:00:00. > :00:10.Our top stories: An all-time and very dangerous low -
:00:11. > :00:21.President Trump's Twitter verdict on US-Russian relations,
:00:22. > :00:23.blaming Congress for new sanctions against Moscow.
:00:24. > :00:25.Caught in a heatwave - from Romania to Spain and Portugal,
:00:26. > :00:30.temperatures in Europe reach dangerous highs.
:00:31. > :00:37.What we are seeing are at those temperatures around 10-15dC above
:00:38. > :00:39.average, some very high and causing problems.
:00:40. > :00:43.of the world's most expensive footballer Neymar appears to be over
:00:44. > :00:45.- after Barcelona say they've received his quarter of a billion
:00:46. > :00:49.And a major oil reserve lies beneath this Arctic ice,
:00:50. > :00:55.but do the benefits of drilling outweigh the costs?
:00:56. > :00:57.In one Alaska whaling community, some are fearful
:00:58. > :01:06.Just imagine if there were to be a big spill on the ocean. None of this
:01:07. > :01:17.would be happening right now. Hello and welcome
:01:18. > :01:22.to World News Today. Donald Trump has signed
:01:23. > :01:25.the bill authorising new US sanctions against Russia,
:01:26. > :01:27.but he's clearly not happy about it. Hardly surprising -
:01:28. > :01:29.what president would want Congress It's described the new sanctions
:01:30. > :01:33.as tantamount to declaring a "full-scale trade war" and show
:01:34. > :01:35.the complete impotence The sanctions are retaliation
:01:36. > :01:39.for Russia's alleged meddling in last year's election
:01:40. > :01:47.and its actions in Ukraine. Laura Bicker is following
:01:48. > :02:01.developments from Washington. Laura, Donald Trump putting all of
:02:02. > :02:07.the blame on Congress. How reluctant was he to back the sanctions? He was
:02:08. > :02:12.very much boxed into a corner. Remember, right at the beginning of
:02:13. > :02:15.his administration, he wanted a new relationship with Vladimir Putin, a
:02:16. > :02:19.preset with Russia. He said he thought he would get along very well
:02:20. > :02:24.with Vladimir Putin, and here we are just six months later and already
:02:25. > :02:28.relations seem to be, in his words, at an all time low, but when it
:02:29. > :02:34.comes to Donald Trump and his view of Russia and the view of those
:02:35. > :02:38.politicians on Russia, they are very different. Republicans and Democrats
:02:39. > :02:43.have long viewed Russia as a full, not a friend. And when they heard
:02:44. > :02:49.evidence from the evidence committee that they alleged that Russia
:02:50. > :02:54.meddled in the US election, they proposed this kind of bill, the
:02:55. > :02:58.sanctions to just say to Russia no more. Once they drop that bill, it
:02:59. > :03:02.had to land on the desk of the president. He had to sign it because
:03:03. > :03:08.it was overwhelmingly supported, which meant that if he vetoed it, it
:03:09. > :03:10.would have been overridden by Congress, sunny was backed into a
:03:11. > :03:16.corner and they have also put constraints on him within this bill.
