hello, this is bbc news — i'm james menendez. our top stories: police in australia say two men charged with plotting to bring down an airliner were taking directions from an islamic state commander. we will be alleging in court that a fully functioning ied was to be placed on that plane on the 15th of july. president trump again dismisses claims of russian meddling in the us election as a grand jury is convened to gather evidence. a health scare in europe after toxic insecticide is found in dutch eggs — millions have been recalled and destroyed. one of the world's tallest residential buildings — the torch tower in dubai — is engulfed in flames for the second time in two years. i'm ben bland. fighting to regain the crown. toyota set to reveal a fall in profits as it slips from the world's number one carmaker to the world's number three. plus, when the olympic flame dies.

one year on from the games, how rio‘s property boom has turned to bust. hello and welcome to bbc news. police in australia say two men charged with terrorism offences on thursday were taking directions from a senior islamic state commander. investigators believe an improvised device, using military—grade explosives, was due to be smuggled onto an etihad airways flight last month, but the attempt was abandoned before the men reached security. hywel griffith reports from sydney. described as one of the most sophisticated terror plots ever on australian soil, officers say they have ended a plan which could have caused catastrophic loss of life.

they believe the man and his son we re they believe the man and his son were sent high grade military explosives by the so—called islamic state by air cargo and say they put together a bomb packed together into a meat grinder. onjuly 15, it is alleged the men planned to take the improvised explosive device on to an etihad airways flight out of sydney but officers say it was never checked in. we will be alleging in court that a fully functioning ied was to be placed on that plane on the 15th ofjuly. was to be placed on that plane on the 15th ofjuly. one thing that is important to stay is that it did not get through security. having aborted the first attack, it is alleged the men took apart the bomb to create a chemical device instead which would emit poisonous hydrogen sulphide. officers say the men were arrested before that plot became advanced.

detailed forensic searches are continuing. third man is being questioned by police. airport security routines now returned to normal. passengers are being assured that threat has been disrupted. but new questions have been raised over how explosives could be sent into australia by the islamic state and how the terror threat is hywel griffith, bbc news, sydney. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. a united nations report says militants from the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, are still committing genocide against the yazidi religious minority. it's three years since is began its assault on the comunity in northern iraq. the un says about three—thousand yazidi women and girls are still being held, and subjected to beatings and rape. the venezuelan prosecutor's office has asked a court in the capital, caracas, to suspend the inauguration of a new constituent assembly on friday. this is a response to allegations from the head of the company that supplied the voting system used in sunday's election, that results were tampered with.

the brazilian football star, neymar, has smashed the world record for a transfer fee — he is now the most expensive player in history. neymar has signed a five year contract with the french champions, paris st—germain, for $263 million. in the us, the investigation into russian attempts to interfere in last year's presidential election is gathering pace. it's emerged that special counsel robert mueller has convened a grand jury in washington — the first step towards possible criminal charges. earlier, president trump addressed a rally of supporters in west virginia and once more ridiculed any suggestion or ohio, or pennsylvania? are there any russians here tonight? any russians? they can't beat us at the voting booths so they're trying to cheat you out of the future,

and the future that you want. they're trying to cheat you out of the leadership you want with a fake story that is demeaning to all of us and, most importantly, demeaning to our country, and demeaning to our constitution. live now to the bbc‘s peter bowes in los angeles. what is the significance of this grandjury what is the significance of this grand jury being convened. ——? what is the significance of this grandjury being convened. --? this confirms it is a serious criminal investigation and a lot of people are saying that it was only a matter of time before we discovered that grandjury of time before we discovered that grand jury had been brought into this. it's not a grand jury's role to determine guilt or innocence but it is crucial as far as gathering

the information and the evidence is concerned. they have the power to issue subpoenas to banks or telephone companies, to try to piece together this story and more individuals, perhaps people we haven't even heard of connected to this story, could be brought into this. it is a wide—ranging investigation. the widow of president trump himself is under investigation? -- do we know? we don't know the certain but the implication is that it relates to his inner circle, his son, donald trump junior, and we his inner circle, his son, donald trumpjunior, and we heard about donald trump the president having a role in writing a statement for his son about that meeting with the russian lawyer that was supposedly to get some negative information about hillary clinton said the president does seem to be being drawn closer and closer to the

