street to moscow to show you the prisoners that russia has freed coming back to moscow. you see vladimir putin on the tarmac to welcome them back to russia. eight prisoners that were being held in the west returning to moscow as part of this extraordinary arrangement that we are simply out today. we were hearing from our adjust —— just the last few minutes about the russian assessing who was held in berlin, fsb colonel who was held in berlin, fsb colonel who was held in berlin, fsb colonel who was accused of murdering a chechen dissident in a park in berlin, who was freed as part of this agreement, and i guess we are

saying that itjust shows that putin, is a former fsb officer himself, has never left those who have served in that capacity behind, and moved quite quickly in recent days to ensure that he was part of this agreement. you can also see two of the children here who were part of the children here who were part of this arrangement, this was a couple who were deep spies held in slovenia who had been freed, both their children belong to them, they were part of that agreement, but you can see president putin dirt welcoming each of those returning one by one as they come down the steps. six countries involved in this very complex operation today, but clearly the white house playing a prominent role to bring it all together, and we will bring your pictures in the next hour of the western prisoners going the other way, some significant names on the

list, not least paul wealden, who was been in prison since 2018 in russia, and evan gershkovich, the journalist from the wall street journal, but among them russian dissidents, fiercest critics of that emir putin and his illegal war in ukraine, who had beenjailed, many of them, for years, the serving russian prisons. they have gone the opposite way. you can see the heroes welcome here in moscow for those released as part of that sort of arrangement, the biggest swap deal, we should say, all of the in history, much bigger than those during the period of the cold war uncertaintyjoe biden taken some credit for that tonight, but those are the pictures there from moscow. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's chetam. we start at the paris olympics and with gymnastics superstar simone biles, who in the last hour has won gold for team usa in the women's all—around final.

she finished with an overall score of 59.131. — ahead of brazil's rebeca andrade and her us teammate sunisa lee. it completes a remarkable comeback for biles — who pulled out of the final in tokyo three years ago. it's her sixth olympic gold and ninth medal in total. she is the world's most decorated gymnast and back at the very top of her sport. the debate over the criteria for participation in women's sport is in the spotlight — after italian boxer angela carini abandoned her 0lympic bout against algeria's imane khelif inside 46 seconds. khelif is one of two athletes — along with taiwan's lin yu—ting — who've been cleared to compete in the women's boxing in paris, having been disqualified from last year's women's world championships for failing to meet eligibility criteria. the ioc claims that was because of increased levels of testosterone which it says are within regulation now.

0ur sports editor dan roan has more from paris: it was always going to be highly controversial, ever since it was revealed that these two factors lin yu—ting and imane khelif of algeria were going to be allowed to compete in this woman's boxing competition by the ioc, despite both of them being disqualified by the world governing body, the iba emma who were at that time were organising the world championship/ air, also making it more complicated, that governing body has since been suspended by the ioc, and they are no effectively running the boxing competition and are applying their own rules that were applied to the loss of olympics, not the iba rules, and that is where the discrepancy lies which means these two outcomes. the ioc says one thing, they maintain that when it comes to imane khelif, it was a highly elevated testosterone level, when it comes to lin yu—ting, it was a gender as

ability test that was failed. there is a discrepancy with what the ibsa, but angela carini's abandonment after 46 seconds supercharge that controversy, and made what was already a divisive situation even more intense. andy murray is potentially coming to the end of his incredible tennis career. he and dan evans are a set and 5—4 down to america's taylor fritz and tommy paul in the quarter finals in paris. as things stand this will be his final ever tennis match before he retires. earlier, in the shock of the olympic tennis tournament so far, the polish top seed and four—time french open champion iga swiatek was beaten by zheng qinwen. the chinese player took the first set 6—2 and came from 4—0 down in the second to win it 7—5, ending swiatek�*s 25—match winning streak on the paris clay. a run dating back to 2021. double 0lympic champion helen glover missed out on a historic third title

