hello and welcome to bbc news — i'm duncan golestani. 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. the lobbyist — rinat akhmetshin — who's now a us citizen — denies having current links with russian intelligence. the bbc‘s david willis has more. and mr akhmetshin is, as you mentioned, a former officer in the soviet military, a man who was trained in counterintelligence, but who denies being involved in counterintelligence at the moment. he is actually a russian lobbyist and joint us citizen. but we didn't know until now that he was present at that meeting at trump tower lastjune, that controversial meeting which also involved, as well as donald trumer, donald trump's son, his son—in—law,

jared kushner, and also his campaign director at the time, paul manafort. the big question is — this meeting was set up by natalia veselnitskaya. was it set up on the command of vladimir putin? 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. our 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, 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, 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. the turkish authorities have sacked more than 7000 police officers, state officials and academics for alleged links with last year's attempted coup — the first anniversary of which is being marked on saturday. more than 250 people were killed before it was put down by forces loyal to the state. the purge is the latest in a series that has seen around 200,000 public servants punished. you can get more on all our stories by going to the bbc news website. stay with us here on bbc news — still to come: a straight sets victory for roger federer in his semi—final — it leaves him now one win from an historic eighth wimbledon

title. two teenagers have been arrested after a string of acid attacks in london. five people in separate incidents had acid thrown in theirfaces — causing in the case of one man "life—changing" injuries. the attacks happened amid rising concern about the number of assaults in the capital involving corrosive fluids. the attacks were carried out at five separate locations in east london — within the space of less than ninety 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's it hurt, mate — 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. ijustjumped away from my bike.

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 just trying to call an ambulance. i said, i need water asap. because, if you call an ambulance, it's going to be long. i need water right now on my face because it's hurting, it's burning. well, 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 victim. at every crime scene, the target had been driving a moped. 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 on people 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 had 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 while 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're 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 of acid will be an offence in the future, in exactly the same way that possession of a knife

is an offence today. i'd like the law to be changed so that sulfuric 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. daniel sandford reporting. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the former prime minister — tony blair — has claimed senior figures in the eu have told him they're prepared to be flexible on freedom of movement — to accommodate britain post brexit. mr blair made the claim in an an article written for his own charitable institute. just last week the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier said the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital were ‘indivisible.’ a high courtjudge 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 his life support should be stopped. douglas innes — the boss of a sailing company — has been found guilty of failing to ensure the safety of a yacht which capsized in the atlantic. the forty—foot cheeki rafiki lost its keel seven—hundred miles off nova scotia three years ago — killing all four of its crew. a former producer on the tv drama the bill has been sentenced to seventeen years in prison — for trying to hire a series of hitmen to kill his long—term partner. david harris offered three men 200,000 pounds to murder his partner hazel allison. he wanted to inherit her fortune — and start a new life with a woman he'd met in a brothel.

duncan kennedy reports. david harris was with his partner, hazel, for 30 years, but unknown to her, he also had a girlfriend, ugne cekaviciute, who he had met in a brothel. to keep her and get rid of hazel, harris went looking to hire not one, not two, but three hit men, all of whom were completely innocent of his real intentions. harris first approached christopher may, a private detective, who secretly recorded harris, suggesting hazel should be killed after a visit to the hospital. harris then made this chilling comment.

when christopher may backed out, harris turned to duke dean. the pair were seen here meeting in london. what's all this done to you? mr dean told me harris offered him £175,000 to kill hazel. did you get the impression he was serious about getting rid of hazel? he was quite stone serious about that. that is what he wanted? that's what he wanted. duke dean tipped off police, who then used an undercover officer to pose as hit man number three. when harris was arrested he told police that all he was doing was researching a book on hit men. the judge rejected that today, saying his real intention was to kill hazel and get his hands on her money. david harris and hazel allinson

did have happy times, but his obsession with another woman, a0 years younger, led him to push three men to kill, to satisfy his lust, greed and distorted fantasies. duncan kennedy, bbc news. dementia in old age is the biggest cause of death in the uk. but in some families — extremely rare gene mutations can cause alzheimer's disease in middle—age. now experts believe that studying the way the disease develops in such families could hold the key to treatment in the future. 0ur medical correspondent — fergus walsh — spoke to two families with a history of alzheimer's — both of whom are taking part in medical trials. i'm almostjust waiting for the first sign, really. the minute you forget something, the minute you can't find your car keys... sophie leggett from suffolk has a 50—50 chance of having inherited a rare gene for alzheimer's.

