this is bbc news for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lucy hockings in tokyo with our main olympic headlines. another gold for team gb at the tokyo games — charlotte worthington wins a dramatic bmx park freestyle final. there was a record eighth medal in the pool for team gb — silver in the men's axioom medley relay. and a seventh olympic medalfor emma mckeown, as australia won the women's race. and i'm lukwesa burak in london with the rest of the day's headlines. young people in england are to be offered covid jab incentives, such as discounts for takeaway food and taxi journeys, in a bid to boost vaccine uptake. the taliban ramp up their offensive on afghan citiies, with reports of heavy fighting

in lashkar gah in helmand province. and large cruise ships have been banned from the centre of venice, after years of environmental protests. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. a warm welcome to day 9 of the olympic games. a day in which team gb�*s

charlotte worthington has taken a sensational gold medal in the bmx freestyle. the 25 year—old, former chef from manchester who only took up bmx seriously at the age of 20 after switching from her main love of scooters, fell on her first run but then landed a backflip 360 — a trick never before completed in a women's competition. on the final day in the pool, us swimmer caeleb dressel took his gold medal tally to five. winning the men's 50 metres freestyle in an olympic record time then going on to break the world record as part of the men's 4x100 medley relay team. and there was record—breaking success for team gb swimmers too. american xander schauffele clinched the men's golf gold medal in a nail—biting final day that has gone to a seven—way play—off for the bronze medal. and a remarkable story in the women's shotput. making history as the first athlete to compete in five different olympic shot put finals, new zealand's dame valarie adams took bronze, capping a remarkable comeback to the top level of her sport after the birth of her second child in 2019. from another olympic event — this time in the final and, the american gymnast, simone biles has withdrawn from another olympic event —

this time in the final of the floor exercise — as she continues to focus on her mental health. and in the last few minutes, brazil's rebeca andrade has clinched the women's gymnastics vault gold medal, bringing brazil its first gold medal ever in women's gymnastics. what a wonderful moment for her and for the country. great britain won medals in all four bmx events at the tokyo olympics. we can speak now to mandy young — who set up adrenaline alley skate park in corby where charlotte worthington and declan brooks, who won bronze in the men's bmx freestyle have both trained. great to have you with us. to you let that imagine this kind of success? ~ , ,., y let that imagine this kind of success? ~ , ,., , ., let that imagine this kind of success? ~ , , ., ~ let that imagine this kind of success? ~ , ., ~ ., success? absolutely not. we have known all along _ success? absolutely not. we have known all along we _ success? absolutely not. we have known all along we had _ success? absolutely not. we have known all along we had got - success? absolutely not. we have known all along we had got the i known all along we had got the potential bit to get the gold and the bond is the way they did was phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. —— the gold and the bronze. faint phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. -- the gold and the bronze.— -- the gold and the bronze. paint is a icture

-- the gold and the bronze. paint is a picture of — -- the gold and the bronze. paint is a picture of you _ -- the gold and the bronze. paint is a picture of you watching _ -- the gold and the bronze. paint is a picture of you watching the - -- the gold and the bronze. paint is a picture of you watching the event | a picture of you watching the event and your reaction.— and your reaction. myself and my husband were _ and your reaction. myself and my husband were obviously - and your reaction. myself and my husband were obviously keepingl and your reaction. myself and my i husband were obviously keeping our eyes open and we just watched shalit�*s first run and the like, what is going to happen here? but obviously when she pulled off that well first and finished her run we were just ecstatic, well first and finished her run we werejust ecstatic, running well first and finished her run we were just ecstatic, running around, crying, tears running down my husband's face. we just couldn't believe it. we knew charlotte had the chance for a medal but to get at the chance for a medal but to get at the way she did blow us all away. it was so emotional.— the way she did blow us all away. it was so emotional. what did you think it would mean — was so emotional. what did you think it would mean to _ was so emotional. what did you think it would mean to charlotte _ was so emotional. what did you think it would mean to charlotte to - was so emotional. what did you think it would mean to charlotte to win - it would mean to charlotte to win gold? it would mean to charlotte to win old? , ., gold? skies the limit for her because she _ gold? skies the limit for her because she is _ gold? skies the limit for her because she is a _ gold? skies the limit for her because she is a wonderful. gold? skies the limit for her - because she is a wonderful person and she has worked so hard for this. the future is so bright for her and she's just the future is so bright for her and she'sjust going to the future is so bright for her and she's just going to go onwards and upwards. it's incredible for her. he upwards. it's incredible for her. no doubt we can see her beaming face right now as we are talking to you holding onto her gold medal on the