for britain as her women's four team were beaten by the netherlands in the rowing. glover — in the yellow boat — who returned to the sport after becoming a mother — took silver alongside esme booth, sam redgrave and rebecca shorten in a thrilling women's four race — they were edged out byjust .18 seconds. agonisingly close to gold. it's one of three rowing medals for team gb on thursday — some sad news to end with, the leicester city manager craig shakespeare has died at the age of 60, his family has announced. he was undergoing treatment for cancer back in october last year, and also worked for west brom, hull, everton, watford, aston villa and norwich, and had a spell as england assistant boss in 2016. there's more reaction to that on the bbc sport website — you can follow the latest from the swimming at the olympics there too, where17—year—old summer mcintosh has broken the olympic record — taking gold for canada

in the 400m individual medley. that is on the sport for now. we are going to stay with the olympics and get reaction to that particularly controversial moment in the boxing today. the algerian imane khelif is through to the quarterfinals of the women's 66—kilo category after her opponent, italy's angela carini, abandoned the bout in 46 seconds. she tookjust one punch to the face and then walked to her corner where she was heard saying, "its not right". the italian boxer was in tears after the match — she told reporters it was the hardest punch she had ever taken — and that she had stopped the fight to preserve her life. khelif is one of two athletes who was cleared to compete in paris, despite being disqualified from last year's world boxing championships forfailing to pass a gender eligibility test. there is also some important context to this. there is an ongoing dispute between the ioc, which overseas the boxing in paris — and the russian led

international boxing association — which manages the world championships and has been stripped of its role in the olympics. it's a highly contentious issue this, part of a much broader debate about who should and shouldn't be able to compete in women's competition. i have been speaking with sharron davies, the former 0lympic swimmer and long time 0lympics commentator for bbc sport, who has campaigned on this issue, and is the author of unfair play: the battle for women's sport. i mean, this is all about biology. you know, when we do sport, we use the bodies that we have. we don't use our passports, we don't use our gender identities. we use the biological body that we have. and what the international boxing association have done over the last two years — 2022 and 2023 — is to say for safety reasons, for their boxers and for fairness, they will now check to make sure that only biological females will fight each other. and what we saw today was not that.

um, and from my perspective, i find it extremely dangerous. and when we have world aquatics, world track and field, world rugby, world cycling, all that protect the female category, but boxing is probably the most dangerous sport to have an unsafe advantage. um, for example, a male of equal weight and height will hit 162% harder than a female onto a less dense bone structure. you know, and we're in a world of sport at the moment where we're extremely cautious about concussion in rugby, for example. you know, this would potentially lead to a female boxer getting extremely injured, potentially even fatally. so i mean, i've always been on the side of fair sport, but i'm also on the side obviously of safe sport. and that's the first priority with boxing. i've got to admit, i had to do a lot of reading about this boxer today because i didn't know the background, but as i understand it, she was born a biological woman, and considering that testosterone levels can naturally be high in some women in rare instances,

should that be to her detriment? christian, she's not a biological woman. she's a biological male. so the testing that was done was a gender—stroke sex test. that was done in 2022, 2023. and that came back with the president saying that these two athletes were xy, which is biologically male. so why is the ioc applying different rules to the the world boxing championship? you tell me. i mean, you know, that is the biggest question, isn't it? and that applied also in tokyo as well. so the world boxing association, the iba, is not controlling the boxing here. it's the the ioc that have decided to control the boxing here. and when other federations have decided for safety and fairness reasons, to protect the female category, the ioc have decided not to do it in, of all sports, boxing, which is extraordinary because they're putting the feelings of biological males before

the safety of biological females. and to me that is a dereliction of duty when it comes to to care, you know, and i'm just astonished, to be honest with you, i am extraordinarily disturbed. i'm just quite flabbergasted, really, why they would take this stance. i just want to be clear about what we're talking about. and forgive me again for my ignorance, but... that's ok. it's a complicated subject. but because there are people on social media who are saying she is a biological male, i was under the understanding it was a similar case to caster semenya — the middle distance runner from south africa who had elevated levels of testosterone — and when she was tested at this world boxing championship, she had elevated levels. does that necessarily make her a biological man? caster semenya is 46 xy, ard. so caster semenya is biologically male. would that be disputed by others?

