this is bbc news. our top stories: president trump's surprise decision to ban transgender people from the us military, causes anger and confusion on both sides of washington's political divide. thousands of people in south—eastern france are evacuated to save them from wildfires. at least 6,000 firefighters are battling the flames. poland's government faces legal action from the european commission over plans that would let politicians sack judges. warsaw complains of blackmail. i'm ben bland. 2 billion friends, soaring profits, and a big thumbs up from wall street. but how much bigger can facebook grow? plus, made in america. president trump hails a $10 billion taiwanese investment as proof he's making a difference. but one critic calls the deal a "corporate welfare package". hello and welcome to bbc news.

nobody saw it coming and president trump's decision to ban transgender people from serving in the us military has elicited an immediate reaction, much of it one of anger and confusion across the political divide. the republican chair of the senate armed services committee, john mccain, said any american who met the required standards should be allowed to serve. there are thought to be thousands of trans people already serving. so what happens to them now is not clear. aleem maqbool reports from texas. there are thought to be thousands of members of the us military who identify as transgender. many have spent time in iraq or afghanistan. today, they woke up to a shock from the very president they serve. "after consultation with my generals and military experts," he tweeted, "please be advised that

the united states government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the us military." riley dosh has spent the last four years as an officer in training at the military academy at west point. she came out last year, after president 0bama lifted the ban on transgender people serving openly. she now has to find a newjob, even though it was a lifelong dream to serve the us. i just fell in love with this country, and even those that completely fundamentally disagree with me, ifelt this desire. i want to serve and defend you, and i want to defend your right to disagree with me. how do you feel now, when you are told you can't serve? i'm going to have to find some other way to serve. not necessarily in the military, but serve the country, either in the private sector or public sector. it's heartbreaking that they won't let me be an officer, but for now that's how the cards fell.

the white house says it is doing this because of the cost of medical transition procedures for transgender servicemembers. the president's expressed concern, since this 0bama policy came into effect. but he's also voiced that this is a very expensive and disruptive policy, and based on consultation that he's had with his national security team, came to the conclusion that it erodes military readiness and unit cohesion, and made the decision based on that. but the cost of procedures for transgender people is estimated to be just 0.1% of the military medical spending budget. well, this is another attempt to reverse an 0bama policy, and it may go down well with some trump supporters. but in the us, transgender people enroll in the military at a much higher rate than the population as a whole, and in one move, thousands have been left devastated. aleem maqbool, bbc news,

in fort hood in texas. for the third day in a row, president trump has used twitter to attack his own attorney general. he questioned why jeff sessions hadn't sacked the fbi's acting director — andrew mccabe — because of his wife's political ties to hillary clinton. it's the latest in a flurry of critical tweets — since mr sessions stood aside from the russia investigation. so are the days numbered for the president's top law officer? the bbc‘s emily maitlis is in washington, and asked the new head of white house communications anthony scaramucci. i think this will resolve itself over the next week or so. certainly i think what i would say to colleagues and cabinet members is you must understand president's personality he's a straight—shooter, he likes to express himself, and let people know how he feels. sometimes those are tough conversations. why isn't he having that

conversation, though, with jeff sessions? why is he tweeting, letting rumours take over? he is a very tough person, and i mean that in a good way. he's trying to use the bully pulpit in the oval office, and his presidency, to execute an agenda on behalf of the people, and this is a very tough town. do i think he will stay? it will be up to the president. would like to see sessions staying? i do not want to interrupt the outcome between the attorney general and the president. i like both people a great deal. i worked with attorney general jeff sessions over the campaign. 0bviously i'm a huge supporter of the president and his agenda. what i would say to my colleagues, have a tough exoskeleton, be a tough person with a strong backbone. at some point, they will meet. but does having a tough skeleton mean allowing the president to be rude to you, to call you beleaguered, to basically slag you off in a public forum.

