welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: a warning and a challenge to president trump from his own government. a new report says unchecked climate change will cost america hundreds of billions of dollars. spain's prime minister says he hasn't got the british guarantees he wants on gibraltar, throwing doubt over sunday's summit to approve an eu brexit deal. translation: if there is no deal, it's obvious that what will happen is that the european council will most likely not take place. voting is underway in taiwan in local elections and several referenda, including one on same—sex marriage. he is known as the rugged global adventurer who can handle a challenge. now, bear grylls wants to tackle global sustainability. a report from the us government says climate change is likely to cost

hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century, shrinking the size of the us economy by 10%, if no action is taken. but the report clashes with president trump's own policies on the issue. he has repeatedly cast doubt on the fact that man—made climate change is real, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence. our correspondentjames cook has this report. this, say many scientists, is what climate change looks like. in recent years, california has seen bigger, deadlier and more destructive wildfires than ever before. during a cold snap in washington this week, president trump tweeted, whatever happened to global warming? now, his own government experts have answered the question. it is here, they say. its effects are serious, and without dramatic change, they will be catastrophic. already, says the report, more frequent and intense storms

like hurricane harvey, which ravaged houston and texas, are destroying property and may damage critical infrastructure such as bridges, power plants and oil refineries. crop yields and labour productivity will decline. there will be a rise in the spread of tropical disease. the poorest americans will be ha rdest—hit. one of the things that's quite striking about the report, for example, is that we could see a future where the south—eastern parts of the united states experience forest fire seasons that look like what happens in the west right now. and the real harm of a forest fire is notjust a conflagration. it's how people — whether they know how to respond to them. they know how to respond to them if you've been through the seasons again and again and again. that's something that people in the south—east haven't experienced before, so we know that it could potentially have even greater impact. the scientists say substantial

and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions are essential, and they do report some progress. but president trump has taken a sharply different approach to his predecessor, barack obama, championing coal, oil and gas and rolling back environmental regulations. without major, urgent action, says the report, the impacts of climate change will soon cascade into every corner of american life. gary yohe is a professor of economics and environmental studies at wesleyan university. he reviewed the report for the national academies before it was published. gary, thank you very much for your time. first of all, ijust gary, thank you very much for your time. first of all, i just wondered, what was the most striking element of this report for you? this might sound strange, but the most striking thing is how much the topics reminded me of previous assessments that have been going back for ten or

15 years. the main thing is that this has been happening for a long time, and the messages are only getting stronger and more statistically significant, and their predictions of increases in intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation events, extreme weather, wildfires in things like that, which is a hallmark, a signature of climate change, is upon us. signature of climate change, is upon us. gary, the white house says the report is inaccurate. is it? no. and why would they make that conclusion? it has been carefully done. the review by the national academy of sciences was a check on its accuracy, and its intent, and its careful acknowledgement of the line

that it could not be prescriptive. it could be descriptive what would happen if this policy goes into effect, but it doesn't tell anybody what to do. our review itself was reviewed by the national academy of sciences, and then it was sent off to the author. our report found some things that we wanted them to deal with, but they were down and the weeds. the basic message that's coming out of it is accurate. climate is changing. warming is unequivocal. a large part of the warming and the change can be attributed to human activity. that means that human beings can in fact reduce their influence on the climate system as it moves forward. but the climate system has committed itself to an awful lot of what we see now, and it will be very, very

difficult for that to be undone. the president has said, as well as other things, something is changing, but it will just change things, something is changing, but it willjust change back. no, it won't. it won't change back, it will just get worse, if nothing is done. the spanish prime minister, pedro sanchez, says he still hasn't been given the guarantees he wants from britain on gibraltar, suggesting that a summit in brussels on sunday to approve the brexit deal could be called off. spain wants a greater say in the territory at its southern tip after the uk leaves the european union. our correspondent adam fleming says the issue could prove a real stumbling block. the last few days, the spanish government has been looking for written guarantees about how the final brexit deal will apply in gibraltar. in the last couple of hours, the spanish prime minister has done a news conference in havana, in cuba, where he says he has not yet received those guarantees, and if he doesn't get them, he does not think sunday's planned brexit summit should go ahead.

