this is bbc news. i'm gavin grey. our top stories: a new witness to donald trumpjunior's meeting with a russian lawyer comes forward — a former soviet intelligence officer. a year after the nice truck attack, france remembers the 86 who were killed. after a sharp rise in acid attacks in london, the government says it's considering tightening the law. and we meet relatives of some of the 100 iraqi christians facing deportation under donald trump's immigration crackdown. hello.

the alleged links between donald trump's administration and russia have taken a new turn — with claims that a former soviet intelligence officer met with mr trump's son, donald junior, during the campaign. this is the man being identified as having been part of the meeting: he's rinat akhmet—shin, now an american citizen, working as a lobbyist. he says he was present when mr trump junior met a russian lawyer, but mr akhmet—shin denies having any links now with russian intelligence. donald junior didn't mention him when he confirmed he'd been present at the meeting. but a lawyer for the president's son has now said he didn't know anything about mr akhmet—shin‘s background at the time. our correspondent in washington david willis has the latest. this new development adds another wrinkle to if you like the evolving account given by the trump team of that meeting at trump tower last june.

rinat akhmetshin, the soviet officer, was formally part of the soviet military and counter intelligence, but he denies being part of russia counter intelligence operations at the moment. he is a us citizen and washington lobbyist. he has confirmed to several outlets here that he was present at that meeting with donald jr and two other senior officials of the trump campaign team, along with a russian lawyer, natalia veselnitskaya, who of course promised damaging information about donald trump's opponent in the presidential race, hillary clinton. so all of this raises a number of questions, not least of course adding to the whole intrigue surrounding this sub sect. it raises the question of what donald trump knew once he found out about this meeting a couple of days ago, raising the questions of possible collusion, collusion perhaps to influence the outcome of last year's presidential election. or was this particularly gaining

information about a political rival? certainly there are enough enquiries going on to get to the bottom of this. congressional enquiries plus a federal investigation as well. now there are calls for donald trumer to go before one of these committees and probably an internal investigation as well. president trump has described america's relationship with france as stronger than ever as he attended the bastille day

military parade in paris. the parade marked 100 years since the americans entered the first world war, but events have also been held to remember the 86 people killed in the nice attack, one year ago. 0ur paris correspondent lucy williamson reports. france today celebrated its long us alliance with a series of increasingly forceful handshakes between their two heads of state. this event, though, was not about the ties between men — but between nations. joining the armed forces from both america and france, beginning with a fly past of visiting fighter jets. their soldiers, too, led the parade together in a tribute to their role in world war i. the us is an ally of theirs, i know sometimes you don't think so, but france was there for us and we are the for them. i didn't vote for president from but he is our president and we are proud to have him here. speaking to the crowds in central paris, mr macron thanked the us for the choice it had made a century

ago and said that france and america would never be divided. the france of today was honoured too with a military band playing music by daft punk. enjoyed by some in the audience, perhaps more than others. france's changing culture mirrored in this parade, accompanied by changing security threats too. the image of france's security forces has changed in the past few years, repeated terrorist attacks have refocused attention on security at home and the values that france has chosen to protect. the ceremony ended with the city anthem of nice, the scene of the country's last major terrorist attack a year ago today. in nice, the tributes honoured those who died in that attack, killed by a truck driven into bastille day crowds. their names, 86 of them,

pinned by survivors into the shape of a heart. this afternoon, president macron flew from paris to join the commemorations. the fight against terrorism was a battle for our civilisation, he said. the events here today were still haunted by debates over how best to guarantee security as the country once again paid tribute to its values, its history, to the idea of france. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the latest round of un—led peace talks on syria have wrapped up in geneva, without any breakthrough on key issues, including the future of president bashar al—assad. however, un special envoy, staffan de mistura, says there has

been some small progress in the right direction. the next talks are scheduled for september. two israeli police officers have been killed in a shooting in jerusalem's old city. police say three attackers, all of them arab—israelis, were shot dead after fleeing to a nearby sensitive holy site. after the attack the israeli authorities took the rare step of closing the al—aqsa mosque for friday prayers. the un has condemned the use of military courts in venezuela to try anti—government demonstrators. a spokesperson for the un high commissionerfor human rights said thousands of protestors have been arbitrarily detained. 0ver1i50 civilians have been brought before military tribunals. a high courtjudge in london has heard that the american doctor who has offered to treat the terminally—ill baby charlie gard is to come to the uk next week to examine him. charlie's parents want him

