welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley — our top stories: the man who wants to reinvigorate france and europe. president 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 hits central and southern china. iran seals a multi—billion dollar deal with the 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. 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. 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. the south korean military says north korea has fired another

ballistic missile off its east coast into the sea of japan. south korea's military said the unidentified ballistic missile was fired from a site near banghyon in north phyongan province. it came down in the east sea, the korean name for the sea of japan. the latest launch comes a few days before world leaders are due to meet at a 620 summit in germany. china has warned of disastrous consequences if tension between the world powers and north korea was not eased. currently, tension is high, and we would certainly like to see a de— escalation of tension. if tension only goes up, then sooner or later, it will get out of control, and the

consequences would be disastrous. i am sure it is in our common interest to avoid anything like that. floods in central and southern china have killed at least 33 people. hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes. water levels in more than 60 rivers have risen above danger levels. authorities in the regions of guangxi and hunan have sent tents, food, bottled water and medicine to the worst 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. 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 it must meet if it wants the sanctions imposed by its gulf neighbours 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 comply, or face more sanctions. 0ne 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. the chinese president is in russia for talks with vladimir putin, ahead of this week's 620 summit. xi xinping plans to talk trade but has also stressed the threat an american anti—missile system in south korea poses to chinese and russian interests. it's the chinese president's sixth visit to russia since he took office. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. president putin is obviously keen to show that despite the difficult relationship with the united states, russia is not isolated by western sanctions and political isolation. 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 620. it shows that these two large and powerful countries are standing together, whatever their relationship is. it isa it is a difficult relationship with the united states. 18 people have died in a motorway crash in southern germany, 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, 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.

translation: the heat must have been so intense that nothing inflammable is left on the bus. all that is left are steel parts. one can imagine what this must have meant for the people inside the bus. this afternoon, recovery of the dead. the beginning of an investigation. the crash happened during an early morning trafficjam. 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. we know 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. president trump has offered to help the parents of a british terminally ill baby who have lost a legal fight to take him to the united states for treatment. mr trump said he would be delighted to help charlie gard, whose parents wanted him to undergo a medical trial in the us to treat a rare genetic condition. it comes after pope francis called for charlie's parents to be allowed to "accompany and treat their child until the end". our north america editor jon sopel has more. this has been all the way through the british courts to the european court of human rights, and it is legally settled. why has the president got involved? is trying to make it clear that, it is just south

of sensitivity. he said he does not wa nt to of sensitivity. he said he does not want to pressure the family and anyway. members of the administration have spoken to the family, calls facilitated by the government. the president isjust trying to help, if at all possible. the easing in relations between iran and the west has produced the first major deal with a european company since sanctions were relaxed in 2015. the french energy giant total has defied american 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 that it is open for business. the signing ceremony was broadcast live on tv. the 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 ofjust over half. cnp from china is also contributing. it is an investment of $5 billion and it will take ten years to turn a profit. it was hassan rouhani's re—election 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 international law allows us to do so. since the signing of the nuclear agreement in 2016, we can work in iran on oil and gas projects. in 18 months, we found an agreement that respects all international laws. 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 has set out radical plans to reduce members of parliament and streamline voting. floods in china have

claimed at least 33 lives — hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes. scientists in the uk have produced the world's most detailed scan of the internal workings of the brain. 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. the fictional japanese character hello kitty has become a multi—billion dollar global phenomenon. her iconic face is a source of both adoration, and in some cases obsession — with many super—fans going to great lengths to collect as much memorabilia as possible. it may not surprise you that guinness world records hasjust

found the world's biggest collection of hello kitty injapan...but you may be surprised by the collector. tom donkin explains. along with sushi and sumo, hello kitty is among japan's most famous exports. popping up everywhere from pencil cases to plates. she has become the global symbol for cute and kitsch. her big eyes and bow has delighted generations of mostly females and schoolchildren. but possibly kitty's biggest fan, who has just been written into the record books, does not quite fit the mould. according to guinness world records, 67—year—old masao gunji is now officially the owner of the world's biggest hello kitty collection. he created this purpose build pink palacejust

collection. he created this purpose build pink palace just to display and howls over 5000 items of the curious kitty. but hobbies on this scale are not cheap and masao gunji, who retired from a career in the japanese police now spends all his time and money tracking down these cuddly collectables. translation: has spent about 20 million yen for the goods and 10 million yen to build this house. in total i have spent over $250,000. it is all my retirement money, but i have no regrets. remarkably, the other love of his life, his patient wife, is happy to indulge even encourage, her husband's obsession. translation: happy to indulge even encourage, her husband's obsession. translationzlj don't care how much is spent on hello kitty. people need to make a mark on the world and hello kitty is the one he lives for. with no signs of slowing down, masao gunji says his collection will keep growing and

he will not rest in building an even bigger kitty kingdom. an indian teenager is living out his own billy elliot story — he's been given the chance to study at one of the world's most prestigious ballet schools. amir shah is the son of a welder and grew up with his six siblings in a low—income neighbourhood of mumbai. at the age ofjust 16, his extraordinary talent is now taking him to new york. 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. before we go let's have a look at these pictures which might remind older viewers of the excesses of rock star behaviour in the 1960s when cars were driven into swimming pools for fun. this is a country club in colorado and it wasn't keith moon at the wheel but a woman in her seventies who apparently mistook the accelerator for the brake. luckily she was more shaken than stirred after being pulled out of the pool and was taken to hospitalfor a check up. there is a car pooljoke in there somewhere but we cannot quite get it at the moment. much more on the news

at the moment. much more on the news at any at the moment. much more on the news atany time at the moment. much more on the news at any time on the bbc website. 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 temperatures 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, certainly for orkney and the shetlands. rain for northern ireland, dumfries 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 course 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. 13 degrees in newcastle. a little bit better in stornoway, some sunshine. real warmth across 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 too, 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. we are in for some thunderstorms. exactly where they are could be a bit further towards the east. bit further to the south and north as well. be informed it is across 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 and the cabinet, and streamline the voting system. he also called for cuts to the bureaucracy of the european union.

the south korean military says north korea has fired another ballistic missile off its east coast. there are no details so far about the missile type. japan has issued a strong protest. china's ambassador at the un warned of disastrous consequences if tension is not eased. floods in central and southern china have killed at least 33 people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. water levels in more than 60 rivers have risen above danger levels. authorities are sending tents, food, bottled water and medicine. a movie about the early life of the smiths' frontman, morrissey, has had its world premiere at the edinburgh