in the us military in any capacity. he says they risk burdening the military with large medical bills and disruption. even though during last year's election campaign he assured lgbtq people "i will fight for you. i have your back." campaigners have called his decision shocking and ignorant. there are thousands of trans people already serving, 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 obama 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. ijust 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 obama policy came into effect. but he's 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 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 obama 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. jess herbst is mayor of the town of new hope, and the first openly transgender mayor in the state of texas. conservative people are concerned when people change their mind on a whim. whatever he thinks is what it does. i don't know how well it is playing. he tweeted this morning that he did it for financial reasons but according to the washington post, the coast for transgender medical procedures in the military is very low. they spend more on viagra. it is a total fantasy that he is doing this for financial reasons. it is not true. at least five more times than the military spends on trans people. you are not in the military but you are aware of the issues. we have seen different figures for how many transgender americans there are in the us military, anything from two and a half thousand to 15,000. do you know the realfigure? is around 15,000, including reserve and coastguard and just old military in general. i have many, many friends who have been in the military or are still in the military or are still in the military and they want to serve and protect. 0ne military and they want to serve and protect. one said, ifought foryour right to hate me and that is exactly what they are doing. they will do what they are doing. they will do what it takes to protect their country and are now they've betrayed them. what about all the trans people on active service. are they just expect in two b sacked? that is what we are expecting. right now, along with this statement today, he will oust up to 15,000 active service people from the military. that is going to disrupt military cohesion. it is not going to help, it will make the military much more week than they were before. we worked for 16 months and it has been working. secretary matters have said we need to stay with existing policy. —— mattis mattis. i do not believe he spoke with a joint chief of the secretary of state. it is a subject we will be back to. thank you very much. you are welcome. more than ten thousand people in the south of france, including many british tourists, have been forced to leave their homes and campsites, to escape rapidly spreading wildfires. many are having to spend a second night in sports halls and other public buildings, while some have taken refuge on beaches. 0ver six thousand firefighters and troops are now battling the fires which have been raging for three days. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy is in provence. the raging power of the fires was at its most terrifying during the night. this was bormes—les—mimosas, west of st tropez, where hillsides were engulfed by the burning shrubs and trees. for hours, it swept across the countryside in an unstoppable curtain of flames. thousands of people, including british tourists, were forced out of campsites and other homes. mary and alan anderson, from ramsgate, said the sight of the fires was extremely distressing. we looked over onto the hill, and all we could see was black smoke billowing from umpteen various places, sources. and then the planes came over, picked up loads of water, and have been dousing all day to try and dampen the flames. the sheer force of the fires were caught by holiday—makers on their phones. strong mistral winds gave them an unstoppable energy. many fires burned throughout the night. even the 4,000 firefighters and soldiers sent in couldn't get control, when faced with this. the fires led to a huge evacuation of 10,000 people, many from campsites like this one. they were told to spend the night on nearby beaches, out in the open. tonight, we found dozens of people in a gymnasium. there are beds and plenty of food, but their holiday has been ruined, and for some, it is their third night in this makeshift accommodation. the morning brought no letup in the fires. some tourists were far enough away to continue their holiday, the lushness of their scenery now replaced by a menacing inferno. in other places, all that was left was a vast, scorched landscape, an area decimated across 15 square miles. 19 aircraft, including ten water—bombers, have been brought in, with the french authorities asking other european governments for technical help. these fires have been burning for two days now, and we are seeing fires on hills all around this area. we're also seeing aircraft, helicopters laden with water, trying to put them out. but, at the moment, they don't seem to be able to bring them under control. temperatures here are in the 30s, and the wind shows no sign of letting up. a combustible, deadly mixture, that will continue to threaten this area. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in southern france. we've now heard from the french prime minister who has visited the area and we also continue to hear more harrowing tales from people who narrowly escaped the flames. translation: all of a sudden, we we re translation: all of a sudden, we were in front of a wall of flames. we took some belongings, the two dogs and left. translation: i came backin dogs and left. translation: i came back in the morning, i climbed high and saw a picture of desolation because all the camping was surrounded with flames and we could do nothing. transaction makes the situation remains difficult. you can feel the wind. it continues to blow and tomorrow will be another difficult day. it will require courage and determination. