hello. this is outside source. president putin has dismissed allegations of russian meddling in the us election. translation: these are rumours used in the internal political struggle in the internal political struggle in the us. at a meeting with the german chancellor, ukraine, syria and the treatment of homosexuals we re and the treatment of homosexuals were on the agenda. we'll discuss all that with the bbc russian service. after germany, the us was next on the list. we're live in washington to find out what was said on a call between vladimir putin and donald trump. theresa may has dismissed reports of a clash between the european commission president but says she'll play hard ball during brexit talks. i was described by one of my colleagues as a plooty difficult woman. with days to go before the final round of the french election, marine le pen delivers a speech that sounds a little familiar. we're going to paris to discuss that

and we'll have many more stories right here on outside source. you're very welcome to the programme. let us begin with relations between europe and russia. they have been rough. this meeting between german chancellor, angela merkel, and vladimir putin were meant to smooth things over. sanctions were brought up and the treatment of homosexuals in chechnya. the russian president reaffirmed support for the syrian president and denied interfearing with the us election. let's have a listen. translation: we need to do more in

order to untangle the situation. u nfortu nately, we order to untangle the situation. unfortunately, we are not making much headway here. i think the central point is that we keep returning to the beginning of the minsk agreement which stated we need a ceasefire. ensuing from the ceasefire the relevant political steps would follow. in the meantime, we have started a parallel political process. the ceasefire is essential. of course, the questions surrounding the swap of prisoners and such things. but i pointed out again how important the right to demonstrate is in important the right to demonstrate isina important the right to demonstrate is in a civil society. the importance of humanitarian organisations and i also mentioned again that we have received very negative reports about the way homosexuals are treated in chechnya. i asked president putin to use his influence in order to safeguard the rights of minorities. translation: we're convinced that the resolution of the syrian conflict can only be found through peaceful means and only under the

auspices of the united nations. the russian side has pointed out the need to carry out a full and comprehensive investigation of the april 4 incidents. we resolutely condemn the use of chemical weapons in any form. those responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians must be found and punished, but it should be done after a thorough and unbiassed investigation. we never interfere into the political life and political process in other countries and we would very much like that nobody interfeared into out like that nobody interfeared into our political life and into the political life in russia. you've referred to the us example, which is not confirmed by anything or anyone, these are just rumours used in the internal political struggle in the us. i spoke to our bbc russia correspondent and asked what was

that relationship between mrs merkel and mr putin like. well, it was quite warm from the beginning and it's very easy to explain. they have two languages in common, russian and german. they both spend a lot of time in eastern berlin, their background of course. i remember the summit ten years back, when they held a meeting in siberia, putin and merkel, it was very warm. they even left to the airport in the same car. very warm in sigh beerament i like that. very warm if siberia, yeah. but then, it could be described their relations during all the years could be described more like a business than a friendship. germany depends on russian gas. they buy almost one third depends on russian natural gas. especially after

fukushima when merkel initiated the closing of the old nuclear power stations. in russia, importing from germany as well. so it is a very solid ground for developing the relations now. an important one. we we re relations now. an important one. we were watching a little bit there, it was mrs merkel that brought up russian meddling in elections. what do you think mr putin made of that? it's very hard to predict what mr putin would do, but it also very unlikely that he would recognise any influence to any political process and as he said, he denies it, all the time. we are unlikely will hear that yeah, we actually influenced the elections in the us, even if so. yeah, it's really hard to predict, but merkel she said that she's not

afraid of russian influence, but still she pointed out that it might be the disinformation, the cyber attacks, and in that case they will act appropriately. one other issue that came up, thank you for that, is chechnya. and mrs merkel took this time to talk about homosexuality there. yes, there was a big scandal raised up in russian media, in the russian oppositional media about a month ago. they published materials about chechen gays, which fled from russia because of torturing, as they said and pressuring and even killing people by some government forces in chechnya. the leader of chechnya already has denied everything, saying there is no evidence putin said almost the same. actually, he

actually didn't comment on this during, after this meeting. so soon after mr putin's meeting with the chancellor he was due to hold a prearranged phone call with donald trump. watching this for us is our correspondent in washington dc. hi anthony, good to have you back with us. anthony, good to have you back with us. what has been said, what is the kremlin or white house saying? this is the third time that donald trump and vladimir putin have had a conversation since donald trump was elected last year. they spoke first about syria and cooperating to ensure peace in syria and create safe areas for syrian refugees and their citizens, also the united states pledged to send a representative to ongoing ceasefire negotiations in kazakhstan. they talked about reducing terrorism, larger terrorism in the middle east and addressing what they called a serious problem in north korea. something interesting that you would

