particular issue. on a couple of fronts, nigel farage is - particular issue. on a couple of fronts, nigel farage is under . particular issue. on a couple of. fronts, nigel farage is under real pressure, underfire from his political opponents and battling to defend his party attic list, and values. nigel farage was asked yesterday about comments made about three his —— made by three of his palmetto candidate sally said yesterday he wouldn't want anything to do with them, and a spokesman for reform uk has confirmed that vardy has dropped those three candidates. however,... not entirely discerning them, saying they are there on the ballot but legally they cannot be removed from the ballot paper so they will still be standing under they will still be standing under the reform uk banner but as i said, these are really dreadful headlines for mr farage. while he loves courting controversy, making waves, he doesn't want to be explaining, i think, the words of candidates and activists face close to polling day. is there anything more we can say about what they said? ida. is there anything more we can say about what they said?— is there anything more we can say about what they said? no, not at the moment, about what they said? no, not at the moment. we — about what they said? no, not at the moment. we can _ about what they said? no, not at the moment, we can talk _ about what they said? no, not at the moment, we can talk about - about what they said? no, not at the moment, we can talk about the - moment, we can talk about the channel 4 moment, we can talk about the channel a documentary which is another dimension of the story. reform uk continues to insist that andrew parker, who was heard making a racial slur against the prime minister as well as making other racist remarks, reform uk are continuing to insist that he was a setup, ringo, an actor, that it was staged, and reform uk has britain to the electoral commission this afternoon complaining about that. channel 4 emphatically stand by theirjournalism. we channel 4 emphatically stand by theirjournalism._ channel 4 emphatically stand by theirjournalism. their “ournalism. we are going to look theirjournalism. we are going to look at some _ theirjournalism. we are going to look at some of the _ theirjournalism. we are going to look at some of the background i theirjournalism. we are going to. look at some of the background as some of the reaction from the other parties. let's take a look at this report from my colleague damien galacticos. i've always been a tory voter... still causing reverberations, the undercover filming from channel 4 of reform uk canvassers. one suggested gay people were paedophiles. another, this man, andrew parker, suggested people crossing the channel in small boats should be shot at, and used a racist insult to describe the prime minister. the leader of reform uk, nigel farage. applause. it's put the spotlight on nigel farage. last night, he claimed mr parker was an actor, and it was a setup. this was a comedy act, - it was designed to hurt us, and sadly, sadly, - some people believe it. let me promise you... so who do you think would have done this, nigel farage? i want nothing to do. with people like him, and he is nothing to do with us. but there were more questions about three of his candidates and comments they'd made. live on air, mr farage appeared to disown them, saying he wanted nothing to do with them. rishi sunak has already condemned the comments made about him, describing them as shocking. he said he wanted to call out blatant racism when he saw it, and added there were clearly deep, deep problems in mr farage's party. nice to see you. the labour leader was out meeting veterans this morning for armed forces day. he said he shared rishi sunak�*s disgust at the racism, and he said it was not good enough that mr farage had condemned the comment after the event. leadership, mr starmersaid, was about setting the culture and standards for your party. well, i am concerned about populism and nationalism, and i think in a time where in our country and across the world there are increasing challenges of every variety, the like of which we haven't seen until recent years, it's very important we have a progressive answer to those challenges. it all means that there is now increasing scrutiny are nigel farage, his party, his canvassers, his candidates and his leadership. damian grammaticas reporting there. damien —— ben is dealt with me. i guess the question is how much this will make an impact on reform uk in this election, given they were seen to be picking up support in the opinion polls. to be picking up support in the opinion polls-— opinion polls. reform uk did electrify the _ opinion polls. reform uk did electrify the early _ opinion polls. reform uk did electrify the early days - opinion polls. reform uk did electrify the early days of. opinion polls. reform uk did| electrify the early days of this campaign, particularly when nigel farage went on the stage and spotted an opportunity and announced in the leader and then candidate in this election. i made it certainly start to grow in the polls, i think that has flatlined a little bit in the last week or so, they may have hit a ceiling, certainly in terms of the polling. but i think it is undeniable he doesn't really want this sort of scrutiny now about his party. i think what is also interesting is that in the early stages of this campaign, the conservatives, who see themselves very much in the target of nigel farage, and nigel farage hopes to hoover up lows of conservative voters in this election and help position himself as a major voice in the right of british politics,. until now, i think they have tiptoed around him and been reluctant to criticise his party and people who support him but in the last few hours, led by rishi sunak and led by other cabinet ministers, we have seen them go for him, we have seen them turn their strategy towards attack, and we will see what difference that makes. test your voice before _ difference that makes. test your voice before election _ difference that makes. test your voice before election night, - difference that makes. test your l voice before election night, you've got a busy week ahead. let's stay with more on the uk election. the liberal democrats are on theirfinal tour of the country — a five—day journey from john o'groats in northern scotland, to lands end in the south—west of england. lib dem leader sir ed davey�*s first visit of the day was to st andrews. he's been playing the highland game of shinty at the university ground in north east fife and has been