drove his decision to drop out. it's a great honour being president. i think i have an obligation to the country to do the most important thing i can do. we must defeat trump. and moscow says it's fighting ukrainian troops on its territory, as the russian region of kursk is the scene of ukraine's cross—border incursion. hello, i'm luxmy gopal. we start with the olympics, where the sporting action has now concluded and the athletes are gathering for the closing ceremony, due to get under way in around an hour. america 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. let's join my colleague

maryam moshiri for all the latest. hello and welcome to paris. it's the final day of the olympics — can you believe it? what a brilliant few weeks it has been but, alas, the games draw to a close today with the much—anticipated closing ceremony at the stade de france. but before we say au revoir, let's take you through the results from today now that all the sport is official over. the netherlands�* sifan hassan won gold in a sprint finish to claim her third medal of the paris olympics. she set a new olympic record, in two hours 22 minutes 55 seconds. ethiopia took silver and kenya finished in bronze. in the final of the modern

pentathlon at the palace of versaille, hungary won the gold, france claimed the silver medal, much to the delight of the crowd, and south korea took the bronze. after much controversy, it's the last time equestrian showjumping will feature — in la 2028, it will be replaced with an obstacle course. team gb's emily campbell has won a bronze medal in the women's 81kg weightlifting category. 30—year—old campbell lifted a combined 288kg over the snatch and clean—and—jerk disciplines, to finish behind the defending champion from china and south korea's silver medallist. and finally, the last event of these games ended in thrilling fashion. the united states winning byjust one point over france in the women's basketball gold medal match. it's us women's eighth straight olympic gold medal. now we're not in los angeles just yet, but paris 2024 has delivered an end to competition that not even

hollywood could write. the final result in the women's gold medal basketball match came down to less than a second, half a step, and an excruciating one point for france. neck and neck for much of the game, in the final moments, needing three points to draw a tie, the french team launched the ball down to gabby williams. she took aim, ball shot for the basket — and it was good. but she was less than a step inside the three—point line. the game was over, the us victorious, 67 to 66. a thriller if ever there was one. we've been hearing from american sports reporter cheryl rae stout, who said it was one of the best games the us team has ever played. take a listen. this was really a great game. gabby williams, i know her. she was with the chicago sky and she had 19 points. she really played well. the defence on both teams was really, you know, a checkered match, you know, to figure out who's going to do what. i thought that kahleah copper

for the united states — again, somebody i know, she used to be with the chicago sky — she really was the game setter when it came to the second half. she had 12 points, she had rebounds. she forced the action. so it was a great game. and a'ja wilson, 21 points, 13 rebounds, four block shots. this was a game for the ages. i mean, it was just unbelievable. and the thing with the french, they had the crowd so much on their side. the atmosphere in there, it must have been just out of this world. the us now eight olympics in a row. is there any way to beat the us women's basketball team? i think the way all the other countries are moving up, up and up, that could happen in la. that would be interesting if it happened in la in 2028. but the thing is, with the us, they have a lot of women there. they all play in the wnba. we're going to see some of the new stars that we didn't see this time in the 2028, so it's going to be a really good challenge for them. let's talk about the men,

because the men played yesterday, and theirs was again a really amazing match, and the us men dominant at the end. you got to say steph curryjust knows how to be a moneyball winner. you know, he was hitting his three—point shots. that was really key for them. this was his first olympics. you would think all this time he's been playing in the nba, this was his first olympics — to see him do that. and of course lebronjames was named the mvp of the tournament. he's the one that coalesced all these players to decide to play for the united states instead of taking vacations. so that was a big one. and i have to compliment france — they were in both games. they were both, you know, close to being able to win those games. so it was a great, great tournament. tell me a little bit about that, because you mentioned there that lebron had to talk the others into coming to the olympics. but what did the olympics mean for these players that make so much money are so famous in the nba? what does it actually mean to them, do you think? to win that gold medal?