no, it wouldn't be disputed. that is an actual fact. their dsd, their difference of sexual development only actually affects males. mhm. so what you are saying then is someone who tests like... i mean, it's a sad story in many ways, this, for both athletes, correct? because she wants to... the algerian boxer wants to compete as a woman and views herself as a woman, and yet the sport sees her as a man. well, unfortunately, we have to put the safety of female athletes first. i mean, it's a ludicrous situation that we would even consider it for five seconds, that we think it's ok to put a male in a boxing ring with a woman. you know, we have an epidemic of violence against women and children at the moment. and now we're making a spectator sport of watching a male beat up a female at the olympic games. i mean, it's obscene, to be honest with you. what would you say to the ioc, who have prided themselves on an olympic games that has put equality higher than any

other previous games? that's the announcement they made at the beginning of the games. well, i would say equality is only equality if we actually do that by biological sex. so if anyone can identify as the opposite sex, it's no longer equality, is it? you know, at the end of the day, the world is 51% biologically female and if a female category can no longer have a female category because it's a men's category and a mixed category, we don't have equality. we're treated as second class citizens. and that's always been my issue. you know, this is not the right way... you have very strong thoughts on trans competing in women categories. but this is a very different issue, isn't it? i have very strong views on sport being fair for female athletes. that's my strong views. and they're based on science and peer reviewed studies. they're not based on emotions. and i think that's what we have to do with sport. we have to remove the emotions, and we have to work with the science, and then we have

to find solutions to make sure that everybody is included in sport, because that's obviously really important, too. sharron davies there — clearly one side of the argument there on a very complicated topic. so the ioc has issued a statement about their decision to include the boxers in the women's event. and you can read a full report on the fight — and the wider issues around it, on the bbc sport website. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

a funeral procession for ismail haniyeh, the political leader of hamas, who was assassinated in iran on tuesday night, has been taking place

in the iranian capital tehran. iran's supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, led the prayers, over the coffins of haniyeh and his bodyguard. while that was unfolding, the new york times, quoting seven middle east sources, said haniyah had been killed by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the guesthouse where he was staying two months ago. the guesthouse is run and protected by the islamic revolutionary guards corps. time and again in recent weeks, the israeli's have demonstrated an ability to reach and eliminate their targets wherever they might hide. this morning, they announced the death of another key hamas figure. mohammed deif — who was responsible for planning the seven 0ctober attacks. israel released this footage of the strike on compound in the khan younis area on 13th july. hamas is yet to confirm his death. let us speak to israeli journalist shlomi eldar, author of "hamas: from charity movement to war crimes".

he was the first to interview ismail haniyeh. thank you for coming on the programme. let us start with ismail haniyeh if we can. i sensed that he felt because he was so involved in the negotiations that he was safe, and in a different category to the military commanders who were hiding out in gaza. ., . .,, , , out in gaza. correct, he was best in qatar in doha. _ out in gaza. correct, he was best in qatar in doha, and _ out in gaza. correct, he was best in qatar in doha, and left _ out in gaza. correct, he was best in qatar in doha, and left gaza - out in gaza. correct, he was best in qatar in doha, and left gaza in - qatar in doha, and left gaza in 2019, and lived in doha in qatar. ismail haniyeh was once one of the moderate leaders of mine or movement. i meant to be 1994, i think was the first time she met an israeli journalist stop he called me to his eyes and asked me to deliver a message to is really prime minister at the time. he offered a cease—fire for 25 years between hamas and israel, and i met him

several times in gaza strip while roof reporting. i think something happened to ismail haniyeh after the military coup that my or committed in gaza strip while the military group, the military wing, took control over gaza strip and kicked out the by listening association from gaza. i don't think he was so moderate than you and then he was straight up to the military group. the israelis were clear that they were happy to negotiate with them in qatar because he was the interlocutor for hamas in qatar, why to come out now? it’s interlocutor for hamas in qatar, why to come out now?— to come out now? it's a good question. — to come out now? it's a good question. i— to come out now? it's a good question, i don't _ to come out now? it's a good question, i don't think - to come out now? it's a good question, i don't think i - to come out now? it's a good question, i don't think i have| to come out now? it's a good . question, i don't think i have the answer, but i think that for israel,

