welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the us house of representatives votes overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions on russia, iran and north korea. moscow says the move would complicate relations. how long will he last? america's attorney general faces yet more public criticism from his own boss. i told you before, i'm very disappointed in the attorney general. but we will see what happens. time will tell. one of the vatican's most seniorfigures cardinal pell has appeared in court in australia to face multiple charges of sex abuse. he insists he's innocent. tales from the dark heart of the caliphate. we hear from the wives of islamic state fighters who've fled their former stronghold, raqqa. and how britain's gay culture left the shadows and became mainstream: we look back on the 50—year battle for equality. it's a powerful indication

of how little trust there is between president trump and members of congress from his own party. the us house of representatives has voted overwhelmingly for new sanctions on russia and set them up quite deliberately in a way that makes it very hard for the president to change or dilute them. the sanctions target key russian officials in retaliation for interference in last year's us election and in eastern ukraine. they also target north korea and iran. sarah corker reports. i, donald john trump do solemnly swear... throughout his first six months in office, preisdent trump has been dogged by allegations that moscow interfered to help get him elected. this new bill is likely antagonise the kremlin and complicate mr trump's plans to improve

relationships with russia. on this vote, the yays are 419, the nays are three. these tougher sanctions expand restrictions on doing business with russian companies, especially oil and gas projects. we simply cannot allow any foreign power to interfere in our electoral process. given our president's complete unwillingness to hold russia accountable for their attack — let's not mistake this for anything but an attack on america — it has become necessary for congress to assert its role in this area and assure that russia will be accountable. russia has denied any meddling in the election and prior to tuesday's vote, its foreign ministry said: and this comes as three separate investigations looking into whether donald trump's campaign

team colluded with the russians over the elections, something he strongly refutes. on tuesday, jared kushner, the president's son—in—law, was questioned by the house intelligence committee. the new sanctions also target north korea and iran over ballistic missile tests. the bill must now pass the senate before it can be signed or vetoed by the president. the white house says they are reviewing the legislation, but yet again, the intense focus on russia is overshadowing donald trump's agenda. sarah corker, bbc news. on healthcare, one of donald trump's big election issues, a senate vote on tuesday opened the door for, well, further debate. republicans have been struggling to decide whether to repeal and replace president obama's affordable care act, immediately, or repeal it with a two—year delay, to give time to find an alternative. john mccain returned

to capitol hill for the first time since he was diagnosed with brain cancer, to urge all senators to work together. i hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to co—operate, on our dependence on each other, to trust each other again — and by so doing, better serve the people that elected us. stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and internet. to hell with them! and the fate of the us attorney general appears to be hanging in the balance, he was for a long time one of mr trump's closest allies, but now the president has called him weak and said time will tell about his future. mr trump is very publicly seething about the fact thatjeff sessions stood aside from the fbi inquiry into russian interference in the 2016 election. this from our north america editorjon sopel. jeff sessions, the man who presides over america's judicial system, seemingly about to face rough justice from his boss and one—time close friend, the president. for the past two days,

donald trump has taken potshots at his top law enforcement officer via twitter. today... yesterday... the president of the united states and the president of the council of ministers of the republic of lebanon. and the president heaped further ignominy on the attorney—general in a rose garden news conference this afternoon over sessions‘ decision to step aside from the russian investigation. i am disappointed in the attorney—general. he should not have recused himself almost immediately after he took office. and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me prior to taking office. and i would have quite simply picked somebody else. "but, come on," reporters demanded, "are you going to fire the attorney—general?"

i told you before, i'm very disappointed with the attorney general, but we will see what happens. time will tell. if sessions does go over the whole russia investigation, then he willjoin the former fbi directorjames comey sacked over this issue, and the former national security adviser michael flynn, who was fired after lying about his contacts with the russians. all of which begs the question, what happens next to robert mueller, the special counsel called on to investigate the sprawling russia investigation? if he goes, that is bound to lead to charges that the president is trying to obstructjustice. and who knows where that will lead. with these bewildering developments, in the senate the democrats fired a warning shot. many americans must be wondering if the president is trying to pry open the office of attorney general to appoint someone during the august recess who will fire special counsel mueller

