hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. america is expanding its presence in syria, offering support to local militia trying to drive the islamic state group out of raqqa. full details shortly. the new head of the us environmental protection agency claims carbon dioxide emissions are not a major factor in climate change. washington and new york states join hawaii in trying to block donald trump's revised travel ban. theresa may speaks at her final eu summit before triggering the brexit process and eu leaders have re—elected donald tusk as president of the european council, despite strong objections from his home nation. and we will go to south korea as the samsung scandal unfolds. it's de

fa cto samsung scandal unfolds. it's de facto leader is on trial and very soon politicians in south korea will vote on whether to uphold the impeachment of the president. these pictures have been released by the us today. those are us tanks in syria. also today, america's confirmed it's made a separate deployment of several hundred marines. they're supporting a local kurdish—led militia as it tries to capture raqqa. raqqa is the islamic state group's stronghold in syria and as such has huge symbolic value. the us marines will be firing at is positions from around 30km away. while that's happening, the sdf militia will attempt to advance. in addition to the marines, those tanks i just showed

you are part of a separate group of us army rangers. they're deployed near a town called manbij, that's north—west of raqqa. and the reason for that deployment encapsulates the complexity of this conflict. liz sly, a washington post beirut bureau chief, calls it a mess. "us troops flying us flags in empty syrian villages to try to stop their allies fighting." what liz sly is talking about is that the americans are trying to stop the kurdish backed militia being attacked by fighters who are backed by turkey. bear in mind everyone i've mentioned so far wants to defeat is. one more consequence of this situation. a us military magazine says us and russia have found themselves teaming up for the first time in the war in syria against turkey. you might ask why all sides cannot unite to defeat is.

nothing so simple in syria. here's edgard jallad from bbc arabic. it looks like in general terms, but if you look at where each party is coming from, it reflects the complexity of the war. as you mentioned, this town is the theatre of operations reflecting this complexity. there is an interest from the turkish to take this town. you have also the kurdish forces, known as the euphrates shield, they are trying to get this town. the united states is trying to buffer between them and refocus the operation towards raqqa were the main so—called enemy is. this is why they are trying to send this strong message now by deploying additional fog is in recalibrating the targets.

how do we understand the situation in iraq at the moment? the situation in raqqa, it is believed so many fighters are still there. they are very well prepared for this battle. but we do not know exactly if the so—called islamic state will fight the final battle in raqqa or in any other place. there are saying today, it could be sending missing a strong role for the american so far in the past weeks. i put all these questions to the spokesman of the us led coalition

and this interview is running as we speak now on the arabic channel and he says there is no change in the guidance. the number of units fighting or on the ground would not exceed 500. but these 500 are rangers and why the united states decided to release these pictures when they hid them in previous weeks, they are flying their flag and there is the message. a couple of days ago there was a meeting in turkey between the chiefs of staff ‘s from the united states, turkey and russia. this is a normal procedure before a battle like this one to revisit the rules of engagement. there is a lot to come but this is significant today what you mention about these forces. this is a tweet from donald trump. this is from the us election campaign.

i will defeat isis. they have been around too long. what has our leadership been doing? which begs the question, is this latest deployment a trump plan? 0ur colleagues on the 100 days programme asked andrew exum, who used to be one of president 0bama's top advisors on middle east affairs. yes and no. 0n the one hand this does not diverged significantly from the plan that was already in place. however, this address is perhaps one of the fundamental problem is that the united states and its coalition partners have in syria versus iraq. in iraq you have got the iraqi army with heavy equipment. in syria you have got the kurds and they do not have got the kurds and they do not have that heavy equipment. you can give them that equipment and train them on that to breach those defences around raqqa. that will anger the turks. 0r defences around raqqa. that will anger the turks. or you can deploy us forces to help reach those outer defences. that is what they are

beginning to do. before donald trump took office the central command were looking at options of ways to helping the kurds and i think that is what this is. there's also this from phil stewart, reuters military & intelligence correspondent: us weighs deploying up to 1,000 soldiers to kuwait to serve as a reserve force in the fight against islamic state, would speed options. let's bring in the bbc state department correspondent barbara pleb usher. i want to ask you about these pictures that have been released by the americans showing their vehicles on the ground in syria. they do not normally do that. they like to keep a low profile, but this is a different situation and has been a deliberate decision. you have this town that was liberated from the is in august. but now there is arab forces backed by turkey forces backed by the syrian kurds and it is a headache for the

