welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm arunoday mukharji. lets get you the headlines. the biggest prisoner exchange between russia and the west since the cold war era. among those released, wall streetjournal reporter evan gershkovich. hezbollah accuses israel of "crossing all red lines" after the killing of a top hezbollah commander in beirut and the political head of hamas. another slice of sporting history for simone biles, as she picks up her sixth olympic gold. and we will hear from a witness to the titan submersible disaster that gripped the world in june 2023. rory golden tells the bbc about the fear and false hope felt by those on its support ship.

hello, and welcome to the programme. starting with the story we've been tracking over the last few hours — the biggest prisoner swap since the cold war has taken place between russia and the west. those who've been freed include the wall streetjournal reporter evan gershkovich, and the former us marine paul whelan, as well as prominent kremlin critics and anti—war campaigners. several of those released by the west back to russia have links with intelligence agencies. this report from our russia editor steve rosenberg in moscow. he was out ofjail but not free, yet. reporter evan gershkovich and former us marine paul whelan. he'd spent more than five years in a russian prison. but this was the start of their journey to freedom.

along with other prisoners to be swapped, they were flown to ankara airport in turkey and the stage was set for the largest prisoner swap since the cold war. those moscow had released went one way. the russians they'd been exchanged for boarded their plane home. the swap involved 26 people being held in seven different countries. as well as evan gershkovich and paul whelan, moscow freed us russian journalist alsu kurmasheva. also, prominent kremlin critics, including vladimir kara—murza, oleg orlov and ilya yashin. and an anti—war artist, sasha skochilenko. swapped, among others, for this man — convicted assassin vadim krasikov, identified by german officials as a russian agent. to set up a prisoner swap... evan gershkovich�*s boss says she is overjoyed to see her reporter free, but...

it feels all wrong to be trading people who are entirely innocent for, you know, a convicted criminal, an assassin, but, you know, we wanted our man back. paul whelan wanted his freedom, you know, understandably. so i think it puts governments in an impossible position. flanked by relatives of the freed americans, at the white house, president biden gave his reaction. it says a lot about the united states that we work relentlessly to free americans who are unjustly held around the world, but it also says a lot about us that this deal includes the release of russian political prisoners. they stood up for democracy, human rights, their own leaders threw them in prison. the united states helped secure their release as well. america accuses moscow ofjailing us citizens to trade them for russians jailed abroad. for the families and friends of evan gershkovich,

paul whelan and dissidents like vladimir kara—murza, this is a moment to celebrate. but keep in mind — for the kremlin, it's mission accomplished. it got what it wanted. it got its agents back. for moscow, the takeaway from all of this will be that hostage diplomacy works and that means we are likely to see more of it, more prisoners here being used as bargaining chips. tonight, president putin gave a heroes' welcome to the returning russians — among them, spies and sleeper agents. he clearly thinks he got a good deal. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. kurt volker is the former us ambassador to nato. he gave me his take on the prisoner swap. this is a deliberate tactic by putin to take hostages, then trade them for genuine intelligence officers, assassins, and criminals, and so forth.

so that's what he's done here, and he's done it successfully, and i think he feels good about it. and that means he's likely to keep up this pattern of behaviour — that's the big takeaway and the big problem. now, that said, i think this was the right thing to do because we saw what happened to navalny injail, in russia — that could very well have happened to vladimir kara—murza, could very well have happened to any of the americans being held hostage, as well. so it was probably time to do this, from a western perspective. now, the interesting question is from putin's perspective — why was it time to do this? this is right in the middle of the us presidential election campaign, kamala harris is trying to shore up her position. this is a win for the biden administration, and it makes you wonder what it is that is causing putin to do this now? right, and ambassador, the point that steve also mentioned in his report that the takeaway is hostage diplomacy works, and we might see more of that — then what does this mean for western journalists

or activists operating in russia? do they face an increased risk, given they are ammunition for future prisoner swaps? absolutely, my message to them would be, don't operate in russia. this is not a normal place. one of the interesting things about this prisoner exchange thatjust took place — if you can call it that — is that, in some cases, this was russians being traded for russians. you have russians who committed crimes that the kremlin wanted back. you have russians who just spoke their mind, who were exercising some freedom of speech in russia, who were imprisoned, and they're being released to the west. so, this is not a normal society, i would not trust being there if i were a journalist at all. it must have been a mammoth process — how complex are these kind of negotiations, and how much coordination and time would something like this have taken, you'd say? yeah, well, the big question is, what does putin want and how much is he willing to pay to get what he wants?

