this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm david eades. the us climate envoyjohn kerry issues a passionate plea to step up efforts to tackle climate change — with a stark warning about any failure to act now. this test is now as acute and as existential as any previous one. torrential rain in central china is causing widespread disruption — these passengers had to be rescued from a subway train dry land at last — a flotilla of small vessels brings a record number of migrants across the english channel the billionaires space race heats up, as amazon founderjeff bezos launches to the edge of the cosmos — taking him on an emotional high.

oh my god! my expectations were high and they were dramatically exceeded. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we re covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first... his words could hardly be more timely. the us climate envoy, john kerry, has delivered an impassioned warning about the risks of climate change, and the urgency of acting now. speaking in london as floods devastate parts of europe, and heatwaves and wildfires sweep across north america, mr kerry warns that the world cannot wait for the pandemic to end to tackle

climate change. he said we still have a chance of staving off the worst impacts of climate breakdown but only if governments step up in the next few months with stronger commitments on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. the climate crisis, my friends, is the test of our times. and while some may still believe it is unfolding in slow motion, no. this test is now as acute and as existential as any previous one. the irony should not be lost on us that it is young people around the world who are calling on adults to behave like adults, and exercise their basic responsibilities. young people who feel forced to put down their school books, march out of the classroom to strike for climate. they know the world is not responding fast enough to an existential threat that they didn't create but for which they risk bearing

the ultimate burden. for more on this, i'm joined now by our north america correspondent peter bowes. powerful rhetoric there from john kerry which is very much his thing. i suppose it's a pretty clear indication that the us is notjust back, it wants to lead? it the us is notjust back, it wants to lead? it certainly wants to lead? it certainly wants to _ wants to lead? it certainly wants to lead _ wants to lead? it certainly wants to lead and - wants to lead? it certainly wants to lead and of - wants to lead? it certainly l wants to lead and of course wants to lead? it certainly - wants to lead and of course he is speaking at a time when people around the world are acutely aware, perhaps more acutely aware, perhaps more acutely aware, perhaps more acutely aware than ever before, of the effects of climate change. we are seeing the devastating floods in europe, feeling it and experiencing it on the west coast of america and in canada as well, the effects of the heatwaves which have been going on for weeks now and of course fires burning like never before right across the western united states. and of coursejohn kerry is trying to drum up support for the cop26 meeting in glasgow later

on this year. and talking about that event being about 100 days away, he is talking in terms of 100 days to save the world from climate change, for the next 100 years. so i think utilising all the rhetoric that he can muster to put pressure on those countries especially china, and this message is really the same to cut carbon emissions, to countries, to stop deforestation and those other big issues that all go together to hopefully halt the increase in temperatures that we are continuing to see across the world. �* ., world. i've noted the international - world. i've noted the international energy | world. i've noted the - international energy agency saying now that 2023 is on track for having the highest levels of carbon dioxide output in human history. and a lot of the talk and we feel very abstract, it's difficult to grasp, how important do you think things like we focus on the bootleg wildfires for example, but the increasing

smog that's pushing across much of other parts of the country, how significant do you think thatis how significant do you think that is an american is appreciation of what they are facing? appreciation of what they are facin: ? ~ ~ ., facing? well i think what we are seeing _ facing? well i think what we are seeing and _ facing? well i think what we are seeing and especially i facing? well i think what we l are seeing and especially the last few weeks, is anecdotal evidence that everyone can experience, they can experience the heat, they know what it feels like, they know what it is like to have a wildfire at the edge of their street or perhaps threatening their home, people are experiencing these effects and these devastating situations along with hearing what the scientists have got to say and perhaps that's been difficult for some people over the years to grasp exactly the complex nature of the science. but now i think it's becoming more and more obvious to people across the world, experiencing in different ways whether it's flood or extreme heat, things that they have never seen in their lifetime and of course, scientists will tell you an experience within a lifetime, one weather event, it's a speck