centre of this. this is going to be a long process, isn't it? it could go on for months because the nature of the grand jury and the grand jury is supposed to operate and presumably well, apart from any lea ks, presumably well, apart from any leaks, in secret. often, they will overturn one stone and go up to another one. that is the role of a grand jury. it could take many months before they get to the point where they can make a recommendation as to whether there should be an indictment which would eventually lead to a criminal trial. a leaked report suggests that donald trump applied pressure on the president of mexico to stop saying publicly that his country would never pay for a wall to be built along the us—mexican border. the washington post has published what they say are transcripts of their telephone conversation last january. donald trump apprently urged president pena nieto to stop publicly saying that he wouldn't pay for a border wall. mr trump reportedly told him that he could not say that to the press and that

if he continued to do so he would not want to meet with him. and there's plenty more on all those events in washington — including the russia investigation — on our website — head to bbc.com /news. ben is here with all the business news. we start injapan where car giant toyota is set to report its latest results in the next few hours. for years toyota was the world's top carmaker. its corolla model is still the best selling car the world has ever seen but recently toyota has lost its crown. let's show you some details. toyota's expected to reveal a sharp fall in profits for the three months to june. bloomberg news estimates it made just under $5 billion — that would be a drop of 15% on last year. that's partly because of a big increase in research and development spending.

here's why. last year — despite dieselgate — volkswagen sold more cars — taking the top spot. and in the first half of this year they were both overtaken by renault—nissan, after it added mitsubishi to its alliance. so toyota is spending big to attract new customers. last month it committed another $100 million to develop artificial intelligence. that is on top of the $1 billion it's already spending to develop self—driving cars and other tech at a new research centre in the us. lots more in 20 minutes time. we are also in rio dejaneiro. a year ago — as host city of the olympic games it was at the centre of the world. with olympic fever came a real estate boom.

but with brazil's economic problems mounting, it's turned to bust, with 80% of those new real estate developments languishing unsold. you can see that report from daniel gallas in rio in 20 minutes time. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @benmbland. see you later. a british computer expert, credited with helping to shut down a world—wide cyber attack earlier this year, has been arrested by the fbi. marcus hutchins is said to have stopped the wannacry virus from spreading further — it affected thousands of computers in 150 countries. the arrest is not linked to that attack, as james cook reports. marcus hutchins was hailed as a hero for stopping an attack which crippled the nhs and spread to tens of thousands of computers in 150 countries. his arrest is not related to his role in neutralising the so—called wannacry ransomware, which he discussed in this

recent bbc interview. i checked the message board, there were maybe 16, 17 reports of different nhs organisations being hit, and that was the point where i decided "my holiday‘s over, i've got to look into this". in the past week, mr hutchins had been in las vegas for the defcon cybersecurity conference. he was apparently arrested at the airport minutes before he was due to fly home. better known as malware tech, his most recent tweets were prescient... we've now obtained a copy of the indictment against marcus hutchins and another unnamed defendant. it reveals they are facing charges in the us state of wisconsin. they're accused of creating and selling a programme to harvest online banking data and credit card details. prosecutors say the arrest here in las vegas came at the end of a two year long investigation. cybersecurity remains a top

priority for the fbi, says the special agent in charge. marcus hutchins may now face his biggest challenge yet in an american courtroom. james cook, bbc news. millions of eggs are being recalled from shops and warehouses in germany and the netherlands — and being blocked from sale in belgium — after some were found to contain high levels of a toxic insecticide. since wednesday, one hundred and eighty dutch farms have been shut down temporarily, and a criminal investigation has been launched. sarah corker reports. dutch authorities have published a list of serial numbers of eggs that are deemed contaminated and unsafe. this is a widening food scandal now affecting three countries — the netherlands, germany and belgium. the warning had been triggered when a toxic insecticide was found in egg samples. that prompted a shutdown of around 20% of dutch poultry farms. warnings of a serious risk to public health followed.

translation: we have investigated around 180 companies. the result is that 20 of them are clean. they've been given the green light. we found fipronil at 147 companies. at one of them, the levels were so high that we have spread a warning — don't eat these eggs. fipronil is used in veterinary products to get rid of fleas, lice and ticks. but it's banned from being used to treat animals destined for human consumption. in large quantities, it can cause damage to the kidneys and liver and thyroid glands. eggs with this code have elevated levels of the chemical. german officials believe 3 million contaminated eggs have been sold there. supermarkets there have pulled the

affected products. translation: i expect all competent authorities to give a quick and complete clarification of the circumstances. the public authorities of belgium and the netherlands play a key role. however in belgium, none of the affected eggs have made it onto supermarket shelves and as tests continue, one theory is that the chemical may have entered the food chain when barnes were cleaned with a detergent against insects. the financial losses for dutch farms are potentially huge. "this batch of eggs have been blocked as a precaution," the trader says. "the damage is enormous. "we are fighting a crisis at the moment." millions of eggs are now being destroyed and a criminal investigation is under way. sarah corker, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news — still to come. a trip down memory lane with the veterans of edinburgh's international festival.

