live from london. this is bbc news. free at last — three americans and a kremlin critic — imprisoned in russia — arrive on us soil — part of the biggest prisoner swap deal since the cold war. myjob is to make sure, number one, they don't get them. and if they do, we get them back. i don't buy this idea that you're going to let these people rot injail. russia admits vadim krasikov — the convicted hit man released in the swap — was an fsb agent. he'd been serving a life sentence for the murder of a former chechen rebel commander in berlin. the funeral ceremony has been held in qatar for the hamas political leader, ismail haniyeh, who was assassinated in iran on wednesday.

to the paris olympics — where team gb have won their third gold medal of the day — with showjumping champions joining top winners in trampolining and double sculls rowing. hello. thank you for being with us. russian dissidents released in the biggest east west prisoner swap since the cold war are expected to speak publicly in the next few hours. vladimir kara—murza shared this image of himself, along with ilya yashin and andrei pivovarov, saying there would hold a news conference in bonn shortly. the russian prisoners released by the west include convicted hit man vadim krasikov — an agent and hit man who shot dead a kremlin opponent in berlin five years ago. also..

a family of russian sleeper agents who were pretending to be argentines — they were so deep under cover their children only found out they were russian after the flight to moscow took off. at an airbase outside washington, presidentjoe biden and vice president kamala harris greeted the returned americans — the two us journalists, evan gershkovich and alsu kurmasheva, and former marine paul whelan. president biden said he was grateful for the diplomatic co—operation that led to the swap. on the tarmac, gershkovich spoke about the political prisoners who are still in russian jails. there's one thing i'd like to say. it was great to get on that bus and see a lot of... you know, notjust americans and germans but russian political prisoners.

ijust spent a month in prison where there is a whole... basically, everybody i sat with is a political prisoner, and nobody knows them publicly, they have various political beliefs so they are not all connected with navalny supporters, which i think, everybody knows about them... today was a really touching moment to see all of them, and i think it would be... i think we could potentially do something about them as well. i'd like to talk to people about that in the next weeks and months, anyway... evan, how are you feeling? i'm all right, it was a good flight. he laughs. what about the show of support? its... cheering. its overwhelming.

they freed wall streetjournal reporter saying it is overwhelming. our north america correspondent will grant sent this report from the andrews air force base. cheering. greeted by a presidential embrace. after more days behind bars than they'd care to remember, finally a night they'll neverforget. the arrival of the three americans at andrews air base marks the end of their ordeal in russia, and the defining image of the biggest prisoner swap since the cold war. this is a historic moment, however you look at it — politically, diplomatically or, for the families involved, just emotionally. some of the most high—profile us prisoners of modern times back on us soil. on the tarmac to meet them, president biden

and vice president harris. one soon to leave office, the other hoping to take over. myjob is to make sure, number one, they don't get them. and if they do, we get them back. i don't buy this idea that you're going to let these people rot injail. reached against the backdrop of a full—scale war in ukraine, this prisoner swap was uniquely complex. it involved 26 people in seven different nations. as well as wall streetjournal reporter evan gershkovich and ex—marine paul whelan, moscow freed a russian—american journalist, alsu kurmasheva. among several prominent kremlin critics released was vladimir kara—murza, while in return moscow got back this man, convicted assassin and fsb colonel vadim krasikov. the family of evan gershkovich echoed the position of all the relatives, expressing heartfelt thanks that their son was free, saying, "we have waited 491 days for evan's release and it's hard to describe what today feels like.

"we can't wait to give him the biggest hug and see his sweet and brave smile up close." so even amid the glare of the world's media, this is also a uniquely private moment for the former prisoners and their families. a homecoming which at times they must have feared might never come. will grant, bbc news, washington. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford is in berlin. she explained what will happen next to the released prisoners. there has been a lot of focus initially on the american prisoners who were released, those names that were mentioned in the report. as part of this massive deal, we have seen prominent russian political prisoners being released. one is a veteran of human rights campaigns, he was one of the co—founders of the extremely

respected group supporting human rights in russia, set up in the dying days of the soviet union, an organisation which has won the nobel prize but is banned in its own country. he was serving two and a half years for discrediting the russian military by condemning the war in ukraine. he has made a call to his wife and lawyer, he is in germany undergoing medical checks. his wife has said that his voice is cheerful and lively, his health is ok, he apparently hadn't understood how far he is from russia because he was not told anything about the exchange before it happened. he was simply taken from his prison cell. the first thing he guest is when he was on board the bus and heading for the airport. he has also underlined in the first comments made to the family

that he never asked president putin for a pardon and never signed any papers. that is meant to underline the fact he has been released but he never admitted guilt. he has always maintained that he was innocent, he also underlined it was important not to forget those left behind. you would expect that for him and the organisation there are 315 prisoners in russia because of their politics. our eastern europe correspondent. james nixey, director of the russia and eurasia programme at chatham house, gave us his analysis. the biggest prisoner swap between east and west since the cold war.