note from the two press releases, was that the russians talked about donald trump and vladimir putin having a face—to—face meeting, their first one of trump's presidency in germany in july. the first one of trump's presidency in germany injuly. the white house release made no mention about that. but both releases said that it was a friendly call and they pledged to cooperate more closely. thisjust comes to my mind as you talk about it, is it actually a phone call or would it be like face time or skype? would they be looking at one another? today? well, i believe it was a phone call over the line. i don't think donald trump has skyped ever. i'm going out on a limb. i'd probably say he's in the a skype kind of guy. that just probably say he's in the a skype kind of guy. thatjust came to my mind. let me get into a couple of the other issues as well, which is some of the quotes that have been there, mrtrump some of the quotes that have been there, mr trump has given a number of interviews in the past 48 hours. kimjong un, he says he of interviews in the past 48 hours. kim jong un, he says he would of interviews in the past 48 hours. kimjong un, he says he would meet

with him if the timing was right. he talked about breaking up wall street banks, a gas tax, that he would be ready to move on. it a lot of people are wondering, are these concrete changes in white house policy or should they be taken more with a grain of salt? when you talk to members of congress, in donald trump's own party about these policies coming out and whether donald trump means them or not, they don't know. i don't think anyone really knows what's going to be pursued and what's not. that actually makes it hard for the rest of donald trump's administration and law makers in congress to be able to carry the water for him. they don't know what he's serious about. he floated the idea of a gas tax as you mention, no—one's talked about a gas tax before. that's something the democrats might be more interested in. when they asked democrats about it, they shrugged and said they hadn't heard anything beyond that. i think with the trump administration, as we are learning, as with donald trump campaign, is that he often floats ideas, says things that have

little preparation before them and the real way to tell whether something is significant, if it's lasting, if it's actually going to translate into policy is to look at the way the machinery of the administration is moving, listen to what other administration officials are saying and whether they're backing it up and see if the story has legs beyond one day. otherwise, this is just life in has legs beyond one day. otherwise, this isjust life in the has legs beyond one day. otherwise, this is just life in the trump reality. still smiling. thanks very much. right, let's move on to other politicians. the leaked accounts of a downing street dinner to which european commission president, jean—claude juncker, was invited last week are worth reading in full. to save you the trouble, we have boiled it down to one schaeng. —— exchange. theresa may said she wa nted exchange. theresa may said she wanted brexit to be a success. mr juncker replied, "brexit cannot be a success. " juncker replied, "brexit cannot be a success." over the weekend the prm dismissed this story as just brussels gossip. this afternoon in a bbc interview, she was a little bit more forth coming.

who wouldn't like a day by the cornish coast? who could be coming to town? we believe it's that nice theresa may. is that correct or not correct? strong and stable theresa. i'm not very keen. in fact i'm very unkeen. i hope she comes sooner rather than later. yeah, i've got a bus to catch. the number ten suits, police by the fishing boats, gave the game away thank you, nice to see you. morning. morning. a serene scene compared to brutal briefings from brussels. thank you, nice to see you. during the conservative party leadership campaign i was described by one of my colleagues as a bloody difficult woman. and i setted at the time, the next person —— i said at the time the next person to find that out would bejean—claude juncker. that out would bejean—claude juncker. did he over the weekend? these are going to be tough negotiations as we go ahead. i'm asking the british people to give me asking the british people to give me a mandate. did jean-claude juncker say to you, "brexit cannot be a

success. " i say to you, "brexit cannot be a success." i don't, say to you, "brexit cannot be a success. " i don't, look, say to you, "brexit cannot be a success." i don't, look, i don't' call the account that has been given of the meeting that took place. i think a lot of this is brussels gossip. it's a dinner in london and you were there. it's not brussels gossip. either he said it to you or he did not. the account that i have seen, a lot of that is brussels gossip. but what is important is that there is a key question for people when they come to this election. there will be 27 other eu countries on one side of the table, and who is going to be there standing upfor and who is going to be there standing up for the uk? it's either going to be me orjeremy corbyn standing up for the uk? it's either going to be me orjeremy corbyn you wa nted going to be me orjeremy corbyn you wanted an early deal on eu citizens and brits abroad. they said no. you wa nted and brits abroad. they said no. you wanted parallel talks about our divorce deal and trade at the same time. they said no. that doesn't inspire confidence, does? i've a lwa ys inspire confidence, does? i've always said there are complexities to this issue and lots of details that will need to be agreed. brexit is not the only issue. back her on brexit or not, for some voters it's just not enough. the food banks are packed. there's problems with