:03:17. > :03:19.It means he can't lift or waive sanctions against Russia. You have
:03:20. > :03:24.heard some of the comments there from the Russian Prime Minister, who
:03:25. > :03:28.has said that this makes Donald Trump impotent. Well, when it comes
:03:29. > :03:31.to it, that is not going to go down well in the White House. Donald
:03:32. > :03:35.Trump feels that Congress is stepping on his toes is impeding his
:03:36. > :03:41.presidency, and that is something that he is not going to take
:03:42. > :03:44.lightly. And by saying what he said on Twitter, like distancing himself
:03:45. > :03:49.from the decision, how much does it send a signal to Russia sailing, "I
:03:50. > :03:55.wanted to improve relations with you, but my hands are tied." Well,
:03:56. > :03:59.he may be trying to do that inadvertently in his tweet and
:04:00. > :04:04.really aid to Russia, "Hang on a second, I am not Congress." But at
:04:05. > :04:09.the same time, I think mostly his message is to his base and it is to
:04:10. > :04:12.say that he is still an outsider. Remember, this is a president who
:04:13. > :04:16.ran on a ticket to the White House of being a political outsider. He
:04:17. > :04:20.has not really got many Republican establishment figures around him any
:04:21. > :04:23.more atoll, which means you can separate from party politics. It
:04:24. > :04:26.means that when things like this do not go his way and when he made
:04:27. > :04:32.reference to the health care boat, which also did not go his way, it
:04:33. > :04:38.means you can blame politicians. He can say, "It is all their fault, not
:04:39. > :04:40.mine." Another story that is dominating the American airwaves and
:04:41. > :04:44.beyond is leaked conversations between Donald Trump and other
:04:45. > :04:47.leaders, in particular Mexico. This has come out from the Washington
:04:48. > :04:53.Post. It is a series of transcripts that they published from Donald
:04:54. > :04:56.Trump's January cold, pressed or the Mexican president, but he seems to
:04:57. > :04:59.say to him that he should not or would prefer that he did not say
:05:00. > :05:07.publicly that he would not pay for the wall. "You Cannot say that to
:05:08. > :05:10.the press," is one of the quotes. He also seems to imply that funding
:05:11. > :05:13.will be found from other sources and that they will find it somehow, and
:05:14. > :05:18.when it comes to the relationship between him and the Australian Prime
:05:19. > :05:21.Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, that transcript is very interesting.
:05:22. > :05:28.There is increasingly heated debate over whether or not the US should
:05:29. > :05:32.accept refugees from Australian detention centres. Donald Trump
:05:33. > :05:36.didn't want to do this, he says, "You are killing me here." And then
:05:37. > :05:47.the conversation heats up even more and he says, "He hated those
:05:48. > :05:53.people,"" and he guaranteed they were bad," and he then goes on to
:05:54. > :05:59.say, "This is the worst conversation I have had all day but the
:06:00. > :06:03.conversation I had with Vladimir Putin was rather pleasant."
:06:04. > :06:05.Venezuela's opposition has postponed a protest
:06:06. > :06:09.against a powerful new assembly backed by President Maduro until it
:06:10. > :06:12.The opposition believes the powerful pro-government assembly
:06:13. > :06:15.The country's attorney general has opened an investigation into last
:06:16. > :06:17.Sunday's election following claims that the government inflated
:06:18. > :06:22.The BBC's Katy Watson has been telling us more.
:06:23. > :06:27.Well, she's a big critic of Mr Maduro.
:06:28. > :06:30.Now, she has said that she will employ some prosecutors to look
:06:31. > :06:34.into four of the directors at the electoral council.
:06:35. > :06:37.One of the directors has been quite critical of the constituent
:06:38. > :06:45.I was at a press conference just a few days ago where one
:06:46. > :06:47.of the politicians talked about her as Louisa
:06:48. > :06:51.'what's-her-name.' She's certainly not liked.
:06:52. > :06:54.So this, of course, just heaps more pressure on President Maduro,
:06:55. > :07:05.In the speech he gave last night, he talked about the fact that
:07:06. > :07:07.despite the allegations of vote tampering, 10 million Venezuelans
:07:08. > :07:11.tried to come out to vote and only 8 million could because 2 million
:07:12. > :07:14.were stopped by fire, by barricades, so he's very resolute on that.
:07:15. > :07:22.He's saying this vote happened and it happened fairly.
:07:23. > :07:24.FC Barcelona has confirmed in the last hour that
:07:25. > :07:27.representatives for Neymar have paid the $263 million release
:07:28. > :07:31.The Brazillian is now expected to sign with Paris St-Germain
:07:32. > :07:39.Richard Conway is at Paris Saint Germain's
:07:40. > :07:52.Where are we at with all of this? Well, this deal is now on the verge
:07:53. > :07:57.of being confirmed. The necessary steps to clear Neymar from his
:07:58. > :08:00.contract with Barcelona, as you have discussed, has now been done, but it
:08:01. > :08:08.was a convoluted process and there were a few hiccups along the way.
:08:09. > :08:11.Lawyers for Neymar went to the offices of Paris St Germain, that is
:08:12. > :08:16.the Spanish league, this morning in Madrid. They try to pay them, as is
:08:17. > :08:18.the normal route in such circumstances it is the
:08:19. > :08:26.responsibility of the player in Spain to play -- paid the fee. They
:08:27. > :08:31.said that they believed this was financial doping, as it was put.