first of all, as a russia watcher or those pining for democracy in russia someday you don't get many good days, and yesterday was absolutely one of them. so it's for those who are interested in the in the humanitarian welfare of their citizens, the return of their citizens more broadly, then this is this is a win because that is what the west prizes most. it values the lives and freedom of its own. that's not the case for russia, of course. it cares nothing for its people because it's sent scores of thousands of them to the so—called meat grinder on the front line in ukraine. so it's not concerned about their lives. it is concerned, however, about pr victories and how they can be redeployed using what intelligence and what they've learnt when abroad. because some people have speculated that this could be dangerous in some ways. for example, you know, the russians taking ivan gershkovich, the wall streetjournal reporter, um, just a journalist arrested for spying, but then was able they were able to trade him for their agents abroad. and that means that could happen again. yeah.

so there's no equivalence here. the western prisoners, they they were they were effectively hostages. and those who were held in the west, the russians, uh, they were convicted criminals. so but of course, this is absolutely a topic for, you know, radio four�*s moral maze. um, and we can debate it. but i think ultimately, on the basis that it's impossible to see into the future and what seeds will grow. we have to we have to we have to go with first principles of saving the lives and freedom of of our own. this was a sort of old fashioned swap, in a sense. i mean, a bit like a scene from the cold war. does it show that the two sides, particularly the united states and russia, can negotiate? and again, some people have speculated that that might mean that potentially in the long run, they could negotiate over ukraine. it shows that they can negotiate when there's something in it for them both. and in this case, there absolutely was. as i say, the lives of our citizens versus the potential redeployment and pr victory for the russian side. but i think, to be honest with you,

this does not show, as you're sort of implying a a softer side to russia. i'm afraid the kremlin doesn't have one. um, and, and really, russia doesn't believe in win—win outcomes. if it has a win—win outcome, then it thinks it hasn't negotiated hard enough. the fact that the west has got a win out of this as well is an unfortunate side effect for the russians, but one it was willing to take. to the middle east. hamas has called for "a day of furious rage" to mark the funeral in the qatari capital doha of it's political leader, ismael haniyeh, who was assassinated in iran on wednesday. his body has been taken to a cemetery outside the city where he is being buried in a simple muslim ceremony. hundreds of mourners attended the funeral prayers at the state mosque. officals from a number of arab and muslim countries have been attending, as well as prominent figures from fatah, the main rival palestinian faction to hamas.hamas and iran have both vowed revenge on israel, which has so far refused to confirm that it carried

out the attack. earlier in the week israel did claim responsibility for a rocket strike in the lebanese capital beirut which killed fuad shukr, a top commander of the iranian backed group hezbollah. israel blames him for the deaths of 12 children in the golan heights. and on thursday israel also confirmed that an air strike in gaza last month had succeeded in killing mommahed deif, the leader of hamas�* military wing. all this has heightened anxiety about a wider regional conflict in the middle east and ceasefire talks to stop the war in gaza and to secure the release of israeli hostages seem to be at a standstill. our middle east correspondent orla guerin told us what she is hearing about the likely nature of a retaliation. i think we could possibly see that iran will want to do something

different, it will want to signal very clearly that this is a response of a different order because of the nature of what happened on wednesday morning. because of the nature of what happened at 2am on wednesday morning at the heart of the iranian capital when israel, as is believed, was able to assassinate notjust a geranium allied but the political head of hamas who had been meeting the supreme leader of iran who, the day after, was saying funeral prayers over his casket. i think the iranians will want to do something that looks and feels different, i think there is ever the possibility they will engage regional allies, we have had hezbollah promising revenge, hamas promising revenge, there are attacks on international shipping going through the red sea.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

here in the uk — seven men have been charged with violent disorder after a riot broke out in hartlepool. it follows multiple pockets of unrest across england in the aftermath of a stabbing attack in the town of southport. police have also released the images of eight other people they want to identify after objects were hurled outside a hotel housing migrants during a protest in aldershot. with more on this here's our political correspondent damian grammaticus. tuesday in southport, and the violence that followed the fatal stabbings. the riots were fuelled by misinformation on social media and outsiders intent on causing trouble. yesterday, it was quiet. for a second day, police were given temporary powers to stop and search anyone suspected of carrying a weapon or planning any criminal act.