podium. tell us why you set up adrenaline alley initially. my son had uuite adrenaline alley initially. my son had quite a _ adrenaline alley initially. my son had quite a difficult _ adrenaline alley initially. my son had quite a difficult time - adrenaline alley initially. my son had quite a difficult time in - adrenaline alley initially. my son had quite a difficult time in his i had quite a difficult time in his youth with a brain tumour and at the age of 18 he was attacked because he was on a skateboard so myself and my son started the parkjust to find a safe environment for all the young people locally but had i known what i was going to create then maybe i'd have thought differently about it but it's been such a journey and such an incredible, rewarding journey and it's now my son's legacy so to see these guys at the olympics winning these medals, you know, it's's so emotional for me because it's's so emotional for me because it's my son's legacy as well and to create this legacy and continually changing life the way it has is just overwhelming and so amazing. changing life the way it has isjust overwhelming and so amazing. mandy, what ou overwhelming and so amazing. mandy, what you think — overwhelming and so amazing. mandy, what you think it _ overwhelming and so amazing. mandy, what you think it will _ overwhelming and so amazing. mandy, what you think it will mean _ overwhelming and so amazing. mandy, what you think it will mean for - overwhelming and so amazing. mandy, what you think it will mean for the - what you think it will mean for the sportthe young people to be watching

two new heroes, really, on the podium achieving in this way? we have podium achieving in this way? - have already seen an increase in participation especially in female skateboarding and we hope that these two guys going out there doing what they've done willjust encourage other young people to aspire and, you know, just come in, have a go, try it. you'll be so surprised how much sports can benefit children in terms of their social, health, well—being and obviously from the athletic point of view so it's's just going to do wonders for the sport and, you know, can't wait to see what the future's going to hold. the level that charlotte is performing at, though, how much work goes into that? how much dedication has she had to put in? she goes into that? how much dedication has she had to put in?— has she had to put in? she is incredibly — has she had to put in? she is incredibly dedicated, - has she had to put in? she is incredibly dedicated, as - has she had to put in? she is incredibly dedicated, as is i has she had to put in? she is - incredibly dedicated, as is declan. they are training every day, having to go to different places to experience different ramp riding on the level they are and, you know, they are at the gym, food,

nutrition, science behind esports, they've had to do it all and they just put their mind to it, their heart and soul to it and obviously the result has paid off. might make it absolutely has. so, finally, what next for adrenaline alley. what you see in the future? well, i really hope that we can create an olympic training facility for all the guys because they absolutely adore adrenaline ali. it has been there for years as has all the rational and we would love to be able to create a legacy for this moving forward and have that facility at adrenaline alley where they have all the stuff to compensate the training. but who knows, we will have to see what happens now. mandy, we ou are have to see what happens now. mandy, we you are creating _ have to see what happens now. mandy, we you are creating a _ have to see what happens now. mandy, we you are creating a legacy _ have to see what happens now. mandy, we you are creating a legacy and - have to see what happens now. mandy, we you are creating a legacy and we - we you are creating a legacy and we can certainly see and hear that you are creating stuff was as well. thank you so much forjoining us. in

