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. the biggest art festivals while in the world is on display the edinburgh fringe. more on the olympics now and as the paris games approaches its half—way mark this weekend. it's been a great day so far for great britain, who've taken their gold medal haul to nine. the latest from a near—faultless performance in the team showjumping. scott brash onjefferson sealed victory with a clear run after his team—mates ben maher and harry charles only incurred two time penalties. emily craig and imogen grant won a gold medal in rowing with a dominant performance in the women's lightweight double sculls, and a little earlier bryony page won great britain's first trampoline olympic gold to complete her set of a medal of every colour. meanwhile in the men's tennis — carlos alcaraz beats

felix auger—aliassime in singles semi—finals — and remains on course to pick up olympic gold. our reporter ellyn duncan has been soaking up the atmosphere in paris. more than ten million visitors are expected to come to paris across these games, and we've heard constantly that olympic organisers really wanted to bring the games to the people. over the last week that we've been here really does feel like that. there's certainly a buzz across the city. lots of these event venues are down in the centre of the city themselves, plenty of places to walk around. we have seen tonnes of fans, we've seen multiple national kits, lots of colours, lots and lots of fun displays, lots of chanting, lots of songs, and of course, lots and lots of flags. uh, i want to talk about a little bit earlier, we had the crowds here were watching the french in the team equestrian jumping event. we heard a lot of good cheers and it went a little quiet. france took home the bronze medal in that. the gold, of course, went to team gb.

and the reason why i bring that up, if we can bring up the medal table once again, it has been a pretty solid day for team gb and it pains me to say it as an australian, but they have catapulted up the medal table. they sit now in third. they started the day off in sixth. three gold medals today in the space of the last few hours. of course, that team jumping event we saw, also in the women's trampolining. and then a little earlier the day in the rowing, um, it's been bronze, too, for divers. so it's been a huge day for team gb. they're expecting to continue to do well. um, i'm also going to bring up something else that we're following in the tennis. so elsewhere we've seen carlos alcaraz, the spaniard. he's through comfortably to the final there. now who's to face him is going to be decided in the coming hours. it's lorenzo musetti from italy versus the serb, novak djokovic, a very well known name. plenty of hardware for him. he has won almost everything there is to win in tennis, let's be frank, but the one thing that has eluded him is an olympic gold. so we are keeping a close watch on that.

we expect him to do quite well, and we could very well see a match up of alcaraz and djokovic in the final — one to watch there. ellyn duncan there are up the sun in paris. police in nigeria have put all security forces on red alert after protests on thursday left at least 13 people dead. thousands walked through the streets across the country to protest against poor governance, corruption and the increasing cost of living in africa's most populous nation. the rights group, amnesty international says 13 people were killed by the security forces as they tried to break up the protests. it has accused officers of shooting indiscriminately at peaceful demonstrators akinbode oluwafemi is executive director of corporate accountability and public participation africa, a pan — african organisation that helps local communites take collective social action. he told me what's

behind the protests. at the heart of the protests currently in nigeria is the economic hardship that nigerians have been facing since this government, you know, came to power. and i must say that when this government came in may 29th, there were lots of hopes. there were high hopes that given what the current president did in lagos, he would be able to replicate that at a national level. but it appears that hope has been dashed. uh, the economic recovery does not seem to be in sight. and there were economic policies that this government have embarked upon, like, um, the removal of subsidies, um, you know, floated in naira, which is nigeria's currency, uh, higher electricity bills that are hitting very deep into the pockets of nigeria. and most importantly, is the fact that, you know, the basic cost of living, food, uh, food prices have gone

so high, you know, energy, transportation and the rest of them. and when you look at the main theme of this protest, it is end hunger end bad governors. nigerians are saying, "you cannot be saying we should, you know, brace up". the government is saying no, things will ease up at some time at some point. but government officials are, you know, living in flamboyant lifestyles, you know, buying suvs and the rest of them, and they say, "look, we've got to address the issue of governance, good governance, corruption in nigeria. and then there must be development prosperity, not only for a few, but all nigerians, nigerians and hungry and when you are hungry, you're going to be angry,". and that's what at the heart of this protest. ok, so, that's what's at the heart of it in your view. and then when you hear that news that 13, at least 13 protesters have been shot dead. i mean, we don't know the exact numbers. it may be more than that, in fact. what is your reaction when you hear