after southport, the disorder had spread. this was hartlepool on wednesday. the prime minister said it was the work of the far right showing who they are. ii arrests were made here, and there was unrest, too, in london, manchester and aldershot. so, summoned to downing street yesterday, police chiefs, here for an emergency meeting with the new government. sir keir starmer promised a new national capability to tackle the violence. these thugs are mobile, they move from community to community, and we must have a policing response that can do the same. shared intelligence, wider deployment of facial recognition technology and preventative action — criminal behaviour orders to restrict their movements. in london, more than 100 arrests were made. the police say they are now ready if more violence happens. what i committed to the prime minister to do today was to write

to all those commanders to be very explicit about new guidance and rapid learning from these events, about how we separate what might be legitimate protest from what is, frankly, downright violent crime. and so that we can intervene more quickly, we can arrest offenders, we can act to deter, and we can work with the criminal justice system to bring those people to very swiftjustice if people break the law. sir keir starmer also had a message for social media networks. he said whipping up disorder online was a crime and it was happening on their watch. damian grammaticas, bbc news, westminster. venezuela's foreign minister has accused the united states of being at the forefront of a coup attempt against his government — that follows sunday's disputed and controversial presidential election. president nicolas maduro claimed victory for a third term, but the opposition have accused him of electoral fraud and

the united states says there's overwhelming evidence the opposition won the poll. from caracas, here's our south america correspondent ione wells. these people desperately want answers. where are their families? what is happening to them? are they in here? this woman spots a relative inside. shouting. all of them have relatives who were arrested in anti—government protests. the son of isabella, who didn't want us to use her real name, was one of them. translation: the national guard grabbed my son unjustly _ because he was not harming anyone. my son did not have stones, did not have weapons. he only protested. they beat him.

they accused him of being a terrorist for defending their country, for wanting a change. through tears, she told me she just wanted a better future for their children and the country. i haven't been able to see him or pass him food. i can't even hand him his clothes. i don't know if he has been beaten. i don't know if he has bathed, if he has eaten. there is so much misery. many people eating in the streets, many people dying in hospital. my daughter and son left university because there are no teachers. i had a granddaughter who died on 6th december last year because there was no oxygen in the hospitals, no medical supplies in the hospitals. lawyers say people inside aren't allowed private lawyers, in a country where the judiciary and public lawyers are controlled by the government. these public defenders are actually part of the state.

so it's the whole state. i mean, the tribunals, the prosecutor, the public defender. so it's totally an imbalance injustice. so it's like the one who accuse you is the one who defends you. thousands turned out for peaceful protests. others turned more tense. tear gas and rubber bullets fired at protesters by armed police and military. cars, tyres, rubbish set on fire. president maduro accused the opposition of starting a coup. | translation: this is all directed | by a perverse and macabre duo that has to take responsibility. edmundo gonzalez and maria corina machado. it's notjust criminal because of the violence, but because they looked for criminals to attack their own people. mass arrests and detentions are nothing new in this country. there were hundreds of political prisoners in venezuela even before the election. but now that the president has asked courts to take action

against those protesting, it looks inevitable that that will increase. determination to protest endures. the fear of punishment expanding. ione wells, bbc news, in caracas. one of the boxers at the centre of a growing gender controversy at the paris olympics has won her opening bout to reach the quarter—finals. taiwan's lin yu—ting beat sitora turdibekova from uzbekistan in a unanimous points decision in the women's 57kg class. yesterday, the algerian boxer imane khelif made her way through to the last eight — in the women's 66 kilo category after her opponent, italy's angela carini, abandoned the bout after 46 seconds. she took one punch to the face and walked to her corner where she was heard saying "its not right". the italian boxer was in tears after the bout — she told reporters it was the hardest punch she had ever taken — and that she had stopped the fight

to preserve her life. khelif — along with taiwan's lin yu—ting — were cleared to compete in paris, despite being disqualified from last year's world boxing championships forfailing gender eligibility tests. a spokesperson for the international olympic committee — the ioc — has been speaking about the situation. it is quite a serious case, there's an awful lot of abuse going on on line, misinformed abuse going on and we are in close contact with the athletes. the ioc has always tried to do a balance between inclusivity and fairness, to put it broadly, and also safety. that is a difficult one and something that we will have to look at. but that is an entirely separate question to what is going on here which is a woman boxer being stigmatised and potentially forced out of competition. i think that is a different issue,

but in general in terms of safety, safety of the athletes, we never tire of saying is our number concern. the athletes are at the centre, we need to look after them, make sure they are safe and there are all sorts of safeguards particularly in combat sports, to make sure that is the case. that is the view of the olympic committee organisers. maayan sudai is a professor of law and gender studies at the university of haifa. she provided some context into why the ioc allowed the athletes to compete.

