this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 3:00. two—thirds of plastic food containers still can't be recycled. campaigners are calling for action. this report is actually no surprise for us. it confirms something we've known for a long time, that producers are putting plastic products on the market without any thought for what happens to them at the end of their life. detectives investigating the disappearance of the midwife samantha eastwood carry out searches in a rural area of stoke—on—trent. concern over northamptonshire county council's financial difficulties has led england's children's commissioner to ask for reassurances that services for young people will be protected. spain and portugal could see record temperatures this weekend, as the heatwave continues across parts of the continent. here in cordoba at midnight last night it was still 37 degrees. very uncomfortable conditions, and we

expect the hot weather to continue for at least a few days. also this hour, the record—breaking bluebird hydroplane is relaunched. more than 50 years after it crashed, killing its pilot donald, bluebird takes to the water on the isle of bute. england hold their nerve to beat india by 31 runs in a stunning climax to the first test at edgbaston. and at 3:30, click looks at how technology can be used to help people living in areas affected by monsoon rains to stay one step ahead of the weather. two—thirds of plastic food containers which householders put in their recycling bins actually end up being buried or burned, because

they can't be recycled. according to the local government association of england and wales, the mixture of plastics used in many yoghurt pots, ready meal trays and other containers limits the ability of councils to recycle them. it's calling for a ban on low—grade plastic. ministers say recycling rates are rising, but acknowledge there's "much more to do". 0ur correspondent matt cole has been visiting a public refuse amenity in greenford, middlesex to see what sort of waste is left there. it's at sites like these across the country that the sorting process begins. mountains of rubbish like this. when it comes to plastics there's bottles like these. much easier to recycle. but what about these? plastic punnets with mixed materials inside. they are much

harder to recycle to use again. then, there are these. black plastic microwave meal trays. its problems with things like these that means two thirds of plastics are just being thrown away. the local government association is suggesting low—grade single use plastic speed band. the british plastics federation says perhaps firms that choose to package their materials in things like this should face additional charges. hopefully, they think, to discourage them from using them. emma priestland is a plastics campaignerfrom friends of the earth and says that more still needs to be done. consumers are already paying for this. they are paying in the sense they are having to fund collection recycling schemes and also the environmental impacts of plastic pollution. we things producers should be made to pay for the

collection and recycling of their products. this happens in a lot of european countries, whereas in the uk it's mostly borne by councils. we need to see a standardised system. ultimately there is too much plastic on the market. councils are doing the best they can, but we know almost 50% of our recycling is shipped overseas to be dealt with. there's just too much of it. detectives in staffordshire investigating the disappearance of a midwife are carrying out searches in a rural area of stoke—0n—trent. samantha eastwood was last seen leaving work after her night shift at royal stoke university hospital last friday. specialist teams are extending their search to the village of caverswall. police have cordoned off an area as part of their ongoing investigation. 0ur correspondent sarah corker, gave us this update from the scene of the search. the search for samantha eastwood is now focused on this rural part of north staffordshire. we are around ten miles, a 30 minute drive, from stoke—on—trent here. this road behind me was cordoned off earlier this morning

near the village of caverswall. specialist police officers aided by police dogs have been scouring a large area of woodland and fields and they have been on—site here for the last three or four hours. it's not clear at this stage why the focus of this investigation has moved to this area. samantha eastwood has not been seen since she left work last friday at the royal stoke hospital. a 32—year—old man was arrested in connection with her disappearance but has since been released. today, staffordshire police renewed their appeal for members of the public to report any sightings of vehicles parked in strange locations, in lay—bys or isolated areas, and they say their officers are working round—the—clock to find samantha. emergency services in portugal are fighting a massive wild fire on heathland as a heatwave, with temperatures well in to the mid—40s, continue to make life difficult

