22/02/2017 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Nuala McGovern, this is Outside Source.

Nasa has made an announcement of a new discovery.

The space agency says it has found seven Earth-sized exo-planets.

They're located about 39 light years away from the sun.

We're hearing multiple reports that the White House will revoke

some Obama era rules on transgender rights.

Malaysian police have named a North Korean diplomat as a suspect

in the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of

And a new study shows that average life expectancy in South Korea

Nasa has announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets

They're called exoplanets - that's any planet that circles

They're circling an "ultracool" dwarf star called Trappist One,

located about 39 light years away from the sun.

Astronomers detected three others in the system last year

using Nasa's Spitzer Space Telescope.

The planets are thought to be capable of having oceans,

The full report has just gone live on the website of international

BBC science editor David Shukman explains why this

What this latest report does is look at a particular star about 40 or so

light years away, it is quite faint, much smaller than our sun, so it is

quite easy for astronomers to look at, they have watched it very, very

carefully over a number of years and seen a slight dimming in its light

on a regular basis. That tells me something is coming in front,

planets. They have identified seven worlds orbiting this distant star,

it is quite mind-boggling when you also think that these worlds are

orbiting this start at just the right distance for liquid water to

exist up the servers, not too hot or cold, the Goldilocks zone, as Nasa

calls it, the holy Grail for space research. Can you find a place with

liquid water? Both the question always seems to be can life exist on

any other planets? Optimistic? I spoke to one of the scientists

involved. We are a long way from Little Green men, we have to

discount that and it is easy to get caught up in height, but the

scientist I spoke to was very confident that because they have

found the seven worlds and can look at them in some detail, because a

big, new telescopes are coming into service in the next few years which

will give a really detailed look at some of these alien worlds, we might

be able to look at the Abbas beers around these planets and pick up

some of the chemicals in the air -- we might be able to look at some of

the atmospheres. If there is oxygen and methane, could there be life?

You will not get pictures of aliens but you might get clues suggesting

something is there. Nasa has given the number of press

conferences, we are living in a particular age where the technology

is beginning to reveal things we had not thought possible 30 years ago?

Exactly like. If you go back 400 years, Galileo looked through a

telescope and suddenly saw mountains on the moon, nobody knew they were

there, he saw Moon is going around Jupiter, that was completely new.

The more systems you have for exploration, whether it is

telescopes going very big, microscopes going smaller, the Large

Hadron Collider in Geneva looking at tiny subatomic particles, the more

chance you have about discovering. That is why there is huge excitement

about what has been discovered today, particularly combined with

the new telescopes coming on screen, the James Webb telescope next year

is very powerful. It will unveil things that people cannot imagine

now. If they focus it on these new seven worlds, who knows what they

will find? Thanks to David for that.

Well, in the last few hours we saw this come through -

White House says Education and Justice Department is reviewing

Multiple sources had been reporting that President Trump will revoke

the landmark guidelines instructing public schools to allow

transgender students to use the bathrooms

The guidelines he's referring to can be found online -

This came from the US Department of Justice, US Department for

Education. They said that "When a school

provides sex-segregated activities and facilities,

transgender students must be allowed to participate in such activities

and access such facilities consistent with their gender

identity," and specifically At the time, the US Attorney General

said schools which didn't comply could face lawsuits or lose federal

aid. Anthony Zurcher has been watching

this, among other issues. How much of a political issue is this for the

American public? A pretty big political issue for a very small

segment of the American public, typically evangelical voters,

Christian conservatives who view this as a social issue, and

important social issue to resolve. When Barack Obama instituted this

interpretation, he was interpreting and almost 40-year-old federal

statute that said you could not discrimination, sex discrimination,

in public education. He interpreted that as applying it to transgender

students in schools. What Republican opponents have tended to say is that

that is an old law written well before any kind of transgender

movements came about. They think they are returning its back to the

way it should be and of Congress wants to deal with it they should

pass a law specifically about it and not have the president take

unilateral actions. I just showed a letter, small print,

you could see Department of Justice Department for Education, they will

have to come together and agree, I imagine, to get anything changed?

Yes, and I don't think there is any chance that Congress will go out of

its way to pass any sort of law like this. In North Carolina did the

state legislators passed a law preventing transgender access to

bathrooms of their choice and it became a very hot button

controversial issue, the governor who supported it got voted out of

office by a very narrow margin, I don't think he will see national

politicians want to touch it. Some people wonder why the Trump

administration has decided to take action on this now. Press secretary

Sean Spicer was asked about it today and said it was because the policy

has been challenged in court and held by a judge in a federal court

and they need to take a position on it and resolve it, others say that

is not necessarily the case. Just one of the issues and Vinnie has

been looking at for us, thank you very much. -- just one of the issues

that Anthony has been looking at for us.

A bit later we will talk about Mexico and Sean Spicer, Anthony

Zurcher was talking about, he has particularly been speaking about

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson making his way to Mexico, so later

we will take a few minutes at the State Department to talk about that.

Before we do that, let's talk about Iraq.