translation: regarding gibraltar, let me tell you, i insist that the guarantees are not enough. and therefore, spain maintains its veto on the brexit deal. if there is no deal, it's obvious that what will happen is that the european council will most likely not take place. now, behind the scenes, solutions are being sought. some eu diplomats are getting quite annoyed with madrid, because they think they're making a mountain out of a molehill for domestic political reasons. and, having said all that, the eu is pushing ahead with all the preparations you'd expect for a summit taking place. for example, donald tusk, the president of the european council, who will chair it, has invited theresa may for a last—minute pre—summit meeting tomorrow night. talking to diplomats and texting them in brussels tonight, the sense is that this will be solved, but this last—minute hurdle

being thrown up by the spanish government was not in anyone's plan. adam fleming. earlier the british prime minister, theresa may, took to the airwaves to try and sell her struggling brexit deal to the british public. she told a bbc radio phone—in that if parliament votes against her plan, there will only be more division and uncertainty. she will travel to brussels on saturday for more talks. our deputy political editor john pienaar‘s report contains flash photography. her rebellious mps won't listen to her message on brexit. time to talk to the country. a 5live news special, with emma barnett and theresa may. i think for most people out there, actually, theyjust want us to get on with it. mrs may is talking now over the heads of political opponents and tory mutineers, trying to tune in to public impatience with the point—scoring, with a political game she may well lose. i'm going to be explaining the deal to people up and down the country, because i think this is important.

it's not just about the mp5 in westminster looking at the deal. it's about people across the country understanding what the deal is about. so that's my focus. so no plans to resign? my focus is on getting this deal through. then, this blunt warning to parliament, to brexiteer mps and ministers — no point defeating her brexit plan in hope of getting a better one. if we were to go back to the european union and say, "well, we didn't — people didn't like that deal, can we have another one?" we won't get — i don't think they're going to come to us and say, "we'll give you a better deal." for the former remainer, michael had a tough question. without any political waffle or convoluted answer, just between the two of us, what in your honest opinion is betterfor the uk — your deal, or the deal we had if we'd stayed in the eu? you say are we better off, better off... actually, it's a different sort of environment, and a different approach that we'll be taking to things. so not quite yes, and not quite no. brexiteers know

what they don't like. on air, too, the former brexit secretary who quit negotiations and the cabinet, convinced nothing is worse than mrs may's deal. well, i'm not going to advocate staying in the eu, but if you just presented me terms, this deal or eu membership, because we'd effectively be bound by the same rules but without the control or voice over them, yes, i think this would be even worse than that. the odds are that a large number of mps on all sides are stacked up against theresa may's brexit plan. today she is insisting, if her plan is defeated in the commons, there is no chance of getting a better one. but tory brexiteers, including some in cabinet, disagree.

they may not want a leader who is convinced they have no chance of success. as it is, we're all watching and waiting to find out. will this historic plan be pulled up short, stopped in its tracks? it's looking like it. but until then, mrs may will try to make it work. downing tools is simply not an option. john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. let's get some of the day's other news: china says the militant attack on its consulate in karachi will not deter it from investing in infrastructure projects in pakistan. no consular staff were hurt in the attack, but two pakistani police officers, two locals and the three gunmen were killed. a separatist group, the balochistan liberation army, which opposes chinese influence in pakistan, said it carried out the assault. real madrid have denied that their captain, sergio ramos, broke anti—doping rules after the 2017 champions league final. the german news magazine der spiegel says the spain international tested positive for the anti—inflammatory drug dexamethasone, which is only banned if testers are not informed of its use. uefa accepted an apology from ramos, who blamed the club's doctor for the mix—up. hundreds of people have attended the funeral of the well—known syrian radio host and activist, raed fares, who was killed by gunmen in the rebel—held province of idlib. raed fares founded an independent radio station broadcasting from opposition—held areas. he was known for defying demands to stop playing music and to remove female broadcasters.

he died along with a fellow activist, hammoud juneid. the trump administration has asked the us supreme court to review its policy of preventing some transgender people from serving in the military. the appeals court is already reviewing the decision of lower courts, which have blocked the policy, but the administration wants the supreme court to fast—track a definitive ruling. between 4,000 and 10,000 us active—duty and reserve service members are believed to be transgender, from a total personnel of almost 2 million. our correspondent peter bowes is in los angeles. peto, first of all, can you explain how this proposed ban has led up to this point? well, yes. they have in fa ct this point? well, yes. they have in

fact been two proposals, and the original proposal, which would have been a blanket ban on transgender people serving in the military was essentially kicked out by the court. indeed, there are still some injunctions in force as they apply to that original scenario, which has since been modified, changed by the administration, to include only those transgender people who suffer from a condition known as gender dysphoria. now, gender dysphoria is when an individual feels a conflict between their biological sex, assigned at birth, and the gender that they feel they are. now, that doesn't necessarily include all transgender people, doesn't necessarily include all tra nsgender people, but doesn't necessarily include all transgender people, but it is a significant group, and it is that group of people that are now being targeted by this rewording of the initiative by the trump administration. so why is the trump administration. so why is the trump administration now going to the supreme court? is this a test, in effect, for the supreme court? well,

it is certainly a test for the supreme court, but it is also, i think, an attempt by the trump administration simply to get this done with, the fast track this issue. the legal situation has actually become quite complicated, with a number of lower courts considering it, and i mentioned a number of injunction still in force. this is an attempt to go to the highest court in the land, the supreme court, to get an overriding judgement on this issue. and the reason for the fast track is that the administration clearly wants to get this done with before the end of the current term of the supreme court, which ends in the middle of next year. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: remembering the end of the first world war in east africa. but has the sacrifice of colonial troops there been overlooked by history? we have a special report from kenya. president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately.

