welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is gavin grey. our top stories: ve nezu ela swears in its new constituent assembly despite widespread opposition at home and abroad. cracking down. the us attorney general charges four people over lea ks of classified government information. we will investigate and seek to bring criminals tojustice. we will not allow criminals with security clearance to sell out our country. a british computer expert appears in a us court on charges of creating software to steal bank details. and the world's most expensive footballer signs for paris saint—germain, but a hitch with the paperwork means neymar can't make his debut on saturday. welcome to the programme.

a controversial new assembly that has the power to re—write venezuela's constitution has held its first session despite fierce criticism from many quarters. a close ally of president nicolas maduro was sworn in as head of the new body, a move denounced by the opposition. katy watson reports from caracas. outside the parliament building, you'd never guess this was a country in crisis. hugo chavez's face and influence is neverfar away, but today it was about his successor. president maduro, who has remained defiant despite the criticism heaped upon him about what many have called a fraudulent election. "criticism has always been here", this woman told me. "that the people have been on the street 18 years,

first supporting hugo chavez and now president maduro, who was legitimately elected by us." this new assembly will have the powers to rewrite the constitution. there's little detail as to what that means in practice. but the new president gave a hint of what was to come. we've not come to destroy the constitution, she said, adding they wanted to remove obstacles from the government's path. the assembly has been justified as the only way to bring peace to the country after months of often violent protest, but earlier on friday the pope warned it would only encourage a climate of tension, not reconciliation. on the other side of town it was another world. no government supporters here. instead, several opposition rallies bringing people together to protest what they say is an

undemocratic government. i don't want to live in a dictatorship and we are in a dictatorship. my work is travelling all over the country and i can see how this country has been destroyed by this government. protesters called for a new venezuela, for unity. while there's a feeling of deflated opposition, they say they aren't giving up. translation: defeated? that isn't in my vocabulary. i was a political prisoner for a year without having committed a crime. i've seen with my own eyes how people are killed in venezuela. human beings who all they dreamed of was a different country. the feeling here today is different

to what we saw last week with roadblocks, confrontations between police and protesters, but what people here are saying today is they will continue to protest peacefully and what is needed most is patience. katy watson, bbc news, in caracas. we can speak to a journalist working in venezuela, hejoins we can speak to a journalist working in venezuela, he joins us on via skype from caracas. we've seen extensive protests over the last few months, they were definitely ramped up months, they were definitely ramped up against this new assembly, now that's been implemented, do you expect the protests to continue or to begin to die down? that's the big question. the day after the election for this assembly there was also a protest a nd for this assembly there was also a protest and crowds were certainly subdued. today there were thousands

of people in the streets. another problem for the opposition will be that they currently have some current divisions within their opposition coalition, there are some parts of the opposition that want to continue ahead with elections and there are other parts of the opposition that want to boycott any elections because they say these recent elections were fraudulent so those internal divisions could also affect turnout at these protests. president nicolas maduro says this is to bring peace and stability, that's why he wants this new assembly. from your broadcasts, from your interviews with people there, are they buying that?” your interviews with people there, are they buying that? i don't think so. are they buying that? i don't think so. ironically it may bring about peace because of the divisions within the opposition but also maduro has not been clear about how this would actually bring peace and his supporters aren't able to explain that either. it's been sort ofa

explain that either. it's been sort of a broad declaration that this will somehow bring about peace but because the opposition isn't participating, this is not any dialogue process or anything like that. so i think most people are doubtful that this can somehow bring these two sides together. 50 doubtful that this can somehow bring these two sides together. so we've got the new assembly, it begins work obviously at the start of the coming week, what are you expecting to see in first few days? there are plenty of rumours that the attorney general, who has been dissenting from the government, that she could be removed from office and actually some people in that assembly have already warned that will happen. also we are watching to see if perhaps this new assembly will dissolve the national assembly, which is under opposition control, that would basically get rid of opposition voices within the government. we'll also be looking to see if there are any more arrests of opposition leaders as this assembly

continues to hold sessions.“ opposition leaders as this assembly continues to hold sessions. if the dissenting attorney general luisa ortega and the national assembly are both gotten rid of, that will really bea snub both gotten rid of, that will really be a snub to all those who have said to nicolas maduro that he has got to at least start to talk to his opponents? that's right. the dialogue process here has continually failed and failed the opposition. the opposition says maduro didn't hold up opposition says maduro didn't hold up his end of the deal during the last dialogue process injanuary. recently there were attempts at dialogue with the former prime minister of spain, he was in venezuela to try to start another dialogue process to prevent this election, but they weren't able to reach an agreement to even start another process. for now maduro is forging ahead with this assembly and with this new constitution and it