for israeli government, from benjamin snape —— benjamin netanyahu, after october seven, the decision was to eliminate all the hamas leadership inside guys or outside gaza while they are from the military group or political group. i think that ismail haniyeh was out of contact, i don't think he was one of the planning of the brutal attack on israel, but he cheered on the attack on the israelis and the murder, the raping, and what they did in israel on october seven. while israel decided to eliminate the hamas movement, he is the head of the hamas, the head of the political group of hamas, and was one of the lead government of hamas. yes, he associated with israel, and to date we are left with the extremist

leader of hamas emma. still we are left with the extremist leader of hamas emma. still at large in a bunker somewhere _ leader of hamas emma. still at large in a bunker somewhere in _ leader of hamas emma. still at large in a bunker somewhere in gaza. - leader of hamas emma. still at large in a bunker somewhere in gaza. we i in a bunker somewhere in gaza. we focus in at under 300 day anniversary of those hostages still being held in gaza, we should make that point clear, and the detail as revealed in the new york times on the assassination of ismail haniyeh, the assassination of ismail haniyeh, the way it was done, suggests the side is sending a clear signal that we can you are over long it might take, which sends a chilling message to hamas, hezbollah, iran, on the proxies, but there's a clear debate ongoing about what the proxies, what iran has to do to restore its deterrence. i wonder if this lori of assassinations pushes us into a dangerous situation where they may feel they have to go further than they would like in order to

reestablish that deterrence western mark? , , ,., , reestablish that deterrence western mark? , , ., reestablish that deterrence western mark? , ., ., mark? yes, i must say that today in israel, mark? yes, i must say that today in israel. the — mark? yes, i must say that today in israel, the citizens _ mark? yes, i must say that today in israel, the citizens of— mark? yes, i must say that today in israel, the citizens of israel- mark? yes, i must say that today in israel, the citizens of israel are - israel, the citizens of israel are waiting intention for the hearing in response or even the hezbollah, amongst the proxies, they are more dangerous from the iranian, because we have a border with hezbollah in the south of the minoan, and iran is far away, they can use only unmanned aerial explosion in israel will stop but yes, i think israel took consideration of the retaliation of the irani and even in hezbollah, why we see that hamas is very weak. but this is the decision. israel decided to eliminate all my michael leader wherever they are. i am not sure it will solve our conflict with hamas,

with the palestinians, i think it is difficult, an admission that cannot be solved, but this is the israeli government decision to eliminate the hamas movement.— government decision to eliminate the hamas movement. shlomi eldar, thank ou for hamas movement. shlomi eldar, thank you for coming — hamas movement. shlomi eldar, thank you for coming on _ hamas movement. shlomi eldar, thank you for coming on the _ hamas movement. shlomi eldar, thank you for coming on the programme. - for the first time since 1964, gps in england have voted to take industrial action. of the more than 8,500 gps who took part in the ballot, 98.3% voted in favour of some form of action. they won't be walking out of the job, instead there will be action short of that, a cap on the number of patients they will see each day, they might refuse to share patient data, they might even switch off nhs software which tries to cut prescribing costs. the british medical association described it as "an act of desperation" with gps "at the end of their tether". they say the action is necessary if they are to stop their services from "colla psing completely". this was the health secretary wes streeting's response to the vote. i can totally understand why gps would want to punish the previous conservative government, but this action, if it goes ahead,

will only punish patients. the conservatives already got their kicking at the general election and we now have a labour government that's really committed to working in partnership with gps to rebuild general practice so that people can get a gp appointment when they need one. we can speak to dr shan hussain, gp partner in nottingham, who's a bma council member. thank you for coming on the programme. tell me about the state of gp services around the country. good evening, gp services around the country are experiencing extraordinary amount of sex as stress and overwhelm. we have a record number of patients and funding have diminished significantly, about two thirds of £1 billion over the last five years, and were looking to restore some of that funding and improve the funding for practices so we can serve our patients better.— for practices so we can serve our patients better. over 1300 practices