and they are trying to figure out who is in the male range of hormones — the testosterone range of hormones for males and females is different and they are trying to allocate or create eligibility rules to allow females to participate in female competitions only if they have that level of testosterone. as you said, there is growing controversy because there are some women who have sex variations and they have higher testosterone levels — natural higher testosterone levels. that testosterone policy barred them from participating. this is how we got cases caster semenya and others who filed claims in the court of arbitration of sport. what happened was there was a big controversy, even a scientific controversy regarding the performance advantage that is given from natural testosterone levels. that is something that has not yet been settled in the scientific literature. in 2021, the ioc issued a new framework that was supposed to set the ground for future challenges. that was a framework for dealing with fairness, inclusion and non—discrimination for gender identity and sex variation. and what that framework did was asking the governing bodies of each sport to make their own eligibility rules, as long as they follow important ten principles, among which were inclusivity, non—discrimination, respect... but the point is that the international boxing association, their eligibility rules, they ruled that both these

boxers couldn't compete in the world championships last year because they had failed these gender eligibility tests. what were the iba's tests? do we know how they were testing? i am getting to that, one of the points was that it has to be evidence based and from what i saw, the ioc issued a supporting statement for those two boxes saying that according to the eligibility rules that the boxing world association had issued or enforced first far, they were fine to compete. i am not sure what they were looking at because there is a great variation and different sports look at different criteria. for example, if the swimming organisation looks at hormone levels and they actually made even more stringent rules.

a quick look at the weather. hello there. we'll get into the forecast in just a moment. but first of all, i thought we'd look back at the massive thunderstorms that developed during thursday across central england. these huge storms brought 35mm of rain to fairford in gloucestershire, in the space ofjust one hour. the result of downpours that intense and some of the heaviest i've seen all year, with some severe flooding in parts of guildford. we also had reports of flooding elsewhere in surrey, hampshire and oxfordshire as well. now looking at the weather picture overnight tonight, we've got a weak weather front that's pushing its way eastwards across england and wales. with that the there will be a bit of rain, but it'll turn increasingly light and patchy. maybe a few mist and fog patches around. fresherair, meanwhile, gets into scotland and northern ireland as the rain moves out of the way and clearer skies follow, so more comfortable conditions for the northwest of the uk. still quite humid in the east. that's where we start off the story on saturday,

still with cloud and patchy outbreaks of rain for east anglia and south east england, although that should clear through the morning. what follows is sunny spells for most of the country, with just a few showers working into the afternoon across parts of scotland and northern ireland. temperatures near average for this time of the year, but feeling a lot less humid across eastern england in particular second half of the weekend, while another area of low pressure is on the way. that's going to be bringing rain to northern ireland and western scotland, where it will also be increasingly windy. gusts could reach around a0 or 50 miles an hour here. still a lot of dry weather for england and wales, with some bright or sunny spells coming through the cloud. temperatures high teens to low 20s. now, that weather front across the north west of the uk is a particularly slow moving front, that's going to take essentially a couple of days to cross the uk. and so because it's slow moving, we really see those rainfall totals build up, especially across parts of western scotland, where we might see some localised surface water flooding building in during monday. here is monday's chart then.

outbreaks of rain. northern ireland and scotland, often heavy across western scotland with a risk of localised flooding. england and wales a lot of dry weather and across the south in the east it will probably turn increasingly sunny and humid and warm if not hot. temperatures could hit 27 celsius in norwich once that band of rain, though, has gradually pushed its way eastwards across the country and cleared, we're looking at a number of showers for the rest of the week, especially across northwestern areas. bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines free at last — three americans and a critic of the kremlin — imprisoned in russia — arrive on us soil — just part of the biggest prisoner swap deal since the cold war. the kremlin blasts the west's allegations — that russia tactically abducts people to create an �*exchange fund'. russia has admitted that the convicted hit man released in the swap — was an fsb agent. in other news — the funeral ceremony has been held in qatar for the hamas political leader, ismail haniyeh, who was assassinated in iran on wednesday. to the paris olympics — where team gb have won their third gold medal of the day —

with showjumping champions joining top winners in trampolining and double sculls rowing.