of time but we are seeing these things over and over again and i think the net result of that is to get really people thinking about climate change and asjohn kerry talked about, just now, getting younger people to appreciate the impact of climate change. his language is certainly _ of climate change. his language is certainly urgent _ of climate change. his language is certainly urgent enough. - is certainly urgent enough. peter, thank you. we will illustrate some of the things peter is talking about on a raft of different weather or climate stories around the world. let s get some world. climate—related news. the french parliament has approved a climate change law that environmentalists say falls far short of its initial objective. most fossil fuel cars will be banned from 2030, and single—use polystyrene food containers from 2025. but the offence of ecocide — killing the environment — will be the equivalent of a misdemeanour, not a crime, as environmentalists had demanded. an expedition that will draw together israeli, arab and european scientists has set out on a mission to shed light on how corals

in the red sea are coping with global warming. studies have found that reefs in its northern waters have an unusual capacity to endure significantly higher temperatures. torrential rain has caused severe flooding in parts of central china. more than 10,000 people in henan province have been evacuated to shelters where it's reported a dam may collapse at any time. at least 12 people have died in the city of zhengzhou after its subway system was inundated with rushing water. mark lobel reports. floodwater at spreading fear. the partly submerged city of stoke it's a subway system now an underground river. commuters are standing forair. an underground river. commuters are standing for air. rescuers bravely reacting to unprecedented scenes. though

not everyone made it. large parts of the train system shutdown. rip currents seemingly running along roads. the amount of rain over the last three days in this provincial capital usually falls in an entire year. bringing traffic to a standstill. many homes were no place for refuge. 0ver10,000 residents in the region relocated. more than a dozen cities in this central part of china affected with the population of hen and close to 100 million. with 10,000 population of hen and close to 100 million. with10,000 lost hectares of crops, the flooding causing an estimated $11 million worth of damage and counting. rescuers worked all hours to clear up the flooding, a result of many factors,

including that a warming atmosphere caused by climate change makes extreme rainfall like this more likely. with downpours here are forecast to continue for many hours yet. mark lobel, bbc news. the german chancellor angela merkel has pledged funding within days to get essentials to flood victims without bureaucratic delays. speaking in the devastated town of bad muenstereifel, she said a cabinet meeting would free up finances on wednesday. in the nearby town of ahrweiler, anna holligan has been to visit the homes of the victims of the disaster. they re not convinced the money will reach them anytime soon, so are starting to rebuild on their own. you see? the scenes you cherish for a lifetime. it's the first thing you do. save that.

marion could not save her photo albums. but her three children survived. they are alive, they are ok and yeah, that makes me feel really happy. and that's the biggest thing you can get. people who could not get to higher ground did not have a hope. this used to be my kitchen. without sufficient warning, her son was trapped inside. he said "momma, momma, there is a lot of water. "there is a lot of water, there is a man "coming by and he screams, help, help, help and he went "down the water and he comes back up and down again and "then he was gone." here in this village, so many homes that were not washed away by the flood water will remain uninhabitable and unsafe and

they have to demolish those first before they can begin the process of rebuilding people's homes and lives again. toothpaste, a candle, the bare essentials. they are enough for now. despite this support, as night falls, with literally no doors to lock, new threats emerge. i doors to lock, new threats emerge-— doors to lock, new threats emerue. ., . ., ., ,, emerge. i do have an axe beside m bed emerge. i do have an axe beside my bed and _ emerge. i do have an axe beside my bed and i _ emerge. i do have an axe beside my bed and i close _ emerge. i do have an axe beside my bed and i close my _ emerge. i do have an axe beside my bed and i close my door. - emerge. i do have an axe beside my bed and i close my door. sol my bed and i close my door. so if someone comes and wants to attack me, i think there is nothing more to take away. let me sleep and tomorrow is a new day, hopefully with coffee and then we have to work again. anna holligan, bbc news.