americans. they want to focus on fighting islamic state and they do not want another conflict area flaring up and they want to get across the message that everyone should focus on the battle against raqqa and they made a decision to visibly insert themselves into this, standing between rival factions. this is the first time they have done this, put themselves between rival factions done this, put themselves between rivalfactions on done this, put themselves between rival factions on the ground in syria. they have this laser focus on islamic state right now, but you cannot sweep under the carpet these broader conflict which require a political solution. thank you, that is very useful. we will speak to you againi is very useful. we will speak to you again i am sure. the latest eu summit is under way in brussels. it is interesting for several reasons. the first day has been dominated by a row over this man — the european council president, donald tusk. more on that later. but it's also the last summit before british prime minister theresa may

formally begins brexit negotiations. she spoke about an hour ago, and says she's optimistic. it is not just it is notjust about it is not just about what it is notjust about what is in the uk's interest, it is also about what is in the interests of the european union. what we see in the discussions and comments i hear, that increasingly, obviously we have not started the negotiations and will start them when we trigger article 50 by the end of this month, but when we come to look at those negotiations, i think what people will see is that the relationship between the uk and the eu of the future matters not just between the uk and the eu of the future matters notjust to the uk, this is not just future matters notjust to the uk, this is notjust what is good for the uk, it is about what is good for the uk, it is about what is good for the european union as well, and i believe that good, free trade arrangement is in the interest of both sides in that negotiation.

but the biggest news out of the eu summit so far is summed up in this tweet from xavier bettel. he is luxembourg's prime minister. good luck #eucopresident donald. donald tusk remains one of the most powerful people in europe. he's has just been re—elected president of the european council. the council represents the leaders of the eu and there's a twist here. only one country opposed his re—election — his own, poland. an angry reaction from the leader of poland's ruling party, who smelled conspiracy: the eu is an organisation dominated by one country. we cannot hide this, this country is germany. if the eu does not abandon this road, it will be consigned to history. the thing you need to know about this man is that he holds mr tusk politically responsible for the death of the polish

president in this plane crash in 2010, the polish president who also happened to be his twin brother. here's damian grammaticas at the summit. it is interesting because donald tusk has chaired the council with its meetings which brings together all of the eu leaders for their summits here. he has been the chair for the last two and a bit years. he has been reconfirmed for another two and a half, but as you say the vote against him was from poland, the country he is from, the polish government, implacable political opponents of donald tusk, a domestic political dispute, they do not like him, it is now spilling over into the european arena. but what poland found today when the vote was called

to reconfirm him, poland objectives and they found themselves totally isolated. no one else sided with them. 27 other countries said they we re them. 27 other countries said they were happy with donald tusk and with thejob he was were happy with donald tusk and with the job he was doing were happy with donald tusk and with thejob he was doing and he were happy with donald tusk and with the job he was doing and he was confirmed. that vote has gone through. he should be in place for the next two and a half years, but the next two and a half years, but the polls are still very unhappy about this. they found themselves out on a political limb and it is a bit of a humiliation for them to be voting against their own countryman and not have support from other countries. we can access all of the information coming through the bbc newsroom , information coming through the bbc newsroom, including copy filed by our correspondence. this is from our warsaw correspondent who says the polish prime minister has said, i will not accept the conclusion of this summit. it is clearly written that summit and with conclusions. if

a country does not accept the conclusion, it means the summit is not valid. we will have to wait until tomorrow to see how this story develops further. we always like to finish these summits with some clear state m e nts finish these summits with some clear statements of intent from the european union, so this will roll over into tomorrow i am sure. let's talk about the dutch elections, we will be covering them from the hague next week. will be covering them from the hague next week. this man —jesse klaver — has been called the "dutch trudeau". he's from the green left alliance and has been enjoying a rise in support in the polls ahead of next week's election in the netherlands. he's just held a huge rally in amsterdam. 5500 people have packed this music hall and they are here to see one man. jesse klaver! his supporters say he is young, fresh and optimistic and he is receiving a rock star reception in amsterdam

tonight. i think the interesting thing is that while the foreign media has been focusing on the wave of populism across europe, lots of people in the netherlands are watching this man because he is on course to quadruple the number of seeds the green left have in parliament. donald trump is not very popular here in the netherlands because he represents instability for many dutch people. donald tusk has borrowed a lot of barack 0bama's campaign slogans. many people refer to him as the dutchjustin trudeau. we should put this in context. geert wilders is leading in the

