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 around the world. following condemnation at home and abroad, venezuela's president nicolas maduro postpones the launch of a controversial new assembly to replace parliament and rewrite the constitution. president trump reluctantly approves new sanctions against russia. moscow says the move amounts to a "full—scale trade war". and prince philip's last official solo engagement at buckingham palace as he bows out of public life at the age of 96. hello.

there's new hope 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 there is concern 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. after months of unrest, the president of venezuela has delayed plans to swear in members of a new assembly. he intends it to replace parliament which is dominated by the opposition and rewrite the constitution. president maduro did, though, hold a rally with delegates of the new constituent assembly.

his opponents say it's only been created to give him unlimited powers. and now the company that provided the voting system for sunday's election says the machines were tampered with and the government inflated the number of voters. from caracas, the bbc‘s katy watson. more criticism of the vote, this time from the company that provided the voting system. they said the government inflated the numbers of people who turned out by overi million, although many believe it to be more. based on the robustness of our system, we know without any doubt that the turnout of the recent election for a national constituent assembly was manipulated. opposition politicians have called for a criminal investigation to be open. they have criticised the new assembly from the start, arguing that a body designed to rewrite the country's constitution was undemocratic, a power grab.

the head of venezuela's electoral authorities say that the voting company's comments are "irresponsible and baseless." the maduro administration is not bowing to pressure either here or abroad, saying that the country is now at peace, but few agree. clemente drives at taxi in a shanty town outside the city. i asked what happened to his windscreen. translation: opposition protesters broke it when i went through a roadblock, because this taxi was given to me by the government. i'm fed up. politics is like a marriage. both sides need to sit down and talk. the oppositionjust thinks about themselves. venezuela would be better off without them. the concern among opposition politicians and the international community is that this could be the country's new reality. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. four men from the west midlands in england have been convicted of plotting to attack police and the military. they were arrested last august in a sting operation by security services. a pipe bomb, imitation gun and meat cleaver were found in one of their cars.

three of the men had previous convictions for terror offences and met injail. the italian parliament has agreed to send the country's navy to help the libyan coastguard combat people traffickers. the italian government is denying any breach of libya's sovereignty. it insists the mission will act only with the agreement of the government in tripoli, which is backed by the un. germany has expelled the vietnamese press attache over the suspected kidnapping of this man trinh xuan thanh. it's alleged he was bundled into a car by armed men at berlin zoo, nine days ago. mr thanh is the subject of an international arrest warrant. there have been protests in bolivia as politicians supported plans to lift protection for indigenous territories in a national park. if the law is approved by the national assembly it will allow a major highway to be built, part of a drive by president morales to boost infrastructure investment. president trump has signed off on new sanctions against russia but without much enthusiasm.

it was done behind closed doors and then came his statement shortly after that the law was "significa ntly flawed". the russian prime minister was quick to fire back — saying the sanctions are tantamount to declaring a full—scale trade war. dmitry medvedev also claimed the trump administration had shown its "total weakness" by handing over executive power to congress in the most humiliating way. our north america editorjon sopel has more on why president trump is so doubtful. well, you almost sense that he signed this piece of legislation with a heavy heart, and one of the sure tell—tale signs of that was there were no cameras present to record him signing this legislation into law. and he says it encroaches on executive authority, it is a president who makes foreign policy. he says it will damage american companies, and it is against the european interests as well. but he also said that he recognised that

it was the will of the people that it should be signed, and so, for the sake of unity, he had gone along with this piece of legislation. and then at the end of this statement, he said "i built a truly great company, worth many billions of dollars — this is a big part of the reason i was elected. as president, i can make far better deals than congress." so he is clearly unhappy with it. that has not stopped russian counterblast. prime minister medvedev said this would do the damage to us russian relations. he said it was tantamount to starting a trade war and that it would be deeply damaging, and that the trump administration has absolutely no power in reining in congress. what is ironic about what donald trump has said is that he seems to be far more critical of the legislation then he is for the reasons the sanctions are being

introduced, namely russian interference in the us election. brazilian politicians have rejected plans to put the president michel temer, on trialfor corruption. there were chaotic and angry exchanges in congress as (oov) lawmakers shouted abuse, pushed each other and threw fake as lawmakers shouted abuse, pushed each other and threw fake bank notes at their opponents. mr temer was accused of receiving twelve million dollars in bribes from one of the country's top companies. he denied the allegation. the bbc‘sjulia carneiro. this is a big victory for the president. he worked very hard to muster support in congress over the past few weeks. he was manoeuvring with his allies to make sure he would have enough votes in tonight's session to make sure he would stay in the presidency. there are still expectations that new charges will be pressed against him, but he managed to get 263 votes in his favour in the session thatjust finished in congress. so he needed less than 170. he won by a big margin.