doesn't appear he has any plans to let up on that. cody, a freelance journalist from caracas, thanks for that analysis. the united states has officially confirmed that it will pull out of the paris climate agreement. washington has informed the united nations, implementing a decision by president trump injune. but the state department said the us would continue to participate in climate change meetings until the withdrawal process was completed. us vice president mike pence made the announcement: this president's been putting america first, like when he announced the united states of america officially today notified the united nations that we are withdrawing from the paris climate accord. applause the us attorney general, jeff sessions, has announced a major drive against what he called an explosive increase in leaks of classified government information under president trump. four people have already been charged and mr sessions said he would not hesitate to order more prosecutions. here's our north america editor, jon sopel.

donald j trump! donald trump is never happier than when he's out of washington. this is where he belongs. an adoring crowd in west virginia, the problems of russia, collusion, special counsels and grand juries a long way from these country roads. have you seen any russians in west virginia or ohio or pennsylvania? are there any russians here tonight? any russians? the russia story is a totalfabrication. it's just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of american politics, that's all it is. he didn't mention the special counsel by name but had him in this sights when he said this.

i just hope the final determination is a truly honest one. a grand jury is made up of members of the public meeting behind closed doors to consider the evidence that has been gathered. they can force people to testify or to hand over evidence. they'll decide whether the material is strong enough to proceed to a criminal trial. but crucially, they don't decide if a potential defendant is innocent or guilty. that's done by a conventionaljury. of course, it may be that the grand jury meeting at this courthouse will come to the conclusion that the evidence doesn't add up to much and there's no need forfurther action. but the fact that a grand jury has been called is a sign that this investigation is intensifying and will last a good deal longer yet. and the other worry for the trump entourage is that the scope of the inquiry will spread as well. that's a source of fury. another is the endless damaging and revealing leaks from within the administration.

and today the attorney general announced a new crackdown. this nation must end this culture of lea ks. we will investigate and seek to bring criminals tojustice. we will not allow rogue anonymous sources with security clearances to sell out our country. he's been under tremendous pressure. the president last week humiliated his attorney general, calling him very weak. this was much more muscular, with an attack on the media too. we respect the important role that the press plays and we'll give them respect, but it is not unlimited. they cannot place lives at risk with impunity. the president today visited fema, the federal emergency centre, to look at plans for dealing with hurricanes. it's hurricane season. and then he was off on his holidays, two weeks at one of his golf resorts in newjersey and hoping that a storm whipped up by the grand jury does not barrel down on him.

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, has called for "unique solutions" to preserve the relationship between the uk and the european union after brexit. during his first official visit to northern ireland, mr va radkar raised concerns that the irish border could become a barrier to free trade and commerce. our ireland correspondent chris buckler reports. leo varadkar crossed the irish borderfor the first time as ireland's prime minister to set out his concerns about what could happen to it after brexit. he arrived in belfast having upset unionists with recent comments about brexiteers. but, inside queen's university today, the new taoiseach was keen to talk about solutions, not divisions. at a time when brexit threatens to drive a wedge between north and south, between britain and ireland, we need to build more bridges and fewer borders. he is a taoiseach

of a new generation. the referendum over the good friday peace agreement marked the first time he was eligible to vote. he said the challenge of this generation is brexit, and again he challenged those he called the brexiteers to come up with proposals to ease the problems posed by new borders. they have already had 14 months to do so, which should have been ample time to come up with detailed proposals. but, if they cannot, and i believe they cannot, then we can start to talk meaningfully about solutions which might work for all of us. for example, if the united kingdom doesn't want to stay in the customs union, perhaps there can be an eu—uk customs union instead. after all, the european union has a customs union with turkey. in all the potential solutions that leo varadkar put forward for this border, there was a common theme. free movement for people, goods and services. but will that be possible, particularly if it turns out to be

what many call a hard brexit? there's going to be some form of border, because the uk will not want people sort of coming into ireland, the south of ireland, and using it as a sort of gateway into the uk itself. i've never seen before, you know, i'm too young, i didn't see the border, but i can imagine that it won't be good. when people talk about the irish border of the past, they tend to refer to the years of the troubles, when huge security was needed along these roads. that's not the case any more. this is actually the dividing line between the countries, not that you'd notice. northern ireland's biggest party, the dup, campaigned for brexit. but they believe these roads can remain completely open. there is no binary solution to these things, and actually pejorative language like "hard brexiteers" doesn't really work for anybody. brexit has led to a lot of divisive language in stormont, where the main parties still can't

