this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top story: making his mind up, president trump now says vladimir putin is to blame for russia meddling in the us election. well, iwould, because he's in charge of the country, just like i consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. so certainly, as the leader of a country, you would have to hold him responsible, yes. from the arctic circle to the baltic sea, sweden calls for international help as it battles to contain at least a0 wildfires. some of the boys saved from a flooded cave in thailand take part in a religious ceremony, praying for their rescuers. coming up in the business briefing: preparing for the worst. brussels tells eu governments to get ready for a no—deal brexit, as political divisions deepen in the uk. also coming up: the future

of transport, or an expensive toy? google‘s co—founder shows off a flying car you can learn to use in an hour. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be a part of the conversation. today we would like your views on the flying car that google‘s larry page promises will be on the market soon. you can learn to fly it in an hour, and no pilot's licence is required. would you climb on board, or is it an accident waiting to happen? tell us what you think. just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. donald trump has now said he holds vladimir putin personally

responsible for russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. that comment in an interview on the us tv network cbs is the latest piece of damage control in the wake of the president's news conference with the russian president in helsinki, when mr trump seemed to put russia's denials above the unanimous conclusion of his own us intelligence agencies. he has since said he misspoke, and now suggests that no other us president has ever been tougher on russia. chris buckler reports. when president trump shared a stage with vladimir putin in helsinki, for some within his republican party it appeared all too cosy, particularly as he seemed to side with the russian president over

america's own intelligence agencies. now, after days of criticism, in an interview with america's cbs news, he has taken a deliberately tougher line. you say you agree with us intelligence that russia meddled in the election in 2016. yeah, and i've said that before, jeff. i have said that numerous times before, and i would say that that is true, yes. but you haven't condemned putin specifically. do you hold him personally responsible? well, iwould, because he's in charge of the country, just like i consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. so certainly, as the leader of a country, you would have to hold him responsible, yes. after he returned to washington, the president claimed he misspoke when he said at that now—notorious news conference in helsinki that he didn't see why russia would have been involved in electoral interference. but it took 2a hours to set the record straight. there's been no president, ever,

as tough as i have been on russia. and that was followed by more confusion, as he appeared to dismiss his intelligence service's assessment that russia remains a threat to american democracy. is russia still targeting the us, mr president? no. press, let's go. he did appear to say no, but then came another clarification from the white house. the president was — said thank you very much, and was saying no to answering any more questions. the president and his administration are working very hard to make sure that russia is unable to meddle in our elections, as they have done in the past, and as we have stated. on twitter, donald trump said some people hate the fact that he got along well with president putin, something which he called trump derangement syndrome. and, in reaching out to russia, the president is continuing to defend his own unique style of diplomacy. sweden has called for international help to fight more than a0 wildfires

that have broken out across the country. specialist planes and helicopters are trying to control the flames. weeks of high temperatures and minimal rain have seen huge fires breaking out in countries across the globe. andrew plant has the latest. wildfire sweeping across this forest in sweden, one of dozens being fought here, firefighters soaking ground that has seen no significant rain in several weeks. translation: over there, we made a line of water, and we stopped the fire so it can't spread out. hopefully it won't spread this way now. over the dry, sunbaked forest, two italian planes had flown north to help. each one is capable of dumping 6,000 litres of water each time.

still, sweden's fires are spreading. translation: we've done ok the whole day, until the wind started, and then we lost some control there. i think it mayjump across the road over there. the record heat is causing blazes across some of the coldest countries on earth. this a snapshot of sweden on wednesday — 44 separate fires. norway, finland and russia are facing similar problems, even the arctic circle ablaze in the summer heat. volu nteers volunteers are helping to fight back the flames, to stop the fire from spreading. translation: monday was very hard. it feels like we work in vain. all the time, fires, fires. at the end we had to retreat three kilometres, because it became too dangerous. norwegian helicopters, too, are flying repeat missions here, scooping buckets of water. one fire 25 kilometres square has