polls. the progressive party is doing well as well. there are so many undecided voters and that is why so many people are predicting that next week could decide who is victorious on march 15. 0utside source is going to be there. we will be live on tuesday, and wednesday, which is election day, and thursday for the result. and we will have more later. a man in australia who posed online as justin bieber has been charged with more than 900 child sex offences. the health secretary jeremy the health secretaryjeremy hunt has told nhs hospitals in england that they must get back to meeting the targets swiftly in a&e now that extra money has been put into social ca re extra money has been put into social

care is announced in the budget. he said it is essential for patient safety that a&e waiting times are reduced. a&e departments and their performance is a fundamental matter of patient safety. if we are leaving people to log in a&e departments, if we are not getting the flow right through hospitals, it is bad for patient safety and that is why it is absolutely essential that we get back to the 95% target. i am personally not a great fan of targets and i am not a fan of having too many targets, but this one is critical for patient safety. this is 0utside source live from the bbc newsroom. 0ur lead story is the us is expanding its presence in syria. 400 extra marines will offer support to local militia trying to drive the islamic state group

out of raqqa. and we can pick up from the stories from bbc world service. guatemala has declared three days of national mourning after a fire killed at least 20 teenage girls at a children's care home. other children are not accounted for and we know hundreds more managed to escape. bbc mundo. hospitals in kenya have begun sacking doctors who have been on strike for three months. they want a pay rise of over 150%. the government says they will be replaced by cuban medics and local interns. an egyptian woman who is believed to be the world's heaviest woman has undergone weight reduction surgery in mumbai. in australia, a law professor who posed online asjustin bieber online has been charged with more than 900 child sex—related offences.

he's based in brisbane, but his alleged offences are of a global nature. authorities say 50 come from the united states. up to 20 from the uk. anisa kadri reports. an idol to millions, justin bieber, the pop star with an adoring young fan base across the globe. but now a 42—year—old law professor in brisbane is accused of sexually abusing children by pretending to be the canadian star. gordon douglas charmers allegedly used social media to win the trust of fans, including up to win the trust of fans, including up to 20 in the uk, and got them to send him explicit images. he was already facing charges of grooming children and after police went through his computer, more than 900

new charges have been added. they include three of rape, five of indecent treatment of children and hundreds of making child exploitation material. justin bieber is touring australia and some of his teenage fans say they can understand why young people may be tempted to speak to their fake celebrity online. sometimes maybe the excitement might get them like, oh, wow, this is so amazing. i am going to go with him. queensland police say the arrest was made after two pups say the arrest was made after two pups from the us and german authorities and they are warning pa rents to authorities and they are warning parents to protect their children online. it is my rules, it is my house, and there is a lot out there andi house, and there is a lot out there and i want to be on top of it. charmers is due in court next month. let's go to south korea. lee jae—yong is the de facto boss of the entire samsung group

and he's on trial in south korea charged with bribery and embezzlement. this story is complicated. at the centre of the story is this woman. the allegation is that samsung donated $36 million to foundations operated by choi soon—sil. it also donated a horse, not this one, to help her daughter's equestrian career. the prosecution will also be detailing how she is very good friends with south korea's president, park geun—hye. next we need to note that samsung's lee jae—yong met the president. the allegation is that they discussed donations being made in exchange for government support for a restructuring of samsung. both deny anything improper occurred. but remember the president has already been impeached for her alleged role in all of this. it's at this point, i'm going to enlist the help of steve evans in seoul.

his lawyers were be and in denial of the accusations. we had legal hearings today, a bit of a wrangle between the two sides about whether they could use powerpoint and that kind of thing. this trial will go on until may. va nstone argued kind of thing. this trial will go on until may. vanstone argued that firstly it was not corruption. we give money to good causes all the time. there was no deal done. they are not disputing there was a meeting, but what they are saying is that was no quid pro quo for the money. that would be crucial. very difficult to prove corruption when there is no evidence in terms of documents or anything like that, and only two people involved. it is a complex case, but there is a bigger trial if you like, and that is the trial if you like, and that is the trial of the way in which the biggest companies in this country and government relate to each other. a lot of people literally on the