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: a high courtjudge in britain has given parents of terminally ill baby charlie gard until noon on thursday to reach an agreement with his london hospital on arrangements for his death. earlier this week charlie's parents abandoned their attempts to bring their eleven—month—old son to the us for experimental treatment. as a two—day general strike gets underway in venezuela, us officials say washington will impose sanctions on some including the head of the army. the strike's been called in opposition to president maduro ‘s plan to rewrite the constitution. president maduro called the sanctions "illegal, insolent and unprecedented." the european commission says it's launching legal action against poland over plans to give politicians more power to sack and appointjudges. the commission said poland would be stripped of its eu voting rights if it went ahead with proposals to force all supreme court judges into retirement. warsaw said that was blackmail. sarah corker reports. chanting "constitution". controversial reforms have prompted days of protests in dozens of polish cities and split the country. in warsaw, crowds gathered outside the supreme court is angry at proposed powers to sack proposed judges. it said poland and the eu on a collision course. the eu commission said it would strip the country of its voting rights if it goes ahead. the first time such a sanction would be use. we have now finalised a comprehension that legal analysis that this would have a significant negative impact on the independence of the polish judiciary and would increase systemic threat to the rule of law. earlier this week, pollard ‘s president andrzej duda andrzej duda vetoed two of the most controversial deals including one which would fire all supreme court judges but despite this, pollard right wing government remains defiant. translation: poland will not tolerate any blackmail in the context of proposed changes in poland. these changes, as those related to judiciary systems are in line with the polish constitution. the perceived eu interference spite counter protests in warsaw. go away european union, the crowd chanted. the government insists the leaf or will streamline and update a legal system others fear democracy is under attack. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: as president trump uses twitter to attack his attorney general, jeff sessions, again. his new director of communications defends the tough tactics. i think this will resolve itself over the next week or so. certainly what i would say to my colleagues and cabinet members is if they really understand the presidents personality, he is a really straight shootout. 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: president trump has made a surprise announcement that he's re—introducing a ban on transgender people serving in the us military. wildfires tear through the countryside in southern france. thousands are forced to leave their homes to escape the flames. for the third day in a row — president trump has used twitter to attack his own attorney general, jeff sessions. he questioned why mr 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 — following mr sessions' decision to recuse himself from the ongoing russia investigation. so are the days numbered for the president's top law officer? the bbc‘s emily maitliss is in washington — and asked the new white house communications director anthony scaramucci. this will resolve itself over the next week and what i would say to colleagues and cabinet members is you must understand the personality of the president, he is a straight shooter, he likes to express himself and let people know how he feels, sometimes those are tough conversations. why is he tweeting? letting rumours take over? he is a very tough person and i mean that in a good way, he is trying to use the pulpit in the oval office presidency to execute an agenda on behalf of the people. do i think he will stay? wait for the president. would like to see the sessions staying? i do not want to interrupt the outcome, between the attorney general and the president. i have worked with the attorney general on the campaign, if you live in the uk, you won't be able to buy a new diesel or petrol car after 2040 — as the government there tries to reduce air pollution. the new plan follows a ruling byjudges, that ministers must do more to clean the air. britain's move follows a similar announcement in france, with lawmakers — at least in theory — eager to consign traditional cars to the history books. here's our science editor david shukman. on the worst days, the pollution hangs like a mist over our cities. the gases and particles cause asthma and heart trouble, maybe dementia. and there's evidence that dirty air shortens lives, linked to an estimated 40,000 premature deaths in britain every year. and the biggest source of pollution is diesel engines, and we have millions of them. so the government has a vision for a future where all our cars will be electric. norway will do this by 2025, france by 2040, and that's the year the government here has set to move away from conventional engines. we have to get rid of petrol and diesel cars off our roads if we're going to make sure not only that we deal with the health problems that air pollution causes, but also that we meet our climate—change targets. and the good news is that the car industry is already moving in this direction. so is electric power the answer? volvo has declared it will go electric from 2019. other car—makers also have plans. but the boss of aston martin says the government hasn't thought through the implications. if you don't have the infrastructure, if you don't have the skills, if you don't have the wherewithal to pay for it, then as a statement or as a policy, it's absurd. year after year, britain has seen levels of nitrogen dioxide well above european standards. the government is under court order to clean up, and an environmental group that launched legal action says the environment secretary still isn't doing enough. we're very disappointed with this plan, it's unambitious, and it's not going to fix the problem quickly and urgently. people are suffering health problems because of the poor air that they're breathing in our towns and cities. that needs to be urgently tackled. all the government is doing is kicking the can down the road and not dealing with it as quickly as it could. you can't always see air pollution, but politicians can't avoid it. the government says it is responding, but it doesn't want to offend motorists. the result — a signal of real change, but not for a while. david shukman, bbc news. the cuban leader, raul castro, has attended for the last time as president, the national rebellion day. held every year on july the 26th it marks the anniversary of an attack in 1953 on the moncada barracks — seen as the beginning of the cuban revolution. raul castro is expected to step down as president next february. will grant reports from western cuba. in cuba it is 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 1953. it marked, in effect, the starting pistol for the cu ban revolution. 