welcome to bbc news. our top stories: joe biden arrives in geneva ahead of his summit with president putin. both sides agree relations are at a new low. israel launches airstrikes against hamas targets on the gaza strip, the first major flare—up since last month's ceasefire. a french court finds the swedish furniture giant, ikea, guilty of illegally spying on hundreds of its own employees. also in the programme, the challenges of climate change, as the uk's criticised for its efforts to prepare. we speak to the skincare ceo who's trying to launch no plastic beauty day.

us presidentjoe biden has arrived in geneva ahead of wednesday's summit with his russian counterpart vladimir putin. relations between the two countries are at their lowest point in decades and mr biden has already said he will lay down america's red lines during the discussions. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has travelled to geneva. they say that the waters of lake geneva have the power to rejuvenate, to cure. but can a lakeside summit here revive a political relationship that's in very poor health? when vice presidentjoe biden met vladimir putin, he told him he had no soul. more recently, he said

he was a killer. mr putin hit back: "takes one to know one". so, when they sit down for talks, what message will the white house be putting across to the kremlin? fiona hill was donald trump's senior adviser on russia. she says moscow must be told to behave. the biggest danger that the united states faces right now from russia is the coercive, subversive, covert action that is the hallmark of vladimir putin, be it ransomware for hire and cyber criminals, the constant hacking and releasing of e—mails, assassination attempts, we can go down the list of dirty tricks. and we really need those to stop. but convincing the kremlin to change direction won't be easy. on the surface, at least, both presidents are coming here to geneva to try to improve ties. joe biden says he wants a relationship with russia

which is stable and predictable. the problem is, unpredictability is vladimir putin's thing. keeping the west guessing about his next move, that's what the kremlin leader is all about. and he's unlikely to give that up unless it's on his terms. arms control and strategic stability — they may find some common ground here. but ifjoe biden raises the issue of human rights in russia, expect the kremlin to hit back. america is not perceived in russia as a democracy and of course, as a country being superior. i would not expect any great breakthroughs in the relationships, of course. but talking is better than not talking. and this is where they'll be talking, at this 18th—century villa. as he arrives in geneva,

joe biden knows it will be a difficult conversation. don't expect one short summit to turn adversaries into allies. steve rosenberg, bbc news, geneva. well, earlier i spoke to michael o'hanlon a senior fellow from brookings, and author of the new book, the art of war in an age of peace: us grand strategy and resolute restraint. i put to him that the summit will be very limited in terms of movement between both leaders. he is under—promising to over—delivering. if anything, i think that we will be gratified just to see this meeting and to know thatjoe biden will have delivered this firm objections to a number of recent russian behaviours, and to get out of town without any need for a press conference, and just a sort of lay down the law. it does raise the question what it really accomplishes, because putin didn't need to go to geneva to show the biden was upset with him and i do worry that this is a bit of a squandered opportunity. not that there is any way to de—ice

things with putin or restore a positive project read in the relationship but i think it idea on say the future of east europe, not expanding nato into georgia and the ukraine, but it does have russia see other countries have their hands off things, but i'm not sure it has done that. nato into georgia and the ukraine, but it so, limited in terms of their ambition but let's go and touch on the fact that it is a summit between two individuals, they will sit down and talk together, there is an opportunity for something to emerge between the two of them, isn't there? i'm not sure that's the way i think about it. it would be great if it somehow could be possible, but i would be

content with the two sides recognising they need to change the way they talk to each other, they need to change the modalities of the conversation. i am in favour, for example, of a �*track 1.5', sessions that would involve former us officials like our in other words, sessions that would involve former us officials like our great senator, sam nunn, people like that have been around for a while, thinking in his terms, how can we change this broad trajectory we've been on that has been so negative for so long? sorry to interrupt but it seems to me your message there that nato, led by the united states, frankly has to soften its own expansionist approach to eastern and central europe. if you are saying now is perhaps time to say to the likes of ukraine and georgia, everything we've said over the last 10—20 years, you're not going to become a member? that is my view, however i don't think we can leave ukraine and georgia in the lurch after what would, stem, after what they contributed to western

