hello, i'm karin giannone, this is outside source. president trump says the us military will not allow transgender individuals to serve in the armed forces in any capacity. he tweeted that he'd reached the decision after consulting his generals, adding that transgender people would disrupt the military and burden it with large medical bills. after the house of representatives votes for new sanctions against russia, the european union expresses concern. moscow describes it as a step towards destroying better ties. france appeals for help from europe in fighting wildfires that have consumed large areas of forest in the southeast of the country. and the british government announces a ban on new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 — as part of efforts to tackle air pollution. welcome to outside source.

this is president trump tweeting this morning. this is how it began this morning. "after consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the united states government will not accept or allow. transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the us military." and the reason he gives — "our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail." the move rolls back on an obama administration policy which allowed transgender people to serve openly in the military. roughly 4,000 active—duty and reserve service members are believed to be transgender. the white house press secretary was questioned about the change in policy in the last hour. the president has expressed concern since this 0bama policy came into effect but he has also voiced that

this is a very expensive and disruptive policy and based on consultation he's had with his national security team came to the conclusion that it erodes military readiness and unit cohesion and he made the decision based on that. the white house press secretary there, calling it a very expensive policy. well the washington post has been breaking down the cost of the policy. they say that "these treatments would cost the military between $2.1; million and $8.4 million annually." to put that in perspective they work the cost out to be a 1,000th of 1% of the defense department's annual budget. or to put it even more in perspective it's about a tenth of "the total military spending on erectile dysfunction medicines", which amounts "to $81; million annually". the president's decision has provoked outcry around the world, and among some at home in the us. eric fanning is the first openly gay secretary of the army under president obama.

iam i am disappointed, i think it's the wrong decision to have made. we already currently have thousands of transgender americans serving in the military with this tension and it was an important step to open up the opportunity for service in the military for a number of important reasons. it aligns with call american values of equality of opportunity and it means we can allow the best and brightest the country has two other. 0ver over to our correspondent. with everything president tom is dealing with, this has come out of the blue. yes, no one was expecting this bombshell announcement, and quite sparse, really, 140 characters to make a major policy change. it sounds like he is calling for a ban of all transgender people serving in the military. we know that there was

a six—month delay in terms of accepting new recruits which was meant to happen injuly and has been shifted to january. is that going to become permanent? and what happens to transgender people already serving, some 2500 and we believe, maybe more, will be kicked out. the white house spokesman there saying she believed the limitation of the policy would be worked out between the white house and the department for defence but at the moment there isa for defence but at the moment there is a lot of confusion. how does this play politically? i would imagine it has quite a lot of support from donald trump's base? he has quite a lot of support among social conservatives so there will be some support culturally from them in terms of transgender people serving in the military, and those who have an issue about whether they can choose which bathroom to use, that ran intoa choose which bathroom to use, that ran into a lot of opposition. there will be those who are social

conservatives who will support this. in congress it has been a live issue, some congressional republicans have strongly opposed, especially the medical side, they don't think that the military health ca re don't think that the military health care plan should be paying for sexual reassignment surgery but that is the basis for their opposition, they haven't called for a complete ban. so many eyebrows raised about the timing of the announcement and the timing of the announcement and the method. how much does it detract from what the trouble administration is grappling with right now? you are grappling with one issue in the morning and another when you go to bed, it feels like —— the trump administration is grappling with right now. he has issues with criticising his attorney general, the ongoing problem with dealing with the health care repealed and replaced bill. i don't think they are going away and this has added to the pile. activists have said that

they would take legal action if this actually goes through and i think they will probably go through with that. quite a lot of criticism from people who are not activists, including lawmakers and others who treat this as an issue of civil rights and discrimination. they say that if someone can do the job, they should be able to do it, whatever their gender. it is opening up a new issue, really. thank you forjoining us. the eu has criticised plans for fresh us sanctions against russia. remember, the house of representatives voted for them last night. the eu commission president jean—claude juncker said they brought "unintended unilateral effects that impact the eu's energy security interests" and warned that if these concerns aren't acknowledged, the eu will "stand ready to act appropriately within a matter of days". here's jasmine taylor—coleman on why the eu has taken this position. the eu says it supports sanctions on