caused the evacuation of two nearby towns. with weather warnings issued across almost the entire country, the wildfires are raging in the summer heat, and thriving in a drought that shows no sign of ending. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news: the israeli parliament has passed the controversialjewish nation—state bill into a law. after a stormy session that lasted over eight hours, 62 mps voted for the bill, with 55 against. the law defines israel as an exclusivelyjewish state, downgrades arabic as an official language, and views the advance ofjewish settlement as a national interest. it also states that the "whole and united jerusalem" is the state's capital. turkey's state media say the government is lifting the state of emergency imposed after the failed coup two years ago. tens of thousands have been arrested and held without trial on the orders of president erdogan. thousands have been dismissed from theirjobs. amnesty international says the lifting of the state of emergency alone will not reverse the political crackdown. ajudge in washington has ordered

that a russian woman, maria butina, must remain in prison until her trial. she is accused of conspiring against the us government. the justice department says she has ties to russian intelligence. it alleges she tried to infiltrate gun rights organisations to influence american foreign policy towards russia. she denies the charges. buses have begun the evacuation of people from a pro—government town in syria's north—west. evacuations are taking place after a deal between the government of president bashar al—assad and the rebels in return for the release of prisoners held by the massacres. —— damascus.

talks on britain's exit from the european union are resuming later today. britain's new brexit secretary, dominic raab, is going to meet the eu chief negotiator, michel barnier, for the first time. and there are reports the eu is ramping up preparations for a failure to reach one in time — a risk it says is growing. the financial commentator david buikjoins me now. so nice to see you again. lovely to be with you. thank you forjoining us on be with you. thank you forjoining us on the briefing. how do you think today's meeting will go between the new brexit secretary in the uk and michel barnier, given the fact that russells has been watching the last two weeks unfold in westminster —— brussels. the trouble now is we think that dominic raab has had an undertaking from the prime minister that he is the brexit secretary, because there has been this feeling

that ollie robbins and the prime minister have really sidelined david davis, and i think there is possibly an element of truth in that. he wa nts to an element of truth in that. he wants to go there knowing he has his own man. he has the mandate. i think he has an even though i thought the prime minister was a little bit woolly before the select committee yesterday about guaranteeing the fa ct yesterday about guaranteeing the fact that she had in place, we can't do this, we are about to leave, and she kept saying we are going to agree there is, there is no question of talking about leaving at the moment. the fact of the matter is we have to have theirs. we have to have this meaning we have to leave the eu? we have to have the option on the table, and we haven't had that, really. which option? that we are leaving. however much she wants to negotiate that we are staying, the option that we are leaving has to be on the table. this is so watered down, this whole white paper, we

have to get across the fact that the european court of justice have to get across the fact that the european court ofjustice is not the master, that has to come across very strongly. we want some reciprocity from the european union, from michel barnier, but they are not going to go without like that, we don't like that, we don't like that. we think the prime minister has gone in probably as low as she can. and when you say we think, who do you mean by that? we know you are a strong brexiteer. when i say we, we mean the country. the time to be tough was 18 months ago. water has gone under the bridge now. the government has no real power, no real majority, to get tough with the european union when you are six months down the line from agreeing. collective responsibility, it has got to be done, and it has got to be done fairly. and david will be back in about half an hour to review the main stories being covered by the global media. we will discuss that further, as the

media is across the brexit story, it has been quite a week yet again. the 12 thai boys and their football coach who spent more than two weeks trapped in a cave have woken up in their own homes for the first time since their dramatic rescue. many of them have been paying tribute to their rescuers, and the thai diver who died during the operation, at a dawn religious ceremony. the bbc‘s devina gupta, in northern thailand, has more. after an emotional homecoming, it is about picking up the pieces and returning to normal life for these boys, and here is an example of that. this is a blessing ceremony that. this is a blessing ceremony that the team attended. all of them came together as a team to this buddhist temple in their to receive blessings from senior monks. their coach was with them, and they also paid respect to the thai diver who

lost his life trying to save them. they were all calm, very composed and relax. they were with their families, which was nice to see, because they need that community support at this point of time in a road to recovery. for many of them, life will not be normal, because there is an intense media scrutiny. although the thai government has asked the media to stay away and to respect the privacy of the families, but there is no denying that they are being increasingly talked about. they are being increasingly shown across the global media, and therefore they do know that they are famous. at the same time, they have the heavy responsibility of leading as normal a life as possible. now, these boys will be going back to their homes, will be resting, meeting their friends, trying to absorb how life has changed around them in the past one month that they have been gone. at the end of the day, they are footballers, and they

