in a taylor swift dance club on the day of her funeral. amid ongoing warnings of a wider escalation in the middle east, there's mounting concern about an increasingly unstable situation in the west bank. the 2024 paris summer olympics have come to a close and the olympic flag has been passed to los angeles for the next games in four years. the closing of the games means that the button is now handed to los angeles for the next games in four years time. tom cruise took part in the handoff of the flag, driving off from paris in a motorcylce into a video showing him taking it back to los angeles where several artists including snoop dogg, dr dre, billie eilish, and the red hot chili peppers were waiting to perform live on the beach.

the us topped the final medal table, after the women's us basketball team beat the hosts, france to win the final gold medal of the games. great britain got 65 medals in total. my colleague maryam moshiri has been in paris for all the excitement the past two weeks. so, the final day of the paris olympics 2024 comes to an end. the closing ceremony started with leon marchand in front of that beautiful cauldron, taking the olympic flame with him from there to the stade de france. and the ceremony really marked an end to what has been a fantastic two and a half weeks of sport here in paris. the french have really taken these olympics to heart, and the host nation has done so well in terms of medals as well, and you could really feel that emotion during that closing ceremony. there was music, there was dancing, there were athletes who turned up, not only the flag bearers but also other athletes from nations around the world, and you can feel how relaxed, how happy they were

now the job is done at that closing ceremony. another thing we saw was music from around the world. and we saw some symbolic gestures as well, as the olympic flag was passed from the mayor of france to the mayor of los angeles. we were promised, potentially, a bit of hollywood glamour, and we got it in the end with tom cruise. he literally sailed into the stade de france from on high, he picked up the olympic flag from the los angeles mayor, he rode a motorcycle out of the stadium, he got onto an aeroplane, he got up in the sky, he jumped out of the aeroplane onto the ground in los angeles, up on the hollywood hills, and he marked the hollywood hills sign with the olympic sign. and then we saw michaeljohnson and other olympic athletes from america taking on the flag and putting forward the idea or at least the symbolic idea that the olympics have moved from france to los angeles.

so how will los angeles cope with the olympics and how different will they be compared to paris? i spoke to david wharton, los angeles times correspondent, about this. have a listen. i think it's going to be a tough act to follow. i mean, just the sheer beauty of paris and the way they've integrated the sports into the city hasjust been wonderful. i think la will perhaps... they cannot match the historic significance, but i think that they will try to answer with hollywood production values and pop—culture references. i think there's going to be a little more technology. some of the venues are very modern in la, and some have not even opened yet that will be there. so i think it's going to be a different kind of games, and they are trying to make it very la. the mayor has said they want this to be a carless olympics.

forgive me for thinking about that and wondering, how does one make a carless olympics in a place like la, where all these locations are quite far away from each other? yeah, i don't really think that's going to happen. i think maybe she was overstating things a bit. as you mentioned, there will be venues that will be hours apart. la's a pretty spread out place. so i think they're going to try to encourage people to take public transit as much as possible, but we're expecting the rose bowl football stadium, dodger stadium for baseball, will be added to the list. they have very large parking lots. i'm sure people will be driving to those. people in la aren't that used to public transportation, so i think they're going to try to encourage it, but i don't know how successful they are going to be. after the flag was taken to los angeles, we then saw the red hot chili peppers performing in los angeles,

and it marks the end of what has been, as i mentioned, a fantastic three weeks, and really now all eyes will be on the paralympics. they start on the 28th of august. after that, we'll see the winter olympics in milan cortina, and then los angeles 2028. there have been a few handover events around the city of los angeles today. and at one of them is hip—hop icon flavor flav, from public enemy. i spoke to him about what it is like to have the olympics in la. i'm very excited. ijust got in from paris, and i ain't going to lie — for the first ever time at the olympics, i had a very, very amazing experience, and i'm quite sure that i'm going to get the same experience once the games get here to la in '28. flavor, you've got a lot of love for your sponsorship of the women's water polo team. how important is it that people like you invest in sport?