it must be a different feeling and must feel pretty amazing. i think once they win that medal... you know, to see brittney griner in tears after they put the medal on her and to see the men alljust, you know, just enjoying it. you know, you've got kevin durant winning his fourth gold medal. this was a big moment for him. and i think they understand that this is something special, that you can't always win this. and it takes a really group effort, because these are players you don't normally play with. and so you gotta meld your team together. you got to be able to score, you got to be able to defend and then embrace when they give you that medal. the olympics might be finishing today but of course the paralympic games start in just over two weeks�* time. there's a lot of excitement about them here in the city. joining me now is craig spence, international paralympic committee chief brand and communications officer.

iam super i am super excited about the paralympics. 28th of august two are kicking off. what can we expect? as amazing as what we have seen from the olympics? i amazing as what we have seen from the olympics?— amazing as what we have seen from the olympics? i think we can expect the olympics? i think we can expect the most spectacular _ the olympics? i think we can expect the most spectacular paralympics i the olympics? i think we can expect the most spectacular paralympics in j the most spectacular paralympics in sicily. everything is set for the wonderful games. tremendous, iconic venues, the artist will be the best prepared to have ever been, and we will see a game changer event that will see a game changer event that will at the paralympic movement on a great course for early 28. it is treat great course for early 28. it is great how _ great course for early 28. it is great how the _ great course for early 28. it is great how the movement has gone from strength to strength with every olympics. strength to strength with every ol mics. , ., ._ ,. strength to strength with every olmics. , . ,. ., , olympics. the first paralympic games were in 1960. — olympics. the first paralympic games were in 1960, and _ olympics. the first paralympic games were in 1960, and the _ olympics. the first paralympic games were in 1960, and the games - olympics. the first paralympic games were in 1960, and the games have i were in 1960, and the games have grown bigger and better every addition. this games is going to go to an estimated cumulative audience of 4.25 billion people, and 165 countries, and it is great to see. the athletic performance increases each addition. we are paralympians who will compete here as times and distances would have been good enough to win olympic medals. that

is the standard of competition we will see here. share is the standard of competition we will see here.— is the standard of competition we will see here. �* ,, ., ., will see here. are you worried about paris itself, — will see here. are you worried about paris itself, because _ will see here. are you worried about paris itself, because having - will see here. are you worried about paris itself, because having carried i paris itself, because having carried scotsman travelled around the metro, it is not as accessible as it could be in some areas.— it is not as accessible as it could be in some areas. paris is one of the worlds _ be in some areas. paris is one of the worlds most _ be in some areas. paris is one of the worlds most historic- be in some areas. paris is one of the worlds most historic and - the worlds most historic and beautiful cities, and when it was buncombe accessibility was in front of men. what the city have done here they have realised you can't change they have realised you can't change the metro in seven years and make it fully accessible, so they have focused on overgrown transport command 100% of bus lines in the city are now accessible, and there is a fit of 1000 accessible taxis to get people run. they have done what paralympians do, let's not focus on what doesn't work, let's focus on what doesn't work, let's focus on what does, and that this overground transport. the what does, and that this overground transort. . .,, . ., , what does, and that this overground transort. . . ., , , transport. the closing ceremony is happening- — transport. the closing ceremony is happening- you — transport. the closing ceremony is happening. you told _ transport. the closing ceremony is happening. you told me _ transport. the closing ceremony is happening. you told me that - transport. the closing ceremony is happening. you told me that the l transport. the closing ceremony is - happening. you told me that the same organisers are organising the opening ceremony of the paralympics. expecting something amazing? it is going to be absolutely fantastic. we are doing the ceremony outside of