have this confident demeanour of the sportsman spirit around them, which makes one feel confident that they will be able to embrace this change and be back on that soccer field very soon. stay with us on the briefing. still to come: up, up, and away. you can now buy your very own jet pack, as long as you have deep pockets. the flamboyant italian fashion designer gianni versace has been shot dead in florida. the multimillionaire was gunned down outside his home in the exclusive south beach district of miami. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worst floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called the great white way by americans, but tonight it's completely blacked out. it's a timely reminder to all americans of the problems the energy crisis has brought to them. 200 years ago today, a huge parisian crowd stormed the bastille prison, the first act of the revolution

which was to topple the french monarchy. today, hundreds of thousands thronged the champs—elysee for the traditional military parade. finally, fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on huge shoal of their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much they could barely stand. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: our top story: donald trump says he holds vladimir putin personally responsible for russian interference in the 2016 us presidential election. sweden is calling for international help as it battles to contain at least raging wildfires, stretching from the arctic circle to the baltic sea. more than 30,000 burundian refugees

have returned home from refugee camps in tanazania, as part of an ongoing voluntary repatriation process that began this year. for decades tanzania has opened its borders to people fleeing conflict in their own countries, and even offers new arrivals plots of land to farm, and encourages local integration. sammy awami has been to a refugee camp in western kigoma, and filed this report. one name after another, over 50,000 refugees have signed up to be voluntarily repatriated and over 40,000 have done so. many said they had been encouraged by reports from friends and relatives back home that

it is safe to go back home but others have been pushed by head achieves on the refugee camps. transaction mac some calls back home and was told that it is safe and thatis and was told that it is safe and that is why a decided to go back home. translation: we are given very little food here, only one tried and the side dish is not enough. more than 300,000 refugees fled their country in 2000 feet and after the president —— 215 after the president's decisions that lead to violent conflicts in the country. they were then told burunda was safe and it is over them to go. many however say human rights violation are still ongoing, especially against politicians and dissenting voices. some say it supports the

repatriation but is not actively encourage it. those are making a volu nta ry encourage it. those are making a voluntary decision based on their information to return, they have a right to go back and we are happy to support and facilitate the rick —— of their return in a dignified manner. how sure of their return in a dignified manner. how sure are of their return in a dignified manner. how sure are they that they are sending refugees back to a safe country? translation: if the conditions were not good, this people would not have signed up to go but because the get go reports from theirfamily go but because the get go reports from their family and friends, it is a good sign that conditions are good. in just a good sign that conditions are good. injust a a good sign that conditions are good. in just a couple of hours, these refugees will be a home, reunited with family members and hoping to restart building their lives stop it is an exciting prospect. now it's time to get

all the latest from the bbc sports centre. the open championship tees off at carnoustie in scotland in the coming hours and jordan spieth heads out as defending champion over the coming hours, the world ‘s best golfers will be on the course in scotland for the open championship. americans have won the last five opens. but the europeans will be desperate to win this one. rory mcilroy one of the silver medal the last time the open was here in 2007 and he is desperate to recreate the same magic of the profession. 2007 and he is desperate to recreate the same magic of the professionlj did the same magic of the profession.” did not know what to expect. the journey that was about to embark on. to be back in a different position,

it feels good and to be talked about as one of the guys that could win and to have a claretjug is a very nice but i want to add to my collection at it would be nice to win their wearer was a silver—medallist. britain's geraint thomas is the new overall leader at the tour de france after an impressive victory on wednesday's11th stage the welsh rider on stage 11 with a one minute 22nd lead over chris froome, his teammate. in case you missed it, liverpool have agreed a fee in the region of $87 million for roma for their goalkeeper. if the deal goes through, it would be a

record fee for a keeper. not many saw this one coming, the a retirement from professional rugby union. he had been training with the cardiff tea m union. he had been training with the cardiff team about me and neck problems have ruined plans. he made his debut for wales when he was just 20. he captained the side more times than anyone. as we just heard sam warburton just retired and he posted this message after the announcement...