russia. the annexation of crimea from the ukraine in 2014 and allegations of russian interference in the us election. the problem is when it starts to harm the economic interests of eu countries, especially germany. germany is powerful within the eu and it is involved in building a natural gas pipeline from russia to germany. germany doesn't like the idea that its companies can be harmed by some of these us objections, they may have limited access to us banks if they keep working with russia. germany says the us does not have the right to tell other countries with whom to do business and they say that the us is using economic sanctions to impose their own industrial policy on other parts of the world. that's the opinion of the eu, but russia isn't happy either. russia's foreign ministry warned that russia and america were heading into ‘uncharted territory‘ and that the us had taken ‘a serious step towards destroying the possibilities for normalising relations.‘ here‘s sarah

rainsford in moscow. rusher, when donald trump was elected,, it was felt that previous actions could be overturned and that relations would improved but in the ——indeed relations would improved but in the —— indeed it has been the opposite and this is the latest blow. people asking what kind of retaliation moscow might now take, asking if there is any point in hoping that donald trump can turn things around. as russia sees it, donald trump, in his attempts to start a dialogue with russia and improve relations, is swimming against a tide of russia phobia, so it seems in official circles. however, back in the us, house speaker paul ryan insists that the sanctions package "tightens the screws on our most dangerous adversaries in order to keep americans safe". nothing‘s final yet as the package must be considered by the senate before it‘s then sent

to the president for his approval. anthony zurcher can tell us more. is donald trump likely to stand in the way of this? at the moment it will be difficult. he could veto the bill when it lands on his desk but we‘ve seen these sanctions passed in the senate and the house by huge majorities, only three votes against it in the house of representatives and two in the senate. they are large enough majorities that they could override any kind of veto that donald trump froze up. you seen a transition in terms of how the transition in terms of how the transition has else with this bill, it is clear there is widespread support. at first they were against it, then they said they wanted modifications, especially about the energy sector interests, the same things that the eu has objected to. when they were taken into account they said that they would sign the

bill. they have been vague about whether they will, whether the president will. they don‘t want to draw a line in the sand and then have congress reversed the president‘s action quickly. have congress reversed the president's action quicklylj believe there is a clause stopping president trump from single—handedly ease the sanctions against moscow. the fact that the bill got support from both parties, what does that say about the level of concern about his relations with russia? it says dramatically that congress does not trust the president when he dealing with russia. there has been a cloud hanging over the president‘s head, the russia investigation, russian meddling in the 2016 election has expanded to include about whether there was involvement in the trump campaign itself. this shows that there are people on both sides of there are people on both sides of the aisle in congress who wonder about any kind of deals that trump has with the russians, whether there is any untoward involvement. michael

flynn, the national security adviser, had to resign from his position shortly after being named by donald trump because it came out that he was talking with the russian ambassador about the sanctions that 0bama imposed in december in retaliation for russian meddling. he was effectively telling the russian ambassador not to worry, that the trump administration may have a friendly view over the sanctions and would ease them. now i think you‘re seeing this kind of bill as a result of those allegations. how much of a headache does it present for donald trump and his relations with russia if there are more sanctions? trump and his relations with russia if there are more sanction57m definitely ties his hands. it aggravates rusher, as we‘ve seen. it ta kes aggravates rusher, as we‘ve seen. it takes power away from the president, it takes flexibility away from donald trump to ease sanctions as pa rt donald trump to ease sanctions as part of negotiations with russia about other things, such as syria