the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world. the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number 10 to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 1960s. it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war with the cuban missile crisis. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: a us government report warns that climate change will cost the country hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century. questions from spain over gibraltar‘s status throws doubt over sunday's meeting on britain's proposed eu—brexit deal. un envoy to yemen has delivered a plea for peace. on a visit to the area he pressed for the un to be given a leading role in running it.

i apologise, there seems to be a problem with that report, we will try and bring it to you at another time. the tv adventurer bear grylls has given himself another challenge — as a volunteer. having worked with the uk scout association for a number of years, he's now teaming up with the united nations and the world scout organisation to engage young people across the world in sustainable development. the bbc‘s nada tawfik spoke to him at the un in new york. the scouts is driven by the young people, that's what i love so much. this is young people all over every corner of the world, saying we want to help, we want to help. we want to do something about these sustainable development goals but we are just saying, let's promote peace and protect our planet and help people prosper and try and reduce poverty and young people are going to be the people who drive those things,

it is not going to be us, it's going to be the young people. all we do as scout leaders is try and and facilitate them do we do this together? what are some of those projects and where do you think you can make an impact in sustainable development goals? it's notjust a few projects, there are millions of these local scout groups making a difference in our communities. i was looking at some of the stories coming in, we've had scouts in some the most violent areas of colombia providing a positive alternative to kidsjoining gangs, to nowjoin the scouts. or there is another great one in sudan were scouts were teaching schools how to make their water safe to drink. the scouts have delivered a billion hours of services. it's hard to believe. we take that and put another 3 billion hours to it. it's like, wow. that's actually how you change the world, at a local level but on a massive scale.

i know the scouts has put emphasis notjust on physical health but also mental health. recently, you were open about your own battles against anxiety. i'm definitely not fearless. i have many many fears and anxieties, but i've also learned the best way over our fears is one, hold people who really love you, and always move towards them, don't want ——run from our fears. scouts, you train from a young age to know that together we are stronger and brave and it's all about facing the difficult things and doing it. scouts are always shining a light around the world that sense of courage and kindness and never giving up. taiwan could become the first place in asia to legalise same—sex marriage. the issue has divided the island nation so the proposal is being put to the vote in a referendum. it's one of a number of contentious issues on the ballot paper in mid term elections, and a total of ten different referenda questions — including what name the country should compete under

in the olympics. voting is in full swing, so let's join our taiwan correspondent, cindy sui, who is at a polling station in taipei. the same—sex marriage vote has ca ptu red the same—sex marriage vote has captured attention, it is likely to pass? it is really hard to say because in the last year the highest court in taiwan passed a ruling that said same—sex marriage should be recognised and the court ordered the parliament to amend the current marriage law to make same—sex marriage law to make same—sex marriage legal. and that got hopes up marriage legal. and that got hopes up that taiwan would become the first place in asia to legalise same—sex marriage. but since then the religious groups have rallied a lot of support from the public, including parents, and they have gathered enough signatures to put several referendum initiatives on the ballot. some of them would be banning same—sex marriage from being recognised under the current marriage law, and it would also be strict domestic —— restrict

homosexuality from being taught in elementary and high school is. some polls have shown that most of the population would vote against legalising same—sex marriage. i spoke to one voter who said she did not agree with changing the definition to —— definition of marriage to two men or women, she believes the definition should stay as one man, one woman. these are also local elections. the president is pro— independence, is this protest for her leadership? she has beenin protest for her leadership? she has been in powerfor 2.5 years protest for her leadership? she has been in power for 2.5 years and protest for her leadership? she has been in powerfor 2.5 years and her party is definitely pro—independence. because of that it suffered really bad relations with china. in the past 2.5 years we have seen china. in the past 2.5 years we have seen beijing increased military pressure on the island, carrying out more military exercises around the island, as well as squeezing its international by preventing it from participating in international organisations and poaching its aquatic allies. on top of that it

has cut back a number of tourists that it allows to come to taiwan, and that has really hurt that economy. so many of the voters here in taiwan are worried about tensions are rising, and they might want to change, and this could hurt the pa rty‘s chances in change, and this could hurt the party's chances in the election. poll on the name of the country for the olympics? taiwanese people believe they should be able to compete under their own name, taiwan, not under chinese taipei which is the name imposed on them, because of china's pressure. one of the referendum initiatives is to actually let taiwan compete under the name taiwan. but beijing will be very unhappy of that passes. thank you very much. two weeks after most nations marked the centenary of the armistice that ended the first world war, ceremonies have been taking place in east africa. that's because news of the german surrender took two weeks to reach many colonial and african troops, fighting in remote rural areas. andrew harding reports from the war graves cemetery in the town of voi in southern kenya. last post.

