this is bbc news. i am vicki young. the headlines at 11pm: a breakthrough in gene editing, as scientists get a step closer to eradicating inherited diseases. they called themselves the three musketeers — a terrorist cell from the west midlands is convicted of plotting to attack police and the military. a group of army cadets aged 12 to 17 are rescued after being caught in bad weather in the mourne mountains in northern ireland. prince philip's last official engagement at buckingham palace as he bows out of public life at the age of 96. and on newsnight, is violence getting so bad in the jails in england and wales that the army needs to be called in? one former prison governor suggests that this evening, and we ask how on earth we let it get so out of hand. good evening and welcome to bbc

news. there's new hope tonight for thousands of families who live with the prospect of passing on inherited diseases to future generations. for the first time, scientists have successfully repaired a faulty gene in human embryos. they used a process known as "gene editing" to correct dna that causes a deadly heart condition. but critics are warning that the technique could, ultimately, be used to create so called "designer babies". our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. the goal could not be more ambitious: to eradicate inherited diseases. these scientists have taken an impressive first step on a long road, editing dna in human embryos. so how is it done? inside the nucleus of each of ourselves is our genome, billions of pieces of dna.

it's the instruction manual for life. the scientists were targeting a faulty gene that causes a serious heart condition. they fertilised a healthy egg with sperm from a man carrying the faulty gene. they then injected the gene editing system known as crispr. this scans the dna, like a spell—check or a satnav. it then cuts both strands of the dna and removes the faulty gene. a healthy copy of the gene from the egg was then naturally inserted. now here are some of the embryos from the study in the journal nature after being edited. 42 of 58 embryos were corrected. they were allowed to develop for five days. none was implanted. we are very excited about all the work, of course... the research has been welcomed by a team in london who have a license

to edit human embryos. they say the technology could eventually help many families. there are some nasty genetic diseases, such as huntington's or, as in this case, a disease that affects heart function later in life, which can basically blight families for many generations. so a method of being able to avoid having having affected children passing on the defective gene could be really very important for those families. nicole mowbray has the same heart condition which was corrected in human embryos. she now has a defibrillator implanted in her chest in case her heart stops. she has a 50% risk of passing on the condition, but is unsure whether she would ever consider gene editing. i wouldn't want to pass on something that caused my child to have a limited life or a painful life or a life of risk. i mean, that does obviously come to the front of my mind when i think about having children.

i wouldn't want to create the "perfect" — in inverted commas — child. i feel like my condition makes me me. and some are worried gene editing technology could lead to an era of designer babies. we will get into a society in which some people's children are genetically enhanced and given advantages over other people's children. people start to be judged on the basis of their genes rather than who they are. as well as ethical issues, there are safety concerns. previous attempts at gene editing human embryos in china led to serious errors in the dna so a lot more research is needed before this could be used to treat patients. fergus walsh reporting there. four men from the west midlands have been convicted of plotting to attack police and the military. the terrorist cell was arrested last august after the security services found a pipe bomb, an imitation gun,

and a meat cleaver, in one of their cars, during a sting operation. three of the men had met injail and had previous convictions for terror offences — as our correspondent phil mackie now reports. a major alert near the centre of birmingham last august — homes and businesses were evacuated, the bomb disposal unit had to be called. it was the culmination of an elaborate operation resulting in several arrests, including these men, who called themselves the three musketeers. undercover officers had found a cache of weapons in the back of one of their cars, there was a partially constructed pipe bomb, an imitation firearm, and a meat cleaver with the word "kafir" or "unbeliever" scratched into the blade. they found them behind that door which is a small delivery business

which was a front, the boss was an undercover police officer and it had been set up by mi5 as part of an elaborate deception to catch the terror cell which it felt was plotting to attack either the military or the police and they recruited two of its members to be delivery drivers. naweed ali and khobaib hussain had previously been jailed for travelling to eight training camp in pakistan and in prison they met mohibur rahman and they left prison with the same extreme views. they believed violence was the a nswer they believed violence was the answer and they were prepared to use violence for their ideology. had they not been stopped, they would have caused loss of life. during the trial, they've claimed the police planted evidence. but their behaviour told another story. they shared extremist material and made

contact with a hate preacher. the group met in remote locations, and can carry phones to avoid being tracked. as more people are kirra convictions a released from prison, this could create further problems. the fact that people are being released and you know they are terrorists, they have been convicted of the offences, they released back into society and there is no reason to think they have been de—radicalised. i think society has asked the question, are you happy with that? in a statement, the ministry ofjustice said it had acted to house the most subversive prisoners in specialist units to stop the influence. it is likely the four men will be jailed, three of them for a second time. a ban on american citizens travelling to north korea will take effect on september i, according to the us state department. us citizens wishing to travel

to north korea would have to obtain a special validation for their passports, which would only be granted in limited circumstances. the state department has advised all americans in the country to leave before the end of the month. a doctor from east london has been charged with more than 100 sexual offences. the metropolitan police say 47—year—old manish shah, from romford, faces 118 charges, including one of sexual assault on a child aged under 13. he is due to appear before magistrates in barkingside at the end of the month, on august 31. 50 army cadets aged between 12 and 17 have had to be rescued in northern ireland after getting into difficulties. the group, who'd travelled from england to the mourne mountains, were caught in bad weather. 16 of them were understood to be suffering from hypothermia. the ministry of defence has confirmed that all are now safe and accounted for. chris buckler reports. in the wind and the rain, rescue teams battled to get cadets off the mourne mountains and into ambulances.