to receive experimental therapy. they have been involved in a lengthy legal battle with doctors at great 0rmond street hospital, who believe life support should be stopped. here in london, two teenagers have been arrested after a series of acid attacks on thursday evening. five people had acid thrown in theirfaces, in separate incidents, one is said to have life—changing injuries. the attacks were carried out at five separate locations, in east london, within the space of less than 90 minutes. this report, from our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford, contains some disturbing images from the start. in the aftermath of an acid attack last night... where does it hurt? in your eyes? we need to try to get water in your eyes. keep your eyes open. police officers desperately trying to reduce the burning and to save the victim's sight. rushing extra water to the scene. i just jumped away from my bike and ijust ran. tonight, the victim of that attack, javed hussain, told me that the first help he received was from a passer—by.

she asked me what happened. isaid, look, someone put acid on my face. she was shocked, she was trying to call an ambulance. i said, i need water asap. if you call an ambulance, it's going to be long, i need water now on my face because it's hurting, it's burning. she ran to the co—operative and she got one of the bottles of water. the attack here turned out to be the first of five over the next hour and a quarter, all in a small area of east london and all involving acid being thrown at the victims. at every crime scene the target had been driving mopeds. two of them were stolen. a 24—year—old man here in clapton was left with life changing injuries because of the acid used. the prime minister said the attacks were horrific. police have arrested a 15—year—old and a 16—year—old. national statistics on acid attacks are not collated by the home office but in london they have risen from 129 two years ago to 224 last

year, and by april this year there have already been another 66. one of the most high profile recent attacks was last month when 21—year—old resham khan and her cousin, jameel muhktar, were targeted whilst sitting in their car at a traffic light. we are concerned because the numbers appear to be going up. we will arrest people, we will enforce the law as we can and we are working very closely with the home office to see if there are any changes in law required. stephen timms is one of the mps in east london where the problem is most acute. he has been campaigning for a change in the law and will lead a debate on acid attacks next week. i'd like the minister to confirm on monday that the possession i would like the law to be changed so that sulphuric acid will only be sold to people who hold a licence.

it seems likely that some criminals are using the laxer rules on acids to avoid the tough laws on carrying a knife. the home office today said it was working with police and retailers to tackle what it called these sickening crimes. but any change in the law would take time. two foreign nationals have been killed, and four others wounded, after being stabbed by a man at a holiday resort in egypt. the attack took place at the red sea resort of hurghada. the authorities say the two killed were german women who were local residents. the attacker has been arrested. 0ur correspondent in cairo, 0rla guerin, has more details. what we saw today once again was foreign tourists being targeted on a middle eastern beach. today a lone attacker swum ashore. he stabbed two women repeatedly and left them to die on the sand. local officials then said he managed to swim to the adjoining beach and continued his attack.

he wounded several more tourists and only then was he arrested. there has been no claim of responsibility, but suspicion will fall on so—called islamic state. they are carrying out an insurgency from neighbouring northern sinai. you will remember they claimed responsibility for the downing of a russian aircraft in october, 2015, which had just taken off from the red sea resort of sharm el sheikh. that resulted in the loss of more than 200 lives and devastated the tourism industry here. it began to recover. visitor numbers were up by about a half in the first quarter of this year. i think now for many there will be renewed concern about visiting egypt. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: on your marks, get set — crawl! new yorkers take competitive

parenting to new heights. the flamboyant italian fashion designer, gianni versace, has been shot dead in florida. the multi—millionaire was gunned down outside his home, in the exclusive south beach district of miami. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worse floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called the "great white wave" by americans but tonight it is completely blacked out. it is a timely reminder to all americans of the problems that the energy crisis has brought to them. 200 years ago today, a huge parisian crowd stormed the bastille prison — the first act of the revolution which was to topple the french monarchy. today, hundreds of thousands throng the champs—elysees for the traditional military parade. finally, fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on huge shoal of their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much they could barely stand. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: a new witness has come forward to donald trumpjunior‘s meeting with a russian lawyer during last year's election campaign. he's a former soviet intelligence agent. speaking at commemorations to mark the first anniversary of the truck attack in nice, emmanuel macron has said france will fight without mercy to protect its values from terrorists. in michigan, more than 100 iraqi christians are fighting deportation amid an immigration crackdown ordered by the trump administration. most were detained for visa violations that had been ignored by us officials for several years. many in the community supported mr trump's presidential campaign and say they never thought