security, so i think any kind of concession needs to be 2—way with putin and he needs to agree to get his forces of those two countries territories, recognise their right to join other organisations, perhaps someday they qualify for the eu for example, and under those conditions, we could then agree that they will not be part of a future nato but still have security cooperation at a lower level. it is the kind of vision, the kind of concept that we need to start talking about because of we are just trading barbs about who is a greater killer than the other those kind of billiards to the summit, i don't think we can expect too much out of the meeting in geneva or anything coming thereafter. israel says it has attacked hamas armed compounds in the gaza strip, it's the first attack since a ceasefire last month ended 11 days of cross—border fighting. the israeli military said the air strikes were in response to incendiary balloons launched from the palestinian territory on tuesday. the attacks were confirmed by a hamas spokesman. it's the first test for israel's new government which was sworn in on sunday. the bbc�*s rushdi abualouf in gaza city has the latest

details. it's been shortly after midnight with the israelis attacking two sides belonging to the militant group hamas, the group that is ruling the gaza strip, one in khan yunis, in southern gaza, and the other one is in central gaza city, the sound of bombs, and also and also the sound of israeli military drones flying over gaza was creating some sort of panic and fear for the 2 million people in gaza. they are just trying to recover from the 11 days of fighting. ceasefire is fragile, as always, but egypt is trying to strengthen it, trying to pressure hamas and israel to avoid any sort

of escalation. so far they have succeeded during the day and hamas didn't fire rockets as expected, but hundreds of incendiary balloons were sent from gaza, causing some 20 or 30 fires to break on some of the israeli towns and cities in southern israel, and israel said they have attacked the hamas positions tonight in response to this. right. in a sense, what we've seen, then, is hamas promised to respond if the ultranationalist march went ahead, which it did, albeit on a slightly different route. israel promised to respond to hamas if they responded in the first place. do you think that there could be a line drawn under this now? because it doesn't seem to be in the interest of any party at this point to prolong this? yeah, i think both parties are not interested in another battle. but the reason for the first fighting still exists. hamas was promising to defend the people ofjerusalem, israel is still going ahead with the eviction plan in the sheikh jarrah area, which was one of the reasons for the flare—up of the last

violence, so all the reasons are exist, but we have to understand that egypt is doing a lot ofjob. they have contacted hamas this morning, and also tonight we understand from a source familiar with the ceasefire talks that egypt has conteacted hamas tonight to make sure things are not going out of control. the furniture chain ikea has been found guilty of spying on its own staff. it was found to have set up an elaborate system to illegally snoop on hundreds of employees and job applicants over several years in france. courtney bembridge has this report. almost a decade after the scandal broke, ikea france has been fined $1.2 million and its former ceo given a two—year suspended prison sentence. the french arm of the business was found guilty of carrying out illegal surveillance on union organisers, employees, job applicants and even disgruntled customers. the company's bill for private investigators reportedly ran to more than half a million euros a year.

in one case, the company wanted to find out how an employee could afford a bmw convertible on a low income. ikea has apologised for the practices and said it's since brought in a new code of conduct. translation: since 2012, | the company has been given all the necessary information to its employees. so, the company's brand image in the world with regard to employees and the recruitment of talent, will not be altered. as for the rest, i think — wrongly perhaps — but i think it is ancient history. the trial focused on spying allegations between 2009 and 2012. but a lawyer for the former employees said it had been happening for years. translation: it happened on a very large scale, - over more than ten years, and so we can'tjust forget. but the employees are satisfied that they have won their case

and they have obtained compensation. the victims were awarded payouts between 1,000 and 10,000 euros each. but many said the penalties for those involved in the scheme were too lenient. courtney bembridge, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: more wildfires, more droughts and floods. but why is the uk failing to deal with a changing climate? there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing

the population registration act which, for a0 years, forcibly classified each citizen according to race. just a day old, and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home. early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. germany's parliament, i the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government - from bonn to berlin. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea to get her to go up there for a little while. this is bbc news. i'm david eades. the latest headlines: joe biden arrives in geneva ahead of his summit with president putin. both sides agree relations

are at a new low. israel launches air strikes against hamas targets on the gaza strip, it's the first major flare—up since last month's ceasefire. we're going to look at a couple of stories on the climate now. it comes as government here in the uk is found to have failed in developing an action plan to adapt the country to a changing climate. a report by an independent body that advises the government — that's the climate change committee — says change is happening at a faster pace than efforts to mitigate them. amongst the key points it raises are: the risks to people and the economy from a climate—related failure of the power system. risks to health, wellbeing and productivity from increased exposure to heat in homes and other buildings. and multiple risks to the uk from climate change impacts overseas. one of the world's biggest

polluters is, of course, one of the world's biggest countries, the united states. let's cross live there now to washington and speak to helen mountford, vice president for climate and economics at world resources institute, which helps governments in finding practical solutions to improving lives and protecting nature. helen, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. it's not just about reaching the targets for reducing carbon emissions, it's actually facing up to the reality that our climate is changing anyway, and our world, certainly from the view of the committee here, our world in the uk is not changing fast enough with that.- the uk is not changing fast enough with that. would you auree enough with that. would you agree with — enough with that. would you agree with that? _ enough with that. would you agree with that? absolutely. j agree with that? absolutely. even with the best targets in the world, the policies and investments to reach those emissions reductions, we are still seeing climate change impacting notjust the uk, the uk is probably not even the worst hit. we have many others being impacted by the climate change that is already locked in today around the world. tend

to think of _ in today around the world. tend to think of the _ in today around the world. tend to think of the uk _ in today around the world. tend to think of the uk is _ to think of the uk is relatively temperate climate, to be honest, but this report talks about wildfires, landslides, drought, flooding. should we expect to start seeing things, if there is not that sort of adaptation plan, on the scale that we are used to seeing in, california, for example, or victoria in australia?— example, or victoria in australia? . , australia? certainly there will be other countries _ australia? certainly there will be other countries more - be other countries more vulnerable than the uk. what we have seen is developing countries tend to be those that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, because of where they are situated, because of their ability to adapt and build more resilient communities. so i think in the uk there is definitely an investment that is needed in claimant proving the economy, investing in that. but it is also responsibility, and the uk and other developed economies to help the developing countries of this world to adapt to climate

change and build their resilience, to.- change and build their resilience, to. ~ ., ., resilience, to. we have heard from the _ resilience, to. we have heard from the g7 _ resilience, to. we have heard from the g7 in _ resilience, to. we have heard from the g7 in the _ resilience, to. we have heard from the g7 in the last - resilience, to. we have heardj from the g7 in the last couple days, $100 billion a year up to 2025, there is a certain level of commitment there. but when you talk about future proofing. what sort of things should be done, what changes to buildings, for example, should we see? ., , , , we see? so, absolutely there is a lot that _ we see? so, absolutely there is a lot that needs _ we see? so, absolutely there is a lot that needs to _ we see? so, absolutely there is a lot that needs to change - we see? so, absolutely there is a lot that needs to change in i a lot that needs to change in terms of enhancing the ability of buildings to resist and actually protect us from things like heatwaves. we are starting to see more and more heatwaves, to see more and more heatwaves, to be able to resist flooding events, but also notjust buildings, you have all of your transport infrastructure, energy systems, water and sanitation. you make sure these able to continue to essential services is that we —— services as we have more droughts, floods and storms. all of those will be essential. on that $100 billion number, that magic number, that is something