the question was whether we wanted to save our people, and the japanese as well, and win the war, or whether we wanted to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. invasion began at 2:00am 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 to be quietly very pleased indeed that 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: police in australia say two men charged with plotting to bring down a airliner were taking directions from a senior islamic state commander. president trump again dismisses claims of russian meddling in the us election — as a grand jury is convened to gather evidence. one of the world's tallest residential buildings, the torch tower in dubai, has been engulfed in flames for the second time in two years. as the fire spread rapidly, debris fell into the streets from the 350 metre high building.

the blaze has now been brought under control. harvey biggs reports. fire engulfs one of the world's tallest residential buildings. floor by floor, flames spread up the side of the torch tower in dubai's upscale marina district as residents flee to the streets. all they can do is watch as firefighters work to bring the blaze under control. witnesses, many of whom filmed the blaze and uploaded images on social media, describe seeing burning debris falling from the building. originally the top of the building was out of control, and they had that dealt with, and then the centre of the building absolutely caught fire, and you can still see the remnants of that now. dubai authorities say crews successfully managed to evacuate the building with no injuries reported. it's the second time the six—year—old 79—storey skyscraper has been hit by fire. in 2015, 100 apartments were severely damaged when a massive blaze swept through the tower, and it's the latest in a series of high—rise fires in dubai in recent years, including this inferno at the address downtown

hotel that broke out on new year's eve in 2015. at the time, onlookers said the blaze tore up the side of the building in a matter of seconds. luckily no one was killed. many of dubai's tower fires have been blamed on the aluminium composite cladding on the outside of the buildings, a material that was only outlawed in the country in 2013. what started this latest blaze is yet to be determined, but once again it will bring the spotlight back on the safety of dubai's skyline. football now, and as we've heard, brazilian forward neymar has completed his record—breaking move from barcelona to paris saint—germain. he's signed a five—year contract with the french club, who've paid $260 million for him — more than double the previous world record. here's our sports news correspondent, richard conway. it has been the transfer saga of the summer. it's now officially at an end.

neymar is a paris st germain player. and what a pursuit it has been. this club has wanted neymar for a number of months, even a number of years. but in the last few weeks, they have really accelerated their chase. it required a world record sum of money. $260 million, 222 million euros, £200 million, it doesn't matter what currency you call it, it's a megadeal, the likes of which has never been seen before. now, the machinations to get to this point, there were a few to it, and the road to get them to this point where he has signed for them. la liga, spanish league officials, didn't want anything to do with the deal, telling neymar‘s lawyers that they didn't want their money, they wouldn't take the release clause sum of money. instead, they had to go to barcelona, that cleared the obstacles in the road and allowed neymar to become a paris st germain player. now, we will see him unveiled in due course.

that is said to be some event, because psg are delighted that they've finally got their man and they're ready to tell the world about it. the netherlands will face denmark in sunday's final of the women's european football championship. it'll be the first major final for both teams. in last night's semi—finals, denmark beat austria 3—0 on penalties after a goalless draw. and the host nation, the netherlands, beat the favourites england 3—0. now, it's a little early for a nip but let's talk whisky, because during the eu referendum many of scotland's famous whisky distillers supported the remain campaign, worried that brexit might affect exports. but now it seems some are having a change of heart, buoyed by the prospect of one—off trade deals with countries such as india, where they currently face tariffs of 150%. our scotland editor sarah smith has the story. the barley, the water and the weather make islay malt unique, and on this small island, whisky is very big business. almost 90% of scotland's amber liquor is exported overseas, so brexit will certainly be felt here.