because without you, they wouldn't have been able to continue in the way they were. and they've done ok, they've done well at the paris olympics. you know, i really feel there should be a lot of other celebs like myself, which i'm hoping that that would happen, that will step up to the plate and help sponsor a lot of these olympic teams, because the united states government is definitely not doing it, and all of these teams right now are out there busting their butts and giving it their all and all to make the united states look good, and believe me, at the end of the day, not only do the athletes get the glory but so do the government, you know what i'm saying? and i don't think the government really deserve it, because they don't sponsor, theyjust take, take take and not give back, they're not giving back. so i really feel the government really should step in, number one, and help out with these olympic athletes, but then also a lot of celebs like myself, you know what i'm saying?

maybe this might open up the door for them to come through and help sponsor. so, what can i say? it's been a wonderful few weeks here in paris. we've seen so many highs, so many lows, iconic sporting moments, sporting history, olympic records, world records being broken, and to top it all off, that amazing closing ceremony. that's it for me here in paris. back to you in the studio. now to ukraine, where the un's nuclear agency says there is no reported impact on safety after multiple explosions at ukraine's zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. russian state news is reporting the main fire is now extinguished. russia and ukraine are both blaming each other for the incident. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has tweeted that quote "russian terrorists" started the fire. he went on to say that radiation levels are normal and accused russia of using the facility to blackmail ukraine. meanwhile the plant's russian management blamed it on ukrainian shelling. the plant is currently occupied by russia.

this comes as ukraine continues their cross—border offensive. russia says its army will deliver a "tough response" and has acknowledged that ukrainian units have advanced deep into the western region of kursk, saying it's hit troops and equipment, around 30 kilometres from the border. it's the most serious attack by a foreign army on russian territory since the second world war. a senior ukrainian security official has reportedly said thousands of troops are taking part in the kursk incursion, now in its sixth day. in his nightly address, president zelensky said the incursion was a response to russia launching almost 2000 cross—border strikes at ukraine's sumy region over the summer. overnight at least two people were killed near kyiv, as russia carried out missile and drone attacks in six regions of ukraine. earlier i spoke to melinda haring — senior fellow at the eurasia centre of the atlantic council — who gave me her assessment of the continuing incursion. so i think zelensky has a number of reasons, and he hasn't made them apparent, so we're only speculating, but it was only

a week ago that the headlines said that moscow was on the march and ukraine was on its back foot in the donbas, so this incursion into kursk is a way to show the capability of the ukrainian army and it's a way to change the headlines. so i think that's one piece of it. others have speculated that the ukrainians want to seize russian territory in exchange for potential negotiations. that's another potential hypothesis. these are all guesses, though, but i think in general, we can conclude the ukrainians are notjust going to sit on their haunches and wait for the russians to attack. they have to have these sort of asymmetrical responses in order to change what had been a pretty bad situation for the ukrainian side. two people have died while trying to cross the english channel in a small boat. the french authorities say 5a migrants were rescued after their boat got

into difficulty, six miles north of calais. another 50 people were rescued from another boat. a uk government spokesperson says "this latest tragedy "underlines the terrible dangers of small boat "crossings, and we continue to do "everything we can to prevent callous criminals exploiting "vulnerable people". the deaths mean nine people have lost their lives attempting to cross the world's busiest shipping lane in dangerously overloaded dinghies this month alone, and 25 since the start of the year. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

more now on our top story in the closing of the olympic games— the closing of the olympic games in paris. one of the biggest _ games in paris. one of the biggest talking points has been the gender ineligibility of some _ the gender ineligibility of some females in the boxing competition.— some females in the boxing competition. the taiwanese boxer won _ competition. the taiwanese boxer won and _ competition. the taiwanese boxer won and has - competition. the taiwanese