and shut down the russian investigation. even if the president has disagreements with him, which i think founded, self—centred and wrong, you don't ridicule him in public. someone who is your close friend? that speaks to character. senatorjeff sessions! jeff sessions was the first senator to endorse donald trump during the campaign, giving his candidacy a massive boost and has given the president unswerving loyalty ever since. it is not being reciprocated. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. for more on senator sessions‘ position i spoke to the bbc‘s nada tawfik who's in ohio, where president trump was speaking at a rally. jeff sessions was the first sitting senator to indoors president trump and president trump is someone who

puts a very high value on loyalty but in an interview today he said it wasn't a great loyalty thing, the fa ct wasn't a great loyalty thing, the fact he was the first to endorse him, and we've seen camp eden in a way is almost trying to push the attorney general to resign with this kind of constant attack on him, calling him beleaguered a few days ago, now he's saying he's very dissatisfied with him, rather than putting himself in a position where he might have to oust him. we've heard from an court of law example saying if you're not satisfied with the attorney general then get rid of him. wheni the attorney general then get rid of him. when i spoke to supporters outside this rally, we asked them about the staff changes in the administration in the last few weeks, and now we are hearing the possibility that the attorney generaljeff sessions might not have the confidence of the president, how do you feel about that? they said the president has the right to fine—tune his administration so it interesting to get the perspective

from the base were in dc this is a big issue, if donald trump decided to replace attorney generaljeff sessions. the house of representatives vote on sanctions, people might be thinking more sanctions on russia in particular, on north korea and iran, but members of his own party, a vast majority, on capitol hill couldn't have made it clear red they don't trust the president on russia. absolutely. what this is doing is it is taking power away from the executive branch to lead on foreign policy and putting it in the hands of congress and the white house objected to this for one because the president wants a good relationship with russia, they say it in the best interests of they say it in the best interests of the two countries to work together and he's trying shift and on the other hand because the legislation would make it that the president could roll back those sanctions without congressional approval, so a big blow to his ability to drive foreign policy. it's really clear

that senators even from his own party were so concerned about the best gauge and is into his campaign pass possible ties to russia —— investigation. it was a blow to president trump despite the fact he objected again to this and made his views known. the white house has said today they will view that house legislation and view the full package if the senate passes it and decide what to do, the president, if he decides to veto this, would be very bad timing given the investigations into russia and the pressure on that and even if he did veto if the lawmakers could just overturn that so it does put the president in an awkward position. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. swiss police say they have arrested the man they believe carried out an attack with a chainsaw on office workers on monday. after a large manhunt, 51—year—old franz wrousis was detained 60 kilometres from the town of schaffhausen, where the attack took place.

the palestinian president mahmoud abbas says he will maintain a freeze on security cooperation with israel, despite an israeli decision to remove controversial metal detectors at the al—aqsa mosque compound in eastjerusalem. palestinians are boycotting the holy site, where israel is currently installing cameras. the two main rival leaders in libya have reached a joint agreement to try to bring stability to their country. after talks brokered by president macron in france, fayez al—sarraj and khalifa haftar committed themselves to a conditional ceasefire. ajudge in london, who will decide on wednesday where charlie gard should spend his final days, has said the chances are small of him being able to die at home. doctors treating the ii—month—old argue it's unrealistic given the demands of his care. his parents have appealed for a paediatric doctor to help. us—backed kurdish forces are now thought to have gained control of nearly half the city of raqqa, the last remaining stronghold

of so—called islamic state in syria. the offensive has led thousands to flee the city, including some families of is militants. shaimaa khalil has spoken to one of he is wives who has just fled the city and who's now being held on the outskirts of raqqa. they came from different parts of the world with one aim — to join the self—proclaimed caliphate. now they've escaped and are being held by the kurdish forces in northern syria. iman and her husband left tunisia for raqqa, the so—called islamic state stronghold. he wanted to be a fighter. she says she wanted to live a proper islamic life. i had many questions and i managed to send them to her. i'm just wondering if you saw other videos, videos of beheadings, of them burning people alive?

were you not put off by that? how did you think that was proper islam? but she says when they arrived it wasn't what they expected. iman‘s husband is now in a kurdish—run prison outside raqqa. it's hard to determine whether the women who escaped are all victims.