at least 430 migrants crossed the english channel to the uk yesterday — according to the home office — a new record for a single day. some 50 people were seen landing on the beach at dungeness in kent — the group included women and young children. the government said it was taking �*substantial steps to tackle the unacceptable problem of illegal migration', as our correspondent jon donnison reports from the english channel. they have come a long way. some of them may have travelled thousands of miles, but for these migrants, thejourney�*s end comes near dungeness, south—west of dover. it's a giant step in their search for a better life, and scenes like this are now playing out on a daily basis. earlier, we took a boat out into the channel.

we have spotted another rig which appears to be a migrant boat. it is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, but bobbing on the waves, a tiny dinghy. no motor, just paddles. where are you from, guys? sudan. from sudan? are you 0k? help will be coming soon. they will come and pick you up. here are some fruit and biscuits, somejuice. having given them some food, we shadowed them and called the coastguard, who organised their rescue. and not far away, we find another migrant boat. we are about eight miles off the coast of dover now, and we have come across this small dinghy, probably three orfour metres long. we think there are 12 or 13 on board, a couple of small children at the front, and a couple of women, and we have now called in the uk border force, the uk coastguard, who are going to pick them up.

for some, these are desperate people fleeing some of the world's most desperate countries. for others, they are simply economic migrants. over the last few days, the border force has brought hundreds of migrants ashore. the government says people smugglers are its target, but it is also proposing that unauthorised migrants themselves could be jailed for up to four years. putting people injail who have come here because of the terrible things that have happened to them in their lives is really draconian and punitive, and all it will do is fill up ourjails without resolving the issue. and though the number of people crossing the channel in boats has increased significantly, hitting a record of 2000 last month, overall, the number of people claiming asylum in the uk actually fell last year. behind the figures, though, there are human stories. the government is pushing back

but for those making these dangerous journeys, the pull of a better future is strong. jon donnison, bbc news, in the english channel. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: serving for tennis gold — frances tiafoe practically grew up at the tennis court — now he's heading to the tokyo 0lympics. coming down the ladder now. that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30 year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. but now a decade later, it has been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today.

there's been a 50% decrease in| sperm quantity, and an increase in malfunctioning sperm unable to swim proneriy. _ thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines. the us climate envoy, john kerry, has warned that the suffering caused by the coronavirus will be magnified many times over if the world fails to tackle global warming. jeff bezos, the billionaire founder of amazon, has to space and back in the first crewed flight of his rocket ship new shepard.

0ur correspondent sophie long reports from texas. boarding his 60—foot sub—orbital rocket. he was not nervous, he said. just excited. this was notjust about realising a lifelong dream, but expanding his ever—growing empire beyond the grip of gravity. with him on this first fully autonomous passenger flight three other civilians — his brother mark bezos, 82—year—old trail blazing aviator wally funk and 18—year—old dutch student 0liver daemen. she was one of mercury 13, a group of american women training to be astronauts but never made it to space. until now. five, four, command engines start, two, one. as you can hear, blue 0rigin's reuseable rocket, carrying its first human passengers and first paying customer, is now on its way to space.

blast off for the new shepard, lift off for space tourism. the capsule separated from the booster at from the booster at 250,000 feet and continue to the edge of space. they floated, weightless, enjoying what those who have seen it say is a life—changing view of earth... ..before the capsule fell back to its surface, carrying in it the oldest and youngest astronauts ever. critics say this is the wrong time for billionaires to be joyriding in rockets, while the planet faces climate—driven disasters. oh, my god! my expectations were high, and they were dramatically exceeded. everybody who has been up into space, they say this, that it changes them and they look at it and they are kind of amazed and awestruck. i want to thank you, sweetheart, because you made it possible for me.