boxer won and has been - competition. the taiwanese - boxer won and has been allowed to compete in france despite been qualified from the world championships last year after reportedly failing gender eligibility tests. her victory came less than 2a hours after imane khelif won. let's cross live now to tokyo. thank you forjoining me this morning to discuss this. tell me about the significance of ting's win given the criticism around her presence at the games. it is given the criticism around her presence at the games. it is a performance _ presence at the games. it is a performance that _ presence at the games. it is a performance that was - presence at the games. it is a performance that was truly i performance that was truly outstanding and she is the pride of taiwan. facing defamation and the attack from the international boxing association during this period, lin yu—ting responded with a gold medal in this fully demonstrates the strength and

resilience of taiwanese people. once again, her performance was amazing and this is the honour that she deserves.— that she deserves. how do the eo - le that she deserves. how do the peeple of— that she deserves. how do the people of taiwan _ that she deserves. how do the people of taiwan react - that she deserves. how do the people of taiwan react to - that she deserves. how do the people of taiwan react to the i people of taiwan react to the mirage that she was experiencing? how did they respond to accusations that she should not be competing? lin yu-tina should not be competing? lin yu-ting has _ should not be competing? l “i yu—ting has 100% support should not be competing? l “i yu—ting has 100% support from the taiwanese people including from the government and the public. our president has instructed the sports administration to take legal action and our ambassador to france also worked hard to correct international perceptions in france and the chairperson of the chinese

taipei olympic committee has reiterated that lin yu—ting's eligibility to compete is not in question. and last but not least millions of people, taiwanese people have stayed up late on the night of her competition to cheerfor late on the night of her competition to cheer for her and i think that is the strong sense of the taiwanese identity, they united the people of taiwan.- identity, they united the people of taiwan. her win was also a geopolitical— people of taiwan. her win was also a geopolitical issue - people of taiwan. her win was also a geopolitical issue i - also a geopolitical issue i understand. people were seen waving taiwanese flags in the audience she received her gold medal. what is your analysis on taiwan's presence at the olympics?— taiwan's presence at the olympics? undeniably the re-ubfic olympics? undeniably the republic of _ olympics? undeniably the republic of china - olympics? undeniably the republic of china is - olympics? undeniably the republic of china is a - republic of china is a political entity that has existed for over a century. we have our own government, flag and so on. when lin yu—ting won, the people of taiwan just wanted to express ourjoy and

pride so i think although there were issues i still urge that were issues i still urge that we should let sport be sport. thank you for your thoughts this morning. in england, the funeral has taken place for the first of three young girls fatally stabbed at a taylor swift dance class in the north—west town of southport. the service for nine—year—old alice da silva aguiar was held at st patrick's catholic church in the town, where her parents were joined by family and friends. hundreds of people lined the streets as alice's coffin was brought to the church in a horse—drawn carriage. ribbons and balloons were tied to lampposts and garden walls, as fiona trott reports from southport. applause, sirens. a public display of love. trying to ease

a parent's private pain. alice's father carried her on his shoulder, but few fathers — or mothers — have the strength to speak on a day like this. # never to part... instead, their words were read by alice's uncle. you moved our world with your confidence and empathy. being around he was a privilege. we cherish every milestone. you completed us. little alice knew nothing about politics and division. how confronting it was acknowledged here today. you have shown great courage in asking me to be here today, to speak, to give a message from you, alice's family, to say that you do not want there to be any more violence on the streets of the united kingdom in the name of your daughter. i'm ashamed, and i'm so sorry you've

had to even consider this in the planning of the funeral of your beautiful daughter alice. and i hope that anyone who has taken part in the violent disorder on our streets over the past 13 days is hanging their heads in shame at the pain that they have caused you, a grieving family. this is the last photograph taken of alice — the moment she went into the taylor swift dance class that day. but it's her love of dance, her outgoing personality, that people are choosing to remember now. hey, guys! today it's me. i've got my make—up on to test my teacher. look at this. and now, guys, thank you for watching all my videos. # may our lives tell your story...