that those people have died? well, it's so sad that, um, anytime there are peaceful protests in nigeria, uh, some people try to hijack it for whatever motive. there have been claims and counter—claims of who has done what. some areas like lagos, the protests have been peaceful, largely peaceful. but of course there have been violence in the quiet about eight, uh, northern states where four are declared 2a hours curfew. it's very sad. we have said that for us, it is the rights of citizens to peacefully protest. it's part of democracy. it is a responsibility of government to protect nigerian citizens. it's also the responsibility of government to ensure that criminals or hoodlums, or whatever name they might want to call it, who might want to hijack this kind of situation are reigning so that nigerians are prevented from dying needless deaths again... but i mean you don't think the security forces have been trigger happy

in shooting people dead? yeah. i mean, so there have been claims and counterclaims. uh, we think that the security forces should not use maximum force. we don't think the kind of force that was displayed in abuja was necessary. and we also think that, uh, government being very high—handed, restricting nigerians to where they can protest and not protest, uh, it's the kind of situation that breeds this kind of violence. and so we have said that the nigerian government needs to re—orientate the police force to know that it is a democratic rights of nigerians to protest and protest peacefully. that's akinbode oluwafemi there speaking about the data situation and the protests in nigeria. a senior north korean government official — who recently defected — has told the bbc that north korea is hoping donald trump becomes president, so it can restart negotiations with the united states.

ri il kyu is the highest—ranking person to defect from the regime in eight years. he was working as a diplomat in cuba when he fled with his family to south korea at the end of last year. in his first interview with an international news broadcaster, he's been speaking to our seoul correspondent jean mackenzie. for this north korean elite, turning his back on the regime was a life or death gamble. ri il kyu raced to the airport in the middle of the night, giving his familyjust six hours notice. sick with fear about what would happen if they were caught. translation: either i would have been executed or sent _ to a political prison camp. to a political prison camp for life. i could accept my own death but the fear of my family being killed was overwhelming. the most high—ranking person to escape north korea in eight

years, he has a rare insight into what the most secretive state once. secretive state wants. despite kimjong—un�*s recent dalliance with vladimir putin, the former diplomat says north korea's ultimate goal is to cut a deal with the us. for that, it is hoping to see donald trump back in the white house. translation: if trump is elected this would truly be a once - in a thousand year opportunity for north korea, they believe they can negotiate with him and use the personalfriendship between mr trump and mr kim to their advantage. at a recent rally, the presidential hopeful said he too wanted to reignite this friendship. when we get back, i get along with him, he would like to see me back too, i think he misses me if you want to know the truth.

while talks between kim and trump collapsed in 2019, ri il kyu says diplomats hope to convince trump to lift sanctions to lift sanctions in return for freezing their nuclear weapons programme. you have met kim jong—un seven times, what is he like? translation: the kim jong-un i met was a ordinary human being, - but turning him into god has made him a monster. he would do anything for the survival of his regime, he would kill all 25 million north koreans. the systems of control mr kim has created are now so fierce, it will be impossible to topple this brutal dictatorship, he believes. change must be pushed slowly, persistently, from outside and from within. jean mackenzie, bbc news, seoul.

extraordinary interview. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

well the uk culture secretary has raised concerns about the bbc�*s investigation into huw edwards, in a meeting with the corporation's director general. lisa nandy asked tim davie to explore what options are available to recoup some of edwards' tax—payer funded salary. mr davie has defended the decision not to sack the presenter, despite knowing last november that he had been arrested over the most serious category of indecent images of children. simonjones reports. huw edwards' guilty plea has shocked the nation, a spokesperson for the culture secretary, lisa nandy, said. her thoughts are with the victims whose lives have been destroyed. she stressed the need for the bbc to be transparent with the public.

the corporation's director general was told in november about edwards' arrest over the most serious category of indecent images, known her to specifics about what we heard over the last few days, which has been disturbing.— heard over the last few days, which has been disturbing. when it comes to decision we _ has been disturbing. when it comes to decision we make. _ now, when it comes to the decision that we made in november, when we were obviously faced with, i think, a very difficult decision, actually, and we considered it very carefully. the police came to us and gave us information that they had arrested mr edwards. but they wanted to be assured of total confidence and the reason they rung us at that point was to ensure that — and it's a technical process, which is to ensure employees are protected and there's no risk. the director general�*s decisions have also faced government scrutiny.