at some point they were all part of the so—called islamic state. iman‘s son was born in raqqa. now she's hoping he'll grow up as far away from the islamic state as she can take him. do you think they'll take you back easily and how do you expect them to believe you or forgive you when you've been part of the so—called islamic state? these children know nothing but life under the islamic state. for now they and their mothers are stuck between a caliphate they fled and homelands that may not want them back. shaimaa khalil, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: does american football leave players brain damaged?

a new study uncovers damning evidence. mission control: you can see them coming down the ladder now. it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30 year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunction of sperm unable to swim properly. thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final

instalment of harry potter. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the us house of representatives has voted overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions on russia, iran and north korea. moscow says the move would complicate relations. president trump has criticised his attorney generaljeff sessions, further fuelling speculation he might be on his way out. one of the pope's most senior advisors has made his first court appearance in australia, where he faces charges of historical sexual abuse. cardinal george pell said he is innocent, and will clear his name. our correspondent phil mercer, is outside the court in melbourne. he is one of the most senior figures

in the roman catholic church, a short hearing but it could be a long legal process? yes, cardinal george pell‘s loye was telling magistrates here that the cardinal will be pleading not due to —— not guilty. they said they were charging cardinal george pell with historical sexual offences involving multiple complainants. at the time, cardinal pell said he would have his day in court to vigorously defend himself against allegations he is the denies. he was escorted into the building by police, and surrounded by an enormous media contingent. that just goes to by an enormous media contingent. thatjust goes to show by an enormous media contingent. that just goes to show what by an enormous media contingent. thatjust goes to show what interest there is in this story, notjust in australia but well beyond these shores. a study of american football

players' brains has found that 99% of professional nfl athletes tested had a disease associated with head injuries. the report published in thejournal of the american medical association is the largest study of it's kind, according to its authors. brains were donated from more than 200 deceased players, aged as young as 23. earlier i spoke to dr michael alosco from boston university's cte centre, who led the study. yes, as you mentioned, it's the largest study to date of individuals with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, cte, and the conclusions drawn is that this is a problem and it isn't going anywhere and it can't be ignored. it's something we have to address and this study really provides the foundation for future research, to figure out what's going on exactly. one of those headline figures is amazing, well, chilling. 110 out of iii of the pros had

criteria which would lead you to deduce brain injury. yes, quite a remarkable number. 99% of the former nfl players were diagnosed using the strict criteria of cte. really concerning and again itjust continues to suggest we need to study this disease and identify who is at risk and really kind of figure out a way to stop it before it starts. of course nfl is a massive concern. so many people love the game, so many people play the game, and it almost sounds as if you should be saying, stop it, don't do it any more? right. with any kind of decision—making, you need to realise that there are many benefits that come with playing sports. so any decisions being made, they can't be taken lightly and more importantly, we really need to do future research and we need to do a lot more research, larger studies, before we can make

any kind of recommendations about safety or policy. there is a big class—action of a big group going on in involving former players. is this significant for that? we are really separate from that. this is research independent of that, where we're just looking at the disease of cte and trying to figure out what it is and how to best characterise it. so hopefully what we are doing here brings a lot of awareness, which it seems to be doing. other than that, we are really independent of the lawsuit. huge forest fires in the south—east of france are being fanned by unusually hot and windy weather. areas near nice and st tropez have been affected. some roads and railway lines have been temporarily closed. the british government is

expected to release a ban on fossil fuel driven cars in 2040. a shift is planned towards electric cars. new research reveals that in no more than 40 years, sperm counts have fallen by at least half in western countries. results indicate a potential threat to fertility in industrialised nations. those similar pattern was seen in south africa or a shell. —— no similar pattern —— asia. it's 50 years this week since the laws on homosexuality week since the laws on homosexuality were amended in england and wales. our special correspondent allan little has been looking at what the changes to the sexual offences act meant in 1967 — and how they affected people in the years that followed. in 1967, a change in the law did not bring a change in attitudes. this is the bbc‘s man alive programme.

voiceover: for many of us, this is revolting. men dancing with men. homosexuals in this country today break the law. these two have lived together for 26 years. they might almost be a married couple but they are still queer, in the minority. thousands of men went to prison. few dared speak publically. i couldn't believe just because i wanted somebody to love me and to have friendship, i had to suffer all this. they put me in a cell and i was in a cell from saturday afternoon until monday morning. i never slept. i just sat and cried. this is a celebration to mark the anniversary of the act, hosted by an lgbt group for the over 50s called opening doors. some here were sexually active when it was still a criminal offence. well, it's like living in an alien society, it's like being a spy. very clandestine.

