welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: the man who wants to reinvigorate france and europe. president emmanuel macron sets out his radical plans for a nation and a continent. we need to take europe back to its beginnings, to its very origins, and in that way give life again to a desire for europe. at least 33 people have died and hundreds of thousands are forced to flee their homes as flooding affects central and southern china. iran seals a multi—billion dollar deal with french energy giant total — the first of its kind since sanctions were relaxed. the scanner that reveals the in—depth workings of the brain as never before, it could revolutionise treatment. hello.

the new president of france is drawing comparisons with the emperor napoleon with his announcement of a radical overhaul of the french government. in a speech at the palace of versailles, emmanuel macron declared he wants to reduce members of the national assembly and senate by a third, and streamline france's voting system. three opposition parties boycotted the event, accusing him of creating a presidential monarchy. our paris correspondent, hugh schofield, was at versailles. the dignity of the presidential office is something about which emmanuel macron feels very deeply. he came to versailles, a place of regal pomp and awe to talk to his legislators. he called and they came — 900 deputies and senators in buses from paris. newcomers to the assembly, like the mathematician and macron loyallist cedric villani, who saw nothing wrong with the president's unconventional summons.

it is an exceptional, critical moment. the nation has gone through a terrible lack of trust recently. i find it perfectly normal and reassuring that the president wants to address the congress today. the speech was a 90—minute pep talk. an exhortation to lawmakers to understand the appetite for change in france and to act. he said he wants to make government more efficient, cutting the number of mps by a third, and europe was, as ever, a central theme. translation: it is no longer the time to paper over the cracks. we need to take europe back to its beginnings, to its very origins and, in that way, give life again to a desire for europe. earlier in the day, there had been a security alert. an alleged plot to shoot the president on bastille day. no mention of that here.

it would appear that emmanuel macron would like a new kind of presidency from that practised by his immediate red predecessors. he would like to restore to the office some of the mystique, the symbolism. and what greater symbol than to address the joint houses of parliament here in versailles, home of the old monarchy. but not everyone likes this new—look french presidency. the far left boycotted versailles and held a symbolic meeting of its own on left—wing republican turf in eastern paris, where views on president macron were pronounced. he portrayed himself as a sort of god. well, we're a republic and we have something against gods and we have something against kings, since we cut their heads off. so, no, we don't want that again, honestly. macron the monarch, macron the jupiter on olympus. expect a lot more of that from the left—wing opposition, especially if — no, when — things start to go less majestically well for france's young head of state. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. let's take a look at some

of the other stories making the news. there've been fierce clashes as the iraqi military tries to capture the last stronghold of the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, in mosul. fighting is centred on the old city, which is being rocked by air strikes and artillery. iraqi security forces say they've made some progress. saudi arabia is considering qatar's response to the list of demands has been asked to meet if it wants sanctions lifted. kuwait is acting as mediator in the dispute over qatar's diplomatic and economic relations with iran and extremist groups. qatar has 2a hours to meet the demands or face more sanctions. according to a senior hospital doctor in pakistan, the number of fatalities from an oil tankerfire has risen sharply, to more than 206. eight days ago, oil from an overturned tanker caught

fire on a highway near the city, around 250 miles from lahore. one person's been killed and six others wounded by a man on the back of a scooter who opened fire on a crowd in the french city of toulouse. local police say they've not ruled out a terrorist motive, but believe the attack may be a revenge killing. us police have said that ten people have been taken to hospital after a taxi drove into people at boston's logan airport. the driverjumped the kerb and struck fellow cab drivers who were sitting awaiting their next fares. the incident, on the eve of the independence day holiday, is not believed to be terrorism—related. floods in central and southern china have killed at least 33 people. hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes. water levels in more than 60 rivers have risen above dangerous levels. the authorities in the regions of guangxi and hunan have sent tents, food, bottled water and medicine to the affected areas. sarah corker reports. heavy rain started to pound parts of guangxi province on saturday. many cities are now under water.