in large parts of the country and neigbouring spain. more than 740 firefighters are fighting the blaze in the tourist zone of algarve. authorities have evacuated two villages in the area and ten water—carrying aircraft ares being used to fight the flames. 114 people were killed in two massive forest fires last year in portugal. three people have died of heatstroke in spain this week, with temperatures in some places expected to reach as high as 47 degrees. tour operators say last minute summer holiday bookings to countries around the mediterranean are down, as tourists seek out cooler destinations. 0ur correspondent sima kotecha, is in the spanish city of cordoba, and has been explaining how uncomfortable the conditions really are... well, we have been working in this heat since the early hours of this morning and it has not felt very pleasant at all and i think people who live here in cordoba, most of them share the same viewpoint. of course people here are used

to hot summers but this weather really has been exceptional. we know that the highest temperature recorded in the south of spain yesterday was 46.1; celsius. and here in cordoba at around midnight last night it was still 37 degrees, so very uncomfortable conditions and we expect this hot weather to continue for at least a few days yet, especially these temperatures above a0 celsius. we also know that three people have died in spain as a result of this torrid weather and we know that 39 of the 50 provinces in spain have heat warnings in place. so medical experts are telling people to stay cool, stay indoors, especially during the afternoon when those temperatures peak and to wear light and loose clothing too. alina jenkins from the bbc weather centre has been explaining why the temperatures are so high.

bear in mind the average, let's take seville for example, which is one of the warmer places in spain. the average for this time of year is around 3a celsius. we are exceeding that already, before we even think about breaking temperatures... temperatures around the neck of the woods today are 43—41; degrees celsius. already, some ten degrees. we've got a bit of a way to go before we talk about breaking records. the records actually across parts of spain and portugal are around 47 celsius. 47.1; in portugal, we made that temperature back in 2003. 47.3 in spain, which we did last year, actually in cordoba. so, we will probably get close to that today. whether we actually break a record is a different matter, but the highest temperature ever recorded in europe was 48 celsius in greece, and actually that was all the way back in 1977. it's been a number of years, to put that in context,

since we've seen temperatures as high as that. so, why this sharp rise in temperatures? why has it happened this year? we can link it to what's been happening with us, as well. we've been seeing very high temperatures, well above average. i think we need to look at natural weather patterns. the jet stream, for example, is very weak at the moment. the jet stream is that ribbon of wind high up in the atmosphere that drives our weather system. it's not very strong at the moment. when you get a particular weather pattern, an area of high pressure, it just hangs around. there's no change from day to day, no change in the wind direction. it's summer in the northern hemisphere. i've been to spain a number of times and seen temperatures nudging a0 celsius. but when you've just got that heat building day and day, and possibly very warm across parts of north africa. so, with a southerly wind pushing that air across, a combination of these things. high—pressure weather system not going anywhere, while seeing those temperatures getting close to the record. a lot of people will

say climate change. is there a connection? of course we could never take one particular weather event and attribute it to climate change. that said, in the met office, the temperatures we are seeing at the moment which we feel are perhaps extreme could become the norm by 2040. i think you also have to put other things into context. while we're talking about this extreme heat, there have been other parts of europe which have been very much cooler than average. iceland, for example, is having a bit of a shocker of a summer to the north of the jet stream. and also iberia, a couple of months ago we were seeing temperatures well below average for the time of year. back to britain. we've had a summer, you know, we have had a summer. when is all of this going to break down? i think a lot of people would like it to break down because the rainfall amounts have been so low. we had a bit of rain last weekend but really not enough. i think people want to enjoy the summer weather but are looking for some rain. there might be some midweek. what we're going to see over

the next few days is a front pushing down from the north—west. what that will eventually do is reduce the temperatures. things start to turn cooler through next week, a bit rain but we've still got to keep an eye on that. the children's commissioner for england has written to the secretaries of state local government and education seeking reassurance that the government will protect services in northamptonshire. it comes after the local authority drew—up plans for major reductions in the services it provides — because of funding shortfalls. 0ur political correspondent, tom barton, has been following the story and joins me now. remind us of the background to the story. this is northamptonshire council which is in really big financial trouble. back in february this year, they issued a formal notice saying they were at risk of running out of money. shortly after that the government sent in commissioners to oversee how the