she is now around the same age symptoms first emerged in her mother and aunt. and if sophie has the early—onset gene, she could also have passed it on. it's really scary. i can almost cope with the thought that it could happen to me but what i can't cope with is the thought that if it happens to me, it could happen to my daughter. that's my big thing and i don't think i will ever come to terms with that possibility. but what does her 16—year—old daughter think? it's not like a taboo thing to talk about. i know a lot about it. i think it's brought us closer together. we've always been close but closer and i thinkjust cherish every day really. families from all over the world who carry rare alzheimer's genes are in london for a major conference. like the demoes from north dakota. dean has early—onset alzheimer's

but is still able to work full—time. i think i'm doing all right. yeah, ijust live day by day with it and keep moving on. i think i'm doing well. two of dean's brothers and a sister died from dementia in their mid—50s. dean is 5a. he fear now is for their children. we are here because we don't want to watch another generation have to go through what my husband and his father and his grandmother have gone through. i worry for my husband, but that fear of the unknown our for children, and we will find a cure. dean's son, tyler, has been tested for the faulty gene but, like sophie, has chosen not to know the results. it's a life changing thing.

if you find out, it's not only are you finding out, it's your family finding out and the repercussions it has on them. both families are part of an international trial testing alzheimer's drugs. sophie has an infusion every month. they are playing a vital role in the search for treatments. from them we understand the biomarkers, the changes in the body that happen, so you can see the disease before it ever causes symptoms. and finally from them, hopefully we will find a treatment that works in that group and we can therefore extrapolate that to the alzheimer's population in general. there is still no drug which can slow the focus of alzheimer's disease. in the past year alone two major clinical trials ended in failure. despite that there is now real optimism that decades of research will bear fruit. and for families with alzheimer's genes, that would lift a shadow over future generations. fergus walsh, bbc news. this is bbc news,

i'm duncan golestani. a reminder of our 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. all week, we've been reporting on china's plan to recreate the famous silk road — the ancient trading route between east and west. the ambitious project will mean building infrastructure in more than sixty countries. president xijinping says it will boost trade and will benefit all involved. but critics say that china's markets are far from open, and that the project will benefit beijing at the expense of other countries.

0ur china editor, carrie gracie, has been following the seven—thousand mile route from eastern china. this report is from poland. facing west since the end of the soviet era but eastern europe is becoming a key piece in china's strategicjigsaw. wieslaw and his son would never sell polish land to chinese investors. he explains they are actually trying to expand, hoping to sell dairy products to wealthy chinese consumers who think the grass here is greener. china could be a big new market for european milk, but it's a long and complicated journey from here to the breakfast table in beijing. it's a journey wieslaw wants to risk, as dairy markets shrink in europe.

translation: china is a very big and interesting market for us and we want to try it. it's like a promised land. but china's markets are still farfrom open. and since the global financial crisis, it has mopped up cheap assets across europe. now china wants to build here and control supply chains. a big idea driven by the state, not the market. some economists warn that could be risky. when this is planned by the state agencies and it's going to be implemented by state agencies, then my worry is that it's going to end up with huge amounts of bad loans with dozens of countries involved.