a spokesperson for the culture secretary said, "she has spoken to the bbc to raise concerns on a number of points regarding the handling of their own investigations into huw edwards, what safeguards and processes had been followed in this case, and additionally, what further action may be taken, especially with regard to the handling of licence—fee payers' money." the government has asked to be kept up to date on any future developments, but the questions for the bbc are not going away. one key one is why the findings of an internal investigation into allegations that huw edwards sent inappropriate messages to junior members of staff have not been published. one whistle—blower said edwards sent them this picture of a hotel room he was staying in at the time of prince philip's funeral, messaging, "there's plenty of room here" and "you missed a good night". huw edwards was the face of bbc news and its highest—paid newsreader. tim davie insisted the bbc was not

sitting on anything it needed to share with police. but a former culture secretary wants more clarity from the director general. we need to know much more about why it was that he came to the conclusion that huw edwards should go on receiving his salary, that he should be allowed to resign rather than be sacked. and why, when the bbc knew about this arrest, and yet we only discover it, what, eight months later. edwards earned £200,000 in the months after his arrest. we can't claw back pension. i think, when it comes to pay, you know, again, legally challenging, but we'll look at all options. that's something the government is urging the bbc to do as edwards awaits his sentencing for accessing indecent images of children. simon jones, bbc news. the british army's admitted that a black female soldier, who fronted a number of their recruitment campaigns,

had to work in an unacceptable environment where she experienced sexist and racist harassment. as well as issuing an apology, the army has paid the soldier a substantial financial sum. kerry ann—knight, who left the army earlier this year, has been speaking for the first time to our defence correspondent jonathan beale. yeah, this is just... that's the section i was in. can you spot me? i can spot you. kerry—ann knight always knew she'd stand out in an army struggling to recruit both women and ethnic minorities. were you the only black person in...? yeah, i was the only black female. but she joined full of hope, assuming racism had long been stamped out. for some reason, i thought someone in uniform was going to be professional, and i was very excited to be a part of that and just creating my own family within the army. kerry—ann became a face

for army recruitment. she knew why — the army wanted to appeal to the groups she represented. but she also became a target for abuse. i was extremely shocked because i really didn't experience such, um, deep levels of racism. yeah, i had to learn the hard way in the army. it got worse when she became an instructor at harrogate. it's where the army trains junior soldiers from the age of 16. it's controversial, not least because in the past there have been allegations of bullying. kerry—ann says she witnessed it, but she too suffered at the hands of fellow white male instructors. they'd pile everything daily on my desk, so, just to show me that i'm not welcomed. and i remember one day they took a photo of me just standing at that desk, looking slightly broken, just having to sort out that rubbish

before i can use my desk. they'd have django unchained playing. they would repeat the most, say, racist lines and then they'd chuckle. they spoke outright in the office about lynching me simply because i'd put in a complaint. and it was suggested for me to be tarred and feathered. rather than root out the racism, she says the army closed ranks to protect the organisation. when they tried to paint out as if i was an... an aggressive black woman, that was extremely tough. if it wasn't for those individuals... who supported me, whether secretly

or publicly, yeah, i would have, i would have been broken. earlier this year, she took her case to an employment tribunal. the army contested it, but as the evidence mounted, it issued an apology. it accepted mrs knight had to work in an environment where she experienced racist and sexist harassment. it admitted the army had failed her. in a separate statement, the mod said it had settled the claim with no admission of liability. i would never encourage any... a woman, especially of colour, to join the army because it's not going to benefit your life in the long run. kerry—ann's image was used to promote a positive image of the army that it's inclusive and welcome to all, but her harrowing experience tells a very different story. jonathan beale, bbc news.

robertjenrick has officially launched his tory leadership bid speaking at an event in newark — the former immigration minister said he believed the party could win the next election, and said he wanted to breathe new life into the party but acknowledged they had a mountain to climb. the world's biggest annual arts festival, the edinburgh festival fringe, has opened in the scottish capital. artists from 58 countries are bring represented with over 52,000 performances taking place throughout august. with me is our reporter courtney bembridge, who is heading up to edinburgh to cover the festival fringe for bbc news. what can we expect? everything from comed , what can we expect? everything from comedy. cabaret. _ what can we expect? everything from comedy, cabaret, dance, _ what can we expect? everything from comedy, cabaret, dance, music, - comedy, cabaret, dance, music, magic, if you can imagine it it is happening. there are more than 3000 shows and a cover a range of