iam sure i am sure he will definitely do that. all the latest updates in our website. from me and the team, that is your sports briefing. in the pages of comics books or on the silver screen — one of the staples of science fiction has been the jet pack. a personal — rocket—fuelled — passport to the stars. well, the space—faring version is still a little beyond our reach but a more modestjet pack is now available and if you want you can buy one yourself. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. it's 2018 — shouldn't we all be flying to work in rocket suits by now? well, if richard browning has his way, we will be doing exactly that. this is a gravity industries series iii jet suit, which is now commercially available for the first time from a department store in london. essentially it's made of five micro jet engines, gas turbines, two on each arm and one on the back. other than that you're charging

some lithium batteries, which are what start the engines, and that's it. other than that, it's flying it sensibly and looking after it. it's not really — i could say rocket science. it is not cheap, either. one of these suits, custom—made, will set you back about £340,000. that is more than $440,000. you can'tjust walk out of the shop, strap yourself in and press ignition, either. there is a bit of work involved before you take off. so that involves the customer going to ourflight training hangar and then spending three days in a series of progressive steps, even starting with a vr system, just to get familiar. a bit like — the analogy of riding a bike is not actually misplaced. the rocket suit can reach a maximum altitude of around 3,500 metres, with a top speed of 51 km/h. but, with a maximum flight time of three or four minutes, you will be able to fly to work, as long as work isn't too far away. in business briefing we will be

looking at the flying car because dave lee has been to the driver school for flying cars. dave lee has been to the driver school forflying cars. this is the big idea of larry page who is behind these driving a vehicle. in business briefing, you can see the report, coming up injust a moment. he sat inside, this is it, in a simulated environment. is thisjust inside, this is it, in a simulated environment. is this just an accident waiting to happen or would you get one? and robinson says you might be able to learn the controls in an hour but, of course, you will

need knowledge of conditions and turbulence. shirley says this is a ridiculous accident waiting to happen. keith says, i would get him one but not somebody with one hours training, perhaps after a year of flying a might consider it. another, my plan could not take off because of lack of airspace over europe, where will they all fit? enjoy the noise over your house and just one more, bill says something else for russia to hack! i will be back with the business briefing injust a moment. see you soon. hello there.

well, surprise, surprise, there's going to be more hot sunshine over the next few days across the country but what many of you would like to hear is there is also going to be some rain as well. i'll show you that in just a moment. wednesday, there was another largely dry day. variable clouds and sunshine lead to some glorious sunsets on wednesday evening. it was all down to high pressure but we look to the north—west, to that a tangle of weather fronts which will bring some rain for some of us through the course of friday. thursday, though, it's another dry day for many, lots of sunshine, in fact more sunshine than we had on wednesday. just a slim chance of a shower across the north—east corner of the country. late in the day, increasing cloud and breeze. we may see some outbreaks of rain arriving across the far north—west later. 15—23 degrees in the north. but a very warm day expected for england and wales, the top temperature of 20—29 degrees in the south—east. now, we see those weather fronts pushing their way south eastwards across the country. so it's going to bring quite a different feel to things for friday. a lot more cloud across scotland and northern ireland,

northen england. with maybe some heavy bursts of useful rain. but as that weather front sinks south—eastwards into england and wales, it will tend to fizzle out and become a bit more patchy. further north, a fairly cool day to come but, ahead of it, it's going to be another very warm one, with temperatures reaching up to 28 or 29 degrees. now, there is a slim chance of a thunderstorm developing across the south—east of england, and in towards east anglia, as we head on towards the evening and for the first part of the night. it will be very hit and miss, however, but if you do catch one, you will certainly know about it. now, that weather front will continue to weaken as it moves southwards, becoming located across southern parts of britain first thing on saturday. but it's high—pressure which will be dominating the scene for much of the weekend, although it will drive in quite a bit of cloud across north—western areas, both saturday and sunday. so we will have that weak weather front across southern parts of the country, the odd spot of rain. so it does mean it will be a little bit cooler as there will generally be more cloud around. a few sunny spells. temperatures of 17 to maybe 25 or 26 degrees in the south—east. on sunday, it is looking warmer with more sunshine around across southern and south—western parts of the country so, as a result, it will be warmer.

further north, cooler and breezier with outbreaks of rain, particularly across the west of scotland but we could still make the low 20s celsius for eastern scotland, maybe belfast. 28 celsius across the south—east. so for the weekend, it's a bit of a mixed bag. spells of warm sunshine but also a little rain. this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. preparing for the worst. brussels tells eu governments to get ready for a no deal brexit, as political divisions deepen in the uk. plus, the future of transport or an expensive toy? google's co—founder shows off a flying car you can learn to use in an hour. and on the financial markets, investors are working through a mixed picture of corporate earnings. this has taken away some of the focus on trade

tensions for now.