and the ukraine. so it‘s going to frustrate them. 0utside and the ukraine. so it‘s going to frustrate them. outside of the problems that this shows, that congress is not particularly happy about what donald trump is doing with russia. thank you forjoining us. the afghan taliban have carried out a violent attack on a military camp close to the southern city of kandahar. it‘s thought that at least 30 soldiers were killed in the attack. the militants also captured weapons and vehicles. the attack was close to helmand province, where the taliban control big chunks of land. this is howeverjust the latest attack by the insurgents after a bombing in kabul on monday and further offensives in the northern region of kunduz. 0wliya atrafi has more from kabul. the afghan minister of defence confirms that a number of afghan military personnel were killed after

their base was stormed by the taliban fighters last night. this is a significant achievement for the taliban in this province. in the past, their efforts used to be focused mainly on the neighbouring helmand province but that prevents, having been weakened enough for them, it seems that the insurgents have focused now on kandahar —— that providence. —— province. many of their leaders have come from these areas. stay with us on 0utside source — still to come. we‘ll be live in venezuela — on the same day of yet another anti—government strike, the us has imposed sanctions against 13 senior officials in venezuela. the supreme court has scrapped charges for people who want to bring a case to employment tribunals, ruling that the fees are unlawful. the government, who introduced fees

of up to £1,200 in 2013, must now pay back £32 million to claimants. 0ur legal affairs correspondent clive coleman reports. the ruling is huge. it means that not only the order that introduced tribunal fees in 2013 not only the order that introduced tribunalfees in 2013 is not only the order that introduced tribunal fees in 2013 is quashed, not only the order that introduced tribunalfees in 2013 is quashed, it also means that everyone who paid the fees, that is some £32 million, will now get their money back. after a four—year legal struggle, unison we re a four—year legal struggle, unison were delighted. we knew from day one that this was not just unlawful, it was immoral, that low paid workers should be in this position. we are going to check the judgment on board and we will comply with it. —— take the judgment on board. this is 0utside source live

from the bbc newsroom. president trump says the us military will not allow transgender individuals to serve in the armed forces in any capacity. other stories being reported around the bbc. mariano rajoy has become spain‘s first sitting prime minister to testify in court. he appeared as a witness in a corruption trial which involves politicians from the conservative popular party. mr rajoy does not face any charges himself. that story is on bbc world service. and this sports story is one of the most read online. we will have more on this later. novak djokovic will miss the rest of the 2017 tennis season as he recovers from an elbow injury. the problem forced the 12—time grand slam champion to retire from his wimbledon quarter—final against thomas berdych. the parents of a terminally—ill baby boy, charlie gard, have given up their legal battle for their son to die at home.

lawyers at the high court in london accepted that he should instead be transferred to a hospice. but there‘s still no agreement on when his life support should be withdrawn. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh explains the dispute. the family want charlie transferred toa the family want charlie transferred to a hospice and for a private medical team to take over his care so they can have a period of days with him, a period of reflection, to build memories with him before his ventilator is switched off. they say that some nurses at great 0rmond street caring for charlie have volunteered to do this and they have a private gp but hospices are not set out to take children on ventilators for long periods and they haven‘t found a hospice willing to ta ke they haven‘t found a hospice willing to take him. they have a private gp but they haven‘t found a paediatric intensive care consultant and they

appealed for one to come forward overnight. great 0rmond street said that waiting here was causing stress for the family and staff and they would like to seek charlie transferred to a hospice no later than friday. so thejudge ordered, if they can‘t come to an agreement by noon tomorrow, that charlie should be transferred to a hospice, and then that palliative care should begin and that his breathing tube should be withdrawn shortly there after. he said it is three and a half months since he ruled that charlie should be able to die with dignity. he was conscious that charlie may be suffering and that this whole process should come to an end. the situation in venezuela is getting even more tense. another two days of anti—government strike action began today — take a look at these pictures from the streets of caracas. venezuela ns have been blockading the roads with rubbish, stones and ropes — many businesses stayed closed. this is a last ditch attempt to make president nicolas maduro cancel an election this weekend —

which will essentially lead to the country‘s constitution being re—written. his critics say that will cement him as a dictator. today the trump administration weighed in, sending a strong message to the venezuelan president to back down. it‘s accused 13 senior officials in the government, military, police and state oil company of human rights abuse and corruption, imposing strict sanctions on them. anatoly kurmanayev is a reporter for the wall streetjournal in caracas — this was his take when he spoke to me an hour ago. these sanctions have been around for quite some time, the trump administration have made it clear some months ago, american concern about the situation. senior officials have met with senior opposition leaders and today they rolled out sanctions against officials, most notably the head of the national election council, overseeing the vote on sunday.