they'd be targeted. here's their story. they were asking was i was ok and i was in yeah, k. but no. june 11 was a sunday morning and my family andi june 11 was a sunday morning and my family and i were getting ready to go to church. the doorbell rang and they'd banged on the door. there we re they'd banged on the door. there were four people from immigration

they stepped in and said they were doing a house check my husband said his name and they asked if i was his life. i said yes. that was the last timei life. i said yes. that was the last time i saw him. iam very i am very surprised at how donald trump has done this because my entire community voted for him. our priest, the church, everyone. we all rooted for him and we were happy when he was elected but we did not think he would do this to our people because he always said for catholics and christians, and that is not what he is doing since he has been elected. ifa

if a catholic he was detained and sent back to iraq, what they would experience today is what they have a lwa ys experience today is what they have always experienced, persecution. they are the minority of minorities at this point. here in the united states it is totally different. we are sending them back to a death sentence. the community does not regret voting for donald trump. i would say we are asking... we have hope that he hears our situation. the turkish government has dismissed

over 7000 members of the police, soldiers, civil servants and academics for allegedly working against state security or being a member of a terrorist organisation. the perch comes on the eve of last year ‘s failed coup attempt. the turkish government celebrates it is a victory for democracy but some groups are voicing opposition as to what they see as a clampdown. turkey's nightmare was unleashed, as the plotters seized the bosphorus bridge. sabri unal tried to reach it, to resist the coup attempt. a tank approached. he lay in its path, between its tracks. miraculously, he got up unhurt. then, a second. he tried to stop it again, but it ran over his arm. today, he bears the scars of the coup. translation: i came here for the sake of god, to gain his blessing.

i was not afraid, and i'm nota hero. to be a hero, i would have had to stop the tank. i wish the coup had never happened. 0n15july, rogue soldiers bombed government buildings and seized roads. more than 260 people were killed. the coup attempt failed. the coup soon became the purge, with over 50,000 arrested, accused of ties to the alleged plotter, the cleric fethullah gulen. president erdogan called it a gift from god, to cleanse the virus of gulen followers. critics say all dissent has been crushed. the government hits back that the real crime was the coup itself, not what came afterwards. they're actually saving turkish democracy, turkish rule of law, turkey's future, from a power—hungry criminal network. 140,000 people have been dismissed or suspended. there is now a commission to look at all those cases. you will see, when this episode

is over, that turkish democracy is functioning, that turkish judiciary has been functioning. gulen followers were in every corner of society. the purge went wide — far too wide, many believe. some have simply disappeared. emine 0zben's husband, mustafa, taught at a gulen—linked university. in may, on his way home, eyewitnesses say masked men bundled him into a car. he hasn't been seen since. translation: i pray he is alive. if they want to prosecute him, do it legally, not by abduction. i don't believe that he backed the coup. i can't raise our children without their father. others are fighting back against dismissals. protests in support of two academics, on hunger strike forfour months, calling for theirjobs back. alongside, a human rights monument is now sealed off — a bleak metaphor

for turkey's plight. the wife of one is herself on hunger strike in solidarity, this in a country hoping tojoin the eu. translation: one day, your name is on a list, and you're struck off. your life is turned upside down. you're killed off by the system. they're in a critical state. they want to live, but for their demands to be met. i can't think of the alternative. immortalised for generations to come as turkey's rebirth, it is being celebrated here as the legend of the 15th ofjuly. but, for others, it is a painful chapter that is still being written. the budget airline easyjet is setting up a new company in austria to protect its european business interests after britain leads the eu. de airline is currently allowed

to fly freely through the european economic area but it is no guarantee it it will keep those rights. they will be based in vienna. let's see what has been making headlines around the world. we will start with the french newspaper leading with the french newspaper leading with the crackdown in turkey. president erdogan has dismissed thousands more one year after the failed coup. it also shows some of the bastille day celebrations in paris. president trump was at those events and he appears on the front cover of the gulf news. it leads with the tensions between cutter and some of it but listen neighbours. a minister is quoted saying that the diplomatic fallout is likely lost a lifetime. the financial times shows that the president ‘s macron and trump in paris. concerns coming from wall street that two of america's biggest