i've been waiting a long time. an historic way to move history into orbit. steven levy is the editor at large of wired magazine and was present at the launch. hejoins us from van horn texas. thank you forjoining us. you knowjeff bezos and have worked alongside him on this project, that glee, excitement that we saw from him, he's not putting that on, is he?— that on, is he? definitely not, this is his _ that on, is he? definitely not, this is his passion. _ that on, is he? definitely not, this is his passion. he - that on, is he? definitely not, this is his passion. he was - that on, is he? definitely not, this is his passion. he was a l this is his passion. he was a teenager, he has been fascinated with space and he wanted to go to space for a long time but his real goal is to build an infrastructure so one day humanity can move to space, he envisions trillions of human beings living in space

colonies and this very small step, this little suborbital flight, he thinks is a significant one to begin the journey of getting us off the earth. ~ . , journey of getting us off the earth. . ., _ journey of getting us off the earth. . ., earth. which is obviously a very worthy _ earth. which is obviously a very worthy ambition, - earth. which is obviously a very worthy ambition, i - earth. which is obviously a - very worthy ambition, i guess, for many people, but at the same time, we can't get away from it, here is another billionaire, money to burn and there is this massive, it feels like a rivalry going on as to be the first to get so far, who will be the first to do this and that. that must be part of what is driving him?— and that. that must be part of what is driving him?- what is driving him? well, it's kind of interesting. _ what is driving him? well, it's kind of interesting. he - what is driving him? well, it's kind of interesting. he has - kind of interesting. he has expressed the view and i think it's sincere, what he wants is an entire industry to spring up around space, better to achieve that goal however he is a very competitive person, you look at the way amazon operates. and the way amazon operates. and the fact there's someone else who is competing with him sort

of gets up his competitive fire so while he congratulate sir richard branson, the people in his company are saying well, the virgin galactic people, they did not really go to space, they were only 50 miles up space, they were only 50 miles up and we were 62 miles up so they are in space with an asterisk, there is some spite going on which is unseemly, and he says he's not competitive but there is these micro—aggressions going on between the companies, certainly between him and elon musk, there is micro—aggressions because they are fighting contracts that spacex is getting that he feels they should get.— they should get. those contracts _ they should get. those contracts with - they should get. those contracts with nas - they should get. those contracts with nas in i contracts with nas in particular which i think he feels very clearly is down to more of a personal vendetta from the former president than anything to do with the sort of terms of the contract but putting that aside for a moment and look at what he thinks he can achieve certainly in his lifetime, we go back as opposed to your initial thought, where

he sees humanity going? right, exactl . he sees humanity going? right, exactly- he _ he sees humanity going? right, exactly. he sees _ he sees humanity going? right, exactly. he sees humanity - he sees humanity going? right, | exactly. he sees humanity going off the earth, he envisions that there will be these giant space colonies and they're not going to be sparse like the international space station but they will have gardens, lakes, other kinds of things, it will be like living in a city and people might go to earth for a vacation because earth will be preserved in a way where nature can flourish and you won't have to drain the earth �*s resources to drain the earth �*s resources to sustain our lifestyle. and that his lifetime, it is doubtful that he even expects that to happen, in the near term, what he is doing is building on the suborbital flight that we have seen today, with another generation which is going to be able to put people in orbit, carry heavy things to outer space, maybe we could build more space stations.—

could build more space stations. , ., , stations. sorry to interrupt ou, stations. sorry to interrupt you. plenty _ stations. sorry to interrupt you. plenty for— stations. sorry to interrupt you, plenty for him - stations. sorry to interrupt you, plenty for him to - stations. sorry to interrupt l you, plenty for him to focus on, this isjust the launch pad. thank you very much. once the games kick off this weekend, one to watch in the tennis player is america's frances tiafoe. the 23—year—old defeated the world's number—four ranked player stefanos tsitsipas at wimbledon, and is a rising tiafoe is the child of immigrant parents from west africa, as the bbc s laura trevelyan reports. they laugh. a triumphant return for america's newest tennis star frances tiafoe to the maryland courts where he grew up playing. he's the conquering hero after his shock win at wimbledon over top player stefanos tsitsipas in the first round, the next challenge comes at the olympic games. he's ready. having a go, having a clear plan of where you want to go and what you're trying to achieve, and having a true passion for something and really chasing after it each and every day, anything is possible. i'm just trying use my story to inspire so many other people that feel like they can't achieve something