the flooding across swathes of southern china is affecting more than i million people. the rescue operation is relentless. in this region, more than 90,000 people have been forced from their homes. it has also triggered landslides, a torrent of mud buried parts of this village. further east, sections of the yangtze river are five metres higher than normal, putting huge pressure on a major dam. we received the command yesterday afternoon and we organised 85 soldiers with 32 sets of equipment for an emergency operation. we need to balance the water pressure and avoid collapse. water levels in at least 60 rivers have risen to dangerous levels.

more than 30 people have been confirmed dead. major roads are blocked, railway lines and electricity cables have been damaged. at this nature reserve, rescuers are searching for missing tourists near a waterfall. translation: they walked all the way up, 100—200 metres upstream. there are steep slopes and dense forests there. many streams converge to make the waterfall. floods kill dozens of people every year during china's summer rainy season, and the murky waters have already destroyed thousands of hectares of crop land. in total, the economic losses are estimated to be more than $400 million. the chinese president is in russia for talks with vladimir putin, ahead of the g20 summit later this week. xi xinping plans to talk trade, but has also stressed the threat a us anti—missile system in south korea poses to both chinese and russian interests.

it's the chinese president's sixth visit to russia since he took office. our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. president putin is obviously keen to show that despite the difficult relationship with united states, russia is not isolated by western sanctions and political isolation. it does have powerful allies. i think ina it does have powerful allies. i think in a sense this is very symbolic, the chinese leader is coming here before the two of them will eventually be in hamburg for the meeting of the g20. it shows that these two large and powerful countries are standing together, whatever their relationship is. breaking news now from reuters, north korea has launched an honour

—— unidentified object into the south china sea. repeating, the north korean military have launched an unidentified projectile of the east coast into the sea, that is being reported by south korean authorities. more on that as we get it. venezuela's opposition has called for an unofficial referendum to allow citizens to vote on president nicolas maduro‘s plans to rewrite the constitution. the announcement comes as street protests against mr maduro‘s government enter their fourth month. the opposition‘s symbolic vote would two weeks ahead of official elections for the constituent assembly. mr maduro says the proposal as an attempted coup. 18 people have died in a motorway crash in southern germany, after their tour bus burst into flames when it collided with a truck. another 30 people were hurt, two of them critically. police say the bus was carrying german pensioners. jenny hill reports from bavaria.

the heat was so intense that there was no chance of rescue. nothing firefighters could do to help the people left inside. it is thought the coach ran into the back of a lorry before bursting into flames. there were 48 people on board. those who got out in time were all injured, some critically. everyone else, all of them pensioners, died on the bus. the heat must have been so on the bus. the heat must have been so intense that nothing inflammable is left on the bus. all that is left are the steel parts. one can imagine what this must have meant for the people inside the bus. this afternoon, recovery of the dead. the beginning ofan afternoon, recovery of the dead. the beginning of an investigation. the crash happened during an traffic jam. what happened here has horrified germany, and what has shocked many is the speed and

ferocity with which the fire took hold. finding out why will be central to this investigation. window of a large number of victims and a large number of injured. our thoughts are with the victim's relatives and we wish all the injured a quick recovery from the bottom of our hearts. police say they have now recovered all of the victims from the wreckage. it has emerged they were tourists on their way to italy. what should have been the start of a holiday ended in one of the worst road accidents in this country's history. the thawing of relations between iran and the west has resulted in the first major deal with a european company since sanctions were relaxed in 2015. french energy giant total has defied us pressure to sign a multi—billion dollar contract to develop iran's gas reserves. andrew bryson reports. the french oil men were there to

land a big deal. iran, to show off that it land a big deal. iran, to show off thatitis land a big deal. iran, to show off that it is open for business. it was broadcast live on tv. opportunities are obvious, only russia has more gas underground. this is part of the largest gas field in the world, one which has made other states rich. when this project is operational, it will provide 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day. total have a controlling stake of just gas per day. total have a controlling stake ofjust over half. another company from china is also contributing. it is an investment of $5 billion and it will take ten yea rs $5 billion and it will take ten years to turn a profit. it was the real action in may that opened the door to this deal. other big companies have been cautious to invest because of heavy us sanctions, still in place despite two years ago, when iran agreed to