terms of what has been happening in the pool, what in olympics it has been for team gb with eight medals, a record in a single game. and an olympics it's been for team gb in the swimming pool — with eight medals — a record for britain in a single games. earlier i spoke to former gb swimmerjazz carlin — who won two silvers in the pool at the rio olympics. oh, it's been absolutely fantastic and i can't say i've had too much sleep this week, as we've had to get up in the middle of the night. the finals have been starting in the uk at 2:30 in the morning, so i can't say i've had much sleep but i've just been blown away by the success of the swimmers, how they've performed against the best in the world and coming away with so many medals and, yeah, there's so much more to come. so, it was a brilliant weekend — i've absolutely loved it. jazz, there's obviously such incredible individual talent in the pool but what else do you put team gb's success down to? i definitely think it's helped over the past few olympics with us bringing back medals, all the way back from 2008 with becky adlington.

and each games, the momentum seems to be building and i definitely think gb are now not satisfied with just making a final or going to the olympics — they want to be on that podium. even seeing duncan scott become the most successful swimmer with the amount of medals he's achieved in the pool ever. so it's been great to watch and you just see the disappointment — even duncan scott was disappointed to get the silver and not come away with the gold. so it feels like the bar is higher, they are aiming higher and they're not satisfied withjust, kind of, turning up to the olympics are making finals — they want to be on that podium. so it's been great to watch and i'vejust been so impressed. scott, of course, the first athlete in any sport to win four medals for team gb, so he's a standout story, but what other stories have touched you or have you been particularly impressed by?

yeah, i think, from a gb perspective, it's always great to see team—mates, obviously, get on the podium, and my former swimming coach david mcnulty came away with his first ever gold medal. i managed to bring two home for him in 2016 and he's come away with a lot of medals. but to see him get his first ever gold medal with tom dean in the 200m freestyle was definitely a really proud moment for me, seeing my former coach come away with a gold medal. yeah, he's had a great week of athletes there and it's just down to the great support staff that have really supported these athletes over the past year—and—a—half, over the past four years. it's been incredible because it has been such a challenging year for everyone, and in particular those athletes that have had to adapt their training. a lot of the pools were closed for months, so they've had to really and it doesn't seem to have taken a toll on them at this olympics. so, although there've been scenes ofjubilation at the games, the covid picture in the host country is a lot more sombre. just today newly reported covid—19 cases in tokyo came in at 3,058

as infection continues to spread, with warnings the medical system could soon be overwhelmed. here's mariko oi in central tokyo, outside the olympic stadium. today's number coming in slightly lower than the previous high of 4000 but is still alarming because over the weekend we tend to get lower numbers because of the number of tests that can be carried out an even more worrying is the fact that the proportion of those tests coming back positive is hitting almost 20% according to the tokyo government and, she said, the number continues to rise across japan as well. of course, the state of emergency has been expanded and extended in tokyo and the surrounding perfect as well but if you rememberjust over a week ago this is exactly where we were for the opening ceremony and it was

jam packed and still quite busy but a lot of people are watching the opening ceremony from just outside the olympic stadium that's just next to me in that kind of gathering could be causing the spike so, if anything, we should really be watching out for the numbers in the coming days. i'm not sure a week ago that anyone here injapan could have imagined the stunning success that the country would have with so many golds right across the board. what's leading the news here? what's the main headline injapan? is at the sporting success of the pandemic? it is a bit of both, i have to say. this morning i was looking at these papers and a lot of the sport newspapers still have the men's football which made it to the quarterfinals of the next matches on tuesday and also excitement about that but of course these coded numbers do continue to dominate the headlines, especially on local tv channels as well. today i was just

watching gold from a masters champion but also a medal hopeful who didn't manage to win a medal but still given how he was diagnosed with, tested positive for covid—19 very recently a lot of praises for him to have completed at least. also a swimmer he was diagnosed with leukaemia only two years ago, she just finished herfinal swim. she just finished her final swim. she didn't just finished herfinal swim. she didn't manage to win a medal but, again, a lot of inspiring stories surrounding the swimmers as well. as you said, teamjapan has done incredibly well which is extremely exciting but to an extent that is partly why people have gone out, watch the games and that could actually be causing the spike in covid—19 cases so it is a very tough, tricky balancing act. one more result to bring you here from tokyo. alexander is ever from