homelessness, house prices. polite maybe, but her first sharp encounter this campaign. solely focussing on brexit. no, it's not. no, i know it isn't, but there's an impression brexit has huge opportunities for us. brexit has huge opportunities for us. it doesn't help that boris johnson says it's about selling haggas to the americans. thank you. her team says she loves talking to voters. what did that one make of her? the sauce tea party cuts have been —— austerity cuts have been damaging. we need a strong economy. i don't believe brexit will take us into a strong economy. i've never felt in my adult life so depressed about the state of this country, i really haven't. neither do i. those two are angry. they had a lot to say. i know they did. but it's too late to discuss that now. we're already going out. why fight that? brexit is the back drop to this election, the prime minister wants to use the circumstances to build her authority. whether here or anywhere else, voters will make it

absolutely plain it's not the only thing that will make up their mind. as that voter said to you, in that cornish village, this shouldn't all be about brexit. she was worried it is. we've started to site or plan -- started to set out our plan for a stronger britain. this is the most important election the country has faced in my lifetime. we have an historic opportunity. it's an important moment of chaenk for this country. doesn't that sound strange for someone who was home secretary for someone who was home secretary for six years in the previous government? i was very proud to have served in david cameron's cabinet for six years as home secretary. but i'm a different person. i'm my own person. and we're in a different set of circumstances. i want to look ahead to the long—term challenges that this country faces. almost exactly a year ago, prime minister, i asked you if you thought you would wa nt to i asked you if you thought you would want to be leader of the country. you laughed it off saying there wasn't a vacancy. we know what's happened since then. many mps and ministers believe this could be a

transformational election in terms of the tories taking back swathes of the country. you can't laugh that off. you read the polls too. you must believe that's in your sights. i'm very clear. i have always throughout my political career never predicted election results. i've a lwa ys predicted election results. i've always said polls come out that are good, polls come out that are bad. the only poll that counts is the one that takes place on june the only poll that counts is the one that takes place onjune 8. the only poll that counts is the one that takes place on june 8. if you're located will you serve the full term until 2022? you're located will you serve the full term unti12022? i have no intention of doing anything other than serving the full term until 2022 because this is an important time for our country. this so-called bloody difficult woman wants to stay on as your prime minister. persuading all of you, that might be difficult too. thank you very much. stay with us on outside source. still to come — the united ceo has appeared before law makers and

apologised for the treatment of a passenger last month. the shadow home secretary, diane abbott has denied her credibility is in question after getting her sums wrong. she said she planned to put an extra 10,000 police officers on the streets, which would cost £300,000 rather than £300 million. pretty bad day for diane abbott. she has a real struggle today with. this the key claim that she was making was that we have lost 20,000 police officers since 2010. now in 2010 we got to an all—time high in police numbers, about 144,000 officers. in 2011, under the coalition government, that began to fall away, as police budgets were cut. police numbers have come down by almost 20,000. it's about 19,000 to be exact. the bigger trend is that police numbers have been rising consistently over the long—term. since about 1980, the trend has

a lwa ys since about 1980, the trend has always been going up. that decline since 2010, has been quite significant. that's about 13%. this is outside source, live from the bbc newsroom. our top story: president putin has dismissed allegations of russian meddling in the us election. he was speaking at a meeting with the german chancellor. let's look at some of the stories that they're working on around the bbc. the turkish president has threatened to end efforts to join the european union unless the block rein—i having rates turkey's union unless the block rein—i having rates tu rkey‘s accession union unless the block rein—i having rates turkey's accession process. china has called for the immediate suspension of a controversial us missile defence system based in south korea, after washington announced it was operational. that on bbc chinese. one of the most read stories online is about a paris art dealer who accidentally left a 1.

$1.6 million art work in the boot of a taxi. the piece was handed in by the taxi driver. now, let's turn to os business. investors are on tenter hooks ahead of technology giant apple's latest earnings. we're going to find out how the world's most valuable company has fared in the latest quarter. if you are lucky enough or rich enough to have bought shares in the iphone maker, its share price has risen by more than 25% this year. has risen by more than 25% this yea r. let's has risen by more than 25% this year. let's bring in dave lee in san francisco for us. good to have you with us. some of the challenges, i suppose, that apple may face, but these earnings, something to smile about. yes, well let me take you back to this time last year when i was stood pretty much on the same spot. we were reporting that apple for the first time had a drop in revenue year on year. this year, it's a much healthier picture. they're

inspecting around 5% up on this time last year. the results haven't come out yet. this is what we're expecting. we will know more in half an hour. we're expecting a strong quarter. this is the time of the year where apple has a slow quarter, because it's after christmas. though it's the quieter period they should show some strong earnings. another thing we're looking out for is apple cash pile overseas. it could top, if you can believe this, $250 billion. that's kept overseas. it's an extraordinary amount. there's pressure at the moment on apple to ta ke pressure at the moment on apple to take back some of that money into the us and start buying things, like other companies or rewarding some of its shareholders. stay with us, dave, because we want to bring up fresh row that's concerning facebook, another social media site. the giant has denied watch chain of events culminated in