limit its nuclear ambitions. donald trump said his number one priority was dismantling what he called a disastrous deal. the white house has put the whole nuclear agreement under review. total are hoping it stays alive, and with it, they turned the business. we work in all countries where we are allowed to do so. countries where we are allowed to do so. since the signing of the nuclear agreement in 2016, we can work in iran on oiland agreement in 2016, we can work in iran on oil and gas projects. in 18 months, we found that agreement on international laws was ok. total's entry into iran could lead other firms to enter the water. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the indian teenager with an extraordinary talent that's taking him from mumbai to new york. china marked its first day of rule

in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell of another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for 34 years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the new president of france emmanuel macron sets out his radical plans for a nation and a continent. flooding in china claim at least 33 lives — hundreds of thousands are forced to flee their homes. the world's most detailed scan of the brain's internal workings has been produced by uk scientists. the mri machine reveals the fibres which carry all the brain's thought processes. doctors hope it will increase our understanding of neurological disorders, and could be even be used instead of surgery. our medical correspondent fergus walsh volunteered to be scanned — here's his exclusive report. the human brain. all thought, memory, consciousness is here. in unprecedented detail,

these images of my brain show the white matter, fibres called axons, the brain's wiring, which carry billions of electrical signals. those colour—coded green travel between front and back. in red, left and right. in blue, up and down. the scan was done at cubric, the cardiff university brain research imaging centre. i have had my brain scanned for tv reports many times, but never in this level of detail. 0k, john. using this special mri scanner — there are just three in the world — the team could map the wires, the axons, in my brain, so thin it would take 50 of them to match the thickness of a human hair. you might feel a little bit more vibration and the scan should last about 15 minutes. the team at cardiff worked

with engineers from siemens in germany and the us to create the 3d images. if you go up, you can actually see... this has been the most exciting development in my personal research career of 22 years in mri. it's similar to being handed a hubble telescope when you have only had binoculars. in other words, we can look in far more details than ever before. we can get measures that for the first time will help us address what i call the missing link between structure and function. sian rowlands is one of the research volunteers in cardiff. she has multiple sclerosis, which causes neurological damage. the relapses, attack of symptoms, can come on suddenly. it's devastating, it really is scary. you can go from being absolutely normal one day to not being able to walk or move, in a wheelchair and having to go through a recovery process that can take anywhere from three months to a year. one of the areas of damage we can see here... this is a conventional scan

image showing a lesion, an area of damage in sian's brain. just to contrast with that... but the new scan reveals another level of detail, including the density of the brain's wiring, which scientists have colour—coded. deep in the brain, where the cabling is thickest, is shown in white, but the red and green bull's—eye is an area of less density and clearly indicates a brain lesion, which can trigger sian's movement problems and extreme fatigue. those symptoms are really only partially explained by what we see on conventional scans. what this technique allows us to do for the first time is look at axonal density in exquisite detail along each pathway of the brain. we hope it will allow us to uncover a lot more about the explanation for the wide range of symptoms in ms. researchers are using the technique to investigate schizophrenia, dementia and epilepsy, and it might even have a role in cancer, allowing virtual biopsies, examining tumours without touching the brain.

fergus walsh, bbc news, cardiff. now, you might think american politics has wrestling on the brain these days. first, there was president trump's tweet in which he takes on cnn. and then there's daniel harns—berger, or the progressive liberal as he's known. the real estate agent—by—day has made politics part of his act, taking his left—leaning beliefs into conservative territory. the bbc went to hear his story. that is what i want. i want to upset people. i enjoy every second of it. because we are in the bible belt, because we are in the middle of eastern kentucky, he is the perfect he'll. i tell people all the time, there are two things you cannot talk about

without having a fight, politics and religion. it isa it is a release, for sure. to say what i think. i was working for a promoter at that particular event who said, hey, i wa nt particular event who said, hey, i want you to be the baddest guy you can be. so i spoke about the wall and how i wished he would not build the wall, that he would build around saving west virginia to those people cannot infiltrate the rest of the population. i don't agree with his political views but it is the best gimmick i have seen in wrestling in a long

