this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 4.00. 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. emergency services in portugalfight a wild fire on heathland, as temperatures in the mid forties continue to make life difficult in large parts of the country and neighbouring spain. 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. also this hour, the record—breaking bluebird hydroplane is relaunched. more than 50 years after it, killing its pilot donald campbell, 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 a50, dateline looks at this week's events in zimbabwe after its first post—mugabe election, and that holiday visit to france by theresa may for brexit talks with president macron. 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, scrn limits the ability of councils to recycle them, and they end up here, in landfill. so it's now calling for a ban on low—grade plastic. ministers say recycling rates are rising, but acknowledge there's "much more to do". jayne mccubbin reports. the costs to the planet are well—documented, but local authorities are warning that, despite their best efforts to recycle more plastic, they are being let down by manufacturers. while almost all local authorities collect plastic bottles for recycling, around a quarter refuse to collect all the food packaging because of the way it's manufactured. the rest ends up here in landfill. it seems totally unfair that the burden of un—recyclable plastic, the cost of dealing with that, lands with the council

tax—payer, when actually manufacturers could do much more to make sure that these plastics are easily recyclable, reducing the cost to council tax—payers and making it easier and better for the environment. while plastic bottles are easy to recycle, their lids aren't, and aren't always collected. not all local authorities collect margarine tubs, food trays and yoghurt pots because of the mix of polymers which make the plastic difficult to recycle. even fewer authorities accept black microwave meal trays, because black plastic cannot be easily scanned and sorted. the plastics industry has hit back, saying that with 300 different recycling schemes out there, it's no wonder the public is confused. they believe it's down to local authorities to simplify and standardise the process. we need to work out as a total system where in the system is the best place to influence the people making the decisions or doing the sorting so that everything that goes in at one end,

like a nice plastic bottle or a polypropylene tray, will go through that system and has the absolute best chance of arriving at the end as a new packaging material. but the lga says if manufacturers aren't willing to make the change, they should face a charge to chip in towards the cost of collecting and disposing of products which some councils can't. jayne mccubbin, bbc news. earlier i spoke to sian sutherland, co—founder of a plastic planet, a grassroots campaign group which aims to reduce our dependence on plastics. she says, as a society, we need to rethink our attitude towards plastic packaging. we need to go back to the root of it and think of a better material that could be used that is easily recyclable. plastic is not, don't be fooled. there are no recycling fairies out there, the reality is we only recycle 9% of the plastic created

by the uk in the uk. 65% of it is shipped abroad and marked down as recycled. this is all now coming to light. let's go back to the root of the problem which is not to use plastic in the first place. that's what we are all about, working with supermarkets and the food and drink brands to try to accelerate this pace of change so they stop using plastic. there are other materials. what is this addiction that we think it's the only thing out there? it isn't. so, what are those materials? i have heard of a product that looks and behaves like plastic, made out of cassava, but it breaks down. what is out there and why don't we know about it? there is a level of conspiracy, and i will say that word. i think there is a huge amount of pressure against change happening. that's what we the public

need to be aware of. for decades we have been told to recycle everything, rinse it out and put it in the right bin and we will look after it, but that has not been happening. we have sent millions of tonnes to other countries expecting them to deal with our trash. we have to deal with our own dirt, that's the message. some of the materials we can use, we know and love them, but we have fallen out of love with them a little bit, glass, metal, cardboard, pulp board. agricultural waste. i bought a punnet of strawberries today, and the punnet and film were made out of the leaves and stalks of the strawberry plant. that's the technology we need, not more fossilfuel, indestructible plastic, that is used for moments and exists for centuries. we need to act faster now that we know. it starts with the manufacturers and also the supermarkets telling the food and drink brands that change has to happen faster. you also said we have to be aware of these products.

how do you get that message across to the public, and are you saying it is then down to us to put pressure on the manufacturers and put pressure on supermarkets to say, this is what we want? why is it down to us as the public? i agree. why is this the consumer's fault, when you go shopping and it's impossible to buy anything without plastic? we don't want it any more, so how do we see change? the only way we get out of this problem is to turn off the plastic tap. that is urging everybody and championing the brands that don't use plastic, to turn the tap off as quickly as we can. recycling isn't the answer, because you only ever downcycle plastic, it doesn't fit into a circular economy. it's not the right use of words, it's a downward spiral with plastic. 0ne bottle will never become another nice clear bottle. that's not the way plastic behaves. it degrades every time it is recycled, so we have to use a different material

in the first place. you mentioned biological materials. firstly we turn off the tap, but secondly, completely and radically change the waste management system. we need to make the producers, the users of plastic, responsible for what happens to it, and massively incentivise people who don't use plastic, who use other materials to package ourfood and drink, and that will involve legislation. we need the government to step up and show really strong leadership. 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 the 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, continues 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 are being used to fight the flames. 114 people were killed in two massive forest fires last year in portugal. 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 into 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 on 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. in spain, three people have died of heatstroke, 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. james blick lives in madrid and runs his own tour company, he's been explaining what its like in the hot weather. a little cooler than yesterday, actually, but it is still pretty warm. the mornings aren't so bad. once it hits about 10am, the temperature starts to shoot up and i think we are heading for a high of 39 today here in madrid. you know, it gets very warm. by about 5pm or 6pm, that is when it peaks and you really have to be out of the sun and hiding in the dark of your home, really, or somewhere with air conditioning. what is interesting is, normally, as a tourist in spain, you wind up being, at about 4pm, wandering around looking for something to do because you have to make use of your time while all the locals are generally, in summer, hiding away anyway at that time. at the moment, we are seeing that people who are taking our tours are really copying the locals'