the teenagers from the cleveland army cadet force had come here to camp and to learn skills in the great outdoors. but this became a lesson in survival. at lunchtime today, in what were described as treacherous conditions, the northern ireland ambulance service declared a major incident. and called in extra help to get the cadets to safety. have you nothing... the reports from the scene were much worse, the weather visibility was down to about 20 yards at that stage. the factors working against us here have been the weather, which is much better now than it was when this operation first started. also the terrain and this happened in an area that's difficult to access at the best of times. the weather can change quickly at the mournes and camping high up the mountain, the cadets weren't prepared for the arrival of high winds and heavy rain. the ministry of defence has

described this as a remarkable rescue operation and they thanked all the teams involved for getting the cadets safely off the mountain. some of those brought down on stretchers were treated for minor leg injuries. others, for hypothermia. and they all return home with an experience rather more than they expected when they went to camp. chris buckler, bbc news, at the mourne mountains, in county down. it is just after ten past 11. that's look at some of the other stories making news this evening. deaths caused by drug poisoning climbed to over 3700 in england and wales last year — the highest number since records began in 1993. the figures cover legal and illegal drugs, but there was a particular spike in the number of deaths involving cocaine. a light aircraft making an emergency landing on a portuguese beach near lisbon has come down among sunbathers, killing two people. local authorities said the victims were a 50—year—old man

and an eight—year—old girl. the pilot and co—pilot were unhurt. rashan charles, who died after a police arrest, did not swallow a controlled substance before his death. that's according to forensic analysis provided to the police complaints watchdog. it is investigating what happened as police tried to detain mr charles. his death sparked a number of protests, including one which turned violent. an inquest has been told that a british man who died fighting so—called islamic state in syria, killed himself to avoid being captured by the group. ryan lock, a 20—year—old former chef from chichester had been fighting alongside kurdish forces when he was wounded and surrounded by is fighters. prince philip has bowed out of public life after almost 70 years of official engagements. the 96—year—old made his final appearance at a parade of royal marines at buckingham palace this afternoon. he announced his retirement in may after completing more than 22,000

solo appearances. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. it was the kind of afternoon, weatherwise, which would have made everybody glad to retire. and the duke's case, he has been doing it for 70 years. but there he was on the forecourt of buckingham palace, a man of 96, stanley to attention in the pouring rain, fought the salute that he has had so many times. —— standing to attention. there were many things to remind him of the past decades. the parade was performed by the royal marines, part of the navy, in which he served in world war two. and in the background, the palace, the headquarters of the monarchy, where headquarters of the monarchy, where he is waiting to princess elizabeth was celebrated 1947, when his life asa was celebrated 1947, when his life as a royal began, and where he has

attended so many events. to write at all, the duke has retained his own style, always direct, and often humourous. this afternoon, he strode across the palace forecourt. no stick for him, and would betide anybody who would suggest such a thing. and as he went, the crowd applauded. —— woe betide. by now, it was almost time to go. the royal marines gave him three cheers. hip hip! hooray! hip hip! hooray! hip hip! hooray! hip hip! hooray! hip hip! hooray! hip hip! hooray! hip hip! hooray! the royal marines played for he is a jolly good fellow. after 70 yea rs played for he is a jolly good fellow. after 70 years of service, and with his own separate programme

of royal engagement is now concluded, who, today, would have dared to disagree? nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace. that is all from us this evening. newsday is coming up at midnight. now on bbc news, it is time for newsnight with evan davis. violence is reaching a crisis in our prisons, to the point where we need to think about deploying the army to help out with disorder. the view of one former governor. problems at two prisons in recent days, in wiltshire and hertfordshire, suggest violence is a new normal. you need extra resources sent into prisons to stabilise them short—term and you could consider using the army for that. we'll ask how bad it is inside, and how we let it deteriorate so far. turmoil and protest in venezuela continues. is it time for the left here, which enthusiastically backed the venezuelan model, to recant? and it's been a long

innings by any measure well, for instance, we had a small yacht which we had to sell. i shall probably have to give up polo fairly soon, and things like that. on the day he retires, we look back at the career of the duke of edinburgh. all that and andrew scott, too, from moriaty to hamlet. all that lives must die. hello. if you were in government and thinking about how to cut public spending, prisons would perhaps seem like a no—brainer.