developed countries committed a number of years ago to provide for climate finance to support developing countries, they said we would be providing it every year from 2020, we're we would be providing it every yearfrom 2020, we're not we would be providing it every year from 2020, we're not there yet. year from 2020, we're not there et. ., ., ., yet. there are enough. i would also add, _ yet. there are enough. i would also add. the _ yet. there are enough. i would also add, the private _ yet. there are enough. i would also add, the private sector- yet. there are enough. i would also add, the private sector is| also add, the private sector is pumping hundreds of billions into renewable energy, for example, so there is more money coming perhaps not necessarily in the direction you would always want it to be. helen, we have to leave it there. thank you very much indeed. helen mountford joining us. the distance from portsmouth to cherbourg across the english channel is 135 kilometres. and you can do it by ferry in around three hours. but by 2025, thatjourney time could plummet to around 25 minutes. and the ferry? well, that will have turned into a combination of water—based craft and aeroplane. french company brittany ferries is exploring a zero—emission, battery—powered concept. and our transport correspondent, paul clifton,

has had the first look at a radical idea, which traces its roots back to a soviet—era military craft. here is the ambition: an all electric vessel sales out of portsmouth harbour, lifts up with a hydrofoil and then glides just above the water using the ground effect, proportion of air between the win, the water's surface. it's been developed by an american company which claims $500 million of advanced orders. see uliders million of advanced orders. see gliders are _ million of advanced orders. see gliders are a — million of advanced orders.

six times faster than a fairy, half the operating cost and completely eliminate emissions of —— a fairy. completely eliminate emissions of -- a fairy-— of -- a fairy. they are calling it a fairy- _ of -- a fairy. they are calling it a fairy. they _ of -- a fairy. they are calling it a fairy. they are _ of -- a fairy. they are calling it a fairy. they are calling - of -- a fairy. they are calling it a fairy. they are calling it | it a fairy. they are calling it ac greater. portsmith to cherbourg in a0 minutes. six times the speed of today's aries. . ., . , , aries. the concept is straightforward: - aries. the concept is straightforward: a i straightforward: a battery—powered sea skimming flying very. what is not to like about that? it's fantastic. —— flying ferry. we as an industry have to look at technologies for the future. we have two look at m3 maritime transport —— decarbonising transport. transport -- decarbonising transmut— transport -- decarbonising transort. ,, ., , ., , transport. russians that this in the 1980s. _ transport. russians that this in the 1980s. -- _ transport. russians that this in the 1980s. -- built - transport. russians that this in the 1980s. -- built this i transport. russians that this in the 1980s. -- built this in| in the 1980s. —— built this in the 1980s let it was nicknamed the 1980s let it was nicknamed the caspian sea monster. a new one hasn't been built in 20 years. at this maritime school,

where navy officers are trained, they have a similar conceptin trained, they have a similar concept in their latest training simulator. just imagine _ training simulator. just imagine the _ training simulator. just imagine the challenge, travelling at the speed of an aeroplane, three orfour travelling at the speed of an aeroplane, three or four metres above the water, and crossing the busiest shipping lanes in the busiest shipping lanes in the world. the busiest shipping lanes in the world-— the world. with passengers onboard! — the world. with passengers onboard! i _ the world. with passengers onboard! ithink— the world. with passengers onboard! i think it's - the world. with passengers onboard! i think it's quite l onboard! i think it's quite viable. we _ onboard! i think it's quite viable. we know - onboard! i think it's quite viable. we know that - onboard! i think it's quite l viable. we know that ships create a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions through the fuels and volumes. from a technical point of view, it is unfeasible. i think the challenge will be to do it in a carbon zero way.— challenge will be to do it in a carbon zero way. many people would say _ carbon zero way. many people would say this _ carbon zero way. many people would say this sea _ carbon zero way. many people would say this sea glider- carbon zero way. many people would say this sea glider at. would say this sea glider at the slightly bonkers and a future transport technology. but the south koreans have a similar concept, and the idea of a high—speed, low fiction, low emissions form of transport