council is run and to keep a close eye on the council on behalf of the local government secretary. just a couple of weeks ago they issued another formal notice saying the same thing, that once again this year they are at risk of running out of money entirely. so, earlier this week, the council announced a range of what they call radical service reductions they were considering in 14 areas, including children's services, as a 14 areas, including children's services, as a way 14 areas, including children's services, as a way of trying to rein in some of their spending. they noted they had comparatively high spending in their children's services department partly because of the number of children in the ca re system. of the number of children in the care system. today, the children commissionerfor care system. today, the children commissioner for england and longfield has said she's written to the ministers both in the education department and local government department asking for urgent reassurance that the government will protect those services in northamptonshire bata rd protect those services in northamptonshire batard relied upon by the most vulnerable young

children —— that are relied upon. extremely worrying that the financial difficulties the council facing will mean they aren't going to be protecting the services for the most vulnerable children, which could have catastrophic consequences for those children. what northamptonshire are saying is they are going to be offering a core offer of children's services. my concern is it won't cover children in situations you or i think they we re in situations you or i think they were desperately need help. living in families where they are neglected, severe mental health of families, domestic violence and the like. in her letter which has been seen by the bbc, the children's commissioner said it's essential that vulnerable children's services are that vulnerable children's services a re protected that vulnerable children's services are protected and once the consequences could be catastrophic. the department for education say there's nothing more important than children being kept safe and they

say northamptonshire has statutory duties towards children which they must fulfil and across government are working to make sure that happens. are there any other councils facing similar issues or is it just northamptonshire? councils facing similar issues or is itjust northamptonshire? the national audit office published a report earlier this year suggesting as many as 15 councils could be at risk of having used up all of their reserves by the end of their financial year in three years' time. that is a big indicator of councils in trouble. the bureau for investigative journalism did some research suggesting councils including somerset and norfolk as well as lancashire were at risk of suffering serious financial problems. auditors back injuly said that if somerset didn't take some serious action, they could well find themselves in a similar position to northamptonshire in two or three yea rs' northamptonshire in two or three years' time. thank you. the headlines on bbc news...

new research finds two thirds of plastic containers still can't be recycled, as councils call for action. detectives investigating the disappearance of midwife samantha eastwood are carrying out searches in a rural area of stoke—on—trent. concern over northamptonshire county council's financial difficulties has led england's children's commissioner to ask for reassurances that services for young people will be protected. sport, england beat india by 31 runs ina sport, england beat india by 31 runs in a thrilling finale to the first test at edgbaston. they are now 1—0 up test at edgbaston. they are now 1—0 up in the best five series. ireland are up in the best five series. ireland a re level up in the best five series. ireland are level with spain at 1—1 in the hockey world cup semifinal. the final quarter is under way, five minutes to go. if it stays like this the match will go straight to a penalty shoot out. and the football league season started well for sunderland but they left it to the

96th minute to beat charlton in league i. an nhs heart surgery unit says it's taking swift action, after a leaked report concluded that claims of a "toxic" row between surgeons at a cardiac unit contributed to a higher mortality rate. the report into the unit at st george's hospital in london, seen by the times newspaper, says the team was consumed by a "dark force" and patients were put at risk. earlier our correspondent jenny kumah spoke to us from st george's hospital, and told us about the way staff responded to the report. yes, st george's hospital is one of 28 nhs hospitals that carries out heart surgery. the college of cardiothoracic surgeons alerted the trust to unexpectedly high death rates for heart surgery for this year and last year. this prompted management here to carry out a review. they brought in an independent

expert, prof buick, a former medical director from the nhs. the findings of his report, he makes some damning criticisms of the situation here, and he found mortality rate was almost twice the national average and the lack of internal scrutiny of the results of the data was inadequate. he said the department was split into two and it was exhibiting, staff were exhibiting, tribal like activity. the hospital's response has been to say that surgery is safe and they are implementing the recommendations of the report at pace, including the immediate relocation of surgeries into what is being called a single speciality practice. next week new surgeons are being brought in to give leadership support and they are also looking at the way data on mortality is managed and governed.