one in the patients better. over 1300 practices gone in the last— patients better. over 1300 practices gone in the last decade, _ patients better. over 1300 practices gone in the last decade, so - patients better. over 1300 practices gone in the last decade, so many i patients better. over 1300 practicesl gone in the last decade, so many are not making ends meet, what form with the collective action be? there not making ends meet, what form with the collective action be?— the collective action be? there are series of ten _ the collective action be? there are series of ten actions _ the collective action be? there are series of ten actions practices - the collective action be? there are series of ten actions practices can | series of ten actions practices can decide to take, and it is known to them to do one or more, and as you say, 98.3% of gp partners have elected to undertake one or more of them. the site of gps restricting their context only five a day, it's their context only five a day, it's the long starting —— long—standing part of safe working within bme from years ago. part of safe working within bme from ears aio. ~ ., , part of safe working within bme from ears aio. a, , ., part of safe working within bme from ears ao. , .,, ,, part of safe working within bme from earsaio. , .,, ., part of safe working within bme from earsaio. , w, ., ., ., years ago. many go beyond that on a daily basis- — years ago. many go beyond that on a daily basis- very _ years ago. many go beyond that on a daily basis. very much _ years ago. many go beyond that on a daily basis. very much so, _ years ago. many go beyond that on a daily basis. very much so, i've - years ago. many go beyond that on a daily basis. very much so, i've seen | daily basis. very much so, i've seen ractices daily basis. very much so, i've seen practices where _ daily basis. very much so, i've seen practices where i've _ daily basis. very much so, i've seen practices where i've seen _ daily basis. very much so, i've seen practices where i've seen 60-70 - practices where i've seen 60—70 patients a day. the practices where i've seen 60-70 patients a day-— practices where i've seen 60-70 patients a day. the peer review but it came up — patients a day. the peer review but it came up with _ patients a day. the peer review but it came up with a _ patients a day. the peer review but it came up with a 696 _ patients a day. the peer review but i it came up with a 6% recommendation for gp�*s which the chancellor said on monday she would accept, is that not considered enough? it’s a

not considered enough? it's a se arate not considered enough? it's a separate part _ not considered enough? it's a separate part and _ not considered enough? it's a separate part and not - not considered enough? it's a separate part and not related | not considered enough? it�*s —. separate part and not related to core funding, and what we need to do is have a review of that so it is not enough. we have general practice, as you know, we provide five —— 90% of all nhs consultations. five -- 9096 of all nhs consultations.- five -- 9096 of all nhs consultations. ~ , ., ., ,, five -- 9096 of all nhs consultations. ~ ., ,, ., consultations. when you talk about core practice. _ consultations. when you talk about core practice, are _ consultations. when you talk about core practice, are you _ consultations. when you talk about core practice, are you asking - consultations. when you talk about core practice, are you asking for. consultations. when you talk about core practice, are you asking for al core practice, are you asking for a bigger pie from the nhs? currently we are seeking _ bigger pie from the nhs? currently we are seeking some _ bigger pie from the nhs? currently we are seeking some sort - we are seeking some sort of restoration towards the 15% that we pride historically stop what engagement have you got from wes streeting, ez engage in on the demands you have had to mark? i'm not personally involved in the engagement, and hopefully they will continue, but i have not had any personal involvement. in continue, but i have not had any personal involvement.— continue, but i have not had any personal involvement. in terms of how gps work. — personal involvement. in terms of how gps work, what _ personal involvement. in terms of how gps work, what would - personal involvement. in terms of how gps work, what would you i personal involvement. in terms ofl how gps work, what would you like the government to be considering? who would lead them to look at the core contract and increase the

