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 donald trump is who north korea want elected as us president, hoping that that can... 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, i'm ben brown. the kremlin has dismissed western allegations that russia deliberately abducts people to create and exchange funds of prisoner to swap. the comment came after the largest prisoner swap since the cold war. among the russians released by the west —

convicted hit man vadim krasikov — an fsb agent who shot dead a chechen commander in berlin five years ago. 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 us marine paul whelan. president biden said he was grateful for the diplomatic co—operation that led to the swap. on the tarmac, evan 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 think it would be good to see if we could potentially do something about them as well. i 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? it's... cheering it's overwhelming. evan gershkovich there, the wall streetjournal reporter, saying it is overwhelming that he is back on us soil.

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. for more, i'm joined by our eastern europe correspondent — sarah rainsford. she has been explaining what will happen to the released prisoners. there's been a lot of focus on the american prisoners who were released, the big names that were mentioned by well in his report, but as part of this massive, unprecedented deal, we have seen some really prominent russian political prisoners being released. there is a veteran human rights campaigner, defender, activist. he was one of the co—founders of the extremely well known and respected group, memorial, which is a human rights group set up in the dying days of the soviet union which has

won the nobel prize but is banned in its own country. he was one of those who has been free and was serving a sentence for condemning the war in ukraine. he has made a call to his wife and his lawyer, he is here in germany, but is undergoing medical checks at the moment. his wife has said that his voice is cheerful and lively, his health is ok, the apparently quite hadn't understood how far he is from russia, because he was not told anything about this exchange before it happened. nobody askedif exchange before it happened. nobody asked if you want to be part of it, he was simply taken from his prison cell. the first thing he knew or guessed about what was happening was when he is on board the bus and heading for the airport. he has also underlined in these first comments to his family that he never asked president putin for a pardon, he never signed any papers. at is

clearly to underline the fact that he was released but has never admitted his guilt, she has always maintained that he is innocent of what he was accused of. he also underlined that it was important not to forget those left behind. you'd expect that from him, he currently has 315 —— memory al has 315 political prisoners in russia, and his message was not to forget those who are there. we've been getting the analysis from their russia and eurasia programme, chatham house. you their russia and eurasia programme, chatham house.— chatham house. you don't get many aood da s chatham house. you don't get many good days with _ chatham house. you don't get many good days with this, _ chatham house. you don't get many good days with this, and _ chatham house. you don't get many good days with this, and yesterday l good days with this, and yesterday was absently one of them. for those who are _ was absently one of them. for those who are interested in the return of their_ who are interested in the return of their citizens more broadly, this is a win _ their citizens more broadly, this is a win that— their citizens more broadly, this is a win that is_ their citizens more broadly, this is

a win. that is what the west prizes most _ a win. that is what the west prizes most it_ a win. that is what the west prizes most. it values the lives and freedom _ most. it values the lives and freedom of its own. that is not the case _ freedom of its own. that is not the case for— freedom of its own. that is not the case for russia, it cares nothing for its _ case for russia, it cares nothing for its people, it has sent scores of thousands of them to the so—called meat grinder and the front line in_ so—called meat grinder and the front line in ukraine. it is not concerned about_ line in ukraine. it is not concerned about their— line in ukraine. it is not concerned about their lives, it is concern about— about their lives, it is concern about pr _ about their lives, it is concern about pr victories and how they can be redeployed using what intelligence they have learnt when abroad _ intelligence they have learnt when abroad. ., , ., , abroad. some of us regulated this could be dangerous, _ abroad. some of us regulated this could be dangerous, because - abroad. some of us regulated this could be dangerous, because the| could be dangerous, because the russians taking evan gershkovich, the wall streetjournal reporter, a journalist arrested for spying, but then was able to trade him for their agents abroad, and that could happen again. agents abroad, and that could happen aaain. , ., ., . again. there is no equivalence here, the western — again. there is no equivalence here, the western prisoners _ again. there is no equivalence here, the western prisoners were - the western prisoners were effectively hostages, and those who were held _ effectively hostages, and those who were held in the west, the russians, they were _ were held in the west, the russians, they were convicted criminals. this is absolutely the topic for a radio fours— is absolutely the topic for a radio four's moral maze, and we can debate it, four's moral maze, and we can debate it. but— four's moral maze, and we can debate it. but on— four's moral maze, and we can debate it. but on the — four's moral maze, and we can debate it, but on the basis that it is