agree a deal to restore power—sharing. the dup are very disrespectful about the vote in the north. the majority of people here, we say it loud and clear, the majority of people voted against brexit. on this shared island, leo varadkar knows there are many shared interests, and the final details of the deal that sees the uk leave the eu will be important on both sides of this border. chris buckler, bbc news, belfast. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: the world's most expensive footballer signs for paris saint—germain, but a hitch with the paperwork means neymar can't make his debut on saturday. 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 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 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: venezuela has sworn in a new constituent assembly — despite widespread opposition at home and abroad. america's attorney general has begun a crackdown on leaks of classified information from the white house — four people have been arrested so far. a british computer expert has appeared before a judge in las vegas, charged with creating software to steal bank details. prosecutors said 23—year—old marcus hutchins had admitted writing and selling the malware code, but his lawyer said his client denied all the charges against him. our correspondent james cook was in court in las vegas. this was supposed to be a relatively brief procedural hearing, but it went on for a reasonable amount of time as both sides, the government

side and the defence lawyer, they debated and discussed with the judge whether or not marcus hutchins should be released on bail, lb at on some pretty stringent conditions. they said he could propose a risk to the public and a flight risk. that was dismissed by the judge, the public and a flight risk. that was dismissed by thejudge, she did not seem particularly impressed with the idea that he posed a risk to the public. she agreed that he could be released on bail, pending a number of conditions. one of those conditions was that he surrender his british passport and subject himself to gps monitoring. there was also a bale of 30,000 us dollars bond to have him released. unfortunately for him, there was a big scramble at the end of the day on friday, and he did not manage to get the money posted in time. so he will have to spend the weekend in custody, the earliest he can be released is monday. he was

regarded and perhaps still is regarded and perhaps still is regarded by some people as something ofa regarded by some people as something of a hero. he likes to surf, they called him the surfer who saved the world, because he had cracked, perhaps inadvertently, to stop or investigate a bug that was causing problems in the british national health service, and that also spread to about 150 other countries in the world. he basically managed to stop the spread of the virus for people to putting countermeasures. the damage was not nearly as serious as it could have been. it is possible he actually saved lives. for many people, he is something of a hero, especially in the cyber security industry. he was attending a cyber security conference in las vegas and a lot of his colleagues there said they are not realistic chargers, they are not realistic chargers, they are not convinced that the fbi understands the nature of what he was doing. they have said this will jeopardise co—operation between

hackers and the government, and they say that is necessary to secure the internet. as for the state's position, the united states, their position, the united states, their position is that he has broken the law and that he should be tried in wisconsin for doing so. health warnings have been issued across europe as the dangerous heatwave continues. in parts of italy, spain and the balkans — temperatures have soared into the high forties. some regions are still contending with drought and forest fires. sarah corker reports. large swathes of southern europe are sweltering in this heat wave, known as lucifer. the extreme heat has triggered health warnings in at least a dozen countries. in albania, massive forest fires have raged for weeks. the government is now asking

for help from the eu. in northern spain, flames are turning the sky red and shutting down highways. on the french island of corsica, planes continue to douse flames below. we have more than seven kilometres of forest ages, many spots remain inaccessible which are likely to start again. italy and the balkans have been most severely affected. one man died in romania and 80 people are in hospital due to the extreme weather. heat and flames are pushing temperatures above a0 celsius, stretching from albania and as far as portugal. it is the most extreme and widespread heatwave for 14 extreme and widespread heatwave for ia years. it is notjust people suffering, imported pest zoo they have found some innovative ways of keeping the animals cool. even at altitudes of 3000 metres, lacie is

in the austrian alps are melting. holidaymakers have been sharing their heatwave experiences. in —— as temperatures hit aa degrees, the safety advice is, where a hat, drink plenty of water and find some shade. it is not expected to call off until next week —— wear. some breaking news and a magnitude six earthquake has struck the south island in the philippines ——a south island. the epicentre was east of the city of general santos. it is the city of general santos. it is the southernmost city of the

philippines and is home to roughly 6000 people. it is not yet known if there were any casualties. neymar has become the most expensive footballer in the history of the game. after days of talks, the brazilian striker has finally completed his record $263—million transfer deal with paris saint—germain. the 25—year—old hoped to make his debut with the club on saturday — although that won't be possible because a mix—up over paperwork. neymar told the bbc‘s richard conway, his move from barcelona was for a new, bigger challenge — not for the money. neymar, finally in paris with a ball and the world at his feet. at £200 million, his transfer from barcelona is a world record deal. and when his wages are included, the final bill will be close to £500 million. but, speaking to me today, the brazilian star insists he has followed his heart, not his wallet. lots of people are saying that perhaps you are doing this for the money, that that is your motivation. what do you say to that? translation: i didn't come over here for the money.