is at least worth exploring. paul clifton, bbc news, portsmith. now, we are used to hearing about how much plastic is blighting our oceans, but the extent of it continues to astound many of us, and we are learning more about which sectors produce most of that waste. in the biggest marine litter evaluation ever completed, scientists at the university of cadiz in spain analysed global inventories, cataloguing more than 12 million pieces of litter found in and around rivers, oceans, shorelines and the sea floor. they found eight out of ten items listed were made of plastic, and aa% of this plastic litter related to take—out food and drinks. but there is another, less often spoken about industry, with a huge plastic impact on our planet — the beauty industry. think shampoo and shower gel bottles, make—up packaging, bottles for creams. in 2018 it was revealed that more than 120 billion units of cosmetics packaging were produced globally, mostly non—recyclable. the national geographic found that for us—made products, plastic packaging is now used 120 times more than it was in 1960.

we can now speak to yolanda cooper, ceo and founder of we are paradoxx, a haircare brand attempting to go completely plastic—free. thank you very much forjoining us. you are attempting to, so you haven't got there yet, about 90%?— you haven't got there yet, about 90%? ~ ., , , ., , about 90%? what is the problem? the problem _ about 90%? what is the problem? the problem is _ about 90%? what is the problem? the problem is the _ about 90%? what is the problem? the problem is the supply - about 90%? what is the problem? the problem is the supply chain i the problem is the supply chain does not provide what we need to be 100% plastic free. as you mentioned, we do shampoo, conditioner, and so on. while we can source bottles that are made of aluminium, for example, there are no pumps available yet that are not made of plastic. so the issue really lies at the very start of the supply chain and it is not

available to us yet.- supply chain and it is not available to us yet. you use aluminium. _ available to us yet. you use aluminium. it _ available to us yet. you use aluminium. it is _ available to us yet. you use aluminium. it is worth - available to us yet. you use i aluminium. it is worth pointing out aluminium actually takes a lot of energy to produce in the first place. what is your gripe with plastic, if it could be used again and again, wouldn't that be the answer? the problem with plastic _ that be the answer? the problem with plastic is _ that be the answer? the problem with plastic is when _ that be the answer? the problem with plastic is when it _ with plastic is when it degrades it loses quality over time. actually, it can only be recycled and reused a certain amount of times before it ends up amount of times before it ends up as fibres, which normally end up in landfill. the beauty with aluminium, while yes in the beginning it requires more energy to produce, it can be infinitely recycled forevermore. a shampoo bottle we produce can always be a shampoo bottle for the rest of its life. , ., , ., its life. great. sorry to interrupt_ its life. great. sorry to interrupt you. - its life. great. sorry to interrupt you. you - its life. great. sorry to - interrupt you. you provide the refilled potentialfor interrupt you. you provide the refilled potential for that? we do, of course _ refilled potential for that? - do, of course we do. that is one of the latest services we have launched. and the reusable nature of the beauty industry and many other industries as well as what is going to help solve the problem, there we move away from the behaviour of

single use. i move away from the behaviour of single use-— single use. i guess the ideal, thou~h, single use. i guess the ideal, though. is — single use. i guess the ideal, though. is to _ single use. i guess the ideal, though, is to be _ single use. i guess the ideal, though, is to be a _ single use. i guess the ideal, though, is to be a shampoo l single use. i guess the ideal, i though, is to be a shampoo bar, shampoo soap, as they use it? i have used it before, it seems to work pretty well. i don't have an awful lot of how to clean! nonetheless, that has to be the ultimate way, doesn't it? you have to change the way customers consume your products? customers consume your “duets?— customers consume your roducts? ~ , ., �* .,~ products? absolutely don't make so many behaviours _ products? absolutely don't make so many behaviours we - products? absolutely don't make so many behaviours we need - products? absolutely don't make so many behaviours we need to l so many behaviours we need to change at a consumer level. one of those is the perception of what premium feels like. at the minute, people want luxurious lotion pumped out of a bottle, when they in fact can get the same results from a solid bar. so we are changing how we think about how we use our beauty product, and that is part of it. �* product, and that is part of it. ~ . ., it. and campaigning direction bein: it. and campaigning direction being referred _ it. and campaigning direction being referred to _ it. and campaigning direction being referred to as - it. and campaigning direction being referred to as blue - being referred to as blue beauty to reference the ocean. do you feel you are doing a good thing for the environment, orjust really trying to catch up orjust really trying to catch up on what has been done to the environment? i up on what has been done to the environment?—