germany has beaten the russian olympic player in the men's final results 6—3, 6—1. —— alexander zverev. that's all from us here in tokyo, back to london. young people in england are to be offered incentives, such as discounts from uber and deliveroo, to get their covid—19 vaccinations. ministers are hoping to make further offers involving cafes and restaurants in the coming weeks to try to improve uptake of the jabs. simon jones has more. a day out with a difference. a pop—up vaccination centre was set up last week at the thorpe park theme park in surrey — part of a drive to get more younger people vaccinated. hi, guys. we're doing covid vaccines today. just over two—thirds of adults aged 18—29 in england have received their first dose. that's a lower uptake than in the wider population. overall, 88% of people across the uk have had a firstjab. now there will be new incentives.

uber is to give discounted trips to young adults who get vaccinated. the ride—hailing app bolt will be offering free ride credits to vaccination centres. deliveroo is set to offer vouchers to young people who getjabbed, though how exactly these schemes will work has yet to be revealed. but it's a carrot—and—stick approach. cheering ministers have warned that they will introduce covid passports in certain places from september, meaning those who haven't been vaccinated won't be able to get into nightclubs. asking festival—goers to show proof of their covid status is being used at this weekend's camp bestival music event in dorset. you know, we've got very stringent measures here — double—vaccination proof or lateral flow negative test for people over the age of 11, more sanitation, really great compostable toilets with a lot more air space in them, things being wiped down, hand sanitiser. the uk isn't the first to try new incentives.

in the us, the governor of new jersey launched shot and a beer in may, offering a free drink to those over 21 getting vaccinated. and in colorado, some vaccination sites are giving out $100 supermarket gift cards to the jabbed. if i can get it, y'all can get it. i'm a cancer survivor. i recommend y'all have it. the hope is people won'tjust grab a vaccine, but a bargain too. simon jones, bbc news. around 4,000 children and young people in scotland will be offered the pfizer vaccine before the start of the new school term injust over two weeks. it will be on offer to those with conditions which make them more vulnerable to covid—19 — such as down's syndrome, learning disabilities, and illnesses which affect the immune system. it will give them that protection, some protection after that first dose but we'll need to wait until the second dose, which will need to be eight weeks after the first dose.

so we're really, really looking towards this protection being in place for them into the autumn and through the winter months as well. the headlines on bbc news... gold for team gb's charlotte worthington in the bmx park freestyle at the tokyo games, and silverfor the men's medley relay team. young people in england are to be offered covid jab incentives — such as discounts for takeaway food and taxi journeys — in a bid to boost vaccine uptake. the taliban ramp up their offensive on afghan citiies, with reports of heavy fighting in lashkar gah in helmand province. rockets have been fired at kandahar airport as the taliban continues its offensive

against the afghan government. two of the missiles hit the runway and the airport has now been closed to all flights. the militants are trying to seize three major cities in the south and west. they've entered parts of herat, lashkar gah, and kandahar, afghanistan's second biggest city. i've been speaking to our correspondent in kabul, secunder kermani. well, we sought to light heavy fighting over night particularly in adrenaline alley, capital of helmand province. you will remember that yesterday the taliban had advanced to a one point we were told 300 metres from the governor's compound right in the centre of lashkar gah. —— particularly in lashkar gah, capital of helmand province. fighting has been continuing this morning and, as you say, clashes have also been taking place in recent days. elsewhere in the

country too, notably around the cities of herat in the west and kandahar in the south. at kandahar airport three rockets were launched hitting the runway and leading to its closure today. when it comes to herat extra reinforcements have arrived in the city and taliban forces are not inside herat but they were fighting on the outskirts and clashes were continuing there but those reinforcements are making government forces sound a bit more optimistic there. i think the most concerning place remains lashkar gah at the moment. and i presume is this fighting continues people continue to flee? yeah, tens of thousands of ordinary afghans have had to flee their homes in recent weeks, caught in the middle of this awful fighting. we had new statistics out from the afghanistan independent human rights