It's the fourth day of the big push to drive, so-called Islamic State

Right now the operation is focused on Mosul's International Airport.

Our Middle East correspondent Quentin Sommerville

is on the front-line and sent us this report.

This is as far forward as the federal police have advanced. Over

there as their next target. Beyond that open ground and factory is

Mosul's airport. IS have done a lot of damage, smashed up the runways

and the terminal buildings and you might be able to hear occasionally

there is artillery going on from these guys, the federal police and

other forces. All-night long we heard the most incredible booms from

coalition air strikes, all clearing this area so an advance can be made.

The airport is important for a number of reasons, it is symbolic,

but look at that land, a huge parcel of land giving much more control to

Iraqi government forces. Also it will help cut off the southern route

to western Mosul. Here in the UK a political row has

erupted over the compensation paid to the British fighter

with so-called Islamic State. Ronald Fiddler was formerly

a detainee at Guantanamo Bay and is reported to have died

in a suicide bombing Former Prime Minister Tony Blair

has defended himself, saying the decision to award

the compensation was taken Our deputy political editor

John Pienaar reports. A Briton, about to die

an Isis suicide bomber. Detained, then freed,

and reportedly handed ?1 million Jamal Al-Harith, born

Ronald Fiddler, was among the suspected terrorist detainees

held at Guantanamo Bay without charge until,

following British government pressure, he was freed

to finally fight and die Tonight his family insisted that

compensation was lower than ?1 million for what they called

mental cruelty and He's gone now and I just hope that

between him and his maker he is... But today the papers and some

Tory MPs blamed Labour in government for letting him go

and paying him off. Utter hypocrisy, said Tony Blair -

the critics had demanded It is just a matter of fact that

compensation was decided by the Conservative government,

by Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary,

not by a Labour government. According to this intelligence

assessment on WikiLeaks, Fiddler was a suspected terrorist

associated with Al-Qaeda, There was intelligence against these

people yet the only way the actions could have been defended

is if the intelligence and the sources of intelligence had

been brought out in open court. And that would have undermined

the whole of the efforts of the intelligence

and security agencies. Jamal Al-Harith travelled

to Pakistan in 2001. He was arrested that

year in Afghanistan, from there a transfer to Guantanamo

before repatriation In 2010 he was paid compensation

and in April 2014 to Syria Intelligence can now be used

in court without compromising sources after a change in the law,

but hundreds of Britons have travelled to Iraq and Syria

as jihadists and one former minister told me that they are believed

to include some who have been monitored, perhaps even detained

and compensated in the past. There may be more like

Ronald Fiddler, security forces can only try to keep

up their guard in future. Still to come, Malaysian police have

named a North Korean diplomat as a suspect in the murder

of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother The Communities Secretary has said

more support will be announced on the Budget next month the companies

in England and Wales facing a steep rise in business rates. The

Government has come in to pressure from MPs to soften the pressure of

the re-evaluation. Sajid Javid told the Commons that ministers were

listening to those concerns. Businesses coming off rate relief

can be faced with an alarming cliff edge. Independent retailers and some

high-value areas are struggling. I have always listen to businesses and

this situation is no exception. It is clear to me that more needs to be

done to level the playing field and make the system fairer.

I am working closely with my right honourable friend the Chancellor to

determine how best to provide further support to businesses facing

the steepest increases. We expect to be in a position to make an

announcement at the time of the Budget in two weeks.

This is Outside Source live from the BBC newsroom.

Nasa says it has found four Earth-sized exoplanets.

They're located about 39 light years away from the Sun.

BBC World Service reports that the personal assistant

of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was charged

on Wednesday in a scandal over fake jobs at the European Parliament.

The police want to know if they were paid for jobs

at the European Union that they didn't actually do.

A ban on female army officers in Turkey wearing the Muslim

headscarf has been lifted by the government.

The military is the last Turkish institution to see the ban removed.

It has long been seen as the guardian of Turkey's

And among the most watched online is this footage that's emerged

of Harrison Ford being involved in a near-miss with an airliner.

The incident happened last week but the airport has only

Malaysian police want to question a North Korean diplomat

and an employee of the country's state airline in connection

On the left is Kim U- Il, an employee of Air Koryo

and on the right, Hyon Kwang Song, the second secretary

of the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

11 people have either been detained or are wanted by police.

The BBC's Paul Adams has the latest.

The mystery surrounding the death of Kim Jong-nam deepens by the day.

Around him, a whole constellation of suspects.

And a growing conviction this was the work of North Korea.

The Malaysian police have added two new North Koreans

An employee of the state airline, and a senior embassy official.

And, they say, they now know exactly how the attack was carried out.

You know, what actually happened was these two ladies were trained

Before that, the four suspects gave them the liquid.

They were supposed to wipe it over the deceased's face.

What was the substance smeared on Mr Kim's face?

But they say surveillance footage shows the women keeping their hands

away from their bodies and heading straight for the washrooms.

A further twist, Malaysian special forces guarding the mortuary

Police say there have been attempts to break in.

North Korea has denied any involvement.