the injury of a customer and a loss of trust in so many more. as ceo, adding of the day, that is on me. this has to be a turning point for the 87,000 people and professionals here at united. and it is my mission to make sure we make the changes needed to provide our customers the highest levels of reliability and customer service that you have come to expect, and a deeper sense of respect and dignity. that is the ceo of united airlines speaking. the saga has for some the change their policies. we have heard about offering more —— being offered more cash to grab seats, not using law—enforcement officers to remove passengers, and the threat of tougher laws of the industry doesn't up tougher laws of the industry doesn't up its game. samir has been

following this story. great you back with us. this chain of events, do you think anybody realised when that first video went viral that it would actually begin this cycle that could bring about huge changes to the industry? i think ithinka i think a lot of people watch that and were outraged, but what made matters worse was the reaction from united. the ceo at that point really dug in his heels and defended the treatment and his staff, and it was only as the anger continued to grow that you got that apology that should have come earlier. take a moment to understand the lawmakers that he was speaking to. he was also joined by other us airline executives. lawmakers use airlines all the time, going back and forth

from their districts weekly. a lot of this hearing was spent listening to the lawmakers recounting their own experiences using us travel. if they were expecting a really kind, receptive audience, they certainly did not get that. i suppose, airlines have always been a difficult industry to make money from, particularly since 9/11, and can they really afford to be able to compensate passengers better, to reduce the overbooking that we have heard about as well? that is a way to try and increase profits. airlines are making money. they are not hard up right now. that is why a lot of people are wondering, if airlines are making money and you are seeing that executives are still getting paid big bucks, why is it that the individual using the

services being punished in cramped seats and running the risk of not even getting onto their flight because of overbooking? the practice of overbooking was topped about during this hearing, but there was no move by the airlines to stop the practice. i don't think we've heard the end of it. thank you very much for speaking to us on a os. we have another half an hour to come, so do stay with us. hello again, we will look at the bigger weather stories from around the planet. first to the united states, where over the weekend, we had a bout of severe weather. this brought flash flooding and also some tornadoes that particularly affected east texas, 50 miles east of dallas, those twisters killed a number of people. what we don't want is more of the same. on the satellite picture a weak area of low pressure here will cross the rockies. tomorrow, that low pulls up. low

humid airfrom the gulf of tomorrow, that low pulls up. low humid air from the gulf of mexico and the low explodes as a result. this is a rain maker, 50 to 150 mm of rain. torrential rain falling on ground that's saturated. we will get flooding issues here, coupled with that there's the potential for severe storms, maybe tornadoes again, it may affect louisiana and ark saw. by the end of the week, the area of low pressure will be moving into the north—east of the united states, bringing wet and windy weather here by friday. drier conditions further west. from this rain making storm, to an area of the world that we desperately need rain. it's the ongoing drought affecting east africa. according to ethiopia's risk management commitment nearly eight million people need food assistance. they desperately need some rain. with eare going to get a few showers. that's as good as i can offer. you can see the showers coming in across the indian ocean. they continue to run up the

coastline affecting eastern parts of kenya into somalia and one or two getting into ethiopia too. the computer is overdoing the number of showers here. many areas staying dry with the clout ongoing. —— drought. you can see a swirl of cloud across western europe. this is an area of low pressure. well it's a few areas of low pressure. one of them in western france, another in germany. they're all spiralling around each other. the cloud starts the day on wednesday with spots of rain as the day goes by, we'll get a bit of heat in the atmosphere. we start to see showers breaking out. some of those are heavy and thundery. to the south of this, in spain and portugal, if anyone is on their holidays, reasonable temperatures into the high 20s, plenty of sunshine on the cards. here are those heavy, slow moving, thundery down pours, affecting parts of france, netherlands, belgium, germany as well. they will stay cool for the time of year. that cool air continues to flow down from high pressure that's across scandinavia.

there'll be morning frost patches in finland and the baltic. it never gets that warm even in the afternoon. here in the united kingdom, that low pressure gets close enough to bring cloudy skies to eastern england. there could be spoghts of rain, probably not amounting to too much. the driest and warmest weather to the north west of the uk. temperatures could reach 19 degrees or so in western scotland. that ises our weather. nick —— that's our weather. nick miller has more in the next half hour. hello. i'm nuala mcgovern, this is outside source. president putin has dismissed allegations of russian meddling in the us election. translation: these are just rumours used in the internal political struggle in the us. at a meeting with angela merkel in sochi, ukraine, syria and the treatment of homosexuals were also on the agenda. i'll play you a report on sanctuary cities, areas in the us that refuse comply with some immigration authorities. we'll bring you a report from syria where islamic state militants

launched an attack on refugees as they queued at a border crossing. more than 30 people were killed. and in os sport, the latest on the potential wipe—out of all athletics world records from before 2005.