the stadium. we are going to be in the stadium. we are going to be in the urban park, and we are going to have 60,000 fans in there, and on the champs—elysees. i am counting down the days until the 20th of august. i down the days until the 20th of au~ust. ~ ., i. down the days until the 20th of au~ust. ~ ., ,, ., down the days until the 20th of au.ust, ~' ., y., ., ., down the days until the 20th of au~ust. ~ ., ., ., , ,. august. i know you love all olympic sorts, august. i know you love all olympic sperts. but — august. i know you love all olympic sperts. but if _ august. i know you love all olympic sports. but if you — august. i know you love all olympic sports, but if you had _ august. i know you love all olympic sports, but if you had to _ august. i know you love all olympic sports, but if you had to pick - august. i know you love all olympic sports, but if you had to pick one i sports, but if you had to pick one that you really, really advise people to watch, we have some great stars, orwhich people to watch, we have some great stars, or which one would it be? i would probably see in the classics the men's long jump. the german long jumper as a single leg amputee, and has a world record in logic would have won every single olympic title since barcelona 92. that is how good he is. i think that is on the 6th of september. he is. i think that is on the 6th of september-— he is. i think that is on the 6th of setember. ., , ., , , .,~ ., september. lovely to speak to you, thank ou september. lovely to speak to you, thank you for— september. lovely to speak to you, thank you for talking _ september. lovely to speak to you, thank you for talking to _ september. lovely to speak to you, thank you for talking to us. - so that's the paralympics, but the sport does not end there because after the paralympics we're going from summer to winter and to milan/cortina 2026. yes, the winter olympics are only 18 months away, and i managed to catch up with the head of the winter games,

andrea varnier, at team italy house to talk about what we can expect and whether italy is ready. there's many challenges, you know, and some we probably will not even know right now. they may come and the world is changing every day. but i think for us is this new model of our games, which are, you know, spread games. we have milano, cortina for the first time, two cities, notjust one in the name of the games. and we decided since the candidature, to open up to several locations in the mountains so that we find the perfect infrastructure and also the knowledge, the experience of the single disciplines. and so our main challenge is to involve everyone at the same level, so that you find the same level of excitement and great experience for the athletes, for the spectators in milan and cortina and everywhere else. there's talk that a sliding centre could be based all the way over in lake placid, on the other side of the atlantic. i mean, there is talk of that. that must be something

that you're considering, but is it going to be fair on people who want to watch it in one area? listen, we are now building a sliding centre in cortina. the government made that decision and we really support it at this point. we are monitoring the construction and it's really going well. so we're quite optimistic that the sliding centre will be ready in cortina. and i think that's the best for the athletes. i mean, imagine the athletes being somewhere else while the their colleagues will stay at the village, such as an important experience and, and the fans and the spectators. so we really wish that the sliding centre will be in cortina, but we never know. so we were asked to look for alternative plans and lake placid is one of the potential alternative plans, but we really want them to be in cortina with the other athletes. looking ahead to milan, what lessons do you think you could learn from the winter olympics in beijing? well, listen, it's it was such a different circumstances and not only because of covid,

but also because of the culture and the relationship with the mountains. so we observe here in paris, and i think there are in many ways more similarities between italy and paris, even if it's a winter versus summer, than from italy to beijing. so we think milan, it's a big urban city, you know, with european flavours. then we have the fantastic backdrops of of the alps. so the winter games come back to the alps after three editions, far away in more different mountains. and so we think that the alps is the home of the winter sports, and we want them as a beautiful background. i want to sew your something that has dropped on instagram, the prince and princess of wales have dropped a

video congratulating the team gb athletes. as video congratulating the team gb athletes. �* ., ., , , ., athletes. a few famous faces. from all of us, congratulations _ athletes. a few famous faces. from all of us, congratulations to - athletes. a few famous faces. from all of us, congratulations to team l all of us, congratulations to team gb. ~ ., ., ., all of us, congratulations to team gb. ~ ., ., a, a, gb. well done for all you have achieved- _ gb. well done for all you have achieved. we _ gb. well done for all you have achieved. we are _ gb. well done for all you have achieved. we are so _ gb. well done for all you have achieved. we are so proud - gb. well done for all you have achieved. we are so proud ofl gb. well done for all you have - achieved. we are so proud of you, congratulations. _ achieved. we are so proud of you, congratulations. your _ achieved. we are so proud of you, i congratulations. your performances have been absolutely _ congratulations. your performances have been absolutely fantastic. - congratulations. your performances have been absolutely fantastic. you j have been absolutely fantastic. you have been absolutely fantastic. you have been absolutely fantastic. you have been amazing. thank you so much for everything. these memories will last a _ for everything. these memories will last a very— for everything. these memories will last a very long time. well for everything. these memories will last a very long time.— last a very long time. well done, team gb, _ last a very long time. well done, team gb. you — last a very long time. well done, team gb, you don't _ last a very long time. well done, team gb, you don't us _ last a very long time. well done, team gb, you don't us all- last a very long time. well done, team gb, you don't us all proud. last a very long time. well done, . team gb, you don't us all proud. all of team gb, you don't us all proud. of those legends, the sporting legends, and snoop snipped out. that any more he hasn't been over the last turn one half weeks? —— and snoop dogg. team gb have won 65 gold medals this time all in all. that takes them above the 63 entirely in tokyo. —— there 64 tara. the most we have won for quite a while. in

