coming from the bbc sports centre. coming up, a world record transfer fee as neymar is set to join paris st—germain from barcelona. gone before they get going — four time winners ajax fail to progress from the champions league qualifiers, losing to nice on away goals. and the flying swede sarah sjostrom bags another world record, this time at the world short course championships in moscow. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with the footballing story that has made news headlines all over on the world on wednesday, and that is that neymar is on the verge of moving from spanish giants barcelona to paris saint—germain. the 25—year—old brazilian international was given permission to leave training with barca and fly to france and begin talks with psg — under the condition that his release clause of 263 million dollars was met in full, and that transfer could be confirmed in the coming days. our sports news correspondent richard conway can bring us more from paris. neymar, as we know, is an incredible

talent, but he comes with an incredible pricetag. the full release clause must be paid, say barcelona, if he moves to ps6, and that stands at an eye watering 222 million euros, that's around $260 million euros, that's around $260 million — let that sum sink in for a second. but after visiting the club this morning and being given permission not to train, neymar said goodbye to his teammates and then shortly after the club issued a statement saying he had made a formal request to leave. so it does seem as if the mechanics, the choreography of this megadeal is now under way. this is the club shop on the champs—elysees, perhaps we will see neymar‘s face on those walls come the weekend. psg play their first game this saturday. i am sure clu b first game this saturday. i am sure club officials will want to parade him before the firm. this of course is not just a him before the firm. this of course is notjust a financial deal, not just a sporting deal. it is a

political deal too. kata of course, their sovereign wealth fund own psg. they have been very ambitious in backing the team over recent years -- qatar. they want to dominate european football. they want to stop being champions league wannabes and they want to become champions league winners. in neymar they see the man that can perhaps bridge the gap but it comes with a pricetag. and it's been a good day all round for french football with nice knocking out four time european champions ajax at the third round stage of champions league qualification. it was 1—1 after the first leg, and ajax came from behind to lead 2—1 in the return in amsterdam with davinson sanchez putting them 3—2 up on aggregate. with 11 minutes to go, vincent marcel scored the goal that won the tie for nice. he equalised to make it 2—all on the night, and 3—3 on aggregate, and the team from the french riviera go through on away goals. ajax drop into the europa league. also through are scottish champions celtic afterjames forrest scored the only goal in their second leg meaning they win 1—0 on aggregate over rosenborg.

the women's european championships are at the semi—final stage with england the highest ranked team and favourites now, after they defeated france, and germany were sensationally knocked out at the last eight stage. mark sampson's side will play hosts the netherlands in enskerday on thursday while in the early match in breda denmark face up to austria. but with so much expectation can england live up to the billing now they're the team to beat? they work as hard as anyone i have ever worked with or seen and they are absolutely obsessed with being the best that they can be, now they have those skills in abundance the sky is the limit and now we know that we have to produce a massive performance to get a result. i know the players have put in the hard work, they have done everything they can to prepare for this game and it gives a great sense of confidence going in feeling like you have

prepared really well and you are potentially ready for anything that will be thrown at you. they want to pressure us and, what you said, they play the long ball and they want to have a real intense game and we want to take the pace of the game and play the possession game, which is a challenge, but that's what we are going to try. now, cricket news. india captain virat kohli has confirmed that opening batsman kl rahul will return to the starting 11 for thursday's second match of their three test series against sri lanka in colombo. the tourists are 1—0 up in the series after their convincing 304 run win in galle. india made 600 in theirfirst innings, with the result never in doubt from that point on, but worryingly for sri lanka kohli says his side can still improve when the match gets under way in the coming hours. when there is a partnership or something happening, then we need to have more composure and more discipline at times. but, as i said,

there will always be scratches here and there when you are playing test cricket after debris. it is always nice to understand what other things you like and build some momentum —— february. yesterday's practice was really good. the guys were hitting their areas really well and i am confident those areas we identified in the first game we will be able to identify and move ahead and actually improve on those things starting in this game. the latest event in the world golf championships, the bridgestone invitational in ohio, gets under way on thursday. three former world number ones will play in the same group as jordan spieth, jason day and rory mciroy tee off at 12:10 gmt. northern irishman mcilroy heads into it with a new caddie after parting withjp fitzgerald who he'd been with for nine years, as he tries to improve on his year to date. jp has been a huge part of my life for the last decade, you know. we started injuly, for the last decade, you know. we started in july, 2008. for the last decade, you know. we started injuly, 2008. we went all the way up untiljuly this year. and

a lot of great times, a lot of great times on and off the golf course. and i still considerjp one of my best friends, one of my closest friends. but sometimes to preserve a personal relationship, you might have to sacrifice a professional one. and i got to the point where, ifi one. and i got to the point where, if i didn't play a good shot, if i made a wrong decision, i was getting more frustrated at him than i was at myself. i would more frustrated at him than i was at myself. iwould much more frustrated at him than i was at myself. i would much rather be angry at myself. there is nothing to say thatjp might not work for me again at some point. like, i hate the term fired or sacked or axed, because that's definitely not what it was, you know. i just that's definitely not what it was, you know. ijust changed my path a little bit. but, you know, maybe that future the path might come back to where it was, but right now i need to mix things up a little bit andjp need to mix things up a little bit and jp understood that and we are still all good. the best female golfers in the world have gathered at kingsbarns in fife for the british open which gets