it could be very, very dangerous. china's plan is already on the assembly line. this polish factory once made tanks for the soviet bloc. now, it makes diggers for the chinese state company that rescued it from collapse. hou yubo hopes china's new silk road will turn it around. we don't see the mass of orders yet and we are ready for that and waiting for that with patience. so no real difference to the bottom line yet? the customers will have the need for machines, but not yet. europe's bid for china is still in neutral, while china is moving up a gear here, either digging europe out of a hole or digging that hole deeper. carrie gracie, bbc news, poland.

let's see what's been making headlines around the world with a look at the international papers. the paper also shows some of the bastille day celebrations in paris. president trump was at those events and he appears on the front cover of gulf news. the paper leads on the tensions between qatar and some of its middle eastern neighbours. the paper quotes a minister from the uae, who says the diplomatic fallout is likely to last a long time. the financial times shows presidents macron and trump in paris. the ft reports on concerns coming from wall street. two of america's biggest banks — jp morgan and citigroup — have reported a drop in revenues

from their trading business amidst signs of a possible downturn. here in the uk, the guardian leads on a report by a think tank which shows a huge financial divide between the top one percent and those under the age of 35. the paper also shows a photo of beyonce with her new twin babies, sircarterand rumi. the picture first appeared on social media and has had more than 8 million likes. tennis, and roger federer is on the brink of becoming the most successful wimbledon men's champion of all time, bidding to win his eighth singles final. he beat tomas berdych in straight sets in the semi—final to seal a place in this year's showdown, when he'll face croatia's marin cilic on sunday. joe wilson was watching the action. there is a man transported around the all—england club as if he was the trophy itself. roger federer is that precious.

this is what wimbledon looked like in 1998. that teenager, the junior singles champion. announcer: roger federer from switzerland. back then, your phone may well have been at home, and your camera had film in it. the world changes, but federer‘s appeared timeless, his appeal spanning nations and generations. sure, nobody‘s perfect, but nobody‘s seemed closer. his semifinal against tomas berdych was classic federer — a tight match against a strong opponent, where federer alwaysjust seemed to have more. at 35, he's rationed his tournaments, conserved his energy, to enable him to win points like this. the first two sets both went to tie—breaks. when he wants to, federer can just turn a rally with a flick of his wrist. commentator: it's just delicious, isn't it? berdych had beaten federer here before, reached the final here before. he was trying.

it was 6—4 in the third, and the number of sets federer has lost at this year's wimbledon? none. so, roger federer, through, and that is popular on the hill. but there is still a man standing between federer and that record eighth title — a big man. marin cilic of croatia, who overcame sam querrey today — six feet six versus six feet six. and cilic is an opponent in the final federer respects. he's a lovely guy, so i'm happy for him. he's in his first wimbledon finals, and after he crushed me at the us open a few years back, where he played lights—out, i hope he's not going to play that good. at 35, could federer really be getting better? well, so far, here, he's been too good for everyone else. joe wilson, bbc news, wimbledon. staying with sport now, albeit in the loosest sense of the word. a highly competitive race has been taking place in new york. but this race was a little bit different — everyone taking part was a baby.

the bbc‘s tim allman has more, and a warning there's some flash photography in his report. warming up for the big race. well. . .sort of. around 30 athletes aged between six and 2a months competing in the diaper derby. although some of the competitors are more focused than others. you know, i think a lot of the kids could care less about it. it is the parents and the crowds who get extremely competitive. the challenge is simple. crawl across a three metre mat, proud parents cheering them on. first one to reach the chequered line is the winner. it was a little too stressful for some. there were a number of heats.

11—month—old brook bender from texas was the niftiest nappy wearer. i need her dad. she likes her dad a little bit better than me. the prize, appropriately enough, a trophy that looks like a diaper. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i'm @duncangolestani. now time for the weather with matt taylor. hello there. 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. 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. the boss of a yachting company has been found guilty of failing to ensure the safety

of one of its vessels, the cheeki rafiki, after four crew members were lost at sea. the yacht capsized in the mid—atlantic in may 2014. douglas innes was convicted at winchester crown court. in around ten minutes you can see newswatch — but first here's click.