impossible to see into the future and what — impossible to see into the future and what seeds will grow, we have to id and what seeds will grow, we have to go with— and what seeds will grow, we have to go with first _ and what seeds will grow, we have to go with first principles of saving the lives — go with first principles of saving the lives and freedom of her own. this was_ the lives and freedom of her own. this was arr — the lives and freedom of her own. this was an old—fashioned swap in a sense, 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 _ shows that they can negotiate when there is— shows that they can negotiate when there is something in it for them both, _ there is something in it for them both, and — there is something in it for them both, and in this case, there absolutely was. the lives of our citizens. — absolutely was. the lives of our citizens, versus the potential redeployment and pr victory for the russian _ redeployment and pr victory for the russian side. to be honest with you, this does— russian side. to be honest with you, this does not— russian side. to be honest with you, this does not show as you are sort of implying — this does not show as you are sort of implying a softer side to russia, i'm of implying a softer side to russia, i'm afraid _ of implying a softer side to russia, i'm afraid the kremlin doesn't have one _ i'm afraid the kremlin doesn't have one russia — i'm afraid the kremlin doesn't have one. russia does not believe in win-win— one. russia does not believe in win—win outcomes, if it has that it does _ win—win outcomes, if it has that it does not — win—win outcomes, if it has that it does not think it is negotiated hard enough _ does not think it is negotiated hard enough. the fact of the west has a

win out— enough. the fact of the west has a win out of— enough. the fact of the west has a win out of this is an unfortunate side—effect for russia, but when it was willing — side—effect for russia, but when it was willing to take. that side-effect for russia, but when it was willing to take.— was willing to take. that is james nixie from _ was willing to take. that is james nixie from chatham _ was willing to take. that is james nixie from chatham house - was willing to take. that is james nixie from chatham house giving | was willing to take. that is james i nixie from chatham house giving his analysis of the prisoner swap. hamas has called for "a day of furious rage" to mark the funeral in the qatari capital doha of its political leader, ismael haniyeh, who was assassinated in iran on wednesday. his body has been taken to a cemetery outside the city where he's been laid to rest. hundreds of mourners attended the funeral prayers at the state mosque. officals from a number of arab and muslim countries attended, 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. 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 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, the houthis are attacking on international shipping going through the red sea. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

venezuela's foreign minister has accused the united states of being at the forefront of a coup attempt against his government — following 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. argentina is the latest of several

countries to join the us in recognising the opposition candidate, edmundo gonzalez, as the president—elect. 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. 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. with me is dominic casciani, our home and legal correspondent. we have seen these pockets of unrest. tell us more about how it

has been planned and he was really behind it. the has been planned and he was really behind it. ~ , behind it. the prime minister yesterday _ behind it. the prime minister yesterday referred _ behind it. the prime minister yesterday referred to - behind it. the prime minister yesterday referred to this - behind it. the prime minister yesterday referred to this as | behind it. the prime minister - yesterday referred to this as being far right driven, and the evidence that we have seen so far in the bbc with our colleagues at bbc verify suggest that is absently correct. we saw on tuesday were some early signs that were spotted by researchers into the far right, independent from the bbc, that there were activists in merseyside and the north—west trying to get summing off the ground in southport, and they were ceding various ideas, various hashtags, one of them being enough is enough, and they succeeded in getting some of their supporters onto the ground in southport. what is important is to understand how that spread. once a protest started, that was reported by far right activist on social media platforms, some of the biggest employers in that network then spread it further by promoting it to their tens of thousands of followers. in doing so, that then