small distilleries, like kilchoman, don't want to lose the protected status for scotch whisky offered by eu law, and they worry about the bureaucracy that leaving the single market might entail. whereas it was very easy to export into europe, it's now going to be a little more difficult. certainly for smaller companies, i think, that will have an impact, because of the amount of people we have to comply with all the new regulations. many of the island's distilleries are owned by big firms that supported remaining inside the eu, but they're now eyeing up the opportunities brexit could bring. the whisky industry is hoping to expand sales in countries outside the eu, countries like india, for instance, which currently slaps a whopping great 150% tariff on scotch. if a new bilateral trade deal could eliminate or slash those tariffs, sales would

increase enormously. the uk government can't guarantee tariff free trade, but say there is now the opportunity to try. as part of this new arrangement in a post—eu world, where we are negotiating the terms, we're not bound in by eu terms, we're able to negotiate our own terms, getting the right deal for the whisky industry is one of our priorities. scotch whisky is a valuable product. contributing about £5 billion a year to the uk economy, supporting 30,000 jobs and making many drinkers happy. it's an industry that first feared brexit, and now hopes to make it work for them. once we leave the eu, we would be the uk negotiating free—trade deals, rather than a block, and so that simplifies the negotiations to a degree. so yes, we hope that it will be easierfor the uk to negotiate a free trade deal with, for example, india. the economy of islay runs on whisky, much of scotland's economy relies

on this water of life, and they‘ re now looking beyond the shores of europe, to try and make the best of brexit. sarah smith, bbc news, islay. the 70th edinburgh international festival gets under way later. created in the aftermath of the second world war — to give a "platform for the flowering of the human spirit" — the arts and culture extravaganza is now the largest in the world. as thousands of performers prepare to fill hundreds of venues once again, we meet the couple who've been there since the beginning. this is ingrid and henry wuga's story. in may 1939, in may1939, i in may 1939, i came back by train through germany and holland, eventually we landed in great britain. i think it was 92... 93? we

we re britain. i think it was 92... 93? we were or is interested in music, and when we heard there was music going on, we went, can we afford to go? and debra staged has brought the first music and drama festival. delivered to the streets of scotland's capital have come 120,000 visitors. we had very little money and it was pretty much sold out. what we didn't mind standing at the back. august is from many countries, europe, america, came. all ofa sudden, there was life, a rekindling of life, art, music. people were determined. people were determined to lead a better life. because of the war, i think they were determined that it should change and be better. this iconic singer, who became an international star in a

very short time, she was fantastic. once having tasted that, of course, there was no stopping us. we were hooked from that moment on. as were many other famous britons. hooked from that moment on. as were many otherfamous britons. it hooked from that moment on. as were many other famous britons. it was absolutely outstanding. we only need is people vaguely, and again on television, but they were there, in life. it really made it. they are also bringing back this year, a great festival from 19117. they are bringing back things that they did 70 years ago. the festival is changing, it has to change, and it has to grow. some lovely memories of the edinburgh international festival. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i'm @jamesmenendez. hello, once again.

the week thus far has been a mix of sunny spells and showers and we are going to do it all again doing the course of friday. first up, not a cold start. temperatures for many into the teens. away from the centre of that area of low pressure, that has been a feature that has driven our weather for a good few days. way down towards the south—eastern quarter, there is a dry and bright enough start. closer to the heart of that low pressure. around the showers, they will have a tendency to merge across areas north of the central belt. coming further south into the north—west of england and northern wales, showers from the word go. the east, east midlands, east anglia and the south—east, more showers and some showers into the northern half. not so much in comparison to thursday but i put the winds on there because the breeze will be noticeable. the showers are quite happy come the afternoon. the persistent rain will have broken up into a weak crop of showers over

the north—east of scotland. into the night, some of those showers tending to fade away. fading over those western shores. trying to build a weak area of high pressure to kill off some of those showers on saturday. as that areas of low pressure drifts away towards scandinavia. some dry, fine and sunny weather for some but there is a suite of showers across wales into the midlands, parts of east anglia and up towards the north—east. a dotting of showers, not much more than that. some of them quite sharp. that ridge of high—pressure looks a little bit like the real deal as we move from saturday into sunday. the shape of things to come, another set of fronts, northern ireland into the afternoon. the best of the dry and bright weather off to the south—east with a high of only 21.

this is bbc world news, the headlines: australian police say two men they've charged with terror offences were plotting to bring down an airliner. investigators say an improvised device was due to be smuggled onto a plane last month, but the attempt was abandoned. there's more pressure on president trump after it emerged that a grand jury has been set up in washington to investigate russian interference in last year's elections. it may be the first step towards possible criminal charges. millions of eggs are being recalled and destroyed in germany and the netherlands after some were found to contain a toxic insecticide. 180 dutch farms have been temporarily shut down since wednesday. firefighters in dubai have been tackling a blaze that engulfed several floors of one of the world's tallest residential buildings. it's the second time the torch tower building has caught fire. everyone was safely evacuated.