband? the last time i was able to speak to him was last summer, almost a year ago — well, a year ago.

wow. under the strict regime in which vladimir is serving his sentence, he's not allowed any phone calls, and any visits by family members. he has been kept since the 21st of september last year and it means over 270 — 280 days he has been kept in solitary, in solitary confinement in a small cell that measures about six square metres with a bed that is attached to the wall, from 5am to 9pm and in all this time since the 21st of september he has not seen or talked to one single other prisoner. he is or has been in solitary even though under the un nelson mandela rule, keeping a person in solitary confinement for over 15 days is considered torture. the only human contact he gets is with his lawyer. he still gets to see his lawyer

a couple of times a week or as often as the lawyer is allowed in. either than that, vladimir does not have any human contact. he can still communicate through prison mail but of course all that mail goes through censorship. we need to understand this. everything goes through censorship. he was criticising the russian regime and vladimir putin and speaking out against the war in ukraine. what does this say about the state of opposition within russia under president vladimir putin? well, i can say that anyone who dares oppose the regime in our days and who dares publicly denounced the crimes committed by this regime is being portrayed by the resume as extremist, as a spy, a foreign agent, a terrorist, a traitor, like my husband. my husband was accused and sentenced to 25 years for high treason

and for dissemination of false information about the war in ukraine. thousands and thousands of people in russia today are being persecuted by the state for the exact same "crime". so—called crime of telling the truth in the face of atrocities committed by the state. in the us, journalist evan gershkovich is behind bars in russia as well and he denies those charges. the wall streetjournal, his employer, says he is innocent of those charges. when it comes your husband, what would you like to see the world to for those like him and evan gershkovich and others in russia, to work toward their freedom? i believe it is an important time today to send a very clear message to the kremlin that the world

understands, the fre democratic world understands that the vladimir putin and the regime he has built, the system of government he has built is oppressing the russian population and carries out aggression against its neighbours and i believe it is very important for the world to stand with those who oppose the putin regime today because if we want to see russia a democracy one day — and that is the only guarantee of peace and stability on that continent — because as long as there is some kind of regime in the kremlin, this aggression will continue and it will spread, so if we want to see russia a democracy one day, we need to send a message of support and solidarity with those russian citizens who risk their freedom and their lives to stand against the regime. israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu insisted on sunday that any ceasefire deal in gaza must allow israel to resume fighting afterwards, until its objectives are met. he has previously defined these objectives

as dismantling hamas's military and governing capabilities, as well as the return of hostages. hamas officials told the reuters news agency on sunday, "we have left our response with the mediators and are waiting to hear the occupation�*s response". the militant group is reported to have dropped its demand for a permanent israeli ceasefire before any agreement is signed. meanwhile, palestinian sources say an israeli strike on a school in gaza city on sunday killed a senior hamas official and three other people. more of the day's top stories coming up. stay with us on bbc news. hello there. sunday brought a volatile mix of weather across the uk — sunny skies one minute, thunder clouds the next, ominous—looking skies across lincolnshire through sunday afternoon.

most of those showers are actually easing away and we've got clearing skies and that's going to allow those temperatures to fall away. so a chilly start to monday morning, but lots of sunshine around. however, this cloud will arrive later on in the morning. it's going to bring some rain, some of it heavy, across south—west england. the cloud gradually drifting its way steadily north into south wales and the midlands. but further north of that, we keep the sunshine for much of the day. there will be a scattering of showers and some of these slow—moving, because the winds will remain light, and it's still a disappointingly cool story across the far north of scotland — only 12 or 13 degrees. highest values, perhaps close to the borders, of 19 degrees. a few isolated showers into northern ireland and northern england, but mostly bright skies, sunny spells coming through. so there's our showery rain, just pushing into wales in the midlands and south—east england by the end of the afternoon, so that means there's a risk of further showers to come for wimbledon, i'm afraid, for monday, maybe some thunderstorms to come for tuesday as well. the thunderstorms tuck in behind this low pressure as it continues to move its way further north during the early hours of tuesday morning.

so we will start off with cloud and some heavy bursts of rain during the early hours of tuesday. and by the morning rush hour, it'll be sitting across northern england, north wales. so cloudier skies, perhaps, close to the scottish borders. not quite as cold a start on tuesday morning. so we've got that rain to continue to drift its way northwards on tuesday, should stay largely dry for much of scotland through the day, and then behind it, a southerly wind dragging in slightly more humid air, which could trigger off a few thundery downpours as we go through the afternoon. top temperatures, around 21 degrees across england and wales, perhaps. we're looking at around 16—18 further north. that low pressure will continue to slowly ease away, and then as we go later into the week, desperately trying to build in, is this high. there is still a level of uncertainty as to whether that will do so, but hopefully as we move towards friday

and into the weekend, the weather story mightjust quieten down just a touch.

what are you holding there? two ems that what are you holding there? two gems that came _ what are you holding there? two gems that came from the british museum which i am now bringing back to them. is museum which i am now bringing back to them.— back to them. is that stolen preperty? — back to them. is that stolen preperty? yes- _ back to them. is that stolen property? yes. to - back to them. is that stolen property? yes. to clarify, i back to them. is that stolen l property? yes. to clarify, this man is not — property? yes. to clarify, this man is not the _ property? yes. to clarify, this man is not the thief. - man is not the thief. the gems he is holding are at the heart of the story i'm about to tell you. it emerged the british museum was warned more tan two years objects from its collection were put up for sale. more than 15 items were stolen, damaged or are missing. this is a story about one of britain's most revered institutions. the in effect of ancient treasures sold around the world. ancient treasures sold around the world-— the world. very shocking, worrying- _ the world. very shocking, worrying- i— the world. very shocking, worrying. i had _ the world. very shocking, worrying. i had no - the world. very shocking, worrying. i had no idea i the world. very shocking, worrying. i had no idea ofj the world. very shocking, i worrying. i had no idea of the scale that _ worrying. i had no idea of the scale that this _ worrying. i had no idea of the scale that this would - worrying. i had no idea of the scale that this would turn i

worrying. i had no idea of the scale that this would turn out j scale that this would turn out to he —