and in this case, it was clear what he wanted was the fsb killer who was in germany, and getting him back. we had an earlier release of some prisoners, but paul whelan and evan gershkovich were not among them — so obviously that's what we wanted. so, we wanted to get them included, we wanted to get some of the russian dissidents included, and then, the price started going up. ok, you have the german—held fsb colonel, then they wanted some from the united states, they wanted some intelligence officers held in a variety of other countries — this is clearly something the biden administration worked to co—ordinate. but we ended up paying a fairly significant price to get our people back. israel says it's received intelligence that confirms the head of the military wing of hamas was killed in gaza last month. the israelis targeted mohammed deif in a strike on a compound

in the khan younis area on 13 july. another hamas senior figure — the group's political leader, ismail haniyeh — will be buried later in qatar on friday, two days after he was killed in a strike in tehran. hamas's armed wing said the death of haniyeh will have major repercussions. meanwhile in lebanon, the head of hezbollah said the battle with israel has entered a new stage, after it killed a top hezbollah military commander. our correspondent nick beake has this update from beirut. well, this was the first reaction we've had from hassan nasrallah, the head of hezbollah. and he was speaking today to mourners via a video link—up at the funeral of one of his top commanders, who was killed on tuesday evening in a southern suburb, here in beirut. and the message was that this was a strike that was completely unacceptable, that israel had carried out an assassination — but also that civilians had

been killed, including two children. he said what had happened really has raised the temperature in the middle east and taken the conflict to what he described as "a new level". he also spoke about the killing this week, just a few hours later in iran, of the head of the political wing of hamas. and the killing of ismail haniyeh has certainly been a significant development. he said that the two killings — assassinations — will really provoke a very strong reaction from iran, which of course backs both hezbollah here in lebanon, and also hamas, too. we didn't get any indication as to what the response will be — but certainly, lebanon's neighbours have been talking about the need to really lower the temperature at the moment. the united states, as well, saying that there's a real fear that things could escalate, and that no—one wants to see a wider war in the middle east. so lots of people, i think, concerned about what happens in the coming days. there has been this tit—for—tat

over the past ten months between hezbollah and israel — will this escalate further in the days to come? alissa pavia is associate director of north africa programme at the atlantic council. she gave me some clarity on the potential for widening clashes in the region. the potential for repercussions and for escalation in the region really, at this point, largely depend on the way in which iran decides to respond. we know for a fact that iran will respond — it will respond in the next 48—72 hours — because the iran supreme leader, ali khamenei, has made that announcement. and iran has to respond, because it has to show that it is still a power in the region that can defend itself and can defend its proxies. however, it's not a question of if it responds, but the manner in which it responds.

iran does have the capability of hitting key military and civilian infrastructure in israel. the question is really whether it wants to do so, because if it does, then that will lead to a wider repercussion, wider escalation in the region. and if you know, past iranian actions can give us any indication as to where this will lead, we can expect iran to strike in a more contained manner. so if we think of the barrage, the missile barrage from april that iran sent to israel as a response to israel killing half a dozen of his top military commanders in damascus — that barrage, while it was spectacular in its form, did very little damage to israel. and so, it did showcase that iran is not ready for an all—out regional war. and alissa, given the current circumstances and as you outlined the risks

of repercussions, then how are you seeing any possible efforts of trying to renew negotiations to work towards that ceasefire deal — something that the us has also been putting pressure on israel about? well, right now we're in negotiations are, of course, completely stalled, because ismail haniyeh was the top military commander and political commander of hamas that was in charge of negotiating, negotiating a ceasefire deal. however, at some point or another, those negotiations for a ceasefire talk will have to resume. and it is clear that israel's main ally, which is the united states, has made it very clear that they do not want a regional escalation. biden right now cannot afford a regional escalation. we're a few months away from the new presidential elections in the united states —

and so there will be pressure from all sides, including from the emirati and the qataris, to continue and to resume those negotiations. news from the ongoing tensions in venezuela now — where opposition leader, maria corina machado, says she's in hiding, fearing for her life after nicolas maduro declared victory in sunday's disputed election. in an op—ed for the wall street journal, miss machado claimed that the opposition candidate, edmundo gonzalez, won the vote. the venezuelan opposition leader has called for supporters to mobilize against president nicolas maduro, after he vowed to hold on to power following sunday's disputed election. in the uk, the 17—year—old boy charged with murdering three girls and attempting to murder ten others in southport has appeared in court in liverpool. he can now be named as axel muganwa rudakubana — after the judge lifted reporting restrictions. it's understood that the teenager from lancashire has a diagnosis of autism