environment? i guess a bit of both. environment? i guess a bit of both- there _ environment? i guess a bit of both. there is _ environment? i guess a bit of both. there is so _ environment? i guess a bit of both. there is so much - environment? i guess a bit of. both. there is so much damage already created from, you know, the billions of units of packaging that has already been produced and is in landfill. and the sea. we produced and is in landfill. and the sea.— produced and is in landfill. and the sea. ~ ., ., ., and the sea. we have to leave it there! thanks _ and the sea. we have to leave it there! thanks for _ and the sea. we have to leave it there! thanks for being - and the sea. we have to leave it there! thanks for being with j it there! thanks for being with us. hello again. tuesday was another very warm day across england and wales. temperatures peaked at 27 degrees celsius. that's just two down from the hottest day of the year, which was at the start of the week on monday. and as i say, england and wales enjoyed a lot of sunshine. scotland and northern ireland, a different story. we had rain, and that band of rain continues to push its way eastwards over the next few hours whilst weakening, so the rain will become lighter and patchier. across the board, temperatures staying up into double figures as we head into the first part of wednesday morning. now, this front is a cold front, and it's an important one. very weak, it will bring just a few patches of rain across north—west england and north—west wales. sunny spells for scotland and northern ireland, a few isolated showers. dry picture for east wales and most

of england with lots of sunshine. but it's this front that separates the fresh air in the north west from the increasingly humid air across east wales and england. and big temperature contrasts, too. perhaps 18 degrees across the north—west of the uk. across east wales and into the heart of england, temperatures well up into the mid—20s, the high 20s in places. but as we head into wednesday night, the atmosphere will become very volatile and will go bang. yes, the first batch of thunderstorms, the first batch of quite a few thunderstorms, will be working in on wednesday night, pushing in perhaps across east wales, certainly getting parts of england. and those storms will tend to clear north—eastwards as we go through thursday, with the weather settling down to a degree. still fresh air across the north—west, still quite humid across parts of eastern england. some uncertainty with the temperatures. depends, really, how much sunshine we get through some of that highest cloud across eastern areas, but it could potentially be a bit warmer than that. on into friday, well, another batch of storms is going to be heading in from france. again, it's mainly targeting england. that will tend to push its way northwards as we go through friday night, with the weather again settling down, calming down to a degree as we head into

saturday. and then we do it all again. saturday night sees another batch of storms come through. this area of storms is probably going to be a little bit more widespread as it works its way northwards, joining forces with an atlantic weather front in the west. and that area of rain, thundery at times, will push northwards on sunday. so, we've got several bouts of thunderstorms coming our way over the next few days. the biggest of those could bring, well, nearly a month's worth of rain in just a few hours. flash flooding is possible.

are are this is bbc

news, the headlines: us presidentjoe biden has arrived in geneva — ahead of wednesday's summit with president vladimir putin of russia. relations between the two countries are at their lowest point in decades — and mr biden has already said he will lay down america's �*red lines' during the talks. israel says it has attacked hamas armed compounds in the gaza strip — the first such attack since a ceasefire last month ended eleven days of cross—border fighting. the israeli military said the air strikes were in response to incendiary balloons launched from the palestinian territory. a court in france has fined— ikea — 1.2 million dollars for illegally spying on some of its employees. the case concerns surveillance of staff from 2009 — 2012. prosecutors said ikea used a private detective agency.

the hungarian parliament has passed a law that bans