:08:32. > :08:35.They are not happy with what they see as a potential breach of
:08:36. > :08:38.European football finance regulations. So the club has had to
:08:39. > :08:43.go a different route to make the deal happen. Instead, what we got
:08:44. > :08:50.was Neymar's lawyer is going to Barcelona directly and paying them
:08:51. > :08:54.the $263 million into their office today. That's now according to the
:08:55. > :08:59.club has released Neymar from his contract and he is now free to come
:09:00. > :09:05.here to Paris St Germain, where he will sign as a player. There could
:09:06. > :09:08.be an announcement tonight, certainly something tomorrow. There
:09:09. > :09:11.are definitely things afoot around the stadium. They are planning
:09:12. > :09:16.perhaps for an event, so it is not known now if we will see Neymar and
:09:17. > :09:21.when confirmed as a Paris St Germain player. How much people is it for
:09:22. > :09:25.Barcelona to lose a player like Neymar? If there a certain amount of
:09:26. > :09:28.hurt pride going on here? Yes, I think there is the degree of hurt
:09:29. > :09:32.pride about it, but I think more than that, they have been caught
:09:33. > :09:35.napping. When the established his contract, they put this release
:09:36. > :09:40.clause in there, perhaps thinking that no one would ever pay such a
:09:41. > :09:44.sum of money. Well, their bluff has been called and Paris St Germain
:09:45. > :09:49.backed by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund have come up with the cash, so
:09:50. > :09:53.there will certainly be some political ramifications for their
:09:54. > :09:57.board of directors. Of course, they are, Barcelona, owned by their fans.
:09:58. > :10:01.Their president is elected, sweating there will be some political
:10:02. > :10:04.limitations of losing such a star player who is in his prime. He
:10:05. > :10:10.perhaps wants to step aside and leave out of the shadow of players
:10:11. > :10:14.like Lionel Messi, who are there. So they will have to try to reinvest
:10:15. > :10:19.some of the money they will get back from this deal, that $260 million,
:10:20. > :10:22.so I think it will be something of a cascade effect within the transfer
:10:23. > :10:25.market, there are some weeks left in this transfer window, and I think we
:10:26. > :10:29.might see some more big-money deals being processed before this window
:10:30. > :10:34.closes. We will keep watching. Richard Conway, thank you very much.
:10:35. > :10:37.Let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.
:10:38. > :10:40.Millions of people living in South Asia face a deadly threat
:10:41. > :10:42.from heat and humidity driven by global warming,
:10:43. > :10:45.The study in the journal Science Advances warns that most
:10:46. > :10:47.of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will experience temperatures close
:10:48. > :10:50.to the limits of survivability by 2100, without emissions
:10:51. > :10:56.Two men have been charged with terror offences in Sydney,
:10:57. > :10:59.after being arrested on suspicion of plotting to bring down a plane.
:11:00. > :11:01.A third man detained in a series of raids
:11:02. > :11:04.across the city at the weekend, is still being questioned.
:11:05. > :11:10.A fourth man has been released without charge.
:11:11. > :11:13.China says there will be serious consequences if India does not
:11:14. > :11:16.withdraw its troops from a Himalayan region claimed by Beijing.
:11:17. > :11:20.China says Indian forces are of trespassing in the Doklam area
:11:21. > :11:24.which borders China, India and Bhutan.
:11:25. > :11:27.India says the troops were sent in in June to stop the Chinese
:11:28. > :11:35.Health warnings are in place across Europe as temperatures reach
:11:36. > :11:38.A record-breaking heatwave is currently affecting
:11:39. > :11:41.swathes of the continent, from Romania to Spain and Portugal.
:11:42. > :11:44.In southern Italy, temperatures have been as high as 45 Celsius,
:11:45. > :11:47.and it could get even hotter this weekend.
:11:48. > :11:53.With me is Phil Avery from the BBC Weather Centre.