funding available to us. beside the mone , funding available to us. beside the money. what _ funding available to us. beside the money, what about _ funding available to us. beside the money, what about the _ funding available to us. beside the money, what about the daily i funding available to us. beside the i money, what about the daily working pattern and the number of gps in on how quickly they are brought into the service? i’m how quickly they are brought into the service?— how quickly they are brought into the service? �* ., ., ., ., the service? i'm about to come onto that, to the service? i'm about to come onto that. to promote — the service? i'm about to come onto that, to promote safe _ the service? i'm about to come onto that, to promote safe working i the service? i'm about to come onto that, to promote safe working so i the service? i'm about to come ontoj that, to promote safe working so we meet the needs of our patients, our workforce has been literally decimated over the last ten years, and in the meantime, we have had an increase of 6.4 million patients for general practice, so we have more work to do with less funds and fewer doctors, and this is the real issue. it is reaching a tipping point, and we few must take action to support our patients and communities. i dearly like an appointment from time to time, and i'm sure i'm not the only one out there, but we understand how gps are, we certainly do. dr shan hussain, thank you for coming in the programme.- do. dr shan hussain, thank you for coming in the programme. thank you. we would take — coming in the programme. thank you. we would take a _ coming in the programme. thank you. we would take a short _ coming in the programme. thank you. we would take a short break - coming in the programme. thank you. we would take a short break in - we would take a short break in under the side we have our pale and also join in on, bill browder, was splinted to say about the prisoner

swaps wincing today, we have seen president putin received back that russian prisoners the west is given over, we will talk more about that, with us. hello there. it's been another hot and humid day. the heat and humidity one of the ingredients necessary for some massive thunderstorms to form. first signs of trouble, these towering cumulus clouds racing up through the earth's atmosphere. as well as the hot and humid air, the other ingredient was this convergence zone. look how most of the showers form along this zone. some particularly nasty storms, for example, around the 0xfordshire area, and those downpours are capable of bringing a month's worth of rain over the space of a couple of hours. so we're quite likely to see one or two areas hit by some flash flooding and disruption. other areas to watch out for — the south downs, maybe some other areas of east anglia and south—east england to watch out for over the next few hours. one or two of those storms, as i say, very nasty indeed. through the remainder of the night, eventually those storms will calm down. we'll be left with dry weather conditions for most areas, with some clear spells around.

still quite warm and humid, particularly across central and eastern england. we've got this slightly fresher air with us in parts of scotland and northern ireland as well. now, heading into friday, an area of low pressure is set to bring some rain in from the north—west, and that band of rain is going to very slowly push its way eastwards through friday night and on into saturday. so taking about 36 hours or so to cross the uk. now, friday, many of us will start the day on a dry and sunny note, but it won't be long before we see that band of heavy rain push into northern ireland and western scotland, with strengthening gusts of wind. england and wales, a lot of dry, sunny and very warm weather. however, there could be one or two thunderstorms popping up through the afternoon across parts of east anglia and the far south—east of england as well, so we'll need to keep a close eye on developments there. for saturday, the dregs of that weather front — this area of cloud, a few patches of rain — push into east anglia and south—east england before clearing. the rest of the uk, sunny spells, a few showers across the north—west, feeling fresher for many of us and even the temperatures across eastern england will start

to fall back closer to average for the time of year. sunday, not a bad start to the day. most areas will see dry and sunny weather, but it turns cloudier across the north—west with outbreaks of rain for northern ireland and western scotland through the afternoon. temperatures on the whole quite close to average for the time of year. and then into next week, well, low pressure's often going to be close to the north—west of the uk, so it will be quite unsettled across north—western areas. but some drier and sunnier weather towards the south—east.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. moments ago, the families and i were able to speak to them on the telephone from the oval office. they are out of russia, earlier today they were flown to turkey. and soon they'll be wheels up on their way home to see their families. for the families and friends of evan gershkovich, paul whelan and dissidents like vladimir kara—murza, this is a moment to celebrate. but keep in mind — for the kremlin, it is mission accomplished. it got what it wanted. i think it was very difficult i for germany to agree to accept the idea that they would have to return a convicted assassin to russia in any circumstances. joining me tonight are nathalie tocci, director of the istituto affari internazionali in rome and american journalist brian stelter.