the gb rowing squad — ellen buttrick making her paralympic debut with the mixed coxed four and laurence whiteleyooking to defend the gold he won in the mixed double scull in rio. congratulations press pop. he must be thrilled. this is your oppressed paralympics. has quite sunk in yet? now. it's been a long time coming. sojust really now. it's been a long time coming. so just really excited to get out there. �* , ., , so just really excited to get out there. �*, ., , , so just really excited to get out there. �*, ., i, , .,, so just really excited to get out there. it's only seven years since he been diagnosed _ there. it's only seven years since he been diagnosed with - there. it's only seven years since he been diagnosed with your - there. it's only seven years since he been diagnosed with your eyej he been diagnosed with your eye condition. so how extraordinary does appeal to you it to be getting on that plane to tokyo? it’s appeal to you it to be getting on that plane to tokyo?— that plane to tokyo? it's a bit of an overwhelming _ that plane to tokyo? it's a bit of an overwhelming feeling. -

at the rowing lake, laurence whiteley celebrated his 30th birthday by retaining his double sculls titlefour also took gold. in thejudo, meanwhile, there was gold for chris skelley, the world number one, living up to his billing. but there is one sport above all at the paralympics that makes an impact. wheelchair rugby has been described by one former player as chess with violence. britain had never previously won a medal in it. but in the final against the usa, they produced a display of brutal brilliance. 0h, terrific move! powering their way to victory and to history. a golden moment for british para—sport on another golden day. and i can tell you that in the last few minutes there has been another gold for britain in the equestrian team event, so seven gold medals for britain today. now 23 medals in total. britain second in the medals table behind china, and that medal tallyjust keeps on growing, joanna. excellent. thank you very much, andy. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 6.35pm this evening. i hope you have a good a

and it's gold for laurence whiteley and lauren rowles in the mixed double sculls — we'll get reactionecades. in recent days, more than 15,000 people have been evacuated by the raf. british nationals and afghans who had worked with the uk, along with their families. but hundreds who wanted to get out have been left behind. i don't think there's a certain person in kabul orfrom her majesty's government who could have given more the last two or two and half weeks. the effort has been truly humbling. to see the exhaustion on peoples faces we have tried our best. we have absolutely tried our best. we have absolutely tried our best. sadly, it has not closed the graph that should not take away from the pride in what we've achieved. —— close the gap. it was 2001 in the aftermath of 9/11 that the first british troops arrived in afghanistan, part of a us—led mission. one of the first objectives, to oust the taliban from power. 20 years on, it's the islamist group who are still calling the shots. but in an open letter to troops this weekend, the prime minister said the uk's involvement in afghan