alice was just nine, but today everybody learned about the impact she made in her short life. applause. fiona trott, bbc news, southport. israel has ordered thousands of residents of khan younis in the south of gaza to relocate to designated "humanitarian zones. " the order follows saturday's israeli airstrike on a school compound in gaza city — which it says was a hamas command centre. more than 70 people died. us vice—president kamala harris condemned the loss of civilian life. you know, yet again, there are far too many civilians who've been killed. i mean, israel has a right to...go after the terrorists that are hamas but, as i have said many, many times, they also have — i believe — an important responsibility to avoid civilian casualties. meanwhile in tehran, iran's new president masoud pezeshkian nominated a western—friendly diplomat

to be foreign minister, and a woman to fill another cabinet post. they are among nineteen proposed cabinet members being presented to parliament for approval. abbas milani is director of iran studies at stanford university. he gave me his thoughts on what a potential iranian response to israel could look like. i think, by every indication coming from iran, that they don't want a full war with israel. they know that if they attack israel directly, mr netanyahu might take the war to them, so i would think that they will limit themselves to some kind of a symbolic attack. mr pezeshkian, the new president, has said, "we should hit israelis outside israel." that might be the kind of response they eventually decide upon. but i doubt they will seek a full war. we've just seen that president masoud is filling cabinet positions in his new administration. do you think a response will come once things

have settled there? or how do you think his new administration is going to approach israel? by what he has said, by the pedigree of some of his cabinet members, they're clearly trying to calm the situation down, but you have to remember that this is a regime that is run essentially by mr khameini and the irgc. they're very much keen on showing that they're not going to take the kind of embarrassment that the assassination of haniyeh was lying down. so by the rhetoric they have articulated, they need to show some kind of a response, and clearly the rest of the regime — like mr pezeshkian — want to temper it. but i think, in reality, real power lies with mr khameini and the irgc. but they too are facing a very dire economic situation, a profoundly disgruntled

population, and those things don't really invite any regime — even a regime like the iranian regime — to try to engage in a full war. and just quickly, where does the us stand with this? it's not very clear. i think the us is going through an election, itjust had a new candidate. i think the us policy is in flux. either trump or harris, i think, will have to finally decide what their strategy on iran is. i think they don't have a strategy, either one of them. they have tactical responses that seem to change day by day. amid ongoing warnings of a wider escalation in the middle east, there's mounting concern about an increasingly unstable situation in the west bank. 615 palestinians have been killed since the start of the war in gaza, according to the palestinian authority health ministry. many are armed fighters but others are civilians. in one recent incident, the focus fell on the killing

of a young palestinian customs officer by an israeli undercover unit — an episode recorded on cctv. the bbc�*s diplomatic correspondent paul adams has been to the west bank town of tubas, where it happened. a quiet morning in a west bank town, an anonymous white van pulls up next to a palestinian customs office. a guard, abdel nasser sarhan, emerges to see what's going on. an israeli soldier in plain clothes shoots him dead. soon, the street is swarming with other soldiers. the following day, a makeshift memorial at the spot where abdel nasser fell, the guard post and walls riddled with bullets. the israeli army says it came to tubas to arrest two wanted men. abdel nasser, it says, was killed in an exchange of fire, but that's not how this happened. it was just after 6am and abdel nasser and a colleague had just come on shift.