different categories but also come from 58 different countries around the world to stop by and african circus troupe inspired by the daily life of denny, you can see here this is actually a shrek inspired burlesque performance so as i said if you can imagine that someone has come up with it and put it on at the festival. so anyone can play to put on the show, so this is gone from, it started in 1947, and there are more note than 3000 shows, and there'll be 52,000 performances because this festival runs for all of august. because this festival runs for all of august-— because this festival runs for all ofau~ust. ~ . , . ., of august. what else have you got? we have lined _ of august. what else have you got? we have lined up— of august. what else have you got? we have lined up lots _ of august. what else have you got? we have lined up lots of— of august. what else have you got? we have lined up lots of interest. we have lined up lots of interest and asked to bring you and be busy next week, or broadcasting monday and tuesday and wednesday, including barbarian barbies, it's described as a show if the underground billings circus scene had a beautiful love child with the vegas spice girl, so there is circus collective based in

berlin and as you can see, they are a bit barbarian and little bit barbie, so that's another one we have for you. and also, a bubble man who last year put me inside a bubble, you can see him here, he has been doing this for 30 years, and some of the things he is able to do is incredible stop we are seeing lots of different performances this year, but also the kind of resurgence of older performances, so clowns, for example, one of the passion for a while and now they are back with a vengeance and lots of cloning acts on the programme this year, so interesting to see as the times change that different —— cloning has kind of come back into vogue. the other ones we are looking at is theatre style shows, so one from korea is a musical odyssey that brings a 600—year—old folk song to life, so that you can see on the screen here, a visually spectacular, and will be catching up with those guys at some point during our time as well, but every hour around this

time, we will be bringing you different performances from across the spectrum, as i say, i lots of arts or so, magicians, someone is promised to make me levitate so we will see. ., ., , , , .,, will see. you were in a bubble last ear and will see. you were in a bubble last year and you _ will see. you were in a bubble last year and you could _ will see. you were in a bubble last year and you could be _ will see. you were in a bubble last year and you could be levitated . will see. you were in a bubble lastl year and you could be levitated this year? year and you could be levitated this ear? ., , year and you could be levitated this ear? . , , . ., year and you could be levitated this ear? ., , , ., ., ., year and you could be levitated this ear? , ., ., ., ., ., year? last year i got a on and acrobat soldiers _ year? last year i got a on and acrobat soldiers with - year? last year i got a on and acrobat soldiers with any - acrobat soldiers with any preparation, so i think bbc management was not too happy with that. it’s management was not too happy with that. �* , ., management was not too happy with that. �* , . ., ., , ., management was not too happy with that. �*, . ., ., , ., , ., that. it's a dangerous game, but all these performance _ that. it's a dangerous game, but all these performance are _ that. it's a dangerous game, but all these performance are coming - that. it's a dangerous game, but allj these performance are coming from all over the world, it's quite expensive being in edinburgh to stay there? it’s expensive being in edinburgh to stay there? �* , ' . expensive being in edinburgh to stay there? 3 ' . ., expensive being in edinburgh to stay there? 3 m ., ._ there? it's difficult and so many performances — there? it's difficult and so many performances being _ there? it's difficult and so many performances being put - there? it's difficult and so many performances being put on, - there? it's difficult and so many performances being put on, a l there? it's difficult and so many| performances being put on, a lot there? it's difficult and so many - performances being put on, a lot of them free as well, so it's not often lucrative when people are setting out, they may not get a little money back from putting on the performances, but they are doing it for exposure, and we are seen, it shows like fleabag started at the festival, so it can be a springboard, in the meantime, they're paying thousands of dollars for accommodation to stay and everyone is flocking to see those

performances, it can be very difficult. the edinburgh festival fringe has offered grants and things like that to help performance, one we are catching up with trying to help women from working backgrounds get into comedy, so there are lots of initiatives in place but it is very difficult and to put on these amazing shows is not easy, but for us going to seeds, it's a fantastic experience. us going to seeds, it's a fantastic exoerience-_ us going to seeds, it's a fantastic experience. us going to seeds, it's a fantastic exerience. , ., experience. en'oy every minute, i am sure ou experience. en'oy every minute, i am you win. — experience. enjoy every minute, i am sure you will, courtney, _ experience. enjoy every minute, i am sure you will, courtney, thank- experience. enjoy every minute, i am sure you will, courtney, thank you. . weather now with chris fawkes. 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, was 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 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 40 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.

live from london. this is bbc news. yeah, it's overwhelming. free at last — wall streetjournal reporter evan gerschkovich arrives back on us soil with two others — just part of the largest prisoner exchange 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. hundreds of mourners attend funeral prayers for the hamas political leader, ismail haniyeh, in qatar. a former north korean diplomat who

has no defected tells the bbc that