athletics, the one turn, and that takes us to the highest number of athletics medals that we have won since early 1984, so it has really been a good year for team since early 1984, so it has really been a good yearfor team gb since early 1984, so it has really been a good year for team gb across the board, particularly in athletics. you saw snoop dogg. he is going to be involved in some way in the closing ceremony. he is obviously an early resident, and going to be in los angeles. now let's look ahead to the next summer olympics, in la 2028. david wharton is a writer at the los angeles times. he's been following the games here in paris and says it will be a challenge for la 2028 to better paris 2024. is going to be a tough act to follow. i mean, you know, just the sheer beauty of paris and the way they've integrated the sports into the city has just been wonderful. i think la will have to, you know... they can't 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 haven't even opened yet. so i think it's going to be a different kind of games, and they're trying to make it very la. and the mayor has said that 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, you know, 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 and la is 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 there will be venues that we're expecting... the rose bowl football stadium,

dodger stadium for baseball, will be added to the list pretty soon. they have very large parking lots. i'm sure people will be driving to those and ijust, um, 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're going to be. the opening ceremony starting very shortly. we will have all the latest from that here from paris. here in england, the funeral has taken place for the first of three young girls fatally stabbed at a taylor swift dance class in the town of southport. the service for nine—year—old alice dasilva 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 lamp posts 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 adventure was a privilege. we cherished 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. let's turn to the war in ukraine and the country's cross—border offensive. russia says its army will deliver a "tough response" and appears to have 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 been quoted as saying thousands of its troops are taking part in the kursk incursion,

now in its sixth day. he said the aim was to destabilise russia and "inflict maximum losses". overnight, at least two people were killed near kyiv as russia carried out missile and drone attacks in six regions of ukraine. gordon corera reports. the russian flag is torn down and thrown on the ground, while that of ukraine rises in its place. for the first time since the second world war, russia has found its own territory invaded and occupied. in a move which caught moscow by surprise, ukraine has in the past week sent tanks and thousands of troops across the border, leaving destruction in their wake, an operation its president acknowledged for the first time last night. translation: i received several reports from commander in - chief syrskyii regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war onto the aggressor�*s territory. i am grateful to every unit of the defence forces, ensuring that ukraine is proving

that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor. tens of thousands of russians are now being hurriedly evacuated from the areas close to where ukraine is operating. some expressed shock and anger at their government for allowing this to happen. a stern faced vladimir putin met his top officials last week, and he has described the attack as a major provocation. this operation is a bold and maybe even risky gamble by ukraine. they've sent some of their best forces into russia here, you can see it in yellow. some are reported to be operating 20 miles over the border. the idea seems to be to force russia to respond by shifting its forces away from the front lines inside ukraine, here in red, where moscow has recently been making advances. but it's not clear if ukraine simply wants to strike a psychological blow or really plans to try

and hold the territory. russia's ministry of defence says it is repelling the attack. it's issued these pictures of ukrainian tanks being hit, although we've not been able to independently verify them. and overnight, ukraine said missiles fired by russia hitjust east of its capital, kyiv, killing two. but an intercepted ukrainian missile also fell on a russian apartment building in the city of kursk, injuring 15. that's another sign that a war launched by vladimir putin on ukraine is dramatically reaching into russia. gordon corera, bbc news. let's turn to the us now and the race for the white house. joe biden has given his first television interview since ending his re—election campaign three weeks ago. appearing on cbs news's sunday morning programme, the us president said the importance of defeating republican nominee donald trump had driven his historic decision to end his race