rhythms, staying in their hotels until early, mid—evening, walking on the shady side of the street and changing to hotels with swimming pools. locals don't have swimming pools but we do stick to the shady side of the street. we close our shutters in the morning because if the light starts to get in, by the time you try to get to sleep that night, you won't be able to because air conditioning is not as common in houses here as perhaps it is in the uk. 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. emergency services in portugalfight a massive wild fire on heathland, as temperatures in the mid forties, continue to make life difficult in large parts of the country and neigbouring spain. and in sport. england beat india by 31 runs in a thrilling finale

in the first test at edgbaston. they're now 1—0 up in the best—of—five series. ireland have reached theirfirst ever hockey world cup final after beating spain in a shoot—out in london. they'll play either the netherlands or australia in tomorrow's final. and england's georgia hall is still within a shot of the lead at the british open halfway through the third round at royal lytham. i'll be back with more on those stories at 5.30pm. 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. 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. but then 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 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 care system. today, the children's commissioner for england and longfield has said she's written to the ministers both in the education department and the local government department asking for urgent reassurance that the government will protect those services in northamptonshire that the most vulnerable young people rely on.

extremely worried that the financial difficulties the council are 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 would think they 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 protected and warns 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 they're working to make sure that happens. are there any other 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 the 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 years' time.

breaking news concerning a human trafficking investigation under way in kent. following the arrest of nine people yesterday, we've been informed three men have been charged as part of that investigation. 0fficers as part of that investigation. officers from the eastern region special operations unit and border forces officials had intervened a speedboat in kent. following on from that on friday, three men have now been charged in relation to that investigation into human trafficking. they've been remanded in custody for a court hearing which took place on saturday and that is pending further court appearances. two other men were arrested

yesterday but they have been released under investigation and we understand four other people arrested have also been taken to an immigration detention centre pending further enquiries. this is in relation to a speedboat that was stopped by officers in walmer, kent. three men have been charged. 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 asean 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 enforce 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. this all sounds as if it's a lot of misinterpretation on both sides.-

the same time you also have a un report that's been given to the un security council. it seems to suggest north korea is finding ways of getting around sanctions and that is why there is such concerns within the american administration. they feel there are some people not doing enough to keep pressure on pyongyang, and specifically they are pointing the finger at russia. they are concerned their businesses in russia try to do deals with north korea. mike pompeo seemed very sure that as as he's concerned it is happening and that is some feels it needs to stop. at the same time, north korea also feels the us are putting too much pressure on north korea. they feel they are being targeted. donald trump has been talking warmly about kim jong—un just this week on twitter. he has

sent along a letter to be given to kim jong—un which indicates they have a relationship. that has been seized upon by the north koreans themselves, their foreign minister ri yong—ho making clear that what is alarming is the insistent moves ma nifested alarming is the insistent moves manifested within the us to go back to the old far from its leader's intentions. that is a clear indication they think president trump believes one thing and some within his administration believe another. what about the regional reaction to this report? will see the usual split. china and russia will fall behind north korea and on the other hand you have japan and south korea concerned along with the us. clearly from what you saw in the speech today from mike pompeo was an attempt to reach out to those other countries, to say that denuclearisation of the korean peninsular should be an aim across the region. it is something that

goes beyond america and goes to other countries, that they should be willing to support the us in this goal. however, it must be said if you look at china and russia face seemed to have some sympathy towards pyongyang. as a result, america will wa nt to pyongyang. as a result, america will want to keep up the pressure on those countries. thank you. 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. the westbound carriageway of the m48 severn bridge has re—opened after what was called an "unprecedented" level of staff sickness that led to its 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. in the last few minutes, the record—breaking hydroplane — bluebird — has taken to the water 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 sent this report earlier. she has not been seen on water for more than 50 years, but bluebird waits ready to test the waters of loch fad, 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' dads 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. once bluebird is launched, 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. breaking news concerning the search in staffordshire for the midwife samantha eastwood. we understand a body has been found. staffordshire police are reporting that a body has been found in the search for the missing midwife samantha eastwood. the search had been taking place in a rural area of stoke—on—trent. when we get more we will bring it with. once again the story of warmth and

sunshine for england and wales, northern ireland and scotland have more cloud and outbreaks of rain continuing to work northwards across scotla nd continuing to work northwards across scotland through the evening and overnight. elsewhere, a dry night with clear skies for england and wales, not as warm and muggy as last night, loads between 11 and 16. high pressure in charge for most tomorrow so pressure in charge for most tomorrow $03 pressure in charge for most tomorrow soa dry pressure in charge for most tomorrow so a dry day of the most with the lion's share of the sunshine across england and wales, still more cloud for scotland and northern ireland but more bright and sunny breaks coming through. a range of temperatures, in the high teens. and, 21 in northern ireland and close to 30 across east anglia and south—east england. as we start the new working week, high—pressure keeps things dry and settled for england and wales, high—temperature is there but further north and west, a front slips southwards introducing more cloud and patchy rain for northern ireland and scotland. further south, hanging on to sunshine and warmth.