importantly, overseeing the vote on sunday. importa ntly, the trump administration has left out two key officials in venezuela, the head of the armed forces and also the second vice president of the ruling party. what trump is trying to do, he‘s trying to create a sense, people close to president med euro —— president maduro to rise up. the trump administration have made it clear that if he continues they will roll out even stronger sanctions possibly from next week, so the result is crucial. i want to play a clip of the venezuelan opposition leader, leopoldo lopez. he has been in jail leader, leopoldo lopez. he has been injailfor leader, leopoldo lopez. he has been in jail for three leader, leopoldo lopez. he has been injailfor three years leader, leopoldo lopez. he has been in jail for three years for inciting protest. translation:

in jail for three years for inciting protest. translationzlj in jail for three years for inciting protest. translation: itell in jail for three years for inciting protest. translation: i tell you that in my conviction, my fight and my determination of accompanying the venezuelan people so that together we will have a democracy. if that represents a risk for me of returning to a prison cell, i willing to take on the risk.|j wonder what the chances are that the opposition leader might be jailed again. well, leopoldo lopez has come infora lot again. well, leopoldo lopez has come in for a lot of criticism since being released from jail earlier this month for not speaking out more strongly against the government, for not taking charge of the protest movement. what came in his message was quite expected. his lawyer said it doesn‘t break the terms of his house arrest. to be fair i think the government is comfortable with

diepoldova being in his house making these videos because it is creating confusion in the opposition movement about who is leading the protest, who will be the candidate if the elections are held —— comfortable with leopoldo being held. in the last 30 seconds or so, how tense do things feel in caracas today? well, today has been largely quiet, shops are shot and the streets are empty, both sides preparing for the final stretch this week which they see as a decisive battle. a big government rally tomorrow followed by a big opposition rally on saturday to stop the vote going ahead, so tensions are going to be rising and we can expect more violence. volkswagen has held an emergency board meeting regarding allegations

that the carmaker operated a cartel alongside several other german carmakers. if true, the reports would be a further blow to vw, which is trying to recover from its recent emissions scandal. damien mcguinness reports from berlin. volkswagen, bmw, daimler, audi, portia. all german car brands clues of collusion. the allegation is that since the 19905 they regularly held talks to agree cost5, either for pa rt5 talks to agree cost5, either for parts or talks to agree cost5, either for part5 orfor talks to agree cost5, either for parts or for technology. the news has rattled investors. when german media first published the

reports, shares in volkswagen fell by 4.9% and shares in bmw and daimler dropped by more than 3%. the european commission and the german cartel office haven‘t yet launched an official probe but they are looking into the allegations. if true, this would open up a whole new chapter in the diesel emissions scandal. that‘5 chapter in the diesel emissions scandal. that‘s because engine exhaust technology was also allegedly involved in the cartel. volkswagen and other german brands are only now starting to recover from the emissions row. so another scandal would be a blow to the industry‘5 reputation. let‘5 cross over to the us now— earlier cnbc tweeted this: "trump to announce later today that apple—supplier foxconn will build manufacturing plant in wisconsin." let‘s get more on this with samira hu55ain in new york. good to see you. tell us more about