it is quite a big show of strength, in a very delicate moment for the president. the scandal erupted in may, so ever since we have been seeing brazil again immersed in turmoil and lots of gossip around what is going to happen in the political scenario, now he is going to get some breathing room with this result. this means that the charges against him will be blocked. we will still have to see if the prosecutor—general will press new charges against him. still based on this big scandal that broke, this big meatpacking company, jbs, that accused mr temer of having demanded bribes in his favour. and still cases under way against two former presidents. weather and health warnings are in place across europe as summer temperatures reach potentially dangerous levels. the strongest heatwave of the year so far is predicted in the coming days affecting southern

and eastern parts of europe. forecasters say it feels as hot as fifty degrees celsius in some places because of the humidity. sarah corker reports. as much of europe sizzles, what is the best way to keep your cool? an almost continent wide heatwave has pushed temperatures above a0 celsius, breaking records and are sending people and their pets looking for cover. in austria, the elephants at vienna zoo took to the pool to cool. the city's courses had to go home, it was so hot. others weren't quite so lucky. the heat is centred on italy. its worst drought in 60 years. rome has started to ration water. 11 of its 20 regions

could soon declare a state of emergency. and there are weather warnings in place across europe. it's unusual to see temperatures above a0 celsius across such a large area but the impacts keep on coming from this, with water salt —— shortages, power cuts in places and the heat implications as well with old people and people with existing health conditions really suffering and temperatures like this. after last week's wildfires in france, firefighters remain on standby a dry conditions, the risk of further fires is high. in southern spain, forecasters described the weather as extreme. a high of a7 degrees is expected in cordoba. plumes of peter pushing towards the balkans. romania, ice cream wasn't the only thing melting. we are drinking a lot of water. we take more breaks and

working schedules. we work eight hours a day. and the advice is to drink plenty of water and despite the lure of the mediterranean sun, sea and sand, the authorities are urging people to stay inside during the hottest hours of the day. sarah corker, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: will he become the world's most expensive footballer? neymar could cost paris saint germain a $250 million. he'll earn one dollar every second. the question was whether we wanted to save our people, and japanese as well, and win the war, or whether we want to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at 2am this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. and we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigor, vitality

and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said quietly to be very pleased indeed she has achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: scientists have used gene editing techniques to correct faulty dna in human embryos. the breakthrough could help eradicate inherited diseases. following condemnation at home and abroad, venezuela's president nicolas maduro has postponed the launch of a controversial new assembly to replace parliament and rewrite

the constitution. earlier i spoke to moises naim, a former venezuelan minister of trade, now a distinguished fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace in washington. he started by giving his view on the vote. well, it is notjust me and the company that provided the services, it is a0 countries — a0 nations around the world that are saying that, and saying that they would not recognise the new constitutional assembly. the european union, and mercosur, which is a south american grouping of countries. so it is a widespread agreement that that election was fraudulent. now, the presidents says that a lot of the problems are constitutional, and could be fixed with a constitutional assembly, and many others are external, and the government's fault. how do you respond to that? well, there's not a single problem that the country has

to do with the constitution. this is a country with the largest concentration of oil in the world, and all sorts of riches and minerals. that was completely destroyed in 20 years of government, first by hugo chavez, and then nicolas maduro. price controls and all kinds of interferences and crazy policies that make no sense, and huge corruption explains that. there is nothing in the current constitution, which, by the way, was drafted and promoted by hugo chavez, that creates problems, and there will not be a solution — a constitutional solution to the problems of hunger and corruption and the collapse of the entire state in terms of its capacity to provide health and citizen safety and food. with your experience in the country, what do you feel the rest of the world can do to ease

the situation there that doesn't make things worse for the broad mass of venezuelan people? it is quite simple and quite hard. just let the people vote. the opposition has asked that they be allowed to vote. let's have an election. maduro has broken the constitution by not allowing regional elections, that were mandated by the constitution, a recall referendum, and several other insta nces. so all the opposition wants, and all the international committee is saying, the organisation of american states, and others, is "let people vote." just briefly, if you don't mind, the american sanctions against president maduro himself, what of them? well, i think this is the beginning of sanctions. i have been arguing, and i hope that these sanctions are targeted to the individuals that are the culprits of the situation, now that they broke the law, the kingpins in the government,