ok, so you're from great britain, but i'm not from great britain, 0k. i'm from a town that's right on the border of queens, and the president grew up in queens. ok, so we have a different communication style. it is a little bit more direct, it is less subtle and polite. but you don't think politicians in your home town are hitting each other left and right? they may be hitting each other in a more subtle way. i sort of like the more open approach. one of the things i cannot stand about this town is the backstabbing that goes on here, 0k? where i'm from, and the neighbourhood i grew up, we're front—stabbers. we like to tell you exactly where we're from, and what we're doing. and so, to me, if you can handle the president's personality, you can handle his temperament, which i happen to love, then you're going to do great with the president. there's plenty more on our website, including full details of the feud between president trump and his attorney general — and in depth analysis from our north america reporter — anthony zurcher. wild fires are continuing to burn in parts of southern france, where thousands of people have had

to evacuate their homes. the french prime minister edouard philippe has warned that more outbreaks can be expected and the situation remains critical. at least six—thousand firefighters and troops are battling the flames which have been raging for several days. harvey biggs has the latest. for a third night, the skies load raid in southern france is fierce wildfires continue to burn out of control. hillsides engulfed by fla mes control. hillsides engulfed by flames in bormes—les—mimosas, west of st tropez. it is forcing the evacuation of over 10,000 people. having watched the flames getting closer and closer on wednesday, thousands of tourists took the chance to flee. many had spent the last few nights camping out on the beach or in the shelters. translation: we evacuate because of the fire is coming close to the place. we pay attention. we left with our clothes and a little food. residents who fled the claim have 110w residents who fled the claim have now begun to return to assessed the

damage to their homes and properties. many with stories of narrow escapes. translation: all of a sudden we were in front of a wall of flame near the cypress trees. we did not hesitate. we took some belongings, we took the two dogs and left. translation: i climbed high on the cliff and saw a picture of desolation. all the campsites were surrounded by fires and we could do nothing. the french prime minister, edouard philippe, said they would be an enquiry into the clause which some blame on an arsonist and he warned the threat is not over yet. translation: the situation remains difficult, as i said. you can feel the wind, it continues to blow and tomorrow will be another difficult day but like today it will be approached with a lot of courage and determination. the powerful and destructive combination of heat and wind set to fuel these fires and

test these firefighters once again. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: the parents of the terminally ill baby, charlie gard, who is being kept alive on a ventilator in a london hospital, have until midday on thursday to reach agreement over how his life will end. they've accepted charlie will spend his last days in a hospice rather than at home. but they're asking the high court in london for more time with their son before his life support is taken away. four people have been killed when their light plane came down on a busy highway in utah in the united states. the victims were all on board the single—engine aircraft that crash landed before catching fire. the incident in riverdale — 35 miles north of salt lake city — closed a section of the road. no one on the highway was injured. the italian health minister has warned that water rationing in rome could lead to serious public health issues. beatrice lorenzin said hygiene standards would suffer, and there would be serious

problems in providing essential health services. the lazio region has been hit by a severe drought. ben bland is here with all the business news. we start in silicon valley where it seems there is no stopping the world's biggest social network. facebook has seen another huge jump in profits as advertising revenues keep on rising — let's show you just how big. in the three months to the end ofjune, facebook made a net profit of $3.89 billion. that's a jump of 71% on the same period last year, and better than wall street was expecting. injune the number of active monthly users crossed the 2 billion mark. that means more than one in every four people on the planet use the site at least once a month.

and according to these latest results it's still rising. not surprisingly, so is facebook‘s share price. it has climbed by more than 40% since january — giving the company a stock market value of getting on for half a trillion dollars. that's more than 5 times its value when it floated back in 2012. lots more in 20 minutes time staying in the us... president trump has been hailing a $10 billion investment by taiwanese electronics giant foxconn — as proof his america first policy is making a difference. foxconn is the world's top contract electronics manufacturer — assembling big name products like apple's iphone. at a press conference at the white house its ceo unveiled plans for a new plant in wisconsin making lcd screens — creating 3,000 jobs. but there are questions from some about the cost of the deal to the us amid reports foxconn is getting tax breaks worth

several billion dollars. 0ne local politician has described the deal as corporate welfare. a full report in 20 minutes time don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @benmbland. it's a bit like taking a member of your own family to court. the european commission is launching legal action against poland over plans to give politicians more power to sack and appointjudges. the commission says poland will be stripped of its eu voting rights if it goes ahead with proposals to force all supreme court judges into retirement. officials in warsaw call that blackmail. sarah corker reports. crowd chanting "constitution ! ". the controversial reforms have prompted days of protests in dozens of polish cities, and split the country. in warsaw, crowds gathered outside the supreme court as unease and anger about the government's plans to give the justice minister and mps broad powers to sack and appointjudges. that set poland and the eu on a collision course. in brussels, the eu commission said