On Monday, the ambassador in Kuala Lumpur said the investigation

That drew a measured, but distinct rebuke,

We have good relations with North Korea all this while.

The statement by the ambassador was totally uncalled for.

It is considered diplomatically rude on his part.

The death of Kim Jong-nam is testing relations between two

The Malaysian authorities have asked to interview

the new suspects, and have warned the North Korean Embassy

Let's turn to outside source business. I want to begin with his

tweet from Andrew Walker, our business economic 's correspondence,

the World Trade Organisation agreement on trade facilitation

comes into force, important but admittedly unglamorous stuff. He

talks about an international agreement called the trade

facilitation agreement, or TFA, which involve streamlining customs

procedures. The reason it is so important is it is meant to boost

global trade by $1 trillion a year. Let's bring in Michelle Fleury in

New York. Good to have you back. Can it really do that, $1 trillion a

year? Economists within the World Trade Organisation have been poring

over the documents, trying to figure out what these changes would mean,

how simplifying and clarifying rules, cutting red tape when it

comes to customs and getting goods through customs, how that could

help. They believe it could help boost economic growth by half a

percent in the global economy. Part of the reason or one of the ways

they think this will work is that small businesses, especially in

developing countries, will find it easier to gain access to other

markets. That is just one of the ways they think this will help.

Whether or not it turns out to be the case, we have seen calculation

is in the past that have not always materialised, specifically in the

United States I am thinking about trade deals like Napster and what

benefits they will bring, in reality when things go into place and time

things can turn into little bit different. -- I am thinking of trade

deals like Nafta. But the idea is that by simplifying the procedure it

should boost economic growth. A new administration, the Trump

administration, has been very vocal about other trade agreements. Will

the US accept this latest one? Here is the interesting part, this

agreement, the specific agreement, was agreed upon by the US under the

Obama administration. The way the WTO works is this was first part of

the negotiation dating back to 2012 something known as the Joe Hart

talks because of the capital city weather is trade negotiations were

taking place -- known as the Doha talks. It was not agreed upon until

2013 and it was ratified as a result of more than 110 countries agree on,

the US being one. It comes at a time that the US president has put

himself forward as an anti-globalisation figure. We will

have to wait and see, thank you very much, Michelle Fleury.

I want to bring you some new research on life expectancy.

A university in the UK and the World Health Organisation

have analysed life spans in some of the world's richest

countries to examine how they'll change by 2030.

South Korea is set to become the first country to have an average

France saw a big increase - it will have the second longest

The data also forecasts that Japan, once the picture of longevity, will

Earlier I spoke with the BBC's online health

I asked him what South Korea was doing right.

Lots of little things or add up to make this difference across an

entire population, where you are pushing past the 90 barrier. One of

the big things as they have incredibly low rates of obesity

compared with other similar countries around the world. Things

like high levels of education and nutritional awareness and great

medical care. You might ask, don't lots of other countries have that?

The key thing South Korea seems to do on top of that is make sure the

whole nation benefits. This figure is not saying no other country will

have people living past 90, it is that the average person will live

that long. This is about the rich, the middle-income and the poor in

South Korea benefiting from medical improvements. I was looking at the

life expectancy for a South Korean man, it is still less, I think 84,

why is there still the disparity? It is a global pattern that has emerged

during the 20th century, men started smoking more than women, drunk more,

when cars came around men drove cars more aggressively and died in more

car crashes than women. That started to make death rates around the world

higher for men than women, men died younger. What is happening is that

is starting to close over time as men and women have equal roles in

society, smoking, drinking and driving around about the same.

Things come back together over time. A country that perform badly that

you would like to tell viewers about? Japan tumbling down the list

surprise me. Japan, it is like the picture of healthy long life in the

whole world. It has all changed? It is not entirely clear, France and

South Korea over taking it on the women's front and drops outside the

top ten for men. Something interesting going on. Smoking

probably quite important, but certain.

Thanks to James. The White House says it will soon publish a new

trouble order to replace the one set aside by the appeals court in San

Francisco. The key parts suspended travel from seven predominantly

Muslim countries. Before we end this half of the programme, let's remind

you about how we got here. Our president doesn't get it. This

is wrong and we're going to fight it.

We will have a very, very strict ban, we will have extreme setting,

which we should have had in this country for many years.

This executive order... Was mean-spirited and un-American.

This is not, I repeat, not a ban on Muslims. The church ruled a

decision, effective immediately, effective now, it puts a halt on

President Trump's on constitutional and unlawful executor border -- the

judge ruled a decision. We will be doing something very

rapidly having to do with additional security for our country, you'll be

seeing that sometime next week. In addition we will continue to go

through the court process and ultimately I have no doubt that we

will win that particular case. Betis US president Donald Trump. We

will delve into the relationship between the United States and Mexico

in the next half-hour, stay with us if you can.

Thanks very much for joining me. I'll update you on the UK weather

prospects, albeit briefly, in a couple of minutes, but let me take

you to a couple of weather stories that have caught my eye across the

world. Not for the first time