the white van drew up here, just across the wall. the driver got out, said hello in arabic. abdel nasser walked out to greet him. seconds later, he was shot and fell right here. translation: this rings a warning - bell, especially for us in the security services. how can we enforce law and order and offer services to the people and protect them while you are obstructing my work and killing my officers? the shooting in tubas is part of a much, much bigger problem. with all eyes focused on gaza, another war is raging in the west bank, the israeli military cracking down on armed groups it says are being bankrolled by iran. from one city to another, one refugee camp to another, the brush fires are burning. more than 600 palestinians have been killed in the west bank since last october. as many as 10,000 have been arrested. some fear this could erupt

into a full—scale uprising. if it goes into an intifada, this is a much, much bigger problem. this is a much more complicated problem to solve. militarily, we handle things. better, less, but when it goes into a civil rebel or intifada, it is a totally different story, and it might go there. in a refugee camp on the edge of nablus, abdel nasser�*s family is grieving, drawing their own conclusions about the actions of the israeli army. he is coming to kill, just to kill. muhannad can barely comprehend the loss of his son. the idf says it's still looking into what happened. it did not, we were told, go as planned. paul adams, bbc news, on the west bank.

greek residents of a village north of athens have been forced to flee their homes, in the face of a wildfire which has rapidly taken hold, with flames as high as 25 metres. parts of the greek capital have been left under a cloud of brown smoke. and the flames are heading to lake marathon — an important reservoir for athens. hello. a stormy night for some of us. and on top of that, it feels very warm and humid out there — almost tropical — with temperatures hovering around 20 degrees there on the south coast of england through the early hours of monday morning. and even in northern ireland, around 17 degrees. now, this is what the heat wave looks like across western europe. at the moment, temperatures well above the average for the time of the year. the temperatures will peak in england on monday.

let's get to the forecast, then, and that stormy picture developing to the west of the british isles. you can see the storm clouds there and the radar indicating the rainfall, flashes of lightning as well. more to come through the course of early monday. so the weather front crossing northern ireland with the downpours through early monday morning, then reaching the west coast of scotland, spreading across scotland as it moves towards the north—east. a few showers in northern england, but south of that, the picture looks generally dry and sunny in the morning. now, this is the yellow warning from the met office — a chance of frequent lightning, hail and strong winds within this area. now, because it's a yellow warning, it's a relatively low risk for any one location, but when you get it, you'll know about it. so the forecast, then, for the rest of monday, then. well, the story is going to be the heat across england. in fact, from the south—east, through east anglia, into lincolnshire, temperatures well over 30 celsius. cambridgeshire could well reach around 35 celsius. far more comfortable, i'm sure you'll agree, across western parts of the uk with the low 20s.

and it will freshen up as we go through the course of the week, gradually. weather fronts are approaching us on tuesday. that does mean cloud and some rain. and here's the forecast for early on tuesday morning, with that cloud and rain spreading into western parts, but still a very warm southerly across eastern areas of the uk. so from london, across east anglia, into lincolnshire, temperatures could still reach the high 20s. but more typically, it's going to be the low 20s or even the high teens further towards the west and north. and then on wednesday, a ridge of high pressure builds in between weather systems, so that means that the weather's looking fairly promising. many of us would call it a perfect summer's day, with fine weather midweek. towards the end of the week, there could be some rain, and then beyond that, the forecast is somewhat uncertain, with a little bit of rain but also plenty of sunshine. bye— bye.

global markets brace for key economic data out of the world's top two economies, after a volatile start to august. we take a look at why local brands are dominating the chinese smartphone market. plus we take a look at how bangladesh's new interim government plans to its economy back on track. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai.

we start the week with a look at global markets, appearing to recover from the sharp losses of last week. the us federal reserve has signalled a possible rate cut in september, but the us inflation data, due to be released on wednesday, could force them to adjust their initial assessment. we'll also get a reading on the chinese economy on thursday, with the release of several key metrics for the same month — retail sales, industrial production, unemployment and house prices. portfolio managerjun bei liu explains why the market volatility we saw last week is here to stay. we are going to be very, very much data dependent, and markets now pricing in us with a 50 basis point rate cut in september, so any data points that challenged that view is going to drive more volatility. we await eagerly to see what the inflation data might look like, but that is going to have quite a significant ramifications for the rest of the world as well, because every central bank looks

forward to what the fed is going to do and