under way on thursday. david currie reports on why south koreans are currently dominating the sport and how they're doing it. this south korean might not be the best photographer in the world but right now she is the best woman golfer in the world. i always dream about becoming number one. but once you achieve it it feels like 0k, about becoming number one. but once you achieve it it feels like ok, you know, i feel like all of my hard work pays off and i feel really happy about it. but after that you feel normal. not only does the world number one hail from south feel normal. not only does the world number one hailfrom south korea but 24 number one hailfrom south korea but 2a of the golfers in the top 50 also come from that country. ten of them are in the top 20. and over the past decade about 40% of women's majors have been one by south koreans. so, what's the secret of their success? there are various theories. there are hard workers, you know. they are a lwa ys are hard workers, you know. they are always practising, working on their

game, so it's well—deserved talent and the rewards that they get. they ta ke and the rewards that they get. they take it to another level and that is where the brilliance comes from, sheer persistence. lydia ko is new zealander but obviously korean descent and they work really hard. and it is paying off for them, all of their hard work. women's golfing career of their hard work. women's golfing career isa of their hard work. women's golfing career is a huge sport, probably one of their biggest sports over there. so they see a lot of it on television and that gets a lot of the girls interested in playing.- there lessons we can learn from their south korean model?” there lessons we can learn from their south korean model? i think every country is trying to learn something from them, yeah. what specifically would you... ? something from them, yeah. what specifically would you. . . ? trying to get more girls involved in golf and interested in it. a home winner at this year's british open would do that but a south korean champion is more likely. swedish swimmer sarah sjostrom set her third world record in ii days on wednesday, posting a new world mark in the short course 50 metres freestyle at the fina

world cup event in moscow. after setting new world records in the 50 and 100 metres freestyle at the world championships in budapest last week, the 23—year—old recorded a time of 23.10 seconds taking 0.14 seconds off the previous mark set by the dutch swimmer ranomi kromo—wid—jojo who claimed silver in the race. robert kubica enjoyed his first official formula one outing in six years at the sports in—season test at the hungaroring on wednesday. the 32—year—old polish driver managed an impressive 7a laps, more than any other driver and posted the seventh fastest time in his first taste aboard this year's renault. the 32—year—old partially severed his right arm in a rallying crash back in 2011 but prior to that had made 76 grands prix starts, and finished on the podium 12 times winning the 2008 canadian grand prix. you can get all the latest sports news at our website that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport today

team, goodbye. hello. the area of low pressure that brought wednesday's rain is still close enough during thursday to produce showers across the uk, making it quite windy too. it is gradually edging its way north—eastwards. not quickly enough for many of us before it gets to scandinavia and our weather improves. plenty of showers from the word go across many parts of the uk. the north and west in particular. some of these will be heavy. the risk of a rumble of thunder and perhaps some hail too. a look at the picture. eight o'clock in the morning, showers scattered in south—west england. much of central and eastern england will be dry at this stage.

some sunny spells around. but you will notice through england and wales it is a windy day, unseasonably for the time of year. gusty winds at that. plenty of showers in northern england and northern ireland, beginning to pull away actually. showers in scotland initially to the west. longer spells of rain in the northern isles. here we have easterly winds. brisk south—westerly gusts of wind in england and wales will be noticeable during the day. some sunny spells. showers fading in the afternoon, especially in england and wales. they linger on through the afternoon in scotland. slow—moving with lighter winds here. thundery downpours especially in eastern scotland into the afternoon. temperatures, high teens, low 20s. the first day of the women's british 0pen golf at kinsbarn, not far from st andrews on thursday. we have the threat of some heavy showers moving through. some will fade thursday

night into friday. could well see some spells of rain in ireland and scotland. edging southwards here for a time around the area of low pressure which hasn't quite yet got to scandinavia yet. the breeze is a notch down. more in the way of sunshine. feeling pleasant between showers. and in fact, for the bulk of the uk, the showers away from scotland will be few and far between. those temperatures, well, into the low 20s in east anglia and south—east england. though most of us still pegged back into the high teens. the big picture going into the weekend, a ridge of high pressure trying to come in. we will still see showers on saturday, especially in north england, north wales, scotland, more numerous in those areas. temperatures in high teens, low 20s. after a chilly night on saturday, sunday delivers drier weather. though there is a weather system poised to come in from the west later in the day.

welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: fixing faulty genes to eradicate inherited disease. a scientific breakthrough brings hope to millions of people around the world. scuffles in brazil's congress, as it votes not to send president michel temer to face trialfor corruption. venezuela prepares to install a controversial new assembly, but the firm which helped organise the election says the results can't be trusted. we have to report that the turnout numbers on sunday, the 30th ofjuly, for the constituent assembly in venezuela. president trump reluctantly approves new sanctions against russia. moscow says the move amounts to a "full—scale trade war."