time. we have seen it once before but we tried watching as much as possible. i think i am speaking for the masses and, you know, the masses may not be here in east kentucky where i am right now but i am speaking to the country. our fans disliked him. not so much because of his hard left views but as appellation people, we do not want to be told what is best for us and everybody knows what is best for us. probably more republicans in this audience than the democrats but boseley everybody still cheering. audience than the democrats but boseley everybody still cheeringm isa boseley everybody still cheeringm is a good show. everybody is in on thejoke. are not going to is a good show. everybody is in on the joke. are not going to find is a good show. everybody is in on thejoke. are not going to find it character like the progressive wrestler in new york or los angeles. you will find it in the heartland of the bible belt. we think things like arguing left or right but at the end

of the day who can drop the elbow. an indian teenager is living out his own billy elliot story after being given the chance to study at one of the world's most prestigious ballet schools. amir shah, 16, is the son of a welder and grew up with his six siblings in a low—income neighbourhood of mumbai, but his extraordinary talent will soon take him to new york. the bbc went to meet him in mumbai. i was invited to come to mumbai to teach ballet and one day i walked around the studios and i saw a little boy with what we call the right instrument. he moved very easy but no training. so i asked him if he will come to my ballet class. and after one class, i knew that i won the lottery. he immediately learned the language of ballet in a few weeks.

there are a lot of obstacles and hurdles because there's no studio space, there's no correct floor. in order to train him, i had to drag him to warehouses, sometimes cement floors sometimes school gyms. just 16 and on his way to new york. the breaking news again, we're getting reports from reuters and afp that north korea has launched one unidentified projectile of the east coast into the sea. that is being sourced from the south korean military who described it as a number identified ballistic missile. we were saying that in the past few days president trump has been making calls to leaders in asia, south korea and japan in particular, asking for cooperation on north korea. more on that and all the news

at any korea. more on that and all the news atany time korea. more on that and all the news at any time on the bbc website. thank you for watching. well, it looks like it is going to be turning much warmer over the next few days, even hot. not for everybody straightaway, but those emperatures climbing as we head into the middle part of the week. right now, a different story across northern parts of the country. thick cloud streaming out of the atlantic across northern ireland, southern parts of scotland and into the lake district. a finger of rain will be stuck across the north for quite some time on tuesday. possibly even into early wednesday. a big contrast in temperatures early on tuesday, 10 degrees higher in the south. starting with the forecast for scotland. around eight o'clock in the morning, a nice fresh start. rain for northern ireland, humphreys and galloway. there may be some spits and spots further south across the pennines. across most of wales and england,

the morning starting cloudy but warm, pretty muggy. temperatures of 17 degrees at around eight o'clock in southampton. what is going to happen through the course of tuesday, a line of rain will hang around through the of the day. damp in belfast, glasgow, edinburgh, the lake district and north—eastern england. weatherfronts, to the north of that, much fresher and cool if not chilly. a little bit better in stornaway, some sunshine. england and wales, up to 25 degrees. another decent day on the way for wimbledon. 23 degrees at least, cloud breaking up through the day. look how the temperatures climbing through wednesday and thursday. temperatures even higher on wednesday, possibly up to 28 degrees in london. still a little bit on the cloudy

side across the north. here, temperatures starting to rise. eventually, we will get up to 20 in belfast and the high teens in glasgow and newcastle. cardiff around 26. thursday, looking like it will change. in for some thunderstorms. exactly where they are could be a bit further towards the east. further to the south and north as well. these parts of the countries where those storms will happen. friday, temperatures peaking in london. other parts of the country starting to cool off. as we head into the weekend, weather fronts coming off the atlantic and bringing us some fresher weather. this is bbc news — the headlines. the new president of france has announced a radical overhaul of the french government. in a speech at the palace of versailles, emmanuel macron, said he wants to reduce the size of parliament, the cabinet and streamline the country's voting system. he also called for cuts to the bureaucracy of

the european union. floods in central and southern china have killed at least 33 people. hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes. water levels in more than 60 rivers have risen above dangerous levels. authorities have sent tents, food, bottled water and medicine to the affected areas. north korea has launched an unidentified projectile into the sea off the south coast. it is being described as a ballistic missile. it is just days after south korea's new leader and president donald trump discussed the threat in their first meeting. now on bbc news, monday in parliament.