i came here for the motivation of the challenge and the challenges. on the champs—elysees this morning, fans were happy to part with their cash. hundreds of them queued for hours to buy the new neymar shirt. the club is backed by the country of qatar's vast wealth. but its president thinks he has bagged a bargain. i would love to see, you know, in one year, and then, unannounced visitors much or not. today, until now, just in five hours, we sold already merchandise, like half a million euros, and this is just for a couple of hours. nice little bit of skill from neymar! neymar has been a star for both club and country from a young age but critics of this megadeal point to the vast sums involved and there are questions, too, over whether he is merely a pawn in qatar's efforts to spread its influence across the globe. the man at the centre of it all, though, insists he's simply

here to win. what will be success to you at this club? the champions league? a ballon d'or, the fifa best award? how would you say, "i have made it here, i have delivered"? translation: i want everything. the titles. that's. . .i came over here to make history. psg want neymar to spark a new sporting revolution for them. and, leaving the stadium tonight, he was greeted by fans as their new king. mo farah has won a gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the start of the world athletics championships in london. the 3a—year—old completed the race in 26 minutes, a9.51 seconds. he'll defend his 5,000 metres title next week, before making the switch to road racing. earlier, usain bolt, won his first race in defence of his 100 metres title. it's bolt‘s last major event before retiring. hello, once again.

whatever you have in mind this particular weekend, be it some rest for some play or for some, just more work, you are going to have to keep a close eye on the weather front, because there is quite a mix on offer. it is not a write—off, many will see some sunshine at some point, but in that mix come heavy showers and longer spells of rain and it will feel disappointingly cooler. the weekend is not starting on a cold note, temperatures in double figures in many areas. but from the word go we will have some heavy showers and thunderstorms initially in wales, and then by around the middle of the day off towards the midlands, and then they push towards east anglia and the south—east. just about missing the south—west i would have thought, further north you have your own lot of heavy showers across the south—eastern quarter of scotland into the borders, and the eastern

side of northern ireland, and variable amounts of cloud. having had that rather tempestuous start to the day, things will settle down, with one or two showers as you see through the midlands and into wales, all the while i think the southern counties, particularly in the south—west get away with fewer showers, but they will be there to be had especially as that pulse of heavy showers moves on through the south—east, and could affect the world championships, the evening events more likely to be dry. this ridge of high pressure comes through during the course of the night and into the first part of sunday, underneath that the showers quit the scene for the most part and the sky is clear and ends up being quite chilly, especially in the countryside for the time of year. but for many that equates to a really dry, bright start, certainly in central and eastern areas, more of this towards the west, another area of cloud, wind and rain. gradually working its way through northern ireland and pushing across the north channel into central and west parts

of scotland and there will be the odd bit into the western side of wales, maybe a showery burst towards the west midlands. all of which is quite a long way away from the community shield, arsenal taking on chelsea, that should be fine and dry. increasingly cloudy and fine and dry for the most part. what news of the start of next week was met low pressure yet again as was the case this week, into tuesday, we see these weather fronts just working their way down across the country, and the isobars running from the south, no heat wave, and if you are looking for settled weather for the holidays, look away now. this is bbc news, the headlines: the government of venezuela has inaugurated a controversial constituent assembly despite fierce criticism at home and abroad. in several cities, crowds gathered to protest against what they say is a creeping dictatorship that's stifling opposition parties.

the us attorney general, jeff sessions, has announced a major drive against what he called an explosive increase in leaks of classified government information under president trump. four people have already been charged and mr sessions said he would not hesitate to order more prosecutions. a british computer expert has appeared in court in the united states, charged with creating software to steal bank details. lawyers representing mark hutchins say he denies all the charges against him. prosecutors insist he has admitted writing and selling malware code. let's have a look at this morning's front pages. the daily mail leads with accusations that the national trust