what they are planning. we're going to be hearing from the president himself in less than an hour‘s time, he will speak from the white house. we‘re expecting to hear an announcement about m3 mac —— about foxconn. it is well—known for being one of the companies that makes some of the apple ipads and iphone5 in china. it has said that it wants to open up factories in the united state5. that‘5 open up factories in the united state5. that‘s really what we‘re waiting to hear. look5 state5. that‘s really what we‘re waiting to hear. looks like they will invest some $10 million in the united states, creating a couple of hundred jobs. that is part of president trump‘5 mantra, for companies to start manufacturing in the united states and this would bode well. however foxconn has made an announcement like this before, in 2013 is said that it would expand a factory in pennsylvania and make a

big investment but it never came to fruition. time to touch on something that‘5 fruition. time to touch on something that‘s happened in the last the met minutes, facebook releasing its latest results. —— the last the met minutes. facebook is making money on top of money and the big thing is their advertising revenue, a big boost a5 a result of video advertising. comparing this quarter to the same time last year, mobile video ad5 has gone up to 87% compared to 84%, so they have beaten investor expectations and you can expect that their stock value is going to go even higher. thank you for joining going to go even higher. thank you forjoining u5. stay with us. we‘ll have the latest on the situation on tho5e wildfires in the south of france, 10,000 people evacuated overnight. time to get the very latest on the

big world weather stories and first of all, 5outh a5ia. monsoon 5ea5on, of all, 5outh a5ia. monsoon 5ea5on, of course, acro55 of all, 5outh a5ia. monsoon 5ea5on, of course, across this part of the world but at the moment the downpours are not even needed to beat it. in 5outhern part5 downpours are not even needed to beat it. in 5outhern parts of india the rain has largely ea5ed away but to the northwest we have had one monsoon depression which has brought heavy rain. in 48 hours some spots have seen 450 millimetres, sometimes falling very quickly, 200 35mm i5 have seen 450 millimetres, sometimes falling very quickly, 200 35mm is in 5ix falling very quickly, 200 35mm is in six hours, po5ing falling very quickly, 200 35mm is in six hours, posing a risk to life. there have been a number of fidelity ts, there have been a number of fidelity ‘5, especially in gujarat. —— a number of fatalities. the situation could well worsen. the5e number of fatalities. the situation could well worsen. these pictures come from thailand where there has also been, as you can see, some significant flooding courtesy of the leftovers of what was a tropical storm. the storm system has moved

inland. you can see a lot of cloud on the satellite picture. wet weather will continue acro55 south—east a5ia, weather will continue acro55 south—east asia, in thailand, my ammar, cambodia, laos and vietnam over the next few mac day5. —— myanmar. there could be 800 millimetres of rain. a tropical storm has developed to the east, which may well strengthen, perhaps reaching typhoon strength. uncertain about the track of the storm but it may eventually had to taiwan. to north america and if you have travel plans over the north east usa over the next couple of days, worth bearing in mind the weather forecast, a line of showers and thunderstorms over the midwest. some gusty wind, perhaps even tornadoes. some of the airports, the north east usa and eastern canada, the risk of

torrential downpours and thunderstorms that may cause travel problems and flight delays for the end of the week. the weather across europe is dominated by low pressure in central areas which has brought a lot of rain for the likes of germany. we could do with some rain in the south of france where the wildfires are continuing to burn. blustery wind over southern france and corsica. the wind easing down over the next couple of days but still a lot of unwanted dry weather here. things trying out for a time over germany, some flooding recently, slightly drier on thursday. back home it is a blustery day tomorrow, sunshine and showers. more details in half an hour. hello, i‘m karin giannone, this is outside source. president trump says the us military will not allow transgender individuals to serve in the armed forces in any capacity. it‘s a reversal of an obama administration policy — mr trump said transgender people would disrupt the military and

burden it with large medical bills. france appeals for help from europe in fighting wildfires that have consumed large areas of forest in the southeast of the country. did antidepressants play a role in one of america‘s worst mass shootings? we have a special bbc investigation. britain has announced it will ban new petrol and diesel cars from 2040 in an effort to reduce air pollution.