streets say it is far too cosy, far too close, and it needs to change. you have looked at this from a political angle and a legal angle. let's look at this from a business angle? is this having an impact on samsung's business? from a business perspective. if you recall the galaxy known seven, the smartphones with reports of them catching on fire, that caused more damage to them financially than this case has so far. i am basing this on samsung's day—to—day operations. they are still showing of new gadgets, tablets, virtual reality. i have received an invite to an event here in new york for the unveiling ofa here in new york for the unveiling of a new smartphone, perhaps a chance for them to put the fire prone smartphones behind it. but the

question longer term is something to go back to what steve was talking about, how south korean companies, these family run enterprises, how they do business. is that under threat? that potentially could be the worry for samsung investors. we will talk to you next week i am sure. i want to talk about lego. it has just reported the highest full—year sales in its history, all 85 years of it. in 2016 lego sold more than 26 billion parts. it also launched over 300 new sets. strong sales were partly thanks to deals with businesses like star wars. in case you're wondering, the millennium falcon was its best—selling toy. but, and there is a but, overall growth has slowed compared to previous years. and sales are flat in the us. bali padda is the first non—dane and non—family member to run lego. here's his analysis of how the company's doing.

if you look at the growth in the last five or ten years, it has been what we call supernatural and it has sometimes surprised us. when we look at the future, we are seeing sustainable levels in 2016 and we expect to grow in the low to mid single digits in the future. but for us single digits in the future. but for us at the heart of lego is how do we ensure that we continue to innovate around these and augment it with digital? if you look at new products coming out in august and september, the heart of it is the building system, so you build with the lego bricks and you can also code with it and this is for children seven upwards. the core building experience is what we continue to focus on and we were augmented with digital. we will watch out for that.

we will be live from the netherlands next week covering the dutch elections. they are always interesting, but they are relevant because of the way geert wilders has been performing. some of the polls are putting him ahead of everyone else. that does not mean he will form the next government because they have coalitions. we will be there to describe the election and analyse it for you. coming up, what the head of the us environmental protection agency has said. he says he does not feel that man produced carbon dioxide is responsible for climate change. we will go into what he has said and how people have been responding. thank you forjoining me. i want to

update you on a number of stories that have caught our eye across the world. first, we go to madagascar we re world. first, we go to madagascar were on tuesday as cyclone gradually worked its way towards the northern shores bringing torrential rain and some gusts of wind, up to 300 kilometres per hour. it is gradually moving south, but over 10,000 people had to be evacuated and the flooding risk persists. the disruption is likely to endure for a good few days yet. that whole system is gradually moving southwards, but already our eyes a re moving southwards, but already our eyes are turning towards the east because we have a new cyclone forming and that will push away towards the south—west. this is the north island of new zealand. in the northern areas of the north island they have had a close encounter with a very vigorous area of low

pressure, bringing torrential rain. that is not the end of the story. as that system pulls away into the southern oceans, this mass of cloud is forming with intent across the tasman sea and we will see further heavy rain exacerbating the flood, spreading it to new areas over the coming days because that threat continues right on into the weekend. more warm, moist air is coming into the tropics and across the islands of new zealand. it could be in the north island we are looking at 250 millimetres of rain. note to the eastern side of the usa and the weather keeps on coming. we are dragging some moisture into the air as we speak and into friday so that thunderstorms will convert quite readily into snow. we could be

looking at several centimetres of snow falling into that ever cooling atmosphere. that may well be disruptive to some of the north eastern cities of the usa and some areas on the eastern side of canada. the area is really cold, coming down from hudson's bay. no better than three degrees in new york and they we re three degrees in new york and they were seeing 20 degrees a few days ago. in the eastern mediterranean a significant area of low pressure has caused massive disruption. some very gusty winds. and on into friday that threat of disruptive weather will spread across the aegean into turkey and that pressure will go further into the middle east. behind it the area of high pressure is dominating the southern areas of the british isles. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is 0utside source. let's look through some of the main

stories here in the bbc newsroom. america is expanding its presence in syria. it's sending 400 extra marines to support local militia trying to drive the islamic state group out of raqqa. the new head of the us environmental protection agency claims carbon dioxide emissions are not a major factor in climate change. we will turn to that shortly. washington and new york states join hawaii in trying to block donald trump's revised travel ban. last month we brought you a bbc investigation into chimpanzee trafficking. david shukman has been back to the ivory coast to find out what happened to baby chimp nemleyjunior. and in os sport, we'll bring you more reaction to barcelona's amazing comeback in last night's champions league match.