for the white house. well, look, the polls we had showed that it was a neck and neck race. it would have been down to the wire. but what happened was, a number of my democratic colleagues in the house and senate thought that i was going to hurt them in the races, and i was concerned if i stayed in the race, that would be the topic. you'd be interviewing me about, "why did nancy pelosi say... "why did so...?" and i thought it would be a real distraction, number one. number two, when i ran the first time, i thought of myself as being a transition president. i can't even say how old i am. it's hard for me to get out of my mouth. and...but things got moving so quickly it didn't happen. and the combination was that i thought it was a critical issue for me — still is, not a joke — maintaining this democracy,

but i thought it was important because, although it is a great honour being president, i think i have an obligation to the country to do the most important thing to do, and that is we must, we must, we must defeat trump. north america correspondentjenny kumah sastoe biden spoke more about why he stepped down. it's three weeks since he made that announcement that he was stepping out of the race. a few days later, he addressed the nation from the oval office. but his address was widely criticised for not actually explaining why he was stepping down. he did make limited reference to it, saying it was time to pass the torch to the new generation, that nothing came in the way of saving democracy, and that includes personal ambition. but today's interview

was significant because he addressed it more directly. he admitted he was becoming a distraction, that calls for him to stand down were dominating the headlines, and that members of his own party felt that he was going to damage the campaign. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. it's been a very warm day today for all of us, but tomorrow some parts of the country could get even hotter. and i'll show you where in a moment. it won't be for northern areas, because here tonight and tomorrow morning we've got the threat of heavy rain, thunder, lightning and even some large hail that could bring some disruption. further south, where it's going to be dry, well, this is where we've got the core of the heat and high humidity. and tomorrow afternoon in cambridgeshire, perhaps, temperatures could reach 35 degrees. that'll easily be the hottest

day of the year so far through this evening and the first part of the night, many places still dry with clear skies. fewer thundery showers are beginning to break out, running northwards, but the really wet weather, gusty winds, thunder and lightning sweeps into northern ireland later in the night and towards western scotland by tomorrow morning. eastern scotland a little bit cooler the rest of the uk. it's an uncomfortably warm and muggy night for sleeping, but we soon see the back of the rain from northern ireland. sunny skies follow. this heavy rain and thunderstorms pushes across scotland, perhaps northern england. to clear away during the afternoon, with some sunshine following on behind. further south, the threat of storms is much, much lower. there'll be a lot of sunshine around, and this is where we've got the core of the heat and humidity. midlands, parts of eastern england, temperatures in many places getting over 30 degrees. further west and further north, things are going to be quite a bit cooler and it will feel fresher, particularly after all that wet weather sweeps through. now this sudden surge in the heat has come up from spain and from france.

but all that heat is getting pushed eastwards across europe this week, and even the whole of western europe will turn cooler over the coming few days as we get atlantic winds arriving as well. and those atlantic winds are steering in this weather system from the atlantic. that area of low pressure actually contains a little bit of what's left of tropical storm debbie. that brought all the rain in the eastern side of the us. we're going to see some lighter, more patchy rain coming into western areas on tuesday, the winds picking up a bit as well. but ahead of that rain, the midlands and eastern england still dry, still sunny, not as hot or as humid as monday, but it is going to be a very warm day on tuesday. but after that noisy start to the week, with all those thunderstorms and heavy rain, and the heat and humidity, things get back to normal. the temperatures gradually slip away over the rest of the week, but it's still unsettled.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a funeral has been held for alice da silva aguiar — one of three young girls killed in a knife attack in southport. hundreds of mourners gathered near st patrick's catholic church in the town to celebrate the life of the nine—year—old. presidentjoe biden has given his first television interview since ending his re—election campaign three weeks ago. he told cbs news that the importance

of defeating donald trump had driven his historic decision to end his race for the white house. russia says its armed forces will deliver a "tough response" to ukraine's incursion into its western kursk region. the comment came as the ukrainian army forged ahead on day six of its surprise ground offensive. and the united states women's basketball team beat hosts, france, to win the last gold medal at the paris olympics — putting them top of the medals table. now on bbc news, let's stick with that subject and go to sportsday. hello and welcome along to sportsday on the final day of paris 2024. i'm ben croucher. coming up: a great day for emily in paris, as campbell secures team gb's 65th and final medal of the games.