commission about civilian casualties. more than 1600 people killed injust casualties. more than 1600 people killed in just the first six months of this year alone and there are concerns that the fighting is only going to get worse because the international military mission here formally comes to an end by september and many fear that with, you know, the taliban looking in emboldened in peace talks between insurgents and afghan government not making any real process well, the taliban are going to continue trying to push in on afghan cities. they've already captured around half of all territory in the country in more rural areas as well as a number of border crossings. they had never yet managed to take hold and retain hold an media afghan city and it seems thatis an media afghan city and it seems that is what they are trying to do while afghan forces are doing their best to prevent them from taking that territory. another step is being taken towards winding down the uk government's furlough scheme. from today, the state contribution towards salaries drops to 60% — while employers must now pay 20%.

business groups have warned there could be thousands of redundancies. jeevun sandher is an economist at king's college london and former treasury official. hejoins me now. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. obviously, the government is planning to make fairly more expensive for employers hoping to encourage people to go back to work full—time. is that going to work? it looks like at the moment there are too many people on the furlough scheme at the beginning ofjuly and we're not quite sure what happened during thejuly and as businesses have to contribute to the scheme is likely that there will be more redundancies. it should be noted that some of the people still on furlough are in the sectors most affected, half of those in the travel sector, half of those in the arts and they cannot work because kate is spiking. we are expecting a

spike in redundancies as employers have to contribute as the scheme is being wound down. white met a saying this is in the right time? if it isn't, when his? it certainly isn't the right time because the whole point of the furlough scheme is to keepjobs point of the furlough scheme is to keep jobs protected as covid as restricting our lives and it is still restricting our lives at the moment. socialspending still restricting our lives at the moment. social spending are still down to about 20% of pre—pandemic levels and we saw a fall after the others as well. we should certainly keep the furlough scheme in place until at least this wave has passed and also stop the employer contribution as well. we said dating updates when it came to health policy in the same thing should be true about economic policy as well. are you saying it would be more economic sense to continue furlough for a fifth time rather than pick up the cost of lost jobs? for a fifth time rather than pick up the cost of lostjobs? making firms contribute saved a bit of money in the short run, about 500 million a month over a cost of 65 billion but

the permanent cost could be much larger if we see a large rise in unemployment so absolutely we should be continuing the furlough scheme until this wave has passed and ending the employer contribution as well. apart from jobs and extending the scheme, what else needs to be done to stimulate the economy? we need done to stimulate the economy? - need to see job creation schemes as well. we do start to see unemployment rise and we know unemployment rise and we know unemployment scares people and places the defecates. as well as that, we have a huge cliff edge of support coming in the autumn and the universal credit or blitz ends but £1000 pay cut for those on low pay and they may lose theirjobs as well and they may lose theirjobs as well and we need to see that support continue. it was not good for people on low pay, good for people on low incomes and good for the committee. —— universal credit uplift ends. thank you very much. large cruise ships have been banned from the centre of venice, after years of environmental protests. vessels of more than 25,000 tonnes will no longer be allowed to dock in the lagoon.

campaigners and residents say the ships pollute the air and water — and cause erosion. mark lowen reports. it's been venice's david versus goliath. for years, protests by locals in their small boats against the mammoth cruise liners clogging its waterways. critics say they pollute, damage venice's ecosystem and erode foundations with their large waves. finally, victory. from today, any ship over 25,000 tonnes is now banned from the city's central canal. they brought significant amount of fear and hopelessness because every time we saw one of these ships coming towards us in piazza san marco, it just brought to the front of our minds just how little everybody cares about venice as world heritage and about environmental and social justice in general.