talking about the lib dems' prospects in scotland. the lib dems leader is in edinburgh and so is our political respondent nash correspondent tom simon. turf moor what is happening. ed davey is learning a bit of spin today, not political spin on this occasion, we are told he will be going through a range of different circus skills in this lovely outdoor environment not far from edinburgh. it is the second of his three visits today, the third also in scotland, very much concentrating on the seats that the liberal democrats have to hold onto in scotland. the reason i say have to hold onto rather than perhaps concentrating on winning more seats from the conservatives is that they think the boundary changes in scotland have affected their charges in the forces they have —— chances. so they have to campaign to try to make sure they make sure they hold onto those seats. this is part of a five—day trip through the united kingdom, right from john o'groats where we were last night down to land then. and he's going to be hitting the constituency is the liberal democrats are really concentrating on. they have been criticised for not doing enough in the north of england. they say they would have loved to have stopped him the lake district of cumbria and yorkshire but this is a tightly scheduled set of visits on the liberal democrat battle bus. what has he been talking about today? well, he has talked a little bit about defence. we asked him early on armed forces day, when the liberal democrats could commit to increasing defence spending to 2.5% of gdp, gross domestic product, and he said he couldn't give a date. other parties are giving dates. he said it would be ridiculous for a party in a position to commit that level on funding in advance without even seeing the national finances. funding in advance without even seeing the nationalfinances. but funding in advance without even seeing the national finances. but of course the liberal democrats are unlikely to end up in government so what this is all about is getting them attention, getting them the attention of the electorate, being sure that they know ed davey is a person, he has portrayed himself as somebody who is up for a bit of fun but has serious policy to back that up, that is why the stunts keep coming one after another and will be another week. thank you very much for the moment. the leader of the scottish national party, john swinney, has been campaigning in glasgow today. swinney said his party would tackle child poverty and austerity. he raised concerns about the level of support for the labour party and said snp mps would be able to hold the party accountable in parliament, should it win government. to keep 100,000 children in scotland out of poverty. and we want to do more. but the way we do more is by ending austerity. and the labour party has made it crystal clear, they're going to keep on with tory austerity. where the tories left off, labour will take up. and we've got to make sure in this election that we elect snp mps to westminster who will protect the scottish interest, who will rail against austerity, who will take the action to address the cost of living crisis and make sure, as my modest bus says, there is a future made in scotland for scotland. that is what snp mps will deliver if they are elected to the house of commons. and there is nobody finer is a representative of that idea and that outlook than alison thewliss who has led our campaign against the two child limit. so, remember in the next few days, there is going to be a labour prime minister but he's a labour prime minister that will be carrying on the tory agenda of austerity and the tory agenda of the two child limit. and we've got to have snp mps in westminster to make sure that's brought to a halt. and if you want to see a list of the candidates standing in the seat, you candidates standing in the seat, you can see them up there. and of course any constituency that you are interested in, you can see the constituency candidates standing just by going to the bbc website, if you put in the name of the seat you have an interest in, all of the people standing for every party will be available there. president biden has come under more pressure to stand down from the race for the white house, with an editorial in the influential new york times newspaper, calling on him to drop out, saying it's in the best interests of america. it followed his widely criticised performance in thursday's tv debate with donald trump when he stumbled over words, and at times seemed to lose track of what he was saying. mr biden remains defiant. at his first campaign rally since the debate, he told supporters in north carolina that the us itself was at stake in november's election, calling his opponent a genuine threat to democracy. directly addressing concerns about his age, mr biden told the rally he'd been knocked down but would get back up. our north america correspondent david willis reports. fired up by a faithful crowd, joe biden took to the stage in the swing state of north carolina, seemingly unfazed by the torrent of bad headlines his disjointed debate performance had generated. i don't debate as well as i used to. but i know what i do know! i know how to tell the truth. crowd: yes! he seemed for all the world like a new man, reading from the teleprompter with a passion that had been all too absent the night before. gentlemen, thanks so much for being here. let's begin the debate. let's start... it was a far cry from the rasping and rambling performance on the debate stage that was all too often painful to watch. everything we had to do with... what... if... we finally beat medicare. it has left his party in a state of crisis. yet despite rumblings about replacing their candidate, publicly, at least, democrats are circling the wagons. referring to his own lacklustre performance in the presidential debate in 2012, joe biden�*s former boss barack obama tweeted... "bad debate nights happen. trust me, i know". despite being just three years younger thanjoe biden, donald trump has consistently condemned his rival as too old to be re—elected. but addressing supporters in virginia, he said the question was less one of age and more one of competence. the question everybody should be asking themselves today is not whetherjoe biden can survive a 90—minute debate performance but whether america can survive four more years of crooked joe biden in the white house? crowd: boo! and the calls for joe biden to pull out of the presidential race are growing. this, the headline in an editorial in the new york times, which goes on to declare... "mr biden is not the man he was four years ago". i don't think so. the word from the biden camp is that their candidate has no intention whatsoever of pulling out of the race. much may depend on how he fares going forward and what the opinion polls make of his debate performance. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. plenty more on our website. let's get a little break from the news. now it's time for a look at today's sport with paul. we're entering the business end of euro 2024 as the knockout stage begins later, with two round of 16 matches coming up. both the hosts and the defending champions will be looking to reach the quarterfinals. italy, who won the title in 2021, take on switzerland in the first game of the day. they meet in berlin — while germany's game with denmark is in dortmund. germany are unbeaten, but needed a stoppage time equaliser to resuce a point in their final group game against switzerland, meanwhile denmark will be looking to channel the spirit of 1992 when they beat germany in the final. a lot has been said about 1992, especially in denmark, it is a part of growing up that you learn about that particular samba. the big story back then was that denmark was quite an outsider, hadn't even qualified for the tournament. we have, i think we have a good team, but there is no doubt that for anything special to happen, we would have to be a bit of an upset. it is a mentality that we embrace. we would like to tease the favourites and obviously germany will be strong favourites here in front of their home cloud. manchester united have confirmed that goalkeeper mary earps will leave the club following the end of her contract, coming just days after captain katie zelem's departure was announced. earps joined the club in 2019 and made 125 appearances. the 31—year—old england keeper has been widely linked with a move to paris st—germain. a club statement said: "everyone at manchester united would like to thank mary for her fine service and wish her the best of luck in the next stage of her career." cricket�*s t2o world cup final gets underway in around 10 minutes. whoever wins in barbados will end a long wait for global silverware. india last won a major trophy in 2011, while south africa have never won one. long known as the team that couldn't get past a semi—final, they have the chance to make even more history. probablyjust see it as a new game of cricket, to be honest. we all know india is a great team, as a team as south africans have been trending in the right direction the last couple of years but maybe not progressed in tournaments as far as we would have liked, so an exciting excursion tomorrow against a good opposition in india, but a good opportunity for us as well. i think everyone will agree we are probably the top tier teams in the tournament, we have played the best cricket in this tournament, so deserving finals for both the teams and hopefully it is a great game of cricket and hopefully it falls on the right side. daria kasatkina has won herfirst grass—court tour level title, after beating leylah fernandez in straight sets in the final of the wta 500 event in eastbourne. kasatkina broke the canadian�*s serve in the first game of the match — taking the opener 6—3. the world number 1a then took the second, 6 games to 4, to secure her 7th career title. perfect preparattoin ahead of wimbledon which begins on monday. and finally the first stage of the tour de france is under way in italy, with the riders facing a gruelling 206 kilometres from florence to rimini. defending champion denmark'sjonas vingegaard and race favourite tadej pogacar led the peloton away from the start line. britain's mark cavendish is already struggling at the back of the race — the manxman was sick heading up the first climb of the day. all the news on the bbc sport website. and that's all the sport for now. the race to find a new president in iran continues — after none of the candidates in the snap poll secured a majority, it's been announced that a run—off vote will be held this coming friday. the election is being held after the death of ultra—conservative president ebrahim raisi in a helicopter crash last month. the contenders will be the reformist masoud pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, who won the largest number of votes. and his hardline rival is, saeed jalili, who came second, after taking an early lead. let's talk to siavash ardalan from bbc persian. tell us what will happen on friday. we will have the contest between these two candidates which was the difference of votes is very marginal, difference of1 million votes. the heart surgeon reformist candidate, he won 30 full cash he won 43% of the votes and the hardliner won 38%. the kingmaker here is the centre—right candidate, the third candidate was assumed to become the next president of iran, he didn't win a lot of votes. given how radicalised the conservative face —— base in iran has become. so he endorsed the far right candidate, saidjalili. if he he endorsed the far right candidate, said jalili. if he and his supporters decide to vote for him than the next president of iran will be hardliner. but the real kingmakers are those iranians who have chosen to stay away as a sign of defiance against the regime. the turnout was the lowest ever since the 1979 revolution. 60% decided to stay away. the 1979 revolution. 6096 decided to sta awa . ~ the 1979 revolution. 6096 decided to staawa. , ,, the 1979 revolution. 6096 decided to sta awa. , ,, ., stay away. were you surprised that the reformist _ stay away. were you surprised that the reformist candidate _ stay away. were you surprised that the reformist candidate did - stay away. were you surprised that the reformist candidate did so - stay away. were you surprised that| the reformist candidate did so well? not so well. he ran a very good campaign. in the beginning he was thought to be one of those reformist candidates that the clerical conservatives establishment usually throws into spare people to come and vote, and usually that is the case, just to give a facade of competitiveness to the system. but this time it was a very high risk game, he managed to inject some excitement into many voters and many of them went to vote for him, though when we say he is a reformist, he is as close to the centre—left candidate as can be possible. irate candidate as can be possible. we often hear about the supreme leader often hear about the supreme leader of iran, how does that figure relate to the president? and how significant are both roles? supreme leader of italy _ significant are both ro