i had to just make out a false lifestyle, really. it's like being non—existent, you know, like you just weren't there, so it was confidence—sapping. the act did not apply to scotland or northern ireland, and even in england and wales it did not end prosecution. right into the 1990s, police used the gross indecency laws to continue to criminalise gay behaviour and social activity. voiceover: it is a deadly disease and there is no known cure. in the ‘80s, hiv and aids brought a new atmosphere of moral panic. by the end of the decade, the number of gross indecency prosecutions against gay men was as high as it had been in the 1950s. many, many lead completely double lives... the writer maureen duffy, who campaigned for the 1967 act, says it was not a moment of sudden liberation. it was the beginning of a process. but never assume that what you have achieved you have got for good

and it cannot be reversed because at any time, anything can be completely changed. and there are sometimes still some very nasty rumblings and utterances, partially stoked by the use of social media, that could turn very nasty indeed if we're not vigilant. injuly1967, the home secretary roy jenkins told parliament that homosexuality was a disability that brought lifelong shame. it has taken generations of vigilance to get from there to this. alan little, bbc news. holiday season for many and a time

to reflect on the year so far. what could be further from the mind and christmas? that is not so for people in denmark. fun was obviously on the agenda — and probably explains why this congress has been going for 60 years. on the agenda — they say they have to decide what colour christmas trees should be — blue, purple or greeen. a reminder of our top story. the us house of representatives has voted overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions on russia, iran and north korea. moscow says the move would complicate relations. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcmikeembley. good morning. there's rain in the forecast for the next few days,

but i think the important message is, it's not going to be raining all the time. that's certainly the story for today. some wet and windy weather for a time, but not all the time. we have low pressure pushing a band of cloud in from the atlantic and that will bring some outbreaks rain eastwards through the day. with that wet weather some fairly strong and gusty winds. so we start the morning in northern ireland and western scotland, wales and the south—west with this rain. they then move across the midlands, north—east england, east scotland, eventually rain into the south—east, but by this stage the wet weather quite light and patchy. behind the rain band things will brighten up. there will be showers across northern ireland and scotland into the afternoon. some of these will be quite heavy and the wind is still fairly blustery. notice the persistent rain holding on across the far north and east of scotland right through the afternoon. brighter skies into wales.

a fairly cool and fresh feel to the weather. 19 in cardiff. similar in plymouth, with patchy cloud and sunny spells for the afternoon across the south—west of england. we come further east across hampshire, berkshire, into london, kent and east anglia there will be a fair amount of cloud through the afternoon. some outbreaks of rain, fairly light and patchy, extending through the coast of england. further west some bright weather developing. in the evening the cloud and patchy rain will be chased away to the east. a lot of dry weather through the night, however, some hefty showers developing across northern ireland and western scotland. there could be the odd rumble of thunder here. temperatures overnight about 11—15 degrees. into thursday and low pressure still the dominant feature. this isn't what we expect to see on the weather charts at this point in late july. some tightly squeezed isobars, meaning there will be strong winds and some heavy showers. most frequent up to the north—west, but even further south and east we could catch the odd heavy shower and maybe a rumble of thunder.

some sunny spells in between. but those temperatures no great shakes, about 16 in aberdeen, 18 in cardiff, 20 in london. another day of showers on friday. some sunny spells between the showers. then late in the day more persistent rain pushing in again across the south—west and wales. but that should move its way through on friday night and into the early hours of saturday. so the weekend is certainly not a complete washout. there will be some spells of sunshine and some heavy showers as well. some rain in forecast, but not all the time. this is bbc news, the headlines: the us house of representatives has voted overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions on russia, iran and north korea. the legislation was passed with 419 members in favour and only three against. moscow says the move would complicate relations. president trump has criticised

his attorney general, fuelling speculation he might be on his way out. he said he was disappointed withjeff sessions' decision to recuse himself from the inquiry into alleged russian meddling in the election, commenting that time would tell about his future. one of the vatican's most seniorfigures, cardinal pell, has appeared in court in australia to face multiple charges of historical sex abuse. the former archbishop of sydney and melbourne insists he's innocent. details of the charges haven't been made public. let's have a quick look at this morning's from pages. the financial times leads on bmw's decision to build its new electric