allowed the idea to be seeded in other areas, and what we think then happened is, in a lot of cases you have small pockets of people operating in private groups, perhaps on facebook or telegram or other places like that, organising themselves, and then taking to the streets and hoping others will follow. that has been the start of it. as of tonight, there are suggestions of up to around 30 individual protests across the weekend in different towns and cities. the important thing about thatis, cities. the important thing about that is, i don't want to alarm people, because it could be that many of these will fizzle out and be contained because there will only be a few people perhaps attending, but the police aren't taking any chances and there is any very strong messages tonight that from their perspective we will not see anything like southport and hartlepool, and they will have the resources in place to contain it. so they will have the resources in place to contain it.— they will have the resources in place to contain it. so they promise a robust response _ place to contain it. so they promise a robust response to _ place to contain it. so they promise a robust response to whatever- a robust response to whatever unfolds? , . ., ,

unfolds? yes, the police have very well rehearsed _ unfolds? yes, the police have very well rehearsed tactics _ unfolds? yes, the police have very well rehearsed tactics for - unfolds? yes, the police have very well rehearsed tactics for want - unfolds? yes, the police have very well rehearsed tactics for want to i well rehearsed tactics for want to deal with public disorder. and even, somerset and bristol, they are saying that tomorrow they will impose special powers which allow them to stop and search everybody entering a particular area where they think there may be a protest. they can use dispersal powers, which we know other forces use as well. effectively, you're going to potentially see officers in riot gear or potentially with riot gear around the corner, prepared but not necessarily on the streets. the important thing about this in terms of trying to manage expectations down from suggesting there is going to be mass violence is that the police so far have not pulled an important lever where all the forces come together and try to work out where to best spread available officers throughout the country. they haven't done that, which means individual forces feel confident they can contain what could come, but there is no guarantee anything will come. but but there is no guarantee anything will come. �* i. ., but there is no guarantee anything will come. �* ., but there is no guarantee anything willcome. �* ., ., will come. but you are saying social media is the — will come. but you are saying social media is the way _ will come. but you are saying social media is the way this _ will come. but you are saying social media is the way this has _ will come. but you are saying social media is the way this has been - will come. but you are saying social media is the way this has been all l media is the way this has been all coordinated?—

media is the way this has been all coordinated? ~ , , , ., . coordinated? merseyside police said this is the english _ coordinated? merseyside police said this is the english defence _ coordinated? merseyside police said this is the english defence league, | this is the english defence league, and i think on one level that is clearly a reference to people who are historically supporters of the english defence league, a far right organisation whose ideas are effectively anti—immigrant and effectively anti—immigra nt and anti—muslim effectively anti—immigrant and anti—muslim as well. that organisation doesn't really exist any more, it is an idea. it hasn't existed for a decade. you have these networks developing online of minded people —— like—minded people organising themselves. 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 health organization says more than 175,000 people die annually from extreme heat in europe. it says heat—related deaths

in the region have increased by 30% over the past two decades. the who warned that more people would die from heat—related symptoms in the coming years as a result of global warming. it noted that temperatures in europe were rising at around twice the global average rate. we are going to be going to a news conference that we are expecting in the next few minutes in bonn. this is part of that big prisoner exchange, the biggest since the cold war. these are russian dissidents who have been released, billy ilya yashin, vladimir kara—murza, and others. we will bring that lively on

bbc news. —— life to you here. 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 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 with me, ben brown. a look at the headlines. free at last — the wall street reporter arrives on us soil with two other former prisoners — just part of the largest prisoner exchange between east and west since the cold war. the kremlin confirms that a convicted assassin who has returned from germany to moscow as part of the exchange has been an agent with the exchange has been an agent with the russian security service, the fsb. the home office is warning to those planning violence this weekend in the uk, the police are watching them. more than 100 people have been arrested in riots a in southport, hartlepool and london eye for the mass stabbing in southport on

monday. at the