the royal college of surgeons has also given their response, saying that there could be clinically valid reasons for the trust's worse than average early survival rates. they say the trust has always been within the required uk standards. hundreds of mourners in zimbabwe have gathered to bury one of those killed in the capital harare during protests against the presidential election. president emmerson mnangagwa has called for unity following his victory, and says he will be a leader for all zimbabweans. here, the government says it's deeply concerned by violence following zimba bwe's elections, and has called the response from the security forces "disproportionate". north korea's foreign minister has criticised the united states for urging other countries to maintain sanctions against pyongyang. ri yong ho said that despite goodwill measures

taken by his country, washington was raising its voice louder in favour of sanctions. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, said pressure must be maintained on north korea. karishma vaswani reports. less than two months since the historic trump—kim summit which took place in singapore, the americans are back. the us secretary of state mike pompeo is here to meet with his counterparts at the association of southeast asian nations. and while he acknowledged the process to denuclearise north korea will take time, he also stressed how vital it is to keep up the pressure on pyongyang. i've also emphasised the importance of maintaining diplomatic and economic pressure on north korea to achieve the final, fully—verified denuclearisation of the dprk, as agreed to by chairman kim. it is worth remembering, this isn't just an american security goal. it is clear our partners and allies within asia know how important the neutralisation of north korea is for their own security. mr pompeo's comments come as a report commissioned by the un

security council says north korea has not stopped its nuclear and missile programmes, violating un sanctions. mr pompeo didn't directly address that but did say that russia has reportedly started issuing work permits to north korean labourers, which moscow has denied. we expect the russians and all countries to abide by the un security council resolutions and enforced sanctions on north korea. any violation that detracts from the world's goal of finally fully denuclearising north korea would be something that america would take very seriously. it has been less than two months since president trump and kim jong—un met at the historic trump—kim summit and pledged to work towards denuclearisation. but we are still nowhere closer to figuring out what that actually means. all that mr pompeo has said here at the meetings in singapore is that the timeline,

in part, is up to the north korean leader. and until then, economic sanctions on pyongyang will stay. karishma vaswani, bbc news, singapore. let's speak to our correspondent in washington chris buckler. is this a stumble in relations? is it being taken seriously? there is a strange difference in the leaderships between kim jong—un, donald trump and those within their administration. donald trump sent out a tweaked thanking kim jong—un for sending back the remains of american soldiers, talking about his nice letter and kindness. at the same time, you have many within his administration deeply concerned. while north korea talked about

denuclearise asian, actually they've seen no evidence of it and there is growing concern among the intelligence agencies that although pyongyang says it wants denuclearisation, it's not making any strides whatsoever towards it. what you're seeing is a strange two pronged approach from washington where donald trump still seems to say that he wants a relationship with kim jong—un, even sending say that he wants a relationship with kimjong—un, even sending a letter to him. yet at the same time, there are real worry is particularly about this idea that in the background to that singapore summit, after it's happened and there have been these warm words, that some countries are starting to breach sanctions. that is true with russia, mike pompeo is very concerned. there isa un mike pompeo is very concerned. there is a un report seen by the news agency reuters that makes clear there are concerns both about north

korea getting some petroleum, getting some access to things and potentially trying to sell arms to other countries, libya and sudan. potentially trying to sell arms to other countries, libya and sudanm it just the united other countries, libya and sudanm itjust the united states who have reacted to this? regionally any of the actors speaking out about the un report. it is always the case that there are countries concerned about activities with north korea. there have been strides taken with north korea, there is no doubt about that. we weren't in a position 12 months ago whenever we were talking about fire and fury with donald trump particularly, but we weren't seeing north korea prepared to come to the negotiation table. but, at the same time, they have to try to show something that is demonstrating they are committed to denuclearisation,

which is still this incredibly vague term. from the americans' point of view it means giving up nuclear weapons. that's what they want north korea today. from the north koreans' point of view, it seems to be something more vague. they talk about the denuclearisation of the peninsular, this wider term. at the same time north korea is very clear in that it wants to hit back, it wa nts to in that it wants to hit back, it wants to push back and say america is being impatient. 0ften wants to push back and say america is being impatient. often they do ta ke is being impatient. often they do take time but the big question is what happens between denuclearisation happening and the talk about it. thank you. tens of thousands of women have been demonstrating in the south korean capital seoul, calling for action to be taken against spycam pornography. it's been called an epidemic, and many south korean women say it has them living in constant anxiety and distress. catherine karelli reports.