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. directory has remained the same over the years. president castro did not speak himself but the communist pa rty‘s castro did not speak himself but the communist party's second—in—command warned that 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 this younger brother, raul castro. he is due to finally hand over the rains 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. a man who has not seen military action at north fought in the revolution merriwa in the late 1950s. some suggest without those same revolutionary credentials as the castro brothers, he will struggle to inspire the nation, especially the use of the island. activist who turned out for this event, however, disagreed. translation: i am not worried because the new generation has been training alongside the new old leadership and will accept them. translation: our leaders trust in the use and have set an example for them so things will not be left up in the end. we will make sure things work out as well as they did for the castro brothers. the incoming leader will receive a stagnant economy, an island under embargo and fresh challenges in terms of the relationship with washington and president trump. although when election approaches, ordinary cubans cannot go directly. the communist party hopes that this memory of this pa rt party hopes that this memory of this part of revolutionary history will ensure popular attendance for years to come, even without a castro brother at the helm. now to a notorious case from the past, one of the biggest serial murders in american history. in the early 1920s, members of the osage indian tribe became wealthy overnight when oil was discovered on their land. but soon after, many members of the tribe were shot and poisoned — and the killings led to a pioneering fbi investigation. a new book puts a spotlight on this chilling chapter. the united states was still remarkably lawless country back in the 1920s. particularly in its last remnant of the wild west. you had outlaws wandering the streets with their six shooters in their pockets. you had sheriffs, oilmen, prospectors. my name is david grant, iam also prospectors. my name is david grant, i am also of this book. the indians once controlled much of the central pa rt once controlled much of the central part of the united states and were eventually forced to cede more than 100 million acres of territory. it was at that time that a osage chief stood up and said we should move to this territory because the land is not fertile and a white man considers it worthless so he will leave us alone. the seemingly forsa ken leave us alone. the seemingly forsaken land turned out to be sitting upon some of the largest deposit of oil in the united states. at the beginning of the 20th century, these osage became the wealthiest people in the world. they had white servants who said at the time were as one american might own a car, each osage owned 11. the world ‘s vote all sorts of reaction among white americans. envy, jealousy. they then began to be mysteriously murdered in one of the most sinister crimes in american history. in 1923, after a law more than two dozen osage murders, the case was taken up by a rather obscure branch of the justice department, a ragtag operation known as the bureau of investigation. it would later be renamed the fbi. the osage murder cases became one of their first osage murder cases became one of theirfirst major osage murder cases became one of their first major homicide investigations and one of the first major homicide investigations of its new, young, secretive and ambitious temperature,j edgar new, young, secretive and ambitious temperature, j edgar hoover. new, young, secretive and ambitious temperature,j edgar hoover. as new, young, secretive and ambitious temperature, j edgar hoover. as you begin to did the part you realise there were scores of murders and many of these cases were never investigated. you can not understand the formation of the united states without understanding this case, the original scene from which this country was born. —— original sin. more on that and all of our news at any time on the bbc website. and reach me in the team on twitter. thank you very much for watching. hello. there is some downpour dodging to be done during the day ahead and infact 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 orkney 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 of england. yes, sunshine and showers once again. as we head on through thursday night into the early hours of friday we still have our way of low pressure up to the north—west. some showers continuing. fewer showers further south, clear spells as well and overnight temperatures of 11—15 degrees. as we head on into friday, an area of low pressure still with us. and then there is this feature down here to the south. this will bring persistent rain later in the day. initially spells of sunshine, showers as well, they will fade for a while until they are replaced by a lump of rain pushing its way in from the west. most of the wet weather will move its way through fairly quickly during friday night and into the early part of saturday. once that clears away then, you guessed it, we are left with a mixture of sunshine and showers. still our area of low pressure close by, the temperature around 16—23 degrees. for sunday wherever you are across the country you can expect downpours. the far north of scotland and shetland likely to stay dry. where the showers pop up there could be heavy with hail and thunder, feeling cool in a blustery wind. this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump has announced that he's re—introducing a ban on transgender people from serving in the us military. he tweeted that transgender individuals risked burdening the military with large medical bills and disruption. campaigners for transgender rights say his decision is shocking and ignorant. wildfires in south—eastern france have forced the evacuation of over 10,000 people. hundreds of firefighters have been deployed to battle fires in the country's cote d'azur region and on the island of corsica. the government has asked neighbouring eu countries for more help. poland's government is facing legal action from the european commission over plans to give politicians more power to sack and appointjudges. the commission says poland could be stripped of its eu voting rights. officials in warsaw say the threat amounts to blackmail. now it's time for hardtalk.