:11:54. > :12:00.How bad is it? We are not quite in unknown territory. I should say
:12:01. > :12:05.that, although we are going to focus on Europe, I am also keeping a close
:12:06. > :12:08.eye on some other situations across the world. There is a typhoon in the
:12:09. > :12:12.north-eastern corner of Asia at the moment which will be all over Japan
:12:13. > :12:17.within the next couple of days or so, some of those wins with an
:12:18. > :12:21.excess of 200 mph. And we have the storms and the rainfall coming from
:12:22. > :12:24.that. We will move on to talk about heat, but I must acknowledge that we
:12:25. > :12:32.have been with many times over the next few weeks -- over the past few
:12:33. > :12:37.weeks talking about the heatwaves. Real concerns and also extensive
:12:38. > :12:41.wildfire action across the world, so we have not forgotten about the rest
:12:42. > :12:44.of the world by any means at all, but as you say, the situation in
:12:45. > :12:49.Europe as the battle quite some time now. Just a few weeks ago, we were
:12:50. > :12:52.talking about extensive wildfires across parts of Portugal ended to
:12:53. > :12:57.Spain, and now recently we have seen this explosion of heat across the
:12:58. > :13:00.southern parts, and as you said, quite extensively all the way from
:13:01. > :13:04.the central and southern parts of Europe, Italy very widely indeed,
:13:05. > :13:07.all the way through south-eastern Europe and into eastern parts of
:13:08. > :13:11.Europe too. Temperatures which should be at this time of year
:13:12. > :13:18.around the 30 Celsius mark, 28 Celsius or so, are widely in excess
:13:19. > :13:22.of 40 Celsius. This is not record-breaking nationally, because
:13:23. > :13:30.for example the record for Italy is 48.5 Celsius. Athens had 45 Celsius
:13:31. > :13:34.back in 1997, so I think we have not got there yet but some local records
:13:35. > :13:39.will be broken. Giving out any indication of how things will go for
:13:40. > :13:42.the rest of August? As ever, you are pushing me a long way into the
:13:43. > :13:45.future there. As a forecaster, I like to do about the next week or so
:13:46. > :13:49.to give people some certainty about that and the news that I have you is
:13:50. > :13:58.that book for example a single which has been up at around 40 Celsius or
:13:59. > :14:01.Tuesday of next week coming back down to around 36 Celsius, but the
:14:02. > :14:04.red on this particular chart shows you the extent of the searing heat,
:14:05. > :14:08.all the way from central and southern parts of Spain, certainly
:14:09. > :14:13.through Italy, across the Adriatic and widely across eastern parts of
:14:14. > :14:17.Europe. And you would hope that that weather front that I am showing just
:14:18. > :14:20.north of the Alps might come down and offer some relief, and I have
:14:21. > :14:29.alluded to the fact that northern parts of Italy may be part of
:14:30. > :14:33.Switzerland to good seems -- to see some reduction, but adds that
:14:34. > :14:36.weather front comes in from the Atlantic, that boundary becomes very
:14:37. > :14:41.explosive and we could be back here on Sunday or even into the start of
:14:42. > :14:44.next week suggesting that frontal system produced a lot of
:14:45. > :14:49.thunderstorm activity widely just to the north of the real heatwaves area
:14:50. > :14:54.and that could be producing 100 millimetres of rain just like that,
:14:55. > :14:57.so that could be very gusty winds, torrential downpours, flash
:14:58. > :15:03.flooding, but all the while, southern parts of Italy and the
:15:04. > :15:10.south-eastern corner of Europe stays at around 40 Celsius, 10-15dC above
:15:11. > :15:12.normal. Auntie for updating us. -- thank you for updating us.
:15:13. > :15:16.The head of the Libyan National Army has vowed to repel any Italian
:15:17. > :15:17.ships approaching Libya's waters without permission.
:15:18. > :15:20.This follows a decision by the Italian parliament to send
:15:21. > :15:21.naval boats to Libya to stop migrants
:15:22. > :15:25.The Italian authorities are also clamping down on international
:15:26. > :15:27.charities which have been helping to rescue those trying to make
:15:28. > :15:45.At the start of the migrant crisis, the Italian Navy used to play a key
:15:46. > :15:50.But now its mission is to enter Libyan territorial waters to
:15:51. > :15:52.help the Libyan coast guard spot migrant
:15:53. > :15:53.boats as they set sail, and
:15:54. > :15:57.The abrupt change of mission was given
:15:58. > :16:00.the go-ahead by the Italian parliament.
:16:01. > :16:05.Most politicians clearly wanting an end to the crisis.