it would sue poland and strip the country of its voting rights if it goes ahead. the first time such a sanction would be used. we have now finalised a comprehensive legal analysis confirming that the four laws, as adopted by the polish parliament, would have a very significant negative impact on the independence of the polish judiciary and would increase the systemic threat to the rule of law. earlier this week, poland's president duda vetoed two of the most controversial bills, including one that would would fire all supreme courtjudges, but, despite his veto, poland's right—wing government remains defiant. translation: poland will not tolerate any blackmail and pressure form eu officials in the context of proposed changes in poland. these changes, as well as those related to judiciary system, are in line with the polish constitution. and that perceived eu interference

sparked a counter protest in warsaw. "go away, european union," the crowd chanted. poland's eurosceptic government insist the reforms will streamline an outdated legal system. 0thers, though, fear democracy is under attack. sarah corker, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the frescoes of the sistine chapel in stunning new detail, after a five year digital, photography project. we will have more pictures for you. mission control: you can see them coming down the ladder now. armstrong: 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: president trump's surprise decision

to ban transgender people from serving in the us military, causes anger and confusion — on both sides of washington's political divide. thousands of people in south—eastern france are evacuated to save them from wildfires. at least 6,000 firefighters are battling the flames. in venezuela, inflation, malnutrition and even starvation are on the rise. daily protests against president maduro's government have resulted in scores of deaths and the bbc has spoken to activists who say the government is using torture, and imprisonment without trial, against those who oppose it, a claim the government denies. this weekend massive protests are expected. so who are the people hoping to over throw president maduro? vladimir hernandez reports from caracas prayers before the storm. this group

carries out this ritual before every anti—government protest. after almost 100 deaths and thousands of arrest, no wonder they feel the need to pray. numerous venezuelans have taken to the streets to ask the president to call a fresh election. due to severe food and medicine shortages but also against this plans to rewrite the constitution. 0n the frontline of every protest there is a group of young men women who call themselves the resistance. they face the worst of the security forces. the heavy—handed response. 0ften forces. the heavy—handed response. often it is a one—sided battle. this is what normally ends up happening almost every day. 0ver is what normally ends up happening almost every day. over three months of protests, young men and young students, boys and girls, can end up injured and some even killed. many

of the students in the resistance shy away from the media to avoid exposure. in the grip of them have agreed to meet me at this university. i was a student myself. in my day we were protesting against rising but says. today it is a rather more desperate story. we have concealed their identities and changed their voices to protect them. the way icy it, the resistance is everybody who was against the regime. many people say this is a dictatorship and if you look at what they are doing, that is what it is, really. at the moment they are even trying to change our constitution which is what our ancestors fought for. i think the resistance are those people who come to protest all who are willing to take the lead to confront the police or the national guide. of the students i met come from working—class areas that have been especially hit hard by the economic collapse. but the government accuses them of staging a coup to topple the president. some

have labelled us terrorists. i think that all of us youth who make up the resista nce that all of us youth who make up the resistance are brave fighters. we are defending our people from the brutal repression of the government. venezuela's state attorney has said that the government's actions can be cold state terrorism. thousand have been put injail. some taken cold state terrorism. thousand have been put in jail. some taken to military court. 0thers been put in jail. some taken to military court. others have still been held even after a judge cold for their release. i'd put these issues to a high ranking minister. he passed the responsibility back to the attorney general. translation: there have been over 100 people killed in street protests. 0ut there have been over 100 people killed in street protests. out of these, almost 20 national guardsman 01’ these, almost 20 national guardsman or policeman killed with home—made rocket launchers. why is the attorney general not made any comment about this? i would not hesitate to say that she is responsible through dereliction of

duty for the death that has occurred on the streets of caracas. as the death toll rises, the protest are 110w death toll rises, the protest are now increasingly followed by vigils like this one to remember the damp. for everyone in this city the focus is now on sunday. that is the date for a vote to elect a new assembly passed with rewriting the constitution. we have seen many of the young people killed or arrested. people like these are commemorating the lives lost in this wave of political arrests. this is an open wound and the consequences far from known. regardless of who was going run this nation. vladimir hernandez, bbc news. in the last hour we have had news that a 16—year—old boy protesting against the government has been killed. the second to die in the latest round of violence. it brings to 105 the number