in a startlingly beautiful corner of kenya, a ceremony this afternoon to mark the end of a long forgotten war, a war so far removed from events in europe that it ended two weeks later. we pray for those who died during the war, believing injesus and abiding with him in the hope of rising again. and yet, this was no minor skirmish. britain and its allies fought a gruelling campaign over a vast area, chasing a tiny german force that used guerilla tactics to make its enemies divert men and supplies from the front lines in france. please don't dismiss this as a sideshow. this was an important area of operations within the world war. it was the longest of the campaigns. and we see very high casualty figures? high casualty figures all the way around. a painting captures the delayed armistice here. deep in the bush, the germans had wanted to fight on.

note the faces behind the white generals. hundreds of thousands of african porters and soldiers played a vital role, their courage and sacrifice rarely acknowledged. on a hilltop fort, century—old british graffiti. "darkie," and "e black." a guide digs for bullets in a nearby trench. these battlefields have been neglected for decades. two weeks ago, as we were going around here, we found a machine gun placement down there. a new one? a new one, brand—new one. and we have not even cleared it. do you think the contribution of local black soldiers, porters, has been properly recognised ? yeah, that is where, that is a grey area. i don't think we have been recognised as other soldiers have. a new plaque is a small attempt to correct that.

the war here in east africa has always seemed like a sideshow, a footnote to the horrors in europe. and yet this conflict involved about 1 million people. tens of thousands lost their lives. what's most striking today is quite how little it is remembered here. reveille. a weekend of ceremonies is now beginning here, an attempt to highlight and commemorate africa's forgotten role in the great war. stay with us on bbc news, much more coming up. hello.

the week ended on a pretty gloomy note for many, and i'm not expecting things to brighten up spectacularly through the weekends. yes, some of us will see sunshine but many more will be stuck with cloud, it will feel chilly and for some areas, a bit of rain in the forecast. the satellite shows quite a lot of cloud streaming towards urban areas, this cloud is ready bringing some heavy downpours of rain across the south—west of england, even the odd flash of lightning and thunder, and we keep potential for wet weather across the south—west but perhaps also across other southern counties of england as well as we go through saturday. uncertainty about how far north that rain will get. it looks most likely that it will say to the south of the m4 corridor. so if you are in the london area, the south midlands, you may see a little bit of rain, on balance it should stay just about dry, temperatures around nine degrees. some rain could fringe into south wales but for the midlands, north—west england, south—west scotland and for a time across northern ireland a chance of seeing breaks in the cloud and some sunny spells. for north—east england

and the eastern side of scotland we will keep cloud and some showery rain and with that easterly breeze across the country, top temperatures no better than 7—10 degrees. some rain is likely to continue across southern counties of england across saturday evening, elsewhere dry weather, some rain in drizzle coming into eastern areas, we keep that easterly breeze feeding in cloud, the best of the clear skies in the west. if it does stay clear where you are there may be a touch of frost, most areas will stay frost free. for sunday high pressure in charge, but this frontal system threatens to throw a bit of a spanner in the works across the south—east corner. uncertainty about this but clipping into kent and sussex, we could see a little bit of rain. it may come a touch further north and west, but for many sunday is largely dry. a lot of cloud in the east, the best of the brightness further west, but fairly chilly. on monday we keep our weather coming in from the east, not an especially strong breeze but a cool one bringing lots of cloud, patchy rain in the east,

some sunshine to the west and those temperatures stuck in single digits for all of us. and then a bit of a change as we had deeper into the new week because high—pressure retreats and the low pressure in the atlantic starts to wind itself up, a lot of white lines, a lot of isobars on the chart, that means it will be windy and at times wet. so tuesday another cool day, turning wet and windy on wednesday but also turning a bit milder. this is bbc news. the headlines: an official us report warns that climate change will cost america hundreds of billions of dollars and cause severe damage to people's health and way of life, all of which is at odds with president trump's stance on the issue. the spanish prime minister says he still hasn't got the british guarantees he wants on gibraltar,

suggesting that a summit in brussels on sunday to approve an eu deal on brexit could be postponed. mr sanchez said if there was no agreement on the draft deal, the summit would not take place. people in taiwan are voting in local elections in several referendums, including one on same—sex marriage. top court ruled in favour, even parliament two years to amend laws or pass new ones. now on bbc news, the week in parliament.