:16:06. > :16:08.The goal of the Italian government is to
:16:09. > :16:17.stem the flow, bring it close to zero and basically tweak the Turkey
:16:18. > :16:19.deal and adapt it to the situation in Libya
:16:20. > :16:23.is to bring a flow which is in the hundreds
:16:24. > :16:24.of thousands, to close to
:16:25. > :16:29.Almost 100,000 migrants have reached Italy so far this year.
:16:30. > :16:32.Other EU countries were supposed to have taken many of them.
:16:33. > :16:38.So large numbers are applying for asylum here, putting
:16:39. > :16:46.the government under pressure with elections looming next year.
:16:47. > :16:50.Now the Italian Navy's sophisticated radar
:16:51. > :16:53.will enable the Libyan coast guard to stop many migrant boats before
:16:54. > :16:54.they leave Libyan territorial waters.
:16:55. > :17:02.That is sparking alarm amongst human rights organisations.
:17:03. > :17:07.There is automatic detention of irregular
:17:08. > :17:15.migrants in centres where people are systematically abused, and it is
:17:16. > :17:24.completely unclear how the Italian government think that these people
:17:25. > :17:26.would be protected after disembarking Libya with the key
:17:27. > :17:30.assistance of the Italian government.
:17:31. > :17:34.Italy is also imposing restrictions on boats used by
:17:35. > :17:44.It's feared fewer ships will now be in
:17:45. > :17:47.the key areas, and already this year more than 2000 migrants have
:17:48. > :17:55.The rift within the World wide Anglican communion over the support
:17:56. > :17:58.of some churches for same sex marriage seems to be widening.
:17:59. > :18:00.One of the leading conservative figures in the church
:18:01. > :18:05.and Archbishop of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali has said
:18:06. > :18:08.he won't attend the next gathering of its leaders in England
:18:09. > :18:10.because of some churches' stance on gay marriage.
:18:11. > :18:15.The BBC's religious affairs editor Martin Bashir sent this report.
:18:16. > :18:20.archbishops are on a mission, heading north towards refugee camps
:18:21. > :18:28.The welcome they receive is rapturous.
:18:29. > :18:46.There are nearly a million South Sudanese
:18:47. > :18:47.living in camps like this, after fleeing
:18:48. > :18:52.a brutal civil war, with
:18:53. > :18:56.many families rushing to the border carrying only their children.
:18:57. > :18:57.God loves especially the refugee, the
:18:58. > :19:07.And that means he loves you specially.
:19:08. > :19:11.While the archbishops are of one mind, in their support for these
:19:12. > :19:15.refugees, there is another issue about which they are deeply divided.
:19:16. > :19:19.And it concerns not one country in one continent,
:19:20. > :19:26.but the entire unity of the Anglican Communion.
:19:27. > :19:28.That numbers almost 80 million Christians in 165 Nations.
:19:29. > :19:34.Your Grace, shouldn't you be in the middle?
:19:35. > :19:37.Stanley Ntagali, a conservative evangelical, walked out
:19:38. > :19:39.of a global gathering of archbishops last year after the American
:19:40. > :19:43.Episcopal Church voted to endorse same-sex marriage.
:19:44. > :19:46.He says the Bible teaches that marriage is between a
:19:47. > :19:49.man and a woman, and that the growing Ugandan church will not
:19:50. > :19:53.remain in fellowship with those who support same-sex unions.
:19:54. > :19:55.The next meeting of Anglican leaders is in
:19:56. > :20:00.You've been invited to the primates meeting in October.
:20:01. > :20:06.No, I have made it clear I am not attending because of
:20:07. > :20:09.the position the Church of Uganda holds.
:20:10. > :20:13.And that is that homosexuality is wrong?
:20:14. > :20:23.I thought you wanted to ask me about the
:20:24. > :20:25.refugees, but now you're concentrating on that subject.
:20:26. > :20:30.Stanley Ntagali says he remains committed to
:20:31. > :20:33.the Anglican Communion and will not be pulling the Ugandan church out.
:20:34. > :20:40.Although we have differences of agreement, of opinion, over issues
:20:41. > :20:42.around human sexuality, when we were dealing with refugees,
:20:43. > :20:47.Archbishop Justin Welby concluded his visit by
:20:48. > :20:52.praying for peace and reconciliation in South Sudan.