of people killed in the last four months of protests. national rebellion day in cuba marks the beginning of the revolution. it's the anniversary of the attack in 1953 on the moncada barracks and raul castro attended the celebrations for the last time as president — he's expected to step down next february. from cuba, the bbc‘s will grant. in cuba, it's known as the day of national rebellion, when fidel castro led a group of young radicals in a failed attempt to overthrow a military barracks in july, 1953. it marked, in effect, the starting pistol for the cuban revolution. and every year the authorities hold this event for the party faithful, attended by the handful of survivors who were there that day. including the octogenarian president, raul castro, the rhetoric has remained pretty much the same over the years. president castro didn't speak himself, but the communist party's second—in—command warned the us president that any attempts

to unseat the revolution was doomed to fail. this is the first such event to be held since fidel castro died at the end of last year, and the last to be led by his younger brother raul castro. he is due to finally hand over the reins of power when he steps down in february, 2018. but the passing to a younger generation presents its own problems to this entrenched political system. the likely successor is the 57—year—old vice president, miguel diaz—canel, a man who hasn't seen military action and or fight in the revolutionary war in the late 1950s. some suggest without those same revolutionary credentials as the castro brothers, he'll struggle to inspire the nation, especially the island's youth. activists who turned out for this event, however, disagree. translation: i'm not worried, because the new generation has been

training alongside the new old leadership and will accept them when the time comes. translation: our leaders trust the youth, and have set an example for them, so things won't be left up in the air. translation: we'll make sure things work out as well as they did for raul and fidel. the incoming leader will receive a stagnant economy, an island still under the us economic embargo, and fresh challenges in terms of the relationship with washington and president trump. although a election approaches, ordinary cubans can't vote directly for their president. the communist party hopes that the memory of this part of revolutionary history will ensure popular attendance for years to come, even without a castro brother at the helm. the frescoes of the sistine chapel in the vatican are some of the most celebrated art works in history. and now thanks to a five year

photography project — we'll be able to admire them in stunning new detail. a team in rome took more than a quarter of a million digital images of the works of michelangelo and other masters. let's take a look at what they've done. we have some other pictures that you may enjoy, slightly different but a group of polar bears got an early winter retreat. truckloads of snow we re winter retreat. truckloads of snow were delivered to them from a nearby ski centre that has been holding the snow from the previous winter. i don't know how long that will last but we will leave you with these pictures. there is some downpour dodging to be done during the day ahead and in fact through the rest of this week. a mixed weather picture, some spells of sunshine, showers as well, with showers heavy, blown along on a blustery wind at times. low pressure in charge of the scene. the isobars fairly tightly packed. that shows that we will have strong wind and a few showers around as well.

showers initially most widespread across northern ireland and western scotland and then develop more widely across the country. some heavy with rumbles of thunder mixed in and some fairly blustery wind as well. after a cloudy start in southern areas things will brighten up a little bit. by the afternoon, although there will be heavy showers around with gusty wind there will also be some decent spells of sunshine between those downpours. 19 degrees in london, 17 in hull. some hefty showers stretching up across north—east england into scotland as well. across 0rkney and shetland that is the place to be if you want reliably dry weather. not many showers here at all and plenty of sunshine through the afternoon. northern ireland, sunshine and showers. similar story across wales, 18 degrees in cardiff and down across the southwest of england. yes, sunshine and showers once again.

bello showers once again. was still very much with us as we bello was still very much with us as we head on through friday. sunshine and showers will summon up the down towards the south—west this feature beginning to run its way in. that will introduce persistent rain through the day, heavy rain of that across south—west england, wales perhaps into the midlands as well. ahead of that is a mixture of sunshine and showers. strong winds, 17-19 sunshine and showers. strong winds, 17— 19 degrees is the best most of us can 17— 19 degrees is the best most of us can expect temperature wise. most of the rain that arise in the south on friday will cleave through during the night and into saturday morning. so what we're left with to start the weekend another day of sunshine and showers. the temperature is around 16- 23 showers. the temperature is around 16— 23 degrees and, essentially, wherever across the country mix of sunshine and showers continues into sunday apart from the far north of scotland. whether showers crop up there could be heavy with hail and

thunder and some blustery wind. this is bbc world news, the headlines: president trump's surprise decision to ban transgender people from the us military, causes anger and confusion on both sides of washington's political divide. lgbtq campaigners say his decision is shocking and ignorant. wildfires in south—east france have forced the evacuation of at least ten thousand people. hundreds of firefighters are battling flames on the cote d'azur and the island of corsica. the government is asking neighbouring countries for more help. poland's government is facing legal action from the european commission over its plans to give politicians more power to appoint and sackjudges.