the massive violators of human rights, and the corrupt government officials, that are looting the country. so if sanctions can be targeted to them, and their accomplices, and the country from further suffering... the form of liz weyland minister for trade. the congress in chile has approved a bill lifting the country's total ban on abortions. the measure, if passed by the constitutional court, would allow for abortions in cases of rape, if the mother's life was at risk or if the foetus would not survive the pregnancy. currently women can be prosecuted if they have an abortion. a natural gas explosion has partially destroyed a school in the us state of minnesota, killing two people. the accident happened

at a private christian school in minneapolis where a construction crew were working. one member of staff is still missing. local fire chiefs say crews are trying to stabilise the remaining structure, in order to conduct a more thorough search. a series of grass fires have forced people to leave their homes in northern california. authorities in berkeley say the fire's partially contained and no lives or structures are in danger. crews on the ground and air tankers are also targeting the blaze. the cause is being investigated. here, queen elizabeth's husband, the duke of edinburgh, has bowed out of public life after 70 years of official engagements. he's 96 — he made his final solo appearance at a parade of royal marines at buckingham palace this afternoon. he's made at least 22,000 solo appearances. he first announced his retirement in may. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. it was the kind of afternoon, weatherwise, which would have made anyone glad to be retiring. 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, standing to attention in the pouring rain,

for the salute that he has had so many times. there were many things to remind him of the past decades. the parade had been mounted by the royal marines, the fighting force which is part of his beloved royal navy, in which he served in world war ii. and in the background was the palace, the headquarters of the monarchy, the building where his wedding to the then—princess elizabeth was celebrated i9a7, when his life as a royal began, and where he's attended so many events — the garden parties and formal dinners, alongside the queen, in the years since. i'm the world's most experienced plaque unveiler. throughout it 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 woe betide anybody who would suggest such a thing. and as he went, the crowd outside the palace applauded. by now, it was almost time to go. the royal marines

gave him three cheers. hip hip! hooray! the duke waved his hat, and turned to go. as he did so, the band of her majesty's royal marines played for he's ajolly good fellow. after 70 years' service, and with his own separate programme of royal engagements now concluded, who, today, would have dared to disagree? nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace. around $260 million — that's the eye—watering sum expected to be paid for the brazilian footballer neymar in a world record football transfer deal. he wants to leave his current club, barcelona, and move to paris st germain.

if that deal goes ahead, it will make him the most expensive player in history. our sports news correspondent richard conway reports from paris. a hasty arrival for neymar at barcelona's training ground this morning, but this slow—burning transfer saga now appears to now be reaching a conclusion. after saying goodbye to his teammates, his strike partner, lionel messi, took to social media to wish him well for the future. today's destination was unknown but, according to one of his representatives, the poster boy of brazilian football is likely to be a psg player by the weekend. translation: yes, paris made the proposal. they're going to pay the clause. the planned dealfor neymar would set a clear world record. back in 2009, cristiano ronaldojoin real madrid for £80 million. in 2013, gareth bale made a move, also to real, for £85 million.

then last summer manchester united signed paul pogba for the current record sum, but, at £198 million, neymar‘s fee would eclipse them all. psg is owned by qatar. the gulf state has a world cup in 2022 to prepare for, but this mega seal is a sign that, despite being subjected to an economic blockade by four other arab countries, it will not be cowed or diminished in its international dealings. i think what we are seeing is qatar saying, "we want to be considered a serious power in the business of football. we can bring lots and lots of commercial endorsements to the game. we can have a much bigger influence on a global scale, notjust a european scale," and there's no finer example of doing that than signing one of the world's best. back on the streets of paris, there's a sense of disbelief this deal appears to be finally happening. so, too, about the pricetag. i like paris and he can make good things in this team.

he's too expensive. but it's neymar. and so the stage is set. paris st germain will likely name neymar as their new leading light within the next a8 hours. this is a most political and financial of transfers but ultimately he will be judged by what he does on the pitch. just briefly, the main news again. scientists have successfully repaired a faulty gene in human embryos for the first time. the american and south korean team used editing to correct dna that caused the deadly heart condition. it's a breakthrough that there is concern it could create so—called designer babies by editing in desirable characteristics. that's it for now. thanks for watching. hello.

the area of low pressure that brought wednesday's rain is still close enough during thursday to produce showers g