spectrum disorder and has at time refused to leave his house. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford was in court. sirens blare three days after the horrifying mass stabbing in southport, the police�*s only suspect, axel rudakubana, was brought to court in a white custody van. accompanied by two police cars, three riot vans and several other vehicles, he was driven to the main court complex in liverpool, where the road was briefly closed. dozens of other officers were providing extra security because of tuesday night's riot in southport. the first hearing in the youth court lasted about five minutes. 17—year—old axel rudakubana, who at that stage still could not be named, was wearing a police issued grey tracksuit made of a sweatshirt material. apart from a brief glance at the press benches,

he kept his face covered at all times. throughout the hearing, because of the defendant's young age, the districtjudge spoke to him using only his first name, axel. as well as being charged with murder and attempted murder, he is also charged with possessing a kitchen knife with a curved blade. at a second hearing in the crown court an hour later, judge andrew menary kc lifted the legal restrictions, saying that "in the public interest, axel rudakubana should be publicly named". the young girls he's accused of murdering at monday's taylor swift—themed dance class are six—year—old bebe king, seven—year—old elsie dot stancombe, and nine—year—old alice dasilva aguiar. he's accused of attempting to murder the class organiser, leanne lucas, john hayes, who had rushed to help, and eight other young girls who can't be named because of court reporting restrictions. whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation,

this remains very much a live investigation, and we continue to work with our partners from lancashire police and counter terrorism policing north west. axel rudakubana, seen here in old photos, was born in cardiff but grew up in southport and went to local schools. it's understood he has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, and has at times refused to leave the house. for the last seven years, he'd been living in this close in the village of banks, just outside southport, with his parents, who were originally from rwanda. as he was driven from court, angry bystanders shouted at the van. he'll be held in youth detention accommodation at least until his 18th birthday next week. his next court appearance will be a plea hearing on october 25th. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are live with bbc news. the director general of the bbc, tim davie, has defended the decision not to sack the former news presenter huw edwards — despite knowing he'd been arrested last november over the most serious category of images of child abuse. huw edwards pleaded guilty yesterday to three counts of making indecent images of children. tim davie said it would be "legally challenging" to recover money paid to him since his arrest, but that they would look at all options. here's david sillito. mind your backs, please! mind your backs! huw edwards' guilty plea relating to the most serious category of images of child sexual abuse raises questions for the bbc. its director—general tim davie was told of edwards' arrest in november, but continued to pay him for another five months. yesterday, the bbc said it was shocked, but you knew

about this in november of last year when huw edwards was arrested, you knew it related to child abuse, and you didn't sack him. why? well, we were very shocked. that's the first thing i want to say, which is, no one knew about the specifics of what we heard over the last few days, which has been deeply disturbing. 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. you were worried about the welfare of huw edwards. what about the welfare of the children?

well, we're absolutely... you know, the primary thoughts here are always for victims of these terrible situations. so why notjust sack him? because, quite simply, the police came to us and said, look, we need to do our work in total confidence. it would have been still confidential and you could have sacked him. i think you're then into a different argument, which is, is it fair to sack someone, and is it the right action at that... you had a raft of complaints about him. you had the sun story and you had this. when the police... you know, if you think about this in terms of precedent, people do get arrested, and then we've had situations where no charges, and there's nothing there to be followed up on. in this case, we knew it was serious. we knew no specifics, by the way. those specifics — images sent to edwards by convicted paedophile, 25—year—old alex williams from merthyr tydfil. several of the worst level of child abuse. huw edwards, meanwhile, has a large bbc pension and earned

£200,000 in the months after his arrest. we can't claw back pension. i think when it comes to pay, again, legally challenging, but we'll look at all options. in relation to huw edwards, look, i'm shocked and appalled, i'm sure, as everybody is in relation to this. the prime minister. the government's also been asking questions today. huw edwards — what did people know? what did they do? david sillito, bbc news. let's turn to the olympics — and simone biles has cemented her place as one of the world's greatest ever gymnasts. she won the all—around gymnastics title — for her second gold at paris — and her sixth overall. the american won the title at rio 2016, and had been the favourite at tokyo 2020 before she pulled out. she's become the oldest winner of her sport's blue—riband event for 72 years. staying at the olympics — and a dream ending has

eluded sir andy murray, as defeat in the doubles' quarterfinals brings his tennis career to a close. he and his team gb partner, dan evans, lost in straight sets to the americans, taylor fritz and tommy paul. after the match, murray was applauded by the crowd as he raised his arms in farewell in the centre of the court. the titan submersible disaster injune 2023 gripped the world for days, everyone hoping that the five people on board would return to the surface safe and sound. knocking sounds were heard that were thought to possibly be coming from the oceangate sub, but hopes were dashed when titan's wreckage was found. rory golden was on the mothership at the surface. our science editor rebecca morelle spoke to him before he set sail on the first expedition to the titanic wreck site since the submersible disaster. when contact was lost. a service held at sea above the wreck of the titanic to remember the 1,500 lives lost in the 1912 maritime