the cruise ships have been seen as symptoms of venice's over—tourism. hordes of day—trippers not the model of sustainable tourism many here want. and they've contributed to the flooding that's long plagued venice. the high tide in 2019, the worst in 50 years, inundating st mark's square and devastating homes and businesses. a new port in the nearby city of marghera will be fast—tracked for the cruise liners, but those depending on the industry are worried. translation: such a decision taken so quickly without - planning is absurd. in our opinion it is evil and a crime against the workers. �*la serenissima' venice was called — the most serene. but its beauty is fragile. the battle over who can drift through the city of water might now help preserve this jewel of civilisation. mark lowen, bbc news, rome.

let's get back to the olympics now — for a full round up of team gb's events, here's gavin at the bbc sport centre. in the last few minutes, great britain have won another gold medal, with max whitlock producing a stunning routine on the pommel horse, to retain the title he won in rio. he was first to go — and none of the others could match it. that's his third gold medal in all. another brilliant win for team gb. catch up with more on that on the bbc sport website. fantastic stuff there. charlotte worthington recovered from a fall to win gold

in the new bmx freestyle competition, confirming great britain's dominance of the sport at these games. declan brooks won bronze in the men's event, to add to the gold and silver team gb took on the track. adam wild reports. the brits are in raptures, it's a huge score! british bmx has never before reached such heights. she's smashed it! charlotte worthington on top of the world. it's the first time bmx park freestyle has been in the olympics. suddenly, it's what everyone wants to see. charlotte worthington! not so long ago, worthington was working as a restaurant chef, now her moment to deliver. on herfirst run... oh, no! ..not quite. but in this sport, riders get two chances. back in the saddle, she had another go. i think she's going for it. oh, she's got it, she's got it, ed! from then on, worthington was simply flawless, a near—perfect performance. aflairto finish! the scores, when they came, were stunning. 97.5! oh, my god! it's a huge score! now, only the american hannah roberts could come between her and gold.

this was pressure. one slip and it was all over. she's slipped a pedal! no...no! and that's it — celebration for great britain. it's kind of unreal. i'm waiting to wake up, mate. i've been dreaming about thisj for four years and is still feels like i'm dreaming four years ago, so i'm of waiting to wake up! - a second sensational gold medal for british bmx and still the men's event to come. this was declan brooks for team gb. another dazzling display — enough to take the bronze. i've just cried for the last couple of minutes. man, it's an unbelieveable journey i've had on the way here and i'm just so stoked. so a third and fourth bmx medalfor team gb, a quite remarkable week for british bmx. adam wild, bbc news. you can say that again! swimmer duncan scott has become

the first british athlete to win four medals at a single games. he now has a gold and three silvers, after the men's 4x100 metres medley relay team finished second behind the united states. the americans broke the world record to win it, caleb dressel ending his olympics with five gold medals. team gb can celebrate their best swimming haul at a games — but they were still disappointed with silver. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. hello there. not a bad afternoon. we've got plenty of dry weather today, with some good spells of sunshine but this weak weather front across the south will bring further showers and, again, some of them could be quite heavy. we've got a run of northerly winds as well across much of the country, so that will make it feel rather cool for early august, particularly around some north sea coasts. variable cloud in the north, otherwise, good sunny spells. most of the showers will be across southern england. then again, some could be heavy and thundery. top temperatures range from around 14 to 20 degrees in the south. as we head on into monday,

we've still got this ridge of high pressure, which will bring quite a bit of sunshine around but there'll still be some showers too, particularly northern ireland and then england and wales into the afternoon. again, some of them could be heavy and thundery. but mainly dry further north with variable cloud and sunny spells. those temperatures — high teens, perhaps 20 or 21 degrees. it looks pretty similar on tuesday and wednesday, sunshine and heavy showers. but then by the end of the week, it turns very unsettled with some wet and windy weather. hello this is bbc news with lukwesa burak. the headlines: another gold for team gb at the tokyo games — charlotte worthington wins a dramatic bmx park freestyle final. and in the last few minutes, gb gymnast max whitlock has retained his olympic pommel horse title. also today, young people in england are to be offered

covid jab incentives — such as discounts for takeaway food