chanting. south korea is in the middle of a record—breaking heatwave. but that hasn't discouraged women from taking to the streets of seoul in a mass protest. the target of their anger, so—called spy cam videos. translation: i've always been under the fear that there could be secret spy cameras at the toilets, in the company building, or underneath the desks. the threat is also there at public bathing areas, gyms, swimming pool changing rooms, accommodation and on the street. spy cam pornography is the spread of intimate photos and footage taken by hidden camera. in south korea, it is so pervasive that it regularly makes headlines. perpetrators have included schoolteachers, church pastors, government officials and police officers. in some cases, the victim's own boyfriends or relatives. just last month, amid growing pressure to act, president moonjae—in called for tougher measures on the culprits. but police teams tasked

with uncovering the hidden cameras have a tough job ahead of them. translation: the problem is they can install and uninstall the cameras quicker than we can find them. the me too movement has led to an unprecedented surge in female led activism in south korea, with a monthly anti—spy cam demonstration in seoul holding the title of the biggest ever women's protest in the country. perhaps in a sign of the tough battle that lies ahead of them, though, many of the women taking part in the protests opted to keep their faces covered, citing safety concerns. but if there is one thing that's clear, it is that the women are fed up of living in fear and they are fighting back. catherine karelli, bbc news. the westbound carriageway of the m48 severn bridge has re—opened after what was called an "unprecedented" level of staff sickness led to the closure. the highways agency says it opted to close the tollbooths on the bridge to protect the safety of staff and drivers.

motorists were being advised to find alternative forms of crossing westbound while the eastbound carriageway, which is not controlled by toll booths, remained open. the record—breaking hydroplane, bluebird, is expected to take to the water today, for the first time in more than half a century. the high—speed boat arrived on the isle of bute for tests yesterday. volunteers have spent the last 17 years restoring bluebird. it crashed and sank on coniston water in the lake district in 1967, killing the pilot, donald campbell. catriona renton is on the isle of bute. she has not been seen on water for more than 50 years, but bluebird waits ready to test the waters of loch, as does her pilot. something i am massively interested in, even just from the historic point, just to be able to touch it is amazing. but to actually be able to be priveledged enough to get in and mash it, that is pretty good. this was bluebird in 1967.

donald campbell was reaching speeds of over 300 miles per hour on coniston water in the lake district, when she flipped and crashed. when she was raised in 2001, donald campbell's mascot mr whoppit, was found. he was on everyjourney bluebird ever made. the workmanship! i mean, just look at it, it is just stunning. when she came off the ferry last night, ifilled up. the painstaking task of restoring bluebird has taken 17 years. these childrens‘ that have been working on it all their lives. it has been amazing and extraordinary for this. i have spent time with him and i'm glad i get to spend more time with him. but this boat has changed his life and made him so proud of his friends and his team and thishas changed ourfamily and i am really proud of him. 0nce bluebird is lunched, trials will take place here for the next couple of weeks.

a chance to see a legend restored to herformer glory. catriona renton, bbc news, on the isle of bute. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. 0nce once again it's a story of warmth and sunshine for much of england and wales. a different story from northern ireland and scotland with outbreaks of rain working north across scotland through the evening and overnight. elsewhere it's a dry night with clearer skies for england and wales. lows between 11—16. high pressure in charge of the weather tomorrow. foremost it is a dry day with the lion's share of the sunshine across england wales. dumb or cloud for northern ireland and scotland. still this range of temperatures in the high teens. and, 21 for northern ireland and getting

close to 30 across east anglia and south—east england. high pressure keeps things dry and settled for england and wales. further north and west a front wheel slip southwards which will introduce more cloud and patchy rain —— the front will slip southwards. hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. the headlines. two thirds of household plastic waste end up in landfill sites despite efforts to increase the amount we recycle. the local government association says low—grade plastics used in many food containers can't be recycled and need to be banned. detectives investigating the disappearance of the midwife samantha eastwood are carrying out searches in a rural area of stoke—on—trent. the 28—year—old has not been seen since last friday