disaster, but also those who died on board the titan submersible injune last year. the sub was attempting to visit the wreck when contact was lost. rory golden was on the surface ship, anxiously waiting. when the sub was overdue, we weren't unduly concerned because communications break down a lot in the ocean. but when the alarm was finally raised, that's when we realised that there was some serious issues. a major search and rescue operation was launched, but a few days in, banging sounds were detected underwater, raising hope these were coming from the missing sub. it wasn't the case. titan had imploded just hours into its dive. we lived in false hope forfour days, you know, and the one redeeming thing that we can say is that at least we know they didn't suffer, because we had this image in our heads of them being down there, running out of oxygen in the freezing cold, getting terribly frightened and scared. that was actually quite more frightening than the fact that we didn't know that they had died instantly.

those who perished were british explorer hamish harding, the british—pakistani businessman shahzada dawood and his son sulaiman, french diver ph nargeolet and stockton rush, the ceo of oceangate who owned the sub. rory was a close friend of ph nargeolet. i was one of the last to see him. he left the ship in great spirit and great form, and he was happy. he was going to somewhere that he wanted to be. a plaque is being laid to honour ph. rory had also visited the titanic on the titan sub. i made a dive two years ago when i was on the oceangate expeditions. and i'm here, you know, as are many others. that titan had made 15 dives to the titanic up to that point. so it had worked. what do you think now about going in the sub? do you wish you hadn't or do you... no, i don't wish that at all.

it wasn't my time. life is precious. and i got a second chance. because you never know when your time is going to come. and that certainly brought that home to all of us. when the wreckage of titan was finally found, rory and those waiting on the ship knew all hope was gone. we all cried when the remains were found of the sub, you know? and a special bond has been formed between all of us, all those who were on the ship that week, you know? and that's a bond that will always be there. industry experts had raised many questions about the safety of the sub, and an investigation is still ongoing. it's likely to call for changes to ensure such a tragedy doesn't happen again. rebecca morelle, bbc news, providence, rhode island. that's all the time we have for now, remember ourtop that's all the time we have for now, remember our top story remains that biggest prisoner exchange between russia in the west — and there is life reporting being posted on the

bbc news website. that's all for now, thanks for watching. hello there. thursday was another day of heat and humidity, particularly across central and southern wales, where we saw temperatures widely into the high—20s. but temperatures did peak in wisley, surrey, and bournemouth at 30 celsius once again. it did, however, come at a price, this heat and humidity — because, through the afternoon, we saw a cluster of sharp, thundery downpours moving their way eastwards. now, they started off across south wales, then steadily pushed their way east. there were quite slow—moving because the winds pretty light, and they brought a lot of heavy rain in a short space of time. those sharp, thundery downpours still continuing to drift their way eastwards during the early hours of friday, but they will clear away. clearer skies behind — sign of a change to come on friday, with more cloud and rain gathering in the far northwest. but friday will start off on a warm, sultry

note in the southeast — 17 celsius to greet us first thing in the morning — and still the risk of a few sharp showers easing away from east anglia. but the real change will come with this area of low pressure, up into the northwest — it will gradually introduce stronger winds, more cloud, and eventually some rain. so, we start off with a few scattered showers across east anglia, slowly brightening up and warming up once again — another warm, humid day here. but heavier rain developing into northern ireland, northwest scotland as the afternoon progresses. it may well stay relatively dry across eastern parts of scotland. temperatures in scotland and northern ireland 16—21 celsius — but a warm, sultry afternoon across eastern england, with highs of 27 celsius. somewhat fresher conditions will arrive as we move into the weekend because, as this front — a cold front — sinks south and east, it will introduce slightly less humid air. but there is still a risk of a cloudy start across parts of england and wales, and a line of sharp,

thundery downpours moving their way south and east. behind it, brighter conditions, a few scattered showers into the northwest — and saturday, not quite as warm right across the country, ranging from 15—24 celsius. and that trend is going to continue into the week ahead. temperatures perhaps back to where they should be for this time of year. there will be more in the way of rain around but, all in all for some, still some good dry, usable weather. take care.

a results. in the bank of england pulls the trigger on the first interest rate cut in four years. welcome to business today. it wasn't a good day on wall street. the report cards of text —— tech giants amazon... michelle fleury has more.