because of circumstances. and what a story it is. frances showed me the storage room at the elite maryland tennis centre where his father was a maintenance worker. so, you slept here? yeah, in this room while my mum was working double shifts overnight at the apartment that we usually stayed at. my dad would stay here. so, that's kind of what it was for me and my brother. what do you think it did for you coming from these origins? a different level of hunger, a different level of desire. coach 0liver akli remembers those days and how difficult life could be for his star pupil. sometimes he trains here. sometimes he doesn't have money to eat. i'd say "look, the day you turn pro, i'll get "all my money back." look where he is right now. i am so proud of him. so is everyone here at the maryland academy. 16—year—old robin montgomery is a rising american tennis star, who counts frances as a friend and mentor. his story is so unusual as a tennis player, what do you think the lesson is there?

that anything is possible, it- doesn't matter where you come from or how you have | grown up or anything. just as long as you believe in yourself and work hard i for what you want to do. like this moment at the 2020 us open when frances tiafoe stepped on court telling the world that black lives matter. frances tiafoe's tennis journey has taken him a long way and now this child of immigrant parents from sierra leone who came to the us fleeing conflict is heading to the olympic games. as he prepares for the olympics, the new hope for american tennis knows he is carrying the weight of so many expectations. frances tiafoe, a great talent. interesting to see how far he gets. if you want more information on any of the

stories, go to the bbc news website, plenty more there for you to enjoy. thank you for joining us. hello. the heat goes on, and it will do for a couple more days and indeed nights. because of the persistence of the heat, the met office have issued an extreme heat warning. two particular areas have been identified, this one to the south west of england covering parts of the midlands and wales, this one across northern ireland which comes into force on wednesday. it doesn't mean that these are the areas exclusively affected by the heat but these are two areas identified as potentially having the biggest impacts. you can see the heat an issue from first thing on wednesday. we start our day with temperatures around 20 celsius in many areas. it will be a little cooler through wednesday perhaps down

some of the north sea coasts, just because we will pull a little bit more cloud in here but overall, still a very hot day lies ahead. temperatures across the southern uk widely in the high 20s to low 30s, hotting up significantly will be northern ireland, hence while itjoins that heat warning perhaps 30 degrees towards the south west here. warmer along the north coast than yesterday but still cloudy for northern scotland with some lingering sea fog. here temperatures are peaking in the mid teens. that is the area that stands out as being significantly cooler, later in the day, potentially for showers across the north west of england — certainly another hot, humid night to come for many. we move into thursday, i suspect there will barely be a cloud in the sky and the temperatures will rise accordingly. still for northern scotland some cloud around and that does just hold things back in terms of the temperatures but even here things are creeping up — stornaway getting closer to 20

degrees, potentially 31 for south west northern ireland, 31 for the south of england and wales. a change for friday, a subtle one to start off with, an easterly wind and temperatures start to edge back. but through friday evening and overnight into saturday and on into the weekend low pressure starts to take hold from the south west. it will inject showers into england and wales, some heavy spells of rain to come for some. it will pull cooler air across all parts of the uk. so by saturday some sunshine still for scotland and northern ireland but a fresher feel for all of us.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: the us climate envoy has said the world can't wait for the end of the covid—19 pandemic before facing up to the environmental crisis. john kerry warned that the suffering caused by not tackling climate change would be much worse than coronavirus. there's been severe flooding across central china. it's caused widespread disruption, with video footage showing images of roads turned into rivers, and cars being stranded by fast—rising water. scientists say some regions have experienced an entire years' worth of rain in the past three days. the uk home office says a record number of migrants in a single 24—hour period have crossed the english channel. at least 430 migrants made the crossing on a flotilla of small vessels.

the met office issued a new—style extreme