banks have reported a drop in reve nu es banks have reported a drop in revenues from the trading business amidst signs of a possible downturn. on hearing the uk the guardian leads with a report by a think tank which shows a huge financial divide between the top 1% and those under the age of 35. the paper also shows a photo of beyonce with her new twin babies. the picture first appeared on social media and has had over 8 million linux. some sports news now, in the loose was possible sense of the world. a highly competitive race has been taking place in new york city was a little different because eve ryo ne city was a little different because everyone taking part was a baby. a warning, there is some flash photography in this report. warming upforthe warming up for the big race, signed

at that sort of. competing in the diaper derby. although some competitors are more focused than others. you know, ithink competitors are more focused than others. you know, i think a lot of the kids could care less about it. it is the parents in the crowd who get extremely competitive. the challenger simple — crawl across a three metre match, proud parents cheering you on. the first one to reach the line is the winner. it was all stressful for some. there were a number of heats and in the end 11 —month—old brook from dallas was the niftiest nappy wearer. her prize,

appropriately enough, a trophy that looks like a dummy. —— diaper. that is not the five metre dash, it is the five metre ration. this is bbc news. —— rash. some decent, dry, and also for some sunny weather around this weekend. but there will be a lot of cloud around at times, threatening some rain, particularly on saturday. and throughout saturday, the air gets warmer and more muggy. it is because of this warm front pushing its way eastwards, dragging in the air from the mid—atla ntic. but it is those weather fronts which through the night have been producing rain, and to start the day, a bit of a damp start in western scotland, northern england, wales, and also parts of the midlands.

the first batch is fairly rapidly spreading its way south and eastwards. not much rain at all across south—eastern areas, but the rain is there across western scotland. we could see as much as 20 to a0 millimetres of rain on the hills in the west, so not a great one here. some rain at times, some dry moments, and something drier every now and then to the east of scotland, so far from a washout. it stays fairly cloudy in northern england, midlands and wales, patchy light rain and drizzle. but across england and wales, i think it is during the morning we are best favoured for some wetter conditions. the rain tends to ease off into the north sea. one or two showers here and there in the afternoon, but temperatures climbing as we go, up to around 22 or 23. it does mean there could be some rain in the middle part of the day at wimbledon. the same on sunday, the best of the dry weather in the morning. to get us through into sunday, the rain will work its way southwards. by the end of the night, probably across parts of northern england and wales, and it offers a bit of a split in conditions into the start of sunday. a fresh start, especially

away from city centres. to the north, a fairly muggy, misty, and for some damp start across england and wales. this is the weather front, then, which is the dividing line between the muggiest of the air and something a bit fresher. but it does mean scotland, northern ireland and northern england actually have a bit of sun on the way. lots of sunshine elsewhere, brightening up for north wales and the north midlands, staying fairly cloudy across southernmost counties. the best of your sunshine will be in the morning. this weather front producing the odd shower, spot of rain and drizzle. 2a to 26 degrees, potentially, in the south—east corner. the teens in the north, but it will still be quite nice. they may be some patchy rain around in the morning at silverstone, optimistic skies will brighten by the time we get to the second half of the day. but it'll be one close call, we will have to keep on watching things. but certainly, into the start of next week, that ridge of high pressure building. lots of you will be dry. note the temperatures in the south, holding onto mid—20s, and by wednesday, humid across the board. potentially hitting 30 degrees in the south—east corner, but there is a chance of some nasty storms, too.

this is bbc news, the headlines. a former soviet intelligence officer has revealed that he was present when donald trump's eldest son met a russian lawyer during last year's presidential campaign. donald trump junior attended the meeting in new york injune last year after being promised information about hillary clinton. president emmanuel macron has said france will fight without mercy to protect its values from terrorists. speaking at commemorations to mark the first anniversary of the truck attack in nice, mr macron said france had forgotten the name of the attacker but learned the names of his eighty—six victims. the british government is to review laws on buying and carrying acid, following a spate of attacks in london. two boys aged 15 and 16 have been arrested in connection with assaults

on five people on thursday night in which acid was sprayed on theirfaces in order to steal their motorbikes.