:20:53. > :20:55.A prayer that he probably repeated privately for the
:20:56. > :21:09.The Inupiat of the high Arctic call the ocean their "garden"
:21:10. > :21:11.and they view its greatest harvest as the Bowhead whale.
:21:12. > :21:13.They believe the whales give themselves so that hunters can
:21:14. > :21:17.But what will happen if the Trump administration allows more oil
:21:18. > :21:24.Our environment correspondent Claire Marshall travelled more than 300
:21:25. > :21:32.miles north of the Arctic Circle, and sent this report.
:21:33. > :21:34.The climate is changing, and the ice that covers
:21:35. > :21:39.Here, the conflict between the natural world and the business
:21:40. > :21:45.This town is the furthest north in the United States,
:21:46. > :21:50.so remote it is cut off by a road from the rest of the country.
:21:51. > :21:59.The Inupiat call the ocean their garden.
:22:00. > :22:03.And this is where they store their harvest of whale meat.
:22:04. > :22:06.And that skin you put on top of the heart.
:22:07. > :22:16.This is an ice seller dug out of the permafrost,
:22:17. > :22:24.It helps to sustain them during the long, Arctic winter.
:22:25. > :22:28.As your mouth starts to warm it up, it softens up like chocolate.
:22:29. > :22:30.It's a richness you can't get from anything else.
:22:31. > :22:39.Just kind of let it dissolve a little bit in your mouth,
:22:40. > :22:55.I don't mind the meat of it, but I'm not mad on that.
:22:56. > :22:58.We use white because Wales can see colour.
:22:59. > :23:09.She takes us to a feast on the beach.
:23:10. > :23:12.The Inupiat have hunted the bowhead whale in their sealskin boats
:23:13. > :23:17.Now, Donald Trump intends to reverse the ban on drilling
:23:18. > :23:21.And many are afraid they will lose their way of life.
:23:22. > :23:24.I honestly want to be at the shore and tell them, "No, you can't."
:23:25. > :23:28.I mean, just imagine if there were to be a big spill in the ocean.
:23:29. > :23:31.None of this would be happening right now.
:23:32. > :23:34.But, like the rest of Alaska, this town is almost
:23:35. > :23:39.Taxes on the industry in other parts of the country pay
:23:40. > :23:41.for the infrastructure, and every Alaskan gets
:23:42. > :23:59.We'll just start slicing all of the mukduk off this layer.
:24:00. > :24:02.Fred believes that oil is the only way they can carry on hunting.
:24:03. > :24:06.It costs money to go whaling, so there is an opportunity
:24:07. > :24:08.to coexist together and an opportunity for not only
:24:09. > :24:11.industry to thrive, but then also the local traditional hunters.
:24:12. > :24:14.We are closer to the North Pole here than we are to Washington, DC,
:24:15. > :24:17.but the White House has its eyes firmly fixed on this region.
:24:18. > :24:19.It's an unstable world, and what lies beneath his eyes
:24:20. > :24:23.could be crucial to the energy security of the United States.
:24:24. > :24:28.But drilling here would be very risky, just as it's risky to hunt.
:24:29. > :24:31.Armed in case of polar bears, some other hunters take us up
:24:32. > :24:37.The Arctic is warming twice as fast as anywhere else on the planet.
:24:38. > :24:40.Most scientists agree that oil and fossil fuel is helping
:24:41. > :24:50.Maybe we should start looking ahead for something that's more renewable.
:24:51. > :24:54.Maybe wind in the winter and solar in the summer,
:24:55. > :24:58.Traditional Inupiat dancers tell the stories
:24:59. > :25:05.Donald Trump and his decisions may well be woven
:25:06. > :25:27.Finally, the British film and television actor Robert Hardy has
:25:28. > :25:37.died. He was famous for his roles in Harry Potter and All Creatures Great
:25:38. > :25:43.and Small. His family say he had a tremendous life. Gruff, twinkly and
:25:44. > :25:47.celebrated eye everyone who knew him and everyone who enjoyed his work.
:25:48. > :25:50.Don't forget you can get in touch with me and some
:25:51. > :26:07.of the team on Twitter - I'm @KarinBBC.
:26:08. > :26:13.Hello. Low pressure will